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Showing posts with label Croatia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Croatia. Show all posts

Sunday, 10 August 2025

Before the Blog: My Previous Travel Adventures

I've always loved to travel, and I think that being taken to various different countries and places by my parents when growing up contributed to that. Experiencing different cultures, languages and landscapes gives you a lot of curiosity to keep discovering more of the world.

I first started blogging about travel with My Year Abroad Blog in 2017 and then started Charlotte's Travel Adventures in October 2018. So all of my trips of the last 8 years have been documented on those two blogs, but I've realised that all the different places I visited during my childhood and up to June 2017 have not been written about, though I've mentioned some of them on here from time to time. Therefore, I thought it would be fun today to go through some of the trips I've had in the past!


Jersey (1998/1999)















Image by Bob Jenkin from Pexels.com

The first time I ever went on a plane was at around 3 or 4 years old when I went to Jersey with my parents and sister. To be honest, I don't remember much about it apart from the hotel room and choosing which of my cuddly toys to bring beforehand! 


The South of France (1999/2000 and 2003/2004)

























Image by Polverini Lian from Pexels.com

My first trip abroad was to the south of France to visit my granddad and his wife, who were living in a gîte near Cannes. I feel like I remember a lot more of this trip than the one to Jersey, but that's probably because we went back a few years later and I'm mixing up the two in my head.

On both occasions, I remember enjoying lots of time swimming in the pool, as well as taking trips to Cannes and Île Sainte-Marguerite, but I also found it really interesting to go to the supermarket, try French foods, and visit the clothes shop Kiabi. It was my first experience of a different language and culture, and I think it probably had some influence on why I came to love languages and travel!


Menorca, Spain (2002)














Image by Tom D'Arby from Pexels.com

During my first visit to Spain, we stayed in a villa on the island of Menorca. I loved seeing all the lizards and being right next to both the sea and a swimming pool. I also remember going to a monastery on top of a mountain, which was very impressive.


Zakynthos, Greece (2003 and 2007)



















Image by Pixabay from Pexels.com

The other Mediterranean destination I visited as a young child was Greece, specifically the island of Zakynthos or Zante. This was my favourite of them all! 

Again I loved swimming in the hotel's pool and the sea. We also took boat trips on both holidays there. The first time, we went on a tour to look for turtles - although we didn't see any, we got to swim at different beaches and even in caves, which was a magical experience. The second time, we went to the famous Navagio Beach, which was incredible to see, even though I felt very, very seasick!


Dublin, Ireland (2004/2005)

















Image by Steven Hylands from Pexels.com

As my mum is Irish, this trip was an opportunity for her to see family and friends, so there was a lot of sitting around while the adults chatted, which was a little boring for 8 or 9 year old me! I think I also expected Dublin to be like London, and I was a bit surprised to find it was a lot smaller and more provincial.


Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland (2004/2005)

















Image by Graeme Travers from Pexels.com

My first and (so far) only trip to Scotland was to stay with friends of my dad in Dumfries and Galloway. I remember arriving at Glasgow airport and expecting their house to be nearby and then being in the car for what felt like hours and hours, seeing miles and miles of empty countryside! I also remember everything being very green, trying Irn Bru for the first time and visiting the National Museum of Costume in Shambellie House. I also think I saw a cow like the one in the picture, but I might be imagining that!


Prague, Czechia (2006)

















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I think my parents wanted a change from Mediterranean holidays when they booked this trip, but to be honest, Prague was always going to be a difficult destination for a 10 year old to appreciate. I wanted to be swimming in the sea under the sunshine, not traipsing through a crowded city to look at old buildings! Of course, I appreciate this kind of holiday a lot more these days, but still wouldn't put Prague at the top of the places I'd like to revisit - I remember it being pretty crowded 20 years ago (long before Instagram) so I imagine it would be absolutely packed nowadays.


Budapest, Hungary (2008)

















Image by Nikolett Emmert from Pexels.com

A couple of years later, we had a similar holiday in Budapest. It is undeniably a beautiful city with stunning architecture, but again, it wouldn't have been my first choice of destination as a 12 year old.


