Europe Travel – Tyler's Travel Tales

Finland | 3 days in Helsinki, a beautiful arctic edge getaway 🇫🇮

Helsinki has everything you could need, from wandering on beautiful beaches, to the stunning architecture & getting lost on a historic fortress island

Setting the scene

The conclusion of my EU trip was Finland. Having been in Tallin previously (you can read the post here), I made my way onto the Ferry into Helsinki. Way back in my university days when I had a full head of hair & weighed about 30KGs less, I visited Lahti. There was supposed to be a weekend trip out to Helsinki, but I’d overindulged in the Salmiakki shots & missed the tour bus. Ever since, I have aspired to visit Helsinki & by chance I met 2 awesome Finnish people in Alicante in February. I was able to practice some of my Finnish speaking with them, which subsequently got me excited to visit, so I booked it up & hit the road. This article will cover places to eat & drink, getting around, money & where to visit. Alongside a customary tale or two, including a calamitous attempt at charming over a local in a karaoke bar!

About Helsinki…

Helsinki is an interesting city with a unique history. Originally founded by Sweden’s King Gustav in 1550, it was supposed to serve as competition to the sea trading dominance of Reval (Modern Day Estonia). However, for the first 100-150 years it struggled, so was relocated to it’s current location in 1640. Then from 1748 to around the 1770’s the Soumenlinna fortress was built to defend Helsinki against Russian expansion.

In the early 1800’s in the Finnish war, the Russians took over, with Finland becoming an autonomous region in the empire. Towards the latter decades of the 1800’s Finland went through rapid growth in industrialisation etc. By 1917 Finland became independent from Russia but ended up in a civil war by 1918. During 1939-1944, Finland was attacked by Russia again, but the country wasn’t flattened due to effective air defences. In the 1950’s they hosted the summer Olympics (which is something of an oxymoron considering how cold it can be there). Since then they have been growing rapidly in terms of culture, politics & business. I owe a large part of my childhood to the Fins, they gave us the bulletproof Nokia phones & I spent many a nights playing snake on my 3310. I was still using my Nokia when my friends were onto their first, second & third I-phones 😂.

Some photos of the trip… 🤳🏼

Soumenlinna fortress
Helsinki Port
Russian Cathedral
Sunset at the beach
Esplanadi way
Meal from Zetor
Soumenlinna fortress
The scene of my heartbreak
Ferry into Helsinki
Disastrous meal from food market
Lost in Soumenlinna fortress

Story time 📚

The backdrop to this story, as you can imagine, is a bar with cheap (well cheap for Helsinki) beers. It was an epic little karaoke bar, which only had around 15 people inside. There was a group of ladies, I think 7 or 8 of them taking turns at the singing. I love listening to songs in other languages & having no clue what is going on. One of the ladies absolutely smashed the karaoke, she was really cool, cute & quirky. Whenever you ask a married couple how they met, they often have funny & unusual stories, well why couldn’t it be me & the Finnish pop star to be? Rocking up to a group of girls when you only know about 25 words in the language & you are on your own is nerve racking & you also don’t want to look creepy! I am a big believer in that all it takes is 10 seconds of courage & you miss all of the shots you don’t take. In hindsight, It would have been preferable to have sat this one out 😂

The 10 seconds felt like a lifetime! I just went for it, “Moi, mitta kulu?” (That spelling is definitely incorrect but it means hi how are you). Standard intro really, then I didn’t get given my marching orders so moved onto stage 2 of Scottish charm & said “Mina Olet Kaunis”, to which she replied in English “No you are not”. It was like someone had shot a bolt through my heart, it took me a couple of seconds to realise what she meant. I hadn’t practiced my Finnish in a long time, I always get mixed up with mina olet & sina olet (You are/I am). Kaunis means pretty/beautiful. I had tried to say she was beautiful, but accidentally told her I was beautiful. She didn’t see the funny side of the language error on my part 🤭. It was going so well up until that point. Never in my life have I so desperately wanted the ground to swallow me up whole & fade into a perpetual state of obscurity.

