My Favourite Places

Hello everyone! I hope you're having a good day, I certainly am- I finished my exams on Monday and now have a two week break, happy days! I figured I should start posting more than once a week but I simply don't read enough books to update with a book review twice a week. So, as a compromise, I'm going to trial doing a 'lifestyle' post every Wednesday. As I said this is only a trial so if you don't like the new posts then just comment and I'll go back to regular old book blogging. I was kinda stuck for a first post to do, as I didn't want to rip off another blogs recipe or craft idea so for this week I'm going to do a travel related post. Basically this is a list of my favourite places in the whole wide world, I've been relatively vague, as there's no point describing my favourite beauty spot in a rural Scottish town as you'll have no clue what I'm on about. So let's get started;

1. Perth, Scotland

Now I realize that the current hipster rule book requires you to regularly complain about how rubbish your home town is and how you cannot wait to escape to the dizzy heights of New York or Paris, but I absolutely adore where I live. Okay, so it's not exactly Wisteria Lane, and it certainly has it's.. less desirable areas, but as a whole Perth is pretty picturesque. 

Perth is kinda small, despite recently having received city status, with a population of around 40,000, but it used to be a big trade city due to the big river that runs through the middle, the river Tay. From the point of view of the picture above, the town is to the left of the river and to the right are housing areas, parks, and roads going out North and South of the town. Basically, compared to some areas of Scotland, Perth is not too bad, and I certainly never want to be too far away from here when I grow up. 

2. Orlando, Florida

Anyone whose ever been to Orlando will tell you that it is the absolute best holiday destination, in the entire world. No matter how old you are, there is something majorly cool about Disneyworld, and when I was lucky enough to go in 2011, the 5 year old in me was freaking out (and, let's be honest, the 14 year old was freaking out too.) It's definitely not cheap, but for a relatively small and accessible area, there are a million and one things to do. 

We went for two weeks and managed to fit in all four Disney parks (Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom) plus the two Universal Parks (Islands of Adventures and Universal Studios) as well as a water park. 

However there are hundreds of other famous attraction like Wet and Wild, Cirque du Soleil and Seaworld. The shopping is unbelievable too, with several massive malls within a short drive of the theme parks too. I probably sound like I'm being paid to sell this place to you, but I don't need too, there's something for absolutely everyone, and if you can afford it- then go. 

3. Rome/Sorrento, Italy 

Yes, I know this is two places, but they needed to be a joint choice as I visited both during a week long school trip last year. I can honestly say that travelling a foreign country with people who aren't your family makes for the best trips. We traveled to Rome and stayed there for several days before bus-ing our way to Sorrento, a town near Naples, and a short drive from both Vesuvius and Pompeii. 

Firstly, Rome is wonderful, it is definitely not the prettiest of cities and it's rather bizarre as you are able to go from walking through a crowded city street to standing in front of the Colosseum within a minute. The sites are beautiful and relatively easily accessible, we managed to do a walking whistle stop tour which took us across Rome to the edge of the Vatican, and back again within one day. The Colosseum is magnificent and slightly surreal, the Pantheon is beautiful and my absolute favourite, the view from the top of St Peter's Basilica, as seen above, is breathtaking. 

However, despite the historical wonder of Rome, I felt that the seaside town of Sorrento was my favourite part of the trip. We stayed in a small town called Vico Equense, a short trains journey from Sorrento and we were within a train ride from some of the most famous areas of Italy, as well as the aforementioned Vesuvius and Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples were easily accessible. The town itself was beautiful and had many small traditional Italian shops, so both the shopper and the historian in me were extremely satisfied.   

4. Nerja, Spain 

Nerja is perhaps the least interesting of my foreign choices however if you are looking for a city to go for a family holiday or perhaps a couples retreat, this is by far my favourite place. The only foreign area my family and I have visited twice, Nerja is in the South of Spain, about an hours drive from Malaga airport. 

There are several historical areas of Nerja and they are famed for the beautiful caves near the city which are well worth a visit, as long as you don't mind the feeling of being underground. However the main factor that makes Nerja appeal to me is that it is the perfect Spanish city for a family holiday, the city itself contains hundreds of hotels, apartments and self-catering villas and the surrounding areas are filled with small ocean towns and villages. The city is about an hour from Granada, and if you're up for a longer trip, about two hours from Gibraltar. As a teenager, I love it, and my younger sister adores it too, if it wasn't for my desire to see as much of the world in as short as time as possible, I would be perfectly happy staying in Nerja year after year. Financially, it's not as dear as many other Spanish cities and towns too. 

5. Tomich, Scotland

My last, and most favourite choice, is a little closer to home, nestled in the North of Scotland, north of Loch Ness and about an hour South-West of Inverness, lies the tiny town of Tomich. 

Tiny is a bit of an understatement really, as the town has a population of under 100 and really consists of a hotel and a self-catering lodge resort. The lodge resort is where I have spent several extremely happy holidays with my family and it is, in my opinion, the most beautiful area in Scotland (if you get the weather!!) 

Basically, you need a car, but once you have the ability to travel there are hundreds of things to see within an hours drive. To start off with, there are the ruins of the old Guisachan House, as well as Plodda Falls and several other waterfalls and natural beauty spots within 15 minutes. The resort and hotel themselves are wonderful, and if you go in the Summer or early Autumn then the lodge resort, 'Tomich Holidays' has a pool which guests can use. 

As mentioned before, Inverness is near enough and who doesn't love a visit to the (many) Loch Ness Monster attractions in nearby Drumnadrochit (drum-na-draw-kit.) The pictures above are my own, taken in March this year on an iPhone, so you don't need high tech equipment to see the beauty of the area. Tomich is a place very close to my heart and is somewhere I intend on taking children of my own one day too.  

Phew! Finished, hope you guys enjoyed this- and as I mentioned at the start, I'll be back with a book post this weekend. If you enjoyed this then give me a follow or +1 this on Google (if anyone uses that!) and feel free to give me a comment saying hey! 

Rachel x