My Trip to the UK



I've been home for a few weeks now and for some reason just never got around to writing this post. I mean I have been working flat out (what else is new?).
 Anyway, Jake and I booked a spontaneous trip to England back in March for the middle of May. We never do things like this and I was oh so excited to see England and Scotland. Fast Forward to May 16th when we boarded the red eye plane to Gatwick Airport. 5 hours later and we were lost, but finally across the pond. Another 3 hours and we were on our first leg of the trip, Bristol.

Here we stayed in a lovely Airbnb owned by a lovely man named John and his family. The place was lovely and perfect for the few days we were staying there. It was a little outside of the main city but for us, Newfoundlanders used to small crowds it was perfect. There was a lovely store nearby and some fantastic restaurants. From this location, we were able to visit Bath through the bus station. Bath was everything I hoped it would be, mind you I wish it had been a little warmer, but still perfect. We explored the Bath Abbey and the Roman Bath House. We dined in a lovely pizza/Italian restaurant and explored the gardens and streets. It was beautiful and oozed of history.





From Bristol, the next leg of our journey was to Edinburgh. Side note, the airport in Bristol is the most confusing airport I have ever been in.  However, we managed to board our EasyJet plane and we arrived in a very wet Scotland. Our check in was much later for the place we had booked for just that night and we managed to get completely drenched. On the bright side, we made the most of the rain and visited Edinburgh Castle, the National Gallery, and had a meal inside the George IV pub. It was nice to get cover from the rain. When we finally arrived at our Airbnb we were completely soaked. This place was more of a hostel vibe, but the hosts were lovely.



The actual place we had booked to stay the remainder of our trip was much nicer. It was an Airbnb owned by Margaret and her husband. Margaret was one of the nicest people I have ever met and her place was lovely. She had so many nice touches and she made her place feel like home. Their place was located on a very convenient bus route and was so close to the sea. It was lovely. Over our 4 days with her, we explored Edinburgh some more. We went up the Scott's Tower, explored the graveyard looking for Tom Riddle, listened to people playing Bagpipes in the streets, and Jake even got a tattoo.






One of our days there we decided to take a bus tour up to Loch Ness which was really one of Jake's only requests before we went on the trip. It took us a while to decide because there are literally so many bus tours for that.We decided on the Highland Experience Tour and their Monster Tour to Loch Ness. Russel was our guide and he was so knowledgeable, funny, and also had an awesome playlist for the adventure in between story time. On the tour we got to see Loch Ness up close, stop in a few small villages (one having the best hot chocolate and scones I've ever had), we got to get up close to some Highland cattle, and the sisters of Glencoe were breathtaking to see. Not to mention seeing all of the Harry Potter filming locations was also a huge plus.





It was an exhausting long day, but well worth it. This part of our trip was my favourite and I really didn't want to leave. Scotland was beautiful and I loved every minute of it.

Edinburgh-London

We left by plane, as it was a much cheaper alternative at the time and flew into Gatwick once more. Here we had another lovely Airbnb in Chelsea. This part of the trip we were fairly tired and neither of us are fond of heat and it was around 30 degrees the entire time we were in London. So, we decided to hit almost all the bigger attractions in one day. We saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the London Eye, the Marble Arches, and a bit of Hyde Park. Our remaining few days were spent exploring the park near us, being lazy, and watching the River Thames go by.




I'll be honest here, London wasn't exactly my cup of tea. We're from a pretty small town/province in Canada and I always find big cities drain me just a little if I'm not used to it. However, I enjoyed the weather, the food, and Jake's company as we took in this massive city.

Day Trip to Brighton

As we had grown tired of the city, we decided to spend one of our last days down in Brighton. This was one of the places I thought I would only get to see from the plane and am so happy I got to see it.  It was another hot day when we went and we made the most of it. We explored the pier, the beach, the market area, the pavilion, and a few shops. We also got some Dum Dum Donuts and they were even better than I thought they would be. We got some Ti food for lunch, and a milkshake from a store I can't remember the name of because my blood had gotten low and I was in almost tears. According to my phone, we did the most walking of our entire trip on that day. It was a good day and we headed back into Chelsea once more.




London- Gatwick- Home

The last day of our trip was having one last look at the river and heading on the train to Gatwick. This was to be the only night we didn't stay in an Airbnb. We opted to stay in the Bloc Hotel. It was described as a Japanese Pod meets luxury hotel. It was not what we were expecting, but the bed was soft, the rooms sound proof, and the blackout curtains a plus. Our flight was pretty early in the morning, so it was nice to be able to just get out of bed and pretty much be in the terminal. I also finally got to have a Wagamama and an old English breakfast at the same time when we were waiting for our plane.

Our flight home was close to 6 hours and we landed at noon (Newfoundland time), red-eyed and not at all adjusting the time difference.

I am so thankful that I got to experience the country I always wanted to visit with Jake and for all the nice weather we got while we were there. It was so much fun and such a memorable trip.



2 comments

  1. Airbnb's are such a great way to book accommodation. I've always wanted to go to Scotland and it sounds like you got to see a lot there. And Brighton looks so cute. Thanks for sharing your trip :)

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    1. Scotland was so nice. I highly recommend going there if you ever get the chance!
      Thank you so much for taking the time to read about my trip :)

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