There are free walking based tours, of course you should tip if you can, but they run regularly & are well worth joining. However, make sure you join one in your language. I joined one & the guy started talking Spanish, I tried to keep up. However, whilst Duolingo is a useful tool to learn some basic Spanish, It hasn’t equipped me with the skills to follow a tour. I didn’t want to interrupt the guy while he was speaking, so slyly slipped off at the first chance I got. I then googled it & there was an English one running from the same place a couple of hours later. Subsequently, I returned, low & behold it was the same tour guy! He asked me why I bailed & then we had a good chuckle once I explained to him the error of my ways 😂.

Useful tourist site information & costs🧑🏼‍🎓

Soumenlinna has to be top & centre of your travel itinerary. It is an old sea fortress covering several islands, boasting museums & fortifications you can visit. Aside from this, it has the most stunning scenery & topography for you to walk around. There are a couple of shops, cafes & a small amount of people live there now, so whilst it is remote, please be respectful to the inhabitants when taking photos etc. You get there by boat from the South Harbour, they run very regularly & cost around 3 euros. You can just pay for the ferry at the machine when you get there, don’t let a tour company rip you off. The island itself is free to enter. I would definitely suggest taking a map or a photo of a map, it’s easy to get lost which definitely didn’t happen to me (cough cough).

Other places I would recommend are the Rock Church, Uspenski Cathedral, Helsinki Cathedral, Old market hall & Esplanadi park. You can go swimming at one of the saunas but I didn’t get much free time & they were expensive from what I had seen.

Whilst it isn’t a site you might find on a tourist map, I would strongly recommend Hietaranta Beach to watch the sunset. On my first night I spent a couple of hours there just relaxing & taking in the scenery. It has a very special place in my heart!

Where to eat & drink 🍻🍽️

It’s important to note that food & drinks in Helsinki are expensive compared to some European countries. I thought I would crack the code & get something cheap from the food market in South Harbour. Do not do this, the food was an absolute tragedy & it wasn’t all that much cheaper 😂. If you want to try Finnish dishes I would recommend the Zetor, the food was great but a little pricey. I got a really nice reindeer starter & stew main, with a beer for about 50-60 euros.

For a beer, the best place I found that wasn’t too expensive was Eerikin Kulma in Kamppi district. A local beer was about 5.50 euros, although the locals call it reindeer wee, I quite liked it. They have karaoke in that bar, it is also the scene of my failed love escapade.

A lot of restaurants do lunch buffets at around 15 euros, there are several in Kamppi district. This is a great option if you do not want to break the bank & get a decent meal to set you up for the day. The best one I found while there was Kimchi BBQ Asian Buffet.

Getting about

Helsinki is pretty flat, so easy to walk everywhere. However, they have excellent public transport, the trains, trams & buses go everywhere. They also have Uber & if you want to visit the Suomenlinna fortress you have to take the boat, it operates in pretty much the same way that a bus does, it just goes back & forward on the one route.

Within Helsinki everywhere is in walking distance, the cycle lanes etc are great too, so you could always rent a bike. If arriving by ferry it’s about 30 minute walk to city centre, if arriving by flight you can easily get a train into the centre of Helsinki.

Where to stay 🏨

The hotel I stayed in wasn’t fantastic (which is me being diplomatic) so I am not going to recommend it. However, the area was lovely, easy to get to from the train station or port, with plenty of bars & restaurants. The area is called Kamppi district & there were lots of hotels I spotted that looked good.

What is coming next? 🤔

My next post will be about Croatia, which was one of my favourite solo trips ever. I tried to swim to an island, lost most of my stuff & made a nuisance of myself in a bar by telling everyone a local fighter had won in the UFC match, which he didn’t. It also have me the opportunity to go into Bosnia & visit a couple of places there.

Hit subscribe to get notified when the next post goes live, thanks for reading through & as always, if you have any questions drop me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as possible ❤️

Estonia | My essential guide to the most stunning places you need to see in Tallinn! 🇪🇪

Wandering through a stunning medieval town & drinking far too many beers, the perfect European getaway!

Setting the scene

My mini Euro trip brought me from Riga into Tallin, Estonia. Tallinn old town is absolutely stunning, lots of big movies have been shot there, however I am surprised it isn’t the go to place for period dramas & films of that genre. I spent an entire day just walking around looking at buildings, it is that beautiful! This guide will cover everything from places to visit, getting around, costs & where to eat / drink.

About Tallinn..