Northumberland, England (2009)

























Image by Serinus from Pexels.com

The following year, we stayed in the UK and went to Northumberland for our summer holiday. To be honest, I wasn't very enthusiastic about going, but I enjoyed it much more than I expected. We stayed in a cottage on a farm, which had an adorable and very friendly pet pig! We also visited Alnwick Castle, which was used for some scenes in the Harry Potter films, and the island of Lindisfarne (pictured above), which made us feel like we were stepping into the past.


Toronto, the Niagara Falls and Montreal, Canada (2010)















Image by Chait Goli from Pexels.com

This was one of my favourite holidays of all time! We spent an amazing two weeks in my mum's country of birth, visiting Toronto, Montreal and the Niagara Falls. I loved both cities, and the Niagara Falls remains one of the most beautiful and incredible places I've ever seen. In fact, this was the trip that really gave me my passion for travel and that motivated me to learn French and other foreign languages.


France, Italy and Monaco (2011)

















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In 2011, we went back to France and stayed in a charming B&B in the town of Juan-les-Pins. This turned out to be a three-country trip, as one day we went over the border to San Remo in Italy. I was really excited about this, as I'd never been to Italy before, and it was at the top of my bucket list. We went to a restaurant next to the sea, where I had pizza and tiramisù while watching people passing by on Vespas. It was a dream come true! After that, we drove to Monaco and went round the race track a couple of times, which was also a really cool experience.


Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina (2012)

























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Another of my favourite holidays of all time! This trip was the perfect mix of relaxing and swimming at the beach combined with cultural discovery of new places. We stayed in an amazing hotel with a private beach in the village of Slano in Croatia, and took day trips to Dubrovnik, and to Neum and Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We were super lucky to get to see the beautiful city of Dubrovnik in the pre-Instagram era, when it wasn't too crowded, but my favourite place we visited was Mostar. It was the first time I'd visited a country that wasn't majority Christian, and it was a really interesting experience. Highlights for me included the mosque, the Turkish house (where we saw a family of tortoises!) and of course, the Old Bridge (pictured above).


France and Monaco (2013)

















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My first trip abroad by myself was to Nice for a language course and homestay. I was 17 and really nervous about it, but ended up enjoying the week a lot. The lady I stayed with was really nice, and I got on very well with the other students at the language school. One day, a group of us took the train from Nice to Monaco, which was my first time properly setting foot in the tiny country - the race track experience in 2011 had been fun, but it was nice to explore on foot and see the sights in more detail.


Málaga, Spain (2013)

















Image by Jarosław Miś from Pexels.com

Later that year, I went on a school trip with my A-Level Spanish class to Málaga in Spain. We enjoyed some fun experiences, including celebrating the San Juan bonfires on the beach on our first night, and visiting the caves at Nerja and the beautiful white village of Frigiliana. We also had a couple of afternoons of free time in Málaga city centre, where our teachers visited museums and art galleries, and my classmates and I spent hours looking round Bershka and Pull&Bear. To be honest, though I didn't say it at the time for fear of looking uncool, I would have much rather gone to the museums!


Paris, France (2013)



















I had been desperate to visit Paris for years, so I was delighted when my parents treated me to a couple of days in the city for my 18th birthday. A lot of people who visit Paris say that it's overrated and disappointing, but I absolutely loved it from the moment I arrived, and it's been one of my favourite cities ever since. I've since been back twice, and my most recent visit was one of my most special trips of all time!


My Gap Year (2014-2015)

From June 2014 to September 2015, I took a Gap Year. It wasn't a typical Gap Year - I spent a lot of the year working and volunteering close to home, rather than going on a big backpacking trip somewhere exotic - but I did travel to Slovenia, Austria, France (twice), Spain and Belgium, as well as several places around the UK. You can read all about it in this post right here!


