Destination: New York, USA

The reason why New York is a super popular touristic destination is because it’s such a diverse city and it has something for everyone. More than one person told me before I went “Oh, you’ll love it! It’s my favourite city!” So what makes it so loved? New York is definitely impressive. All the famous … Read more

Destination: Valencia, Spain

Next up on our list of top holiday destinations is Valencia – here’s Ioana to explain how the Spanish city captured her heart… The fact that it’s not one of the top touristic destinations in Spain, had me not really knowing what to expect of Valencia. Of course, I was looking forward to amazing paella, sunny … Read more

You never know until you try…

More years ago than I care to remember, I did a degree in Hispanic Studies at the University of Nottingham. I loved the course, but there was one part of it that filled me with terror from the very first day. The Year Abroad. This is a pretty standard element of a modern languages degree – … Read more

A couple of days in Berlin

After volunteering in a hostel in Riga for six weeks, I decided to take the long way home via a series of overnight buses. With everyone raving about how beautiful a city Berlin is, I decided to make it my next stop on my journey home. It is easy to see why people like it … Read more

10 reasons to visit… Venice

We’ve all seen the Italian city of Venice in the movies, but does it live up to its reputation as one of Europe’s most beautiful and historic cities? Amy says yes; here are her ten reasons to check out Venice for yourself. 1. Boats I think this has to be a very obvious point, as … Read more

A trip to Riga

At the risk of sounding like a Eurovision host… greetings from Latvia! I don’t have the sparkly outfit or the slightly dodgy English accent (although some may disagree with that), nor am I looking for my five minutes of fame. So perhaps less Eurovision host, more lazy wanderer. I find myself in the beautiful city … Read more

10 reasons to visit… Stockholm

When I first started planning my trip to Stockholm, I didn’t know exactly what to expect. I’d heard from everyone that went there that it’s a beautiful place, but had no specifics so I thought I’d do a bit of research – I’m an avid planner so I enjoyed the planning of the trip every … Read more

10 reasons to visit… Barcelona

A couple of months ago, I visited Barcelona in north-east Spain. The city has something for everyone – history, architecture, beach and mountains. We were only there a few days – and on a bit of a budget – but we had great weather, and managed to explore the majority of this amazing city on … Read more

10 reasons to visit… Algiers

I must admit that Algeria does not feature highly among people’s bucket list destinations. While most tourists visiting the region flock to Egypt or Tunisia, Algeria is still very much off the beaten track. Nor does it help that it  has attracted a rather bad press over the last year or so:  much of the … Read more

10 reasons to visit… Bruges

Have you ever visited a city that managed to change your mind? I visited Bruges earlier this year. Unfortunately, I’d accidentally timed my visit to coincide with the enthusiastically named ‘Amateur Arts Festival’, and consequently spent Saturday night with tissues rammed in my ears and arms clenching pillows to my head, as my hotel room … Read more