As with Latvia, the recent modern history of Estonia has been brutal. In 1870 the Baltic railway officially opened, leading to an economic boom through rapid industrial growth, with tracks into Russian. By the early 1900’s there was a major revolution across the Russian empire against limited political freedom & awful working conditions. Although this was quelled by Russia, it laid the ground work for the freedom movement & eventually in 1918 Estonia became independent, with Tallinn becoming the capital.

In 1940, the USSR occupied Estonia, however this didn’t last long as the Germans took over from 1941-1944 throughout the second world war. By 1944 the Soviet forces re-took Estonia where they would remain for almost 50 years. Interestingly Tallinn hosted some sailing events from the 1980 Moscow summer Olympics. Leading up to 1991 there were many protests against the Soviet occupiers & in 1991 Estonia regained it’s independence. They have been building ever since, the capital is truly stunning. The people are the most welcoming & friendly I have ever had the good fortune to meet. Although, if I do have any beef with Estonia, it’s that Skype was invented there & I still have nightmares of the pinging sound at work every 2 minutes 😂

Some photos of the trip… 🤳🏼

Fortifications
Church tower
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
Outside of maritime museum
My arch nemesis, Mulgipuder
Scottish Bar!
Bastion tunnel passageways
Inside of submarine at Seaplane Harbour
The coolest Polar bear showing off
Round tower in Old Town
Food from Balti Jaam Market
Estonian open air museum
Random church building

Story time 📚

Whilst I was wandering around the old town, mesmerised by the architecture & beauty of it, I stumbled upon a Scottish bar. My initial premonition was that it would be similar to when you see an Irish bar abroad, Irish in name only. I had a jam packed itinerary the next day so wasn’t planning on indulging in any beers, however stumbling upon this hidden gem was surely a sign? It is called Highlander Scottish pub & it is actually really cool, well worth checking out. As is standard practice, I was wearing my kilt, leading to the staff throwing free drinks at me. Subsequently it was not a quiet night, leading me onto a magical mystery tour of an evening.

I ended up meeting a gent from the Estonian Eurovision band, I have since listened to their song & it is very catchy. If you search for 5MIINUST x Puuluup on YouTube, you will find it. No idea what the song is about , but the guy & his Finnish friends were lovely people. After a few beers I was feeling a boogie down the discos, so went off into another bar & ended up meeting the Estonian rugby team (didn’t even know they had rugby there 😂). It ended up being a 3am karaoke bar job, sightseeing was a struggle in the morning! The Estonian people really made this trip special & I hope to see them again some day soon.

Just outside of the city there is a place called the Estonian open air museum & it is a wonderful hidden gem. I highly recommend a visit there & they have an old cafe inside the grounds. I am incredibly blessed & humble to have seen a few countries around the world & I will always try to find some local food recipes or dishes. One of the rugby lads had advised against this for Estonian food, I wish I had taken his advice. In the cafe they had a dish called Mulgipuder, I am glad I tried it, but it was absolutely savage, on par with Scotland’s level of culinary expertise. The server was a lovely lady & came to ask me what I thought of it, I didn’t have the heart to say, so just told her it was great & I would be having more before leaving Estonia. Sadly however, a full stomach is never guaranteed for a lot of people around the world, so I always finish my food with gratitude. Although, I certainly won’t be in a hurry to get it again, finishing it was a tough effort!

Useful tourist site information & costs🧑🏼‍🎓

The cost of visiting a couple of tourist sites & paying individually adds up really quickly, especially as there are so many places to see. I would highly recommend buying the Tallinn card, you can get it online or buy it from the tourist information centre which is right in the heart of Old town. The Tourist centre is better than online, as they hand out booklets with all of the sites you can visit, but when I checked online it did not have as many places as the booklet. (As of September ’25) It cost 43Euros of for 24 hours, 63Euros for 48 hours & 76Euros for 72 hours. Whilst that may sound expensive, some of the sites are almost 20Euros individually.

You can maximise the value of the card if you plan ahead. A decent strategy if you only want to pay for one day, is to buy it around 12/1pm, spend the whole afternoon / evening going round as many of the sites in Old town as you can & then getting up early the next day to visit a couple of places. Then if you pick one of the big attractions last, as long as you are in before the 24 hours elapses, you still get to stay in. You can do the Seaplane Harbour museum, Open air museum & Zoo this way as they are all within relatively close distance to each other.