Valencia, Spain (2016)




















I didn't go on many trips during my first two university years, because for some reason, I felt like being single and being a student without a job meant that I couldn't travel. It took going on my Year Abroad for me to gain more confidence to travel both by myself and on a budget. 

Anyway, during the summer between my first and second year, my mum sent me off on trips to language schools in Spain and Germany. For my Spain trip, I went back to the same school I'd been to in Valencia during my Gap Year, but I didn't enjoy it quite as much second time around. The first time, I'd had my classes in the morning, so had most of the day free to go and explore, but the second time, classes were in the middle of the day, which I didn't like so much, as it split my free time. However, I did really enjoy going on a day trip to Montanejos (pictured above), an area of thermal springs located in the mountains.


Berlin, Germany (2016)



















This also wasn't my favourite trip ever; mainly because of a bad experience I had one day on the metro. I'd bought the wrong ticket purely by accident, and was made to pay a 60€ fine, even though I explained the situation and offered to buy the correct ticket (in Spain the previous month, I'd had a similar situation and the guard there had let me buy the correct ticket with no problem). The way the guards treated me was really horrible and frightening, and led me to file a complaint afterwards. Unfortunately, the transport company wasn't able to refund the fine, but they did issue me a grovelling apology, which was something at least. I was a much less confident person at the time than I am today, and it did basically ruin the entire trip for me, which was a shame, because I'd actually really enjoyed exploring Berlin up to that point.

That trip was nine years ago, but it really feels like a lifetime ago, compared to my Year Abroad, which I started only a year later. That year was definitely a turning point for me, where I gained a lot of confidence and started to become the kind of person I'd always wanted to be. And that was where my story with blogging began!

It's been fun to go back over the trips I had up to the age of 21 - I feel lucky that I got the chance to visit some fantastic places at an early age. And since starting blogging eight years ago, I've been lucky enough to have visited just as many amazing places. Here's to hopefully many more exciting travel adventures over the years to come!

Sunday, 15 October 2023

Travel Tips: The Best Hotels I've Ever Stayed in

Seeing as I won't be going on any "big trips" for at least a couple of months, my plan for the blog is to alternate between writing posts about my travels and day trips around Bristol and beyond, and writing posts about other travel-related topics, in order to keep things varied.

My latest post was about a local trip, so this one is going to be something a bit different. I had a look through the list of post ideas I've built up over the years (quite a few!) in order to decide what took my fancy to write about today, and in the end, I decided to write about the topic of hotels, as it's something I haven't really done before!

Generally, these days, I'm happy to stay somewhere clean, comfortable and reasonably priced. I used to try to look for more unique, characterful places to stay, with somewhat mixed results - I remember regretting staying at the old-fashioned pub/hotel in York that was freezing cold with a smelly bathroom, and the supposedly fancy boutique hotel in Bournemouth where my room was tiny and the shower didn't work. Both times I wished I'd opted for the reliability of an Ibis or Premier Inn! Having said that though, when you do stay in a hotel that's really special, it definitely makes your trip that extra bit special too.

I like to think that nowadays I'm quite good at choosing hotels that are both good value and super nice places to relax after a day of exploring. I've stayed in quite a few really great ones over the years, particularly during the last couple of years, and so I've decided to put my favourites together into a list.

Here they are!


Admiral Grand Hotel, Slano, Croatia


















Image by Rachel Claire from Pexels.com

This hotel in the Dalmatia region of southern Croatia is one of (I think) only three 5* hotels that I've stayed in during my life so far. I went there with my family in 2012 and we had a wonderful week in the hotel, which is located in the village of Slano, and also took day trips to Dubrovnik, and Neum and Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The hotel is pretty huge, and has lots of facilities, including an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, various bars and restaurants, a nightclub, and a beautiful private beach surrounded by mountains. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera phone at the time, and I've got no photos to show of the hotel, so enjoy this nice image of Dubrovnik instead!


