February 2026 Travel Adventures: Virginia Water Lake and Royal Holloway University

February has been a month in which we've had the opportunity to explore some more of the area near where we live. Living in Reading, our quickest way to get to London is the fast train to Paddington, but there's also a slower train that goes to Waterloo, stopping in Richmond and Clapham, as well as various places in Berkshire and Surrey. We've found that this route has some interesting areas to explore; for example, the Lexicon in Bracknell is now my favourite place for shopping trips, and Wokingham is an attractive town we've enjoyed visiting. 

In February, we've explored a few new places on the route: Sunningdale, Virginia Water and Egham, and found some beautiful nature, stunning architecture, and (to Claudio's delight), plenty of nice cars!

Virginia Water Lake

This is a place I remember reading about some years ago (maybe during the pandemic) and which I'd kept in mind to visit for when I'd live closer to London. Recently I realised that now was the moment to finally go!

Google Maps recommended that I take the train to Sunningdale and then take a bus to the lake from the stop outside the Rolls-Royce dealership. Unfortunately, although the bus appeared at the time it was supposed to, it did not stop for some reason. Given that the next bus was three hours later (and was supposedly leaving from the same stop), waiting wasn't an option. So I walked further into the town to get a coffee and think about what to do next.

Despite the inconvenience, it was nice to see more of the picturesque town. I also noticed that there was a dealership selling Koenigseggs, which of course I told Claudio about later!

Eventually, I decided that, after coming this far, I wanted to get to the destination I'd planned to visit. So I took an Uber over to the lake. It was a short but interesting journey, going past various mansions.

Finally, I arrived at Virginia Water Lake! Even though it was raining a little bit, the lake looked absolutely beautiful. It's so big that it almost makes you feel like you're next to the sea rather than at a lake.

However, there is much more to Virginia Water Lake than just the lake itself. There are actually a few interesting surprises you can find when walking around the area. The first one I discovered was the cascade, which is tucked away in a little wooded area. Though it's artificial, it's still amazing to spend a while in front of it, watching and listening to the rushing water.

The next surprise is a complete set of Roman ruins, like a smaller version of the Forum in Rome. It's quite unexpected to find it there next to a lake near London! I assumed that the forum had been built there during the Roman era, but I looked it up later and discovered that the ruins had been brought over from the site of Leptis Magna, which is in Libya.

I then walked back the way I'd came and continued walking until I reached a treasure from the other side of the world: a totem pole made by an indigenous community in Canada. I was lucky to have the opportunity to see it, as the information signs nearby said it was due to be pulled down.

I went back home after my walk by taking the train from the Virginia Water Station, which is about a 25-minute walk away from the lake. It's a nice walk past lots of fancy houses, and I'd definitely recommend just going to and from that station if you're going to the lake by public transport rather than attempting to take the bus from Sunningdale!

I actually went back to the lake a few days later with Claudio, as it was a sunny Saturday and I wanted to show him all the interesting sights I'd enjoyed seeing. Although the café area at the entrance was busy, the lake itself was pretty peaceful. There were various families and couples there enjoying the nice weather, but it wasn't at all crowded. We had a great time walking around the lake with a hot chocolate from the café, seeing the sights and admiring the dogs and swans.

We absolutely plan to come back in the future, and would like to do a circuit of the entire lake once we have a car (and therefore don't have to do the long walk to and from the train station).

Egham, Royal Holloway University and Sunningdale

I went to Egham on my own once in February, in order to visit the Runnymede National Trust site, a trip I wrote about in my previous post. I mentioned in that post that I'd been really impressed with the Royal Holloway University's main building, which I'd passed on the bus on my way to Runnymede.

So I came back to Egham with Claudio that weekend in order to visit it properly!

We decided to walk up to the university from Egham, in order to see a bit more of the town, which we liked a lot. We walked past Strode's College, which is a very grand-looking sixth form college.

En route, we stopped at the Ferrari dealership, which of course Claudio loved! We had a good look round at the beautiful cars and had a comfort break in an incredibly posh bathroom!

After walking up a steep hill and through the university campus, we finally arrived at the Founder's Building, which is the building I'd seen from the bus previously. It's absolutely incredible to see - so huge and elaborate. It was actually inspired by the Château de Chambord in France and looks like something out of a fairytale. 

It even has its own little chapel, an elaborately decorated space that is perfect for a moment of reflection.