I did not visit every place on the card, however places that you definitely should visit are the 3 mentioned above. All included in the card & worth seeing are the KGB holding Cells, Estonian Maritime Museum (Different from Seaplane), Bastion Passages, St Olav’s Church observation platform, Kiek in de kok fortifications & the Estonian History Museum – Great Guild Hall. There are several Holy buildings worth stopping by as they are really beautiful but also have high towers where you get great views of the town. They are Church of the Holy spirit, The Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin & the Bell Tower, Niguliste Museum & Viewing Platform

Getting about

If you are staying in Old town, everything is within walking distance. However if you are outside of Old town, the cheapest & easiest way to get around is Uber. The prices were comparable to Egypt, incredibly cheap. A 15/20 minute journey was around £7/£8, so really easy for getting around.

Whilst I came in on bus, the airport isn’t far out from the city either, so getting an Uber wouldn’t be too expensive. There are lots of buses & trains, which look very modern so that is an option too.

Where to stay 🏨

Standard caveats apply here, I am not making any commission or anything like that from this recommendation (however, if in the unlikely event that the manager sees this & wants to offer me a free stay, I am on the next flight there 😂). I stayed in MyApartments Kotka you can find it here. If you read my blog regularly you will see I don’t always recommend places to stay, as I usually opt for cheap hell holes. However, these apartments were beautiful, I think it’s newly built. They have a small kitchen & washing machine too, so if you are stopping for a few days this really helps. It’s on the outskirts of the old town, under 10 minutes Uber into the centre. I paid around £110 for 4 days.

Where to eat & drink 🍻🍽️

For food I would recommend the cafe inside the open air museum, however don’t get Mulgipuder 😂. There is an epic market called Balti Jaam, where they have all sorts of food & drink stalls etc. I got some amazing food there, dumplings & some Borscht soup 😍. Old town has a restaurant called Olde Hansa, it has an old Viking theme feel to it. Whilst it is a little expensive, it is worth the experience & the food is really on point. There are lots of little bars that are worth visiting too. Moutai is a cute Asian place, which is quite cheap compared to other bars. There are a few Irish bars that aren’t actually Irish, but the fun locals hang out there. Whether you are a Depeche Mode fan or not, there is a tribute bar to them, it was voted inside the top 10 weirdest bars in the world on some magazine. They only play Depeche Mode music & they have all kinds of memorabilia there. The drinks aren’t cheap (7-8 euros a beer), but it’s worth stopping by for a couple.

Gruuv bar is really cool, they have decent drinks specials on so it isn’t expensive. There is also karaoke on some nights & people there really go for it! Tallinn is quite popular with international post graduate students & this bar is popular with them, so you can meet people from all over the world there. I met so many cool people that I still keep in touch with now 😊

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be posting about Finland, which was a short hop skip & a jump over the Baltic Sea! I can speak a little Finnish, but nowhere near as much as I thought, leading to a calamitous attempt at charming over a Finnish girl, you won’t want to miss this one. I am currently in 2026 planning mode & I would love to take any trip recommendations, if I can get there by bus, boat, train or plane, I will go🤠

Hit subscribe to get notified when the next post goes live, thanks for reading through & as always, if you have any questions drop me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as possible ❤️

Riga, Latvia | A beautiful city, with a brutal history 🇱🇻

A weekend in Riga, immersed in stunning architecture & losing myself in the history of the 20th century. An important lesson in the human condition, both good & bad

Setting the scene

I was incredibly fortunate to have a couple of weeks off work & some funds saved up to travel around Europe. Starting in Krakow, I worked my way up to Riga, through into Tallin & then ending up in Helsinki. I was particularly interested in modern Latvian & Soviet history. Having previously read the Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, I knew that some of the historical & cultural elements of this trip would be deeply unsettling. However, I have a strong conviction that it’s important to understand the lessons of the past.

About Riga..

Riga is the capital of Latvia & is a stunning city, pre world war 1 it was one of Europe’s Art Nouveau capitals for several years. It is full of colourful buildings with unique architecture. The Old Town is packed with bendy streets, trendy bars & amazing restaurants. You can do everything from gun shooting, to archery, to canal boat rides or spend a day lost in history visiting the plethora of Museums. Judging Riga purely on it’s aesthetic, you couldn’t begin to imagine how brutal & savage some of the last 125-150 years have been for the Latvian people. If I had to sum them up in one word it would be resilient.