Cedar Manor Hotel, Windermere, England, UK





























My parents actually won a competition to stay at this 5* hotel in the Lake District, and seeing as Covid kept me still living at home in 2020, I got to come along with them! My room was huge, with a four-poster bed, dressing table, and a bath the size of a hot tub, so staying there was quite a special experience. It was also great to be surrounded by the beautiful nature of the Lake District, and overall, it was a really relaxing few days. I actually enter travel competitions on a weekly basis and hope to win something like this myself some day, but it hasn't happened yet - maybe I'll be lucky soon!

Read more here!


Novotel, Arica, Chile























My partner Claudio and I both loved staying in this hotel located right on the beach in the city of Arica in the far north of Chile. The room was so comfortable and luxurious, as well as being reasonably priced, and the view from the window of the beach and Morro de Arica was absolutely stunning. I hope we'll get to go back there again at some point in the future!

Read more here!


Ayenda Estancia San Pedro, Cusco, Peru





















My solo trip to Peru in October 2022 was a week where I really tried to immerse myself in the Peruvian culture and history as much as possible. I spent my first four days in the historic city of Cusco, which I used as a base to take day trips around the Sacred Valley of the Incas. During this time, I stayed in Ayenda Estancia de San Pedro, which is actually a hotel created inside an old colonial building. It's a beautiful place and really added a sense of authenticity to the trip.

I also want to give an honourable mention to Machu Picchu Adventure House, the hotel I stayed in in Aguas Calientes after my time in Cusco. This place was super comfortable and had very nice Inca-style décor.




















Read more here!


Park Inn by Radisson, Puerto Varas, Chile
























There are actually two Radisson hotels in the charming town of Puerto Varas in the south of Chile: a more expensive one right on the shore of Lago Llanquihue, and the more affordable Park Inn further into the town. We chose to stay at the Park Inn during our trip and found it so cosy and comfy. The hotel was built in a traditional German style, typical of the area, and has beautiful views across the rest of the town and the lake.

Read more here!


B&B Vergilia, Syracuse, Sicily, Italy




















I earned some hotel vouchers from doing weekly surveys when I was living at home between 2020 and early 2022, but wasn't able to use them while I was living in Chile, and had to quickly decide what to do with them before they expired in May this year. I chose to use them on a stay in B&B Vergilia during my trip to Sicily in June and was very happy with my choice! This is one of these sorts of hotels that are quite common in Italy (I stayed somewhere similar in Florence), which are built inside grand, old houses, meaning that all of the rooms are incredibly spacious. B&B Vergilia is also a family-run hotel, and the owners are super friendly and welcoming, so I'll definitely be staying there again if I return to Syracuse in the future!

Read more here!


39 St. George, Victoria/Rabat, Gozo, Malta






























This hotel is located in Victoria (also known as Rabat), the capital of Gozo, Malta's sister island, and is a really characterful place. I loved the Medieval vibe of the building, as well as its amazing views over the stunning St. George's Square. It was also super comfortable, which made a nice change from the hostel that I was living in in Malta at the time!

Read more here!


I had a fantastic time staying in all of these hotels, and they were great bases to come back to after days of exploring incredible places. I hope to continue with my run of choosing great hotels, and then perhaps I'll have another one of these posts to write in a couple of years' time!


Check out the rest of my Travel Tips here!

Saturday, 8 January 2022

Travel Tips: My Top Five Mountain Destinations

In this Travel Tips series, I've already written about my favourite cities, nature destinations and beaches, among other topics. And today I'm going to be writing about another of my favourite types of travel destinations: mountains. I really enjoy trekking in the mountains and enjoying dramatic panoramic views - perhaps that comes from having previously lived in both the Alps and the Andes. In any case, spending time in mountainous places definitely makes a nice change from my current, relatively-flat base in the south of England.

Here are five of my favourite mountain ranges I've been to so far!


The Andes



















The Andes are a vast mountain range that cover the entire length of the western side of South America, passing through Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. I spent several months surrounded by these amazing peaks when I lived in Chile in 2018, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again when I move back there in the coming weeks! The most memorable Andean destinations that I've visited so far in Chile include Cerro Manquehue, Cajón del Maipo, the Maule region (pictured above), and the Altiplano. I also saw some incredible views in the Mendoza province of Argentina.

Read more here and here!



The Alps















The Alps are the most famous mountain range in Europe, and can be found in eight countries: France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Slovenia and Monaco. Many tourists visit the region every year to hike, ski and relax next to its many picturesque lakes, such as the Wolfgangsee (pictured above). I lived in the Alps from 2017-2018, when I worked at two schools in the south of Austria, and I really enjoyed seeing different Alpine towns, cities and villages around the local area and beyond.

Read more here and here!



The Dinaric Alps

















Image by Luciann Photography from pexels.com

One of my favourite family holidays was when we stayed in Slano in Croatia in 2012, and visited Dubrovnik (pictured above), and also Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. All three of these destinations are located in the Dinaric Alps, or Dinarides, a mountain range that spreads across southeastern Europe. It's a very beautiful part of the world, and I have great memories of swimming at the beach next to the hotel, which was located in a bay surrounded by mountains.


The Tatra Mountains



















I had a very memorable time teaching English at a hotel in Poland in the summer of 2019, when I participated in the Angloville volunteer programme. The hotel wasn't exactly the four-star luxury that had been promised to us volunteers, but the surrounding scenery of the Tatra Mountains (part of the Carpathian mountain range of Eastern Europe) was stunning to look at. It's an area I'd be interested in exploring more of in the future.

Read more here!



The Cumbrian Mountains



















The mountains found in the Lake District are the highest in England, and while they're small compared to the other mountains in this list, they're a great place to enjoy amazing natural landscapes, especially at times like this when it's difficult to travel abroad. I visited the area with my parents in 2020, and was surprised to find that it was a little reminiscent of the south of Chile, with lots of mountains, forests, lakes and waterfalls to discover.

Read more here!


I'm glad to say that I'll be back in the mountains again soon, as I've got my visa interview for my job in Chile next week, and after that, I'll just have to wait for it to be approved before I can finally go! The interview also means that I'll be spending a day in London, which will be my first little bit of travelling of the year. I plan to explore a new place or two in the city, and I'll be writing about it here next weekend!


Check out the rest of my Travel Tips here!

Sunday, 5 December 2021

Travel Tips: My Top Ten Historical Destinations

This week's blogpost is going to focus on my favourite historical destinations. Now, of course, nearly every town or city in the world has some kind of link to the near or distant past, and could therefore be counted as a historical destination, meaning there are various places I could have included in this list. But the ones I've chosen to write about today are the ones that really seem to bring history to life, and which have given me an insight into different periods of the past...


Avebury, England, UK












This prehistoric stone circle, along with the other nearby stone circle, Stonehenge, are probably the closest thing we have in the UK to a site like Machu Picchu or the Egyptian pyramids. And both happen to be located in my home county of Wiltshire, which is pretty cool! Stonehenge is definitely the more famous and popular of the two, but I personally prefer Avebury, as it's much much bigger, and access is less restricted. No one knows exactly why the circle was built, but it's amazing to look at it and think about how long it's been there for. 

Read more here!



Bath, England, UK

























Bath is another historical place that I'm lucky to live quite close to. This beautiful city was very important during the Roman era, and you can still find many Roman columns around the city centre, most famously at the Roman Baths (pictured above). The Roman Baths was a spa and temple complex that attracted visitors from far and wide, and now it's a museum that brings in tourists from all over the world.

Another reason to visit Bath is for its more recent, Georgian history. It was a very popular city amongst the wealthy during that time period, and was famously written about by Jane Austen. You can find many examples of Georgian architecture around Bath today, including the iconic Royal Crescent.

Read more here and here!



York, England, UK

























York is another British city with a long history and many beautiful old buildings. Like Bath, it's known for its Roman history, and you can still see some of the architecture from that period today, including the column pictured above. York was also a Viking city in the past, and was known as Jórvík during this time. In fact, one of the city's most exciting attractions is Jorvik Viking Centre, a museum which literally takes you on a ride through a recreation of this era.

Read more here!



Oxford, England, UK



















The final English city in my list is Oxford, which has some of the most beautiful architecture in the country. It has many historical buildings, some of which were built hundreds of years ago. Radcliffe Camera (pictured above) is actually one of the newer ones, being completed in 1749. Some of the the even older ones include St Michael at the North Gate tower, which was built between 1000-1050, and Oxford Castle, which was originally built in the Norman era.

Read more here and here!



Chepstow Castle, Wales, UK



















The last UK destination in this list is Chepstow Castle in Wales, located right next to the border with England. Construction on the castle first began nearly 1000 years ago, in 1067, and it's still looking in pretty good shape for its age! Actually there are many amazing old castles in Wales - it's the country with the highest number of castles per square mile - but Chepstow's one is actually the oldest, so it's definitely worth a visit.

Read more here!



Nîmes, France















Now I'm moving on to international destinations for the last half of this list, starting with Nîmes in the south of France. This isn't one of the best-known cities in the Hexagon (I don't think I'd heard of it before I went!) but I believe it should be, because it's really an incredible place to explore, featuring various Roman artefacts that have been unbelievably well-preserved. Two of the most impressive are the Arena of Nîmes (pictured above), which is very reminiscent of the Colosseum in Rome, and Maison Carrée, a beautiful temple.

Read more here!



Berlin, Germany



















For me, Berlin is an interesting city because of its more recent history. It wasn't that long ago that it was divided into two parts: the democratic West Berlin (comprised of British, French and US sectors), and the communist East Berlin (originally a Soviet sector, and later part of the GDR). There are still many reminders of this period that tourists can visit, including the East Side Gallery (painted sections of the Berlin Wall), Checkpoint Charlie (pictured above), and Tränenpalast (Palace of Tears), a former border crossing which is now a museum.


Florence, Italy















The capital of Tuscany is one of the most popular destinations for those interested in history of art, as it was the birthplace of the Renaissance movement, which took place during the 15th and 16th centuries. Many great artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, lived and worked in the city, and you can see examples of their artwork there today. Two of the most famous galleries are Galleria dell'Accademia, where you can find Michelangelo's famous sculpture, David, and the Uffizi Gallery (pictured above), where you can see The Birth of Venus by Botticelli.

Read more here!



Dubrovnik, Croatia

















Image by veeterzy from pexels.com

This medieval walled city on the Adriatic Sea, which was at one point an independent country, seems to have barely changed in hundreds of years. It's also incredibly beautiful, especially when viewed from above. I went there on a family holiday nearly ten years ago, so my memories of the place are slightly vague, and I didn't have a camera phone at the time, so I have no photos from my trip there. But I do remember really enjoying exploring the city, and I'd definitely go back there in the future.


Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay



















This picturesque town in Uruguay was at times a Spanish colony, and at other times a Portuguese colony, before becoming part of Brazil, and then finally Uruguay. It has a blend of Spanish, Portuguese and post-colonial architectural styles, and has been recognised by UNESCO for this reason. Going there and seeing its old buildings and cobblestone streets really does give you the feeling of stepping back into the past. 

Read more here!



I think it's really fascinating to learn about different periods of history and about how life was in the past, but it's even more interesting when you can actually explore history in a more literal way, by visiting historical destinations such as these.

I definitely plan to visit more historical places in the future; when I'm living in Chile again (which should be very soon!) I would like to visit the Chinchorro mummies in Arica (Edit: Saw them in June 2022!), and possibly Rapa Nui (Easter Island). I'm also planning on visiting Machu Picchu in Peru (Edit: Made it there in October 2022!), and maybe Ciudad Perdida in Colombia. The other historic sites I'd most like to go to around the world include Chichén Itzá in Mexico, Rome in Italy (Edit: Made it there in March 2024!), Athens in Greece, Petra in Jordan, and Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Hopefully, I'll have one or two to write about within the next few months!


Check out the rest of my Travel Tips here!