Hey travel lovers! I'm back fresh from a month-long holiday in the UK and Greece and had such a blast! It's been a while since I've written anything personal on my blog so I thought I would share a snippet of my travels and a few favourite photos.
I have quite a bit of backlog work to complete so this is also me totally procrastinating! So, let's rewind. On Sunday 21st July I set off on the current longest flight in the world - Auckland to Doha - 17 hours and 40 minutes eek! I spent two nights there on a layover and had one full day to explore and I really enjoyed it. It's a very easy city to layover in and I'll be writing a post all about it coming soon.
So let's skip ahead. One more 7-hour flight later and I arrived in Edinburgh. This was my second visit to Scotland. The last time was in 2014, almost five years ago and it was in November, so it was freezing cold and rained every day. This time I was very pleased to be welcomed by a heatwave! My brother-in-law lives in Peebles which is the cutest historical town one hour drive outside of Edinburgh in the Scottish Borders.
I spent two full weeks in Scotland, based in Peebles for the majority of the time. I spent many days exploring Edinburgh and enjoying the summer vibes. I joined a free Harry Potter walking tour which I totally recommend to all Potterheads! I did the Whisky Experience on the Royal Mile, a Meercat historical underground tour, a Secret Food tours foodie tour where I actually tried haggis (did not like haha - but the rest of it was great). I went on a full-day trip to Northumberland in England to visit two epic castles - Bamburgh and Alnwick Castle, the latter also known as the Harry Potter Castle!
I also did a road trip to the Scottish Highlands where I went to Glencoe, Fort William, saw the Harry Potter train pass over the Glenfinnan Viaduct, explored the Isle of Skye, did the best hike to Old Man of Storr, stayed in Inverness and went to Loch Ness.
I finished up my time in Scotland by experiencing the fun of Fringe Fest and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Then, it was off to Greece, but first, here are some Scotland pics:
Edinburgh
 |
| Victoria Street, the inspiration for Diagon Alley |
 |
| The Royal Mile |
 |
| British tea and scones |
 |
| Princess Street |
 |
| The Scotch Whisky Experience |
 |
| A typical Close |
 |
| Military Tattoo at the Edinburgh Castle |
Scottish Borders & Northumberland
 |
| Peebles |
 |
| Hairy coos |
 |
| Traquair House |
 |
| Bamburgh Castle |
 |
| Alnwick Castle |
The Highlands
 |
| The Kelpies |
 |
| Hogwarts Express |
 |
| Eilean Donan Castle |
 |
| Isle of Skye |
 |
| Portree |
 |
| Old Man of Storr |
 |
| Loch Ness |
...
After a four-hour flight, I arrived in hot and sunny Crete for the next eight nights. The first four were spent at Heraklion, where I had an Airbnb with the most epic view, and it was very close to Lion Square. I enjoyed going to the fortress on the harbour, the archaeological museum, doing a spot of shopping and visiting the ancient palace of Knossos.
The rest of the time I spent up the coast, only a 25-minute drive away in the beach resort town of Agia Pelagia. Here I had a lovely hotel with two pools that was only steps from the beach and a tonne of restaurants. It was super busy but it had good holiday vibes. I soaked up some rays, relaxed and read by the pool and even tried scuba diving for the first time and went for two dives in the ocean.
Next, I was excited to return to Athens to revisit all of the incredible archaeological sites. I had been before in 2015 and absolutely loved it. More amazing sites with so much history, more delicious Greek food, museums, cute stray cats and rooftop bars.
Lastly, I visited the lovely town of Nafplio which is only two hours from Athens on the local bus. It was a joy to visit and I wish I had of stayed more than two nights. The pedestrian Old Town gave me strong Italy vibes and there is a Venetian fortress on the hilltop that takes 1000 steps to reach but the views are totally worth it. I also went to Mycenae, another important archaeological site, which is only half an hours' drive from Nafplio. Cue the Greece pics:
Crete - Heraklion
 |
| Airbnb view |
 |
| Rocca Al Mare Fortress |
 |
| Heraklion harbour |
 |
| Lion Square Venetian fountain |
 |
| Knossos archaeological site |
Crete - Agia Pelagia
 |
| Pool-view room |
 |
| Agia Pelagia beach |
 |
| Afternoon sun |
 |
| Stunning water |
 |
| Dive spot! My GoPro didn't work in the depth unfortunately |
Athens
 |
| Temple of Zeus |
 |
| Rooftop bar view |
 |
| Visiting the Acropolis |
 |
| The Parthenon |
 |
| Athens view |
 |
| Erechtheion temple |
 |
| View from Hadrian's Library |
 |
| Cute street near Monastiraki |
 |
| Ancient Agora |
 |
| Thirsty kitties |
 |
| Changing of the Guard |
 |
| Morning coffee view |
Nafplio
 |
| Hotel balcony view |
 |
| Nafplio |
 |
| Palamidi Fortress |
 |
| Old town |
 |
| Lion Gate - Mycenae |
 |
| #catsofgreece |
 |
| Mycenae archaeological site |
 |
| The best gyros |
 |
| Stunning view from the fortress |
...
I'm thankful for another wonderful trip and the experience of travelling to new places and returning to old favourites. Lots of blog posts with travel tips and recommendations from my travels are coming soon! Keep up to date with all my latest posts by following me on
Instagram.
Happy travels,
No comments
Post a Comment