During WW1 Riga was occupied by the Germans, in 1918 Riga became the capital of the newly independent Latvia. However, this was short lived as the Soviets annexed it in 1940, only to be “liberated” shortly after by the Nazi’s. Post WW2, the Soviets occupied Riga once more. For a few years, Riga went through a massive period of industrial growth becoming a key hub of the Soviet union. However, this wouldn’t last & the soviets ruled with an iron grip, leading to some truly harrowing times. In 1989 the Latvian people took part in the “Baltic Way” protest, forming a human chain interlinking arms with people from Estonia & Lithuania charting a route of 600+km demanding freedom from the Soviets. In 1991, Latvia became an independent country again. If you travel outside of the city centre, you can still see a lot of the old Soviet architecture. We often tend to think of history as being some distant relic from the past, but the lessons are more important today than ever.

Story time 📚

Whilst I hesitate to describe it as a tourist attraction, the Cornerhouse was one of the most important stops in my visit. It is the old KGB headquarters, the building itself has not been touched & remains now how it always was. Some of these other places of that nature have been turned into big exhibitions or actual museums. Keeping the building in the same state that it was previously, gives you a profound appreciation for just how haunting life was for anyone imprisoned there. You go into the interrogation rooms, prison cells, dungeons & walkways / kitchens. There was a certain moral quandary about posting the photos from this place & whether it is appropriate on a blog. However, pretending evil doesn’t exist doesn’t do justice to the people who had or continue to live in such circumstances. It’s important to remember, that if you live in a relatively ‘free’ country, you are very fortunate, freedom is never guaranteed.

Given that you are walking through decades of torture & anguish, the mood inside this place is very sombre. The tour guide did an incredible job of finding the right balance of tone & it certainly isn’t a place where you would go & find something funny. There was a small tour group of around 12 people & the guide directed us through into the interrogation room, I was straggling along at the back of the group. A lot of the rooms & walkways have limited lighting. On route to the room, I saw a side door that was completely dark inside, with some trepidation I wanted to pop my head in the door to see what was inside. The tour guide had went in there behind the door to let everyone past into the interrogation room. However there was no lights in that room, it was quiet & the guide was dressed all in black. I crept in behind the door & bumped into the guide, almost face to face, any closer & I would have kissed him. The building was eerie enough, but I really got the fright of my life & let out a wild tumultuous squeak. The gent laughed it off, I felt a bit disrespectful for laughing in such a place, but thankfully it wasn’t taken in bad faith.

In Latvia they have a recycling scheme where if you return bottles & cans to a store you can get money. Prior to my arrival I was oblivious to this & was wandering down a dark alleyway, not for any nefarious reason, I just love to walk through neighbourhoods & get a feel for the place rather than sticking to tourist areas. There were some massive wheely bins on this quiet street & some guy jumped out of one of the bins, I almost passed out from the fright. However, I later came to realise that he was looking for things to recycle & he wasn’t trying to kidnap me. I think that is a great scheme, it keeps trash off the streets, improves recycling & helps people to earn some money 😊

In the shadows of St Peters Church, a stunning building with incredible views of the city, you will find an archery stand where you can fire about 12 arrows for 8 euros. I desperately wanted to partake as it looked great fun. However, there was a group of drunken lads fannying around (excuse my French, I couldn’t think of any other appropriate description) with the bows, pointing the arrows at each other & just generally being a nuisance. Absolutely an accident waiting to happen, so I decided against it 😂. If you have ever done the archery, let me know, at least that way I can live vicariously through you. I have posted some additional photos & videos to my Instagram here.

Some photos of the trip… 🤳🏼

St Peters Church
Riga sign
Latvian War Museum
Beautiful Church door
Awesome Latvian sausages 😍
Narrow back streets
Archery antagonists
Cornerhouse KGB Headquarters
Cornerhouse KGB Headquarters
Cornerhouse KGB Headquarters
Cornerhouse KGB Headquarters
Cornerhouse KGB Headquarters

Where to eat & drink? 🍻🍽️

If you want to try some Latvian food in the city centre I would recommend going to the restaurant Golden Coffee – Kungu iela 7/9 Riga 1050. The food here was really good (photo above) & it wasn’t too expensive for the location. It is right beside St Peters Church, it cost me around 19 euros for a large bottle of water & a great main course. It is a little strange when you go in though as you can just sit anywhere & order on the QR code on your phone, but it isn’t inherently obvious that’s what you’re supposed to do.

