Travel Highlights Of 2016
I’ve actually just finished putting together a reflective little post to end the year on which will probably be going live some time over the weekend. Drawing upon goals I’d made in 2015 and whether or not they completely went out the window. Spoiler: I’d forgotten I’d made these goals by February BUT naturally some were ticked off. Oops. One major resolution I couldn’t have forgotten about was my desire to travel to more destinations in 2016.
2016 was my first full year outside of education, which albeit was a little scary but it also meant that I could begin my career and save more money along the way. So with that in mind, I wanted to reflect back on where the past year took me to, and, where 2017 will kick off!
1. York
It wasn’t quite NEW YORK but we had planned to spend New Years in this beautiful, historic city. However due to the awful flooding we had to cancel our trip, but we managed to postpone it to mid-January and I’m so glad we still went! I’m shocked at how little I’ve actually explored of my own country and this is definitely something I want to work on. York was stunning and we had so much fun visiting the museum (no really), climbing up to the top of the York Minster, visiting the beautiful Shambles area and of course a trip to the famous Betty’s Tea Room. We ate a lot, drank a lot and explored a lot and it was just perfect! It took us less than 2 hours to reach the city heading straight up the A1 and it’s definitely somewhere we’ll visit again.
2. Berlin
I was starting to get the travel itch again so my BFF Rosie and I booked a gals weekend to Berlin for the start of March which happened to coincide with both of our March birthdays. We spent 4 days exploring the city and made lots of memories. The 6 hour bike trip (they told us 4 ahem) around the city was something I’ll never forget and I just felt so FREE whizzing around on my big red bike. We did lots of shopping, sightseeing, laughing and then some more shopping.
3. Madrid
Charlie and I decided we wanted to get away again, so in May we booked a long weekend in Madrid. It’s not somewhere I’d ever really planned to visit but Charlie is a big fan of Spain and loves Barcelona, plus it was pretty cheap so away we went. Although Madrid didn’t share the same beauty as cities such as Rome or Paris, we both had a brilliant time and there was a great vibe there. We headed to a traditional flamenco show, enjoyed churros, visited the Bernbeau stadium (that was for Charlie obvs) and drank too many cocktails in the Hard Rock Cafe. Hoorah for happy hour!
4. Sicily – Cefalu, Vulcano & Lipari
For our summer beach holiday we decided we wanted to explore somewhere new in Italy. Neither of us had ever been to Sicily before and after a little bit of research decided that’s where we wanted to head for some extreme lounging and cocktail sipping. We booked a package deal with Thomson and apart from an absolute nightmare outbound flight (not all bad though we’re receiving some nice compensation) we landed in this beautiful part of Italy. Our hotel was on a private part of the beach and came equipped with it’s own beach bar and restaurant, what more could you need?
Although I enjoy the beach bum life, I always have an urge to explore so we took some time out from Cefalu and hopped over to two nearby islands – Vulcano and Lipari. Vulcano didn’t thrill me so much, Lipari however is simply beautiful! Well worth a day trip if you’re ever nearby.
5. Edinburgh
I had aimed for 6 trips in 2016, one every other month if possible so 5 out of 6 aint bad! I tend to always plan a Christmas getaway, and I’d toyed with the idea of going back to Copenhagen but after reading a lot about Edinburgh’s vegan food scene, I was swayed by those vegan nachos. I totally fell in love with Edinburgh, the city is beautiful, there are TONNES of restaurants, lots of vegan friendly choice and plenty to explore. I’m planning a separate post on this trip so here’s a little sneak peek for now…
Read our hotel review here
(now that’s what I’m talking about!)
So what does 2017 hold for travel?
I think this year will be my best yet! In February we’re heading to Paris, and in June we’ll be saying goodbye to the UK for a month as we embark on our dream California road trip. Saying hello to San Fransisco, LA, San Diego, Las Vegas and Yosemite to name a few. We’ve booked our camper van and our flights so now it’s just a matter of planning our itinerary. As always, I’m hoping to squeeze a few extra weekend trips in too so we’ll see what happens…
Do you have anywhere on your travel bucket list for 2017?