City Blog’s Favourite Travel Destinations

I love travelling and use any excuse to get out of my everyday rut and do something completely different for a week or two. I even love airports! I love the half-asleep, nervous, yet excited, travel-fever feel that an international airport has in the early hours of the morning. Backpackers lying spread across the cold mock-marble floors, using their luggage as pillows, families on their way to exotic holiday destinations for a week of complete relaxation, and unshaven business men waiting to get home to their loved ones. I love tax-free shopping, even if all I ever buy is oversized bags of gummy bears and chocolate covered Oreos. I love the overpriced, tiny sandwiches, which never quite satisfies you. I love every last one of the butterflies in my stomach when the plane takes off, when the captain turns off the “fasten seat-belt sign” and the moment right before the wheels hit the runway. I love every single thing about “getting there” because it all means I’m going somewhere. Because I not only love travelling, I also love coming home.

My favourite travel spot has to be one of the world’s greatest wonders: The Great Wall of China. I lived in China for five years, mainly in and around Shanghai, and if you do go to China, make sure you find your way to Beijing and take the journey to this amazing wall, which is steeped, excuse the pun, with so much history. It has been measured using advanced technologies to approximately 8,851.8 km in length. I’d also like to add, for all of those of you who claim the wall is visible from space to the human eye, that astronaut William Pogue thought he saw it from Skylab but discovered he was actually looking at the Grand Canal of China, and said that it wasn’t visible to the unaided eye. The Great Wall of China really is something to see!

It is a one of a kind city located at the Bulgarian South Coast of the Black Sea. The reason why I love Sozopol so much is because the beach is great with warm and clean water. Also, the food is amazing, and super affordable, with almost every kind of fish on restaurant menus and the local specialities are some of the best delicatessen I’ve ever tried. You can find a place to stay for as little as £5 per night, and the people are good hearted and polite and there is always something to do there. What I love the most is the history behind the city as a long, long time ago, it was a Greek city called the Great Apollonia. When you walk along the streets or go for a hike in the nearby hills, you can feel the ancient presence of different civilizations. If you decide to go, don’t miss the chance to take a boat trip around the area. If you are lucky enough to do it during a storm and a heavy rain, like me, be sure not to drink before the trip, like me, and be sure to hold on tight to the guardrail!

I have to say, of all the travelling I’ve done this year, there is one city that sticks out as a place I need to revisit. Salzburg, Austria. I only got to spend a day in this magical city, which was definitely not enough time to enjoy all it has to offer. My friends I drove from Vienna to Salzburg to take part in ‘The Sound of Music Tour’, which I highly recommend, even if you’re not a fan of the movie. The three hour tour took us outside of the Salzburg city centre into the mountains and cities in the mountains surrounding Salzburg that I might have had access to. The people were extremely friendly, and the cheese strudel was amazing. When we actually made it back to the city centre, I realised how much there was left to see, but I was out of time. There were so many side streets and restaurants I would have liked to explore, but at least know I’m encouraged to go back! The summer months get insanely busy because of the summer festival, but I’d be happy to return at any point!

A six-hour flight and a fourty-five minute transfer were well worth the final destination for my favourite ever holiday. The United Arab Emirates is split into seven emirates, Abu Dhabi and Dubai being the most famous, and Dubai being my holiday choice last year. We arrived at night and even during the twilight hours, the heat was intense, a welcome contrast to the icy conditions we had left behind in the UK. Despite being a concrete jungle, Dubai has so much to offer. From its countless malls, indoor ski world, water parks and jeep safaris, you’ll never be short of options or ideas. We selected a jeep safari across the Arab desert for an excursion and I can tell you, we did not know what to expect. What awaited us was a two-hour, hair-raising ride through the deserts navigating sand dunes and the odd camel. Despite feeling distinctly nauseous afterwards, it was definitely an enjoyable experience topped off with a meal in the desert accompanied by belly dancers and henna artists. The rest of our week was spent navigating Dubai’s impressive and plentiful malls, souks (markets), and beaches. Fortunately, we went in February when it wasn’t too hot, so we were not hindered by the heat. Dubai has something to offer for everyone and is certainly somewhere I’ll be heading back to.