I didn’t go for a beer, so can’t recommend any bars, however what I did notice was that a lot of bars had different happy hour times. Therefor you could just bounce between different bars to take advantage, Riga wasn’t cheap so it’s best to keep an eye on the purse strings.

Useful information 🧑🏼‍🎓

Public transport around Riga looked pretty decent, although everything is quite central so I walked everywhere. I stayed a little further out, so got to experience some of the older buildings etc. They do not have Uber but do have Bolt, so something to be wary of. The airport is quite far out, you can easily get a taxi there, or just pre book on booking.com. I find this the most useful way, although it can be a little more expensive, the driver is there waiting for you & you know the price in advance.

Whist it was a harrowing experience, I would recommend visiting the Cornerhouse KGB headquarters. It is shocking to learn what depths of evil people are capable of, given the circumstances & what happened there was brutal. There are no amount of superlatives that do any justice to how unsettling the experience is & must have been for anyone living in those times. However, you leave with a heartfelt reverence for the resilience of the Latvian people. Other places that must be on your visit, the Latvian War Museum, St Peter’s Church, Vecriga, Central Market, House of the Blackheads, Townhall Square, a boat tour & the Freedom monument.

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be posting about Estonia, where I ended up hanging out with the National rugby team & the Eurovision band, it’s quite the story! I am currently in 2026 planning mode & I would love to take any trip recommendations, if I can get there by bus, boat, train or plane, I will go🤠

Hit subscribe to get notified when the next post goes live, thanks for reading through & as always, if you have any questions drop me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as possible ❤️

Elche | A must visit when in Alicante! 🦕

Amazing tapas & a near disaster catching flight home!

Setting the scene

The conclusion of my Alicante region tour brought me to Elche for a day trip. I wanted to find somewhere awesome to spend my last day & Elche definitely delivered the goods! The town has a cool history, there are ruins of an ancient Synagogue & over the centuries it has had Roman, Greek, Byzantine & Goth (Germanic people) rulers.

Modern Day Elche

Elche is the third most populated city within the region & quite big compared to some of the other towns I visited.

You can visit the world heritage site – Palm Grove, the stunning Basilica de Santa Maria, Museo Paleontológico (cool dinosaur museum), Palau dels Altamira, Elche museum, beautiful parks & Huerto del Cura (one of the most impressive botanical gardens I have ever seen).

Story time 📔

Never trust Google when it comes to small local bus routes! I had planned the day trip meticulously, if you have read previous posts from me you will know I haven’t done this well in the past. For this trip, I knew where I was going, how long I was spending there & my travel plans between sites.

My whole day was going exactly to plan, I found all of the sites without issue & even found an amazing little spot for tapas. With a full belly & slightly merry from the lunch time beers, I made my way to the bus stop to head back to the airport, which according to Google was a 30/40 minute journey.

A few buses had passed but none of them were the airport bus, I started to worry ever so slightly. So I jumped onto the next couple of buses that came & tried to ask the driver where the ‘aeropuerto autobus’ was. I can speak basic Duolingo Spanish, I cannot speak rapido Elche Bus Driver Catalan language, but I quickly came to realise there was no airport bus coming to save me. I still had a couple of hours until wheels up, no need to panic.

I looked to get an Uber, turns out there were no Ubers or street taxis, the heart rate starts to increase apace! I had however remembered that on the way to Elche I passed the airport on the train, I could just get the train back & get off at the stop closest to the airport. I had to run my fat ass back to the train station to catch a train to Torrellano (which was the closest to the airport).

Once I got to Torrellano, thinking surely I could find a taxi to the train station, alas I was wrong. I also couldn’t pin point myself on Google maps, or see any airport or planes in air, so I had to make a best guess judgement & decided on a road. My thinking was it looked like the sort of road that would take me to the airport. After around 40 minutes walking (with my luggage I might add), I saw a sign on the roadside saying aeropuerto & I have never wanted to kiss a road sign so much in my life! I made the flight home, all is well that ends well.

