Bourton-on-the-Water: The Venice of the Cotswolds

This week's outdoor outing was to a village that's been on my local travel list since last year: Bourton-on-the-Water. I'd say it's one of the top three most picturesque villages in the Cotswolds, along with Bibury and Castle Combe. As I've already blogged about Bibury (twice actually!) and Castle Combe, it seemed only right to complete the set by blogging about Bourton-on-the-Water. I've actually been there before several times in the past, but not for many years, so I almost felt like I was discovering a new place on this trip.

As the title of this post makes clear, Bourton-on-the-Water is known as the Venice of the Cotswolds. This is due to the fact that it is built over water (in this case, the River Windrush) and has several bridges dating back hundreds of years.

At one point I was standing on one of the bridges and got dive-bombed by ducks, which potentially could have been disastrous! Luckily I didn't fall into the river, and it made for a funny photo!

Bourton-on-the-Water has a few interesting museums, including the Model Village, a miniature recreation of the village. There's also a motoring museum, which is home to Brum, from the TV series of the same name! It's closed at the moment, but you can see an interesting grass-covered old car just outside.

Overall, the whole village has a very quaint, retro vibe, and is a great place to walk around.

I even noticed a small reminder of Chile while we were wandering about!

It was lovely to explore this very pretty part of the world, and then to sit outside of one of its many cafés, in the sun with a coffee. I'm really enjoying these little escapes that I'm going on with my parents every week or so; it's a great way to forget about the worries caused by Covid and life in general for a little while. 

Next week, we plan to go on another mini adventure - not quite sure where yet, but I'll be sure to write about it here shortly afterwards!

Travel Tips: My Ten Favourite Beaches

This week I had a very nice trip out with my parents to Dyrham Park, and enjoyed seeing the spring flowers there and saying hello to two lovely cats! But as I've blogged about Dyrham twice before, I decided it was time to write another Travel Tips article, this time about my favourite beaches.

I've always had a real love for the ocean, swimming, and warm, sunny weather, so it goes without saying that beaches are one of my favourite types of destination to visit. There is something very special about looking out to sea or being in the sea and remembering that the ocean stretches out across the whole planet; it is something that makes us feel connected to the rest of the world, wherever we are. So I try to visit beaches as often as I can.

Here are the ten most memorable ones I've been to so far!

Algarrobo, Chile

This seaside resort in the Valparaíso region of central Chile is a really popular holiday destination amongst santiaguinos, as it has several beautiful beaches including El Canelillo, which is surrounded by a pine forest. I first went to Algarrobo in April 2018 during my Year Abroad, but my most memorable trip there was in January 2019 with my boyfriend Claudio. We went on a boat trip round a little island just off the coast, where we saw lots of Humboldt penguins!

Read more here and here!

Brighton, England, UK

Given that Brighton's beach is both located in the UK and is made up mostly of pebbles rather than sand, it's not the best for relaxing and sunbathing. But what makes it special is that there are various interesting attractions located along its shoreline, including the iconic Palace Pier (pictured above), the British Airways i360 Viewing Tower and the Upside Down House. Claudio and I visited the vibrant city for the first time in December last year, and had a great time.

Read more here and here!

La Serena, Chile

In 2019 we went on a road trip to the Coquimbo region in the north of Chile, where we stayed in the city of La Serena. It's one of the largest cities in the country and has many interesting architectural features such as the Monumental Lighthouse, which is located on its long stretch of beach. Because of its northern location, the beach is quite a bit sunnier and warmer than the beaches near Santiago, which is a definite plus point!

Read more here!

Cannes, France

The glamorous city of Cannes in the south of France is known for its prestigious film festival. (There's a red carpet out all year round where you can take photos!) But it also has a beautiful sandy beach with warm Mediterranean water to swim in and lots of great restaurants. And when you're swimming in the sea, you have great views of the city's elaborate buildings, such as the Carlton Hotel.

Read more here!

Reñaca, Chile

This town just to the north of Viña del Mar has one of the most attractive and popular beaches in Chile. It's well known as a great destination for surfing, but it's also perfect for swimming in the sea or simply relaxing on the sand under the palm trees. 

Read more here!

Cap d'Agde, France

Cap d'Agde is another seaside resort in the south of France, but it's a lot smaller and quieter than Cannes. It's known for the natural beauty of Plage de la Grande Conque (the volcanic black sand beach pictured above) and it also has other beaches with golden sand. Be aware that part of the town is a nudist village, but the beach above and others nearby are normal beaches!

Read more here!

Bournemouth, England, UK

Bournemouth is just a couple of hours away from my home in Wiltshire, but when I went there with my parents in 2019, it felt like we were in a foreign country. The weather was hot, the sea was bright blue and warm enough to swim in, and the beach had golden sand and palm trees. Maybe we were just lucky to be there at the right moment - I'm sure it's not like that most of the year - but it definitely felt like a great alternative to taking a flight to another country.

Read more here and here!

Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

Most of the beaches on this list are by the sea, but of course beaches can also be by a lake or a river. One place with several beautiful river beaches is Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay, located on Río de la Plata, opposite Buenos Aires. It's a very idyllic place with amazing architecture, palm trees and great weather. In fact, its mix of architectural styles have earned it a place as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Read more here!

Navagio Beach, Greece

Image by Pixabay from pexels.com

When I was little, my family and I went on a couple of summer holidays to the Greek island of Zakynthos. One time we went on a boat trip to see Navagio Beach, also known as Shipwreck Beach or Smugglers Cove. The plan was that we would swim from the boat to the beach, but unfortunately the weather had other ideas. In the end, we ended up just seeing the beach from the boat while clutching onto sick bags! But I have to say it was one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen, and I can understand why travel experts have voted it as the world's best beach.

Slano, Croatia

Image by Rachel Claire from pexels.com

One of my favourite family holidays was when we went to Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina in 2012. We stayed in Slano, a village in the south of Croatia located in a bay. The hotel had a private beach which was surrounded by mountains, and I remember the views being amazing. Back then I didn't have a phone with a camera, so sadly I have no pictures of it! The photo above is of the incredible walled city of Dubrovnik, another place we visited during the holiday.

It's been really nice to compile this list of my favourite beaches, as beaches and swimming in the sea are things I've been missing recently! I can't wait until I can finally move back to Chile and visit some of the beaches there with Claudio. On my list are Zapallar (Edit: Made it there in July 2022!), Bahía Inglesa, Iquique (Edit: Made it there in April 2022!) and Arica (Edit: Made it there in June 2022!), and it would also be amazing to visit the beaches in Cartagena, Colombia and Rio, Brazil (Edit: Made it there in December 2022!) while I'm in South America. Other cities around the world with beaches I'd love to visit include Barcelona, Miami, Havana and Sydney. Hopefully soon I'll have the chance to explore another great beach, whether that's in the UK or further afield!

Check out the rest of my Travel Tips here!

Also check out my 2023 follow-up to this post here!

A Japanese Experience at Batsford Arboretum

Last month I was in a garden centre with my parents and found myself browsing the rack of leaflets for local travel inspiration. Covid restrictions have meant that I'm going to be stuck living in my family home for at least another couple of months, so I want to try to make the best of the situation by exploring as many interesting nearby places as possible. One thing that I've enjoyed doing is looking for local places that can give you the feeling of being abroad, as it's frustrating to not be allowed to travel outside of the country! And I particularly like visiting places that are reminiscent of countries I've never been to before and which I want to go to in the future.

So when I saw a leaflet for Batsford Arboretum, I was instantly intrigued; the pictures showed cherry blossoms, Japanese bridges, a Japanese style house and a statue of the Buddha. Japan is a country I'd love to visit (I'd previously enjoyed seeing the Japanese gardens in Santiago and Buenos Aires), and visiting the arboretum seemed like a great opportunity to experience a tiny bit of its culture, just a short distance away from where we live.

My parents were also keen to go, and so on Thursday we made the journey to Batsford in the north of Gloucestershire. Unfortunately, there were traffic problems, and we had to take a longer route. But on the positive side, that meant we got to pass through many of the prettiest villages and towns in the Cotswolds, including Barnsley, Bibury, Burford, Stow-on-the-Wold and Moreton-in-Marsh.

When we arrived, it was time for tea! Matcha lattes and mochi weren't on offer, but I did have a nice vegan chocolate cake and an English Breakfast tea with soya milk.

And then we explored the arboretum! It was a relatively warm and sunny day, which made all the trees and flowers look very pretty. In addition to the plants, the arboretum had plenty of (mostly Japanese) décor, including at least three little red bridges over streams.

We also saw several East Asian inspired statues dotted about, namely a Buddha, two Japanese deer and something called a foo dog, also known as a Chinese guardian lion. (Highfields Park in Nottingham has two of them, and I saw a couple of them in Chinatown too.)

My favourite part of the garden was the Japanese Rest House. It made me feel like I'd walked into a Studio Ghibli movie.

There was another house nearby - a more European-looking fairytale cottage.

Of course, it was also great to see the national collection of Japanese cherry blossom (sakura) trees that the arboretum has. In Japan, there's a tradition called Hanami, where people go to view the blossom every year. It was nice to experience something similar here in England!

In addition, Batsford has other impressive varieties of plants from around the world, including magnolia trees and giant Californian redwoods.

After our walk around the arboretum and a browse in the gift shop, it was time to go back to the car. But before leaving, we said hello to a cute goat and donkey who live near the car park!

Overall, our trip to Batsford Arboretum was a brilliant day out and it felt like a real escape from the routine of everyday life in this current era. It was interesting to visit another local place inspired by a foreign country, following our trip to the Dutch-style Westbury Court Garden earlier this month. There are still a couple of pseudo-foreign local destinations on my to-visit list, and one day I plan to put together a blog post on this topic. (Edit: I finally wrote this post, and here it is!)

Next week our outdoor outing will be to Dyrham Park, a place I've already blogged about twice (in August and in December). So it won't be necessary to write about it again! But I'll be posting soon about another topic!