We noticed that the university's library had a rooftop terrace and decided to go inside in the hopes of getting up to the terrace. Shortly after entering the building, we had the luck to meet a lovely little orange cat. He was so friendly and cute, and I felt very honoured that he decided to sit on my coat! I later found an Instagram page about the cats of Royal Holloway and found out that his name is Cheese!

We then went up to the roof terrace and were surprised to find that we had pretty clear views from there right across to London! We could see planes taking off from Heathrow, Wembley Stadium, the City, the Shard and even Canary Wharf in the distance.

The terrace also offered great views of the Founder's Building below.

After saying goodbye to a sleepy Cheese, we made our way back to Egham for a coffee.

We stopped off at Sunningdale on the way back, because I'd told Claudio about the fancy car dealerships that I'd seen there previously. So my misfortune with the bus actually came in somewhat useful in the end! The dealership where the Koenigseggs had been on my previous visit had actually moved to a much bigger location with many more supercars on display, so Claudio was very happy!

To sum up, these two destinations (Virginia Water Lake and Royal Holloway University) are actually two of my favourite places that I've visited in recent months. I love seeing places of natural beauty as well as stunning architecture, so both of these places really appealed to me.

I'll be writing again soon about some of the interesting places we've explored in March! See you back here then!

A Day Trip to the United States: Visiting Runnymede

My most recent day trip from Reading was to the United States! That may sound close to impossible - you would expect it to involve at least a seven-hour flight there and another seven-hour flight back. However, I wasn't doing an extreme day trip (though this is a trend that is becoming more popular). In fact, it only took me a 40-minute train journey, a 15-minute bus ride and a short walk to get there.

So how was that possible? The truth is that there is a small corner of U.S. soil here in England, at the National Trust site at Runnymede in Surrey. I had read about this place a few years ago and had been intrigued to visit it someday. And at the end of February, we were lucky to have a sunny day with temperatures reaching 18 degrees, so I had the perfect opportunity to go to visit this outdoor area filled with sculptures and memorials.

First, I took the train from Reading to Egham. My next step was to take a bus, but as I missed the one five minutes after my train's arrival, I had about half an hour to spend in Egham. So I went to get a coffee and had a look around the town centre, which was very clean and modern.

On the bus later, I went past this incredible grand old building that looked like a fairytale castle! I was absolutely amazed by it. Looking it up later, I found out that it was the Founder's Building at Royal Holloway University. I actually came back to Egham with Claudio that weekend in order to visit it properly. (I'll be writing about that soon!)

A bit later on in the bus journey, I was surprised and happy to find I had views across to London, including Wembley Stadium!

I got off the bus at a stop with the interesting name of Bells of Ouzeley. It is actually the name of a Harvester pub next to the bus stop. It's a very charming old building opposite the river, and looked like a great, scenic place to enjoy some food and drink on this sunny afternoon.

I then walked along the river to the National Trust site. The path was a bit muddy, but the route was very picturesque.

Unlike a lot of National Trust sites, Runnymede is free to enter. It doesn't have a manor house like many National Trust properties do - it is an outdoor area with various artworks and memorials - but it does have  a small building with a tearoom and bathrooms.

The site is also really near Heathrow, so there were plenty of planes passing low overhead, which added to the international vibe of my day out.

The first spot I visited was the John F. Kennedy memorial, which is the part I had read about previously. You step through a wooden gate to enter the area where the memorial is and you are officially on U.S. soil!

There is a long pathway and fifty uneven steps that take you up to the memorial itself. It's definitely quite a unique experience to be able to say you've gone to another country (sort of) just by walking through a gate.

Runnymede is most famous for being where the Magna Carta was signed in 1215, and there is also a monument dedicated to that event.

There's also this really interesting artwork called Writ in Water, which is located inside a small building. Inside the building, you go around this sort of labyrinth, which leads you to a small, reflective pool, in which is written an extract of the Magna Carta. It's very clever and unique.

After having a good walk around the site, I walked back to the bus stop and then sat by the river in the sun while waiting for the bus.

This day out was a big reminder to me of how important it can be to get outdoors in the sunshine and enjoy some peaceful, beautiful surroundings from time to time. To be honest, I'm not always that much of a fan of life in the UK - a lot of places can look very run down and grim, especially at this time of year, and the cost of living crisis never seems to get any better - but there are some beautiful places to be found in this country, and spending time in them can make a real difference to your mood.

That's all for today, but I'll be writing again soon about more of my February travels!