Photos from the trip 📸

Basilica De Santa Maria
Huerto del Cura
Palau dels Altamira
Parc Municipal
I am saved!!!
Basilica De Santa Maria
Street Art
Huerto del Cura
Basilica De Santa Maria
Basilica De Santa Maria
Beside Palau dels Altamira
Parc Municipal
Random Holy Building
Random Street
Dinosaur Museum

Where to eat?

Jam on toast & fish 😂
Calamari
Patatas Bravas

I highly recommend “Restaurante + Que Tapas”. They haven’t paid me for this post, but if the manager sees this & wants to offer me some free tapas, sign me up 😍

They do great Tapas, beers & the place has a chilled out vibe! Be careful what you order if your Spanish isn’t great, I ended up with Jam on toast with cold fish 😂. Either it’s a delicacy or I made a tit of the order (more than likely the latter!)

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be posting about my trip out to Bruges & Brussels. From there I will be posting travel guides for some domestic places ahead of Summer! The UK is awesome when the sun comes out, for that whole week once a year. There will be a mini series on spots in the Peak District, then more historical places like Chester, Edinburgh & York. Would love to take any recommendations, if I can get there by train or flight, I will go 🤠

Hit subscribe to get notified when the post goes live, thanks for reading through as always, if you have any questions drop me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as possible ❤️

Elda-Petrer | 2 cities combined into one conurbation 👠

Besides almost getting eaten by a massive dog, an awesome day trip!

Setting the scene

As part of my Alicante region tour, I decided to venture further out for a day trip in Elda-Petrer & was not disappointed. I was fumbling around on Google maps looking for unique places off the beaten track. Generally speaking I am very amenable to visiting anywhere boasting historic Castles, with both Elda & Petrer having one each, I was instantly sold.

Modern Day Elda-Petrer

Elda & Petrer are 2 distinct individual cities speaking their own languages, one Spanish & one Valencian. There has historically been difficulties between the neighbours & various disputes throughout the years. Lordships granting more land to one than the other etc, sounds remarkably similar to Scottish history 😂.

The whole conurbation has lovely architecture, beautiful narrow winding streets, colourful houses, holy buildings & awesome street art.

Something rather unique about this area is the shoes. I like shoes, they stop my feet from getting cut & bruised when outside walking however, I wouldn’t say I was a massive fan. Although, within Elda, shoes used to be a major industry & all over the town you can see shoe statues & equipment that was used to make shoes, they even have a shoe Museum! I really need to start taking my own advice & planning ahead, the Museum was closed when I went unfortunately 🤭

Story time 📔

Elda Castle, whilst beautiful looking from a distance & on Google Maps, is near on impossible to find the entrance! Wandering around trying to get in, I felt like I was trying to get the Gold on Fort Boyard & the Tigers were coming to eat me. The outer perimeter of it is quite big & as usual with any half decent Castle, it is perched up high on a hill. After going in circles, I eventually just gave up on finding the entrance, having also consulted Google to find out the Castle was closed anyway 😂, I should just re-name this blog to “Plan ahead people!”

There is lovely park that you should definitely stop by called “Parc El Campet”. It has a lovely walking route, a cool stage for performances, plenty of shade to hide from the sun & an awesome little waterfall etc. However, stay alert! One of the locals has what can only be described as a terminator dog. I love animals, especially dogs & I am not afraid of them in general, but this dog looked like it was bred in the pits of Isengard.

The dog was just trying to be playful by jumping up on me, but I don’t know enough Spanish to talk to a dog 😂, I just let out a tumultuous squeak & mumbled something about the ‘mascota’ being ‘bonito’. It’s amazing how quickly you forget words when a big ass dog is trying to have you for supper. At the time, I was sat on the ledge of a pond under a waterfall trying to do one of those really cheesy waterfall selfie videos. In the melee I fell back a little into the waterfall & also dropped my phone in the pond. I got it back out very quickly, thankfully it still works. I would have been devastated as I only just bought the phone after breaking my old one in Morocco less than a month before!

Photos from the trip 📸

View from Petrer Castle
Petrer Castle
Parc El Campet
Waterfall where Terminator