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Showing posts with label Mediterranean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mediterranean. Show all posts

Sunday, 20 October 2024

Country Guide: Malta

Name: Malta 

Continent: Europe

Capital City: Valletta (in Maltese: il-Belt Valletta)

Largest Town: Saint Paul's Bay (in Maltese: San Pawl il-Baħar)

Languages: Maltese and English

Currency: Euro

Drives on the: Left

Time Zones: Central European Time

Adaptor Type: Type G (same as UK!)

Description: Malta is a small island country located right in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, between Tunisia, Sicily and Libya. It is made up of three main islands: Malta (the biggest one), Gozo (a more peaceful, rural island) and Comino (the smallest one, where you can find the famous Blue Lagoon). Because of its position and the fact that it has been ruled by various groups throughout history, it has a wide variety of cultural influences.

Why You Should Visit: Malta is a great place to visit for several reasons. In the UK at least, it is mostly known as a destination to enjoy sunshine and beaches, and of course that's true, although most of its beaches are rocky rather than sandy. However, there is a lot more to discover throughout the country, including beautiful medieval citadels, such as Mdina on Malta and Cittadella on Gozo, as well as prehistoric temples that are even older than Stonehenge!

Fun Fact: Malta has no permanent rivers.


My Blogposts About Malta


UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Valletta and Megalithic Temples)
















































Clockwise starting from top left: Ta' Pinu, Gozo; Spinola Bay, St Julian's; Mdina; Valletta viewed from Sliema; Tarxien Temples; The Blue Lagoon, Comino

Check out the rest of my Country Guides here!

Sunday, 7 April 2024

Santa Severa

Generally, when Claudio and I spend longer than a few days in a particular city, we like to do at least one day trip during the holiday. And being in a Mediterranean country like Italy for a week meant that we definitely had to have a day at the beach!

I consulted a few articles online before our trip to Rome in order to get some ideas of interesting beach towns that are easy to visit in a day. Having weighed up the options, we decided that Santa Severa was the one for us - it's only an hour from Rome by train, and it has a castle (always a plus point for me)!

So halfway through our week in Rome, we went along to the train station and travelled over to this town on the Mediterranean Sea. We were a bit surprised by how deserted and unequipped for tourism the town was; the train station building was closed and there were no pavements on the roads leading towards the beach. Obviously, March is not really a month for beach weather, and the beaches in this area of the country are not famous tourist destinations in the way that beaches in the Italian Riviera, Amalfi Coast, Sicily and Sardinia are. All the same, it was surprising that the place was so quiet, but also quite fun to be somewhere that felt so off the beaten track after the previous couple of days we'd spent visiting world-famous attractions.




Our first stop was the town's castle, which was built in the 9th century. It has a nice little museum that we had pretty much to ourselves, and some fantastic views across the turquoise sea. It also has an array of lovely cats! Most of them were very friendly and we had a great time fussing over them!















We then went for a nice stroll along the town's main beach, which is where you get the best views of the castle. There were some repair works going on next to the castle, which did ruin the view slightly, but it was still a picturesque place.











We also walked through the rest of the town, which was very quiet, and stopped for a somewhat disappointing macaroni and cheese at a café.

We finished our time in Santa Severa chilling out at the tranquil beach on the other side of the castle, where Claudio did his best impression of the Little Mermaid!





But by the time we got back to Rome, we weren't quite ready to call it a night yet! So we finished our day off at Giolitti gelateria, with some of the best ice cream we've ever tasted in one of the most beautiful settings.






To conclude, it was fun to break up our holiday in Rome with a bit of time by the sea, and I'd definitely recommend Santa Severa if you like beaches, castles and cats!

The following day, we were back in full-on sightseeing mode. It was time for us to visit one of the Seven Wonders of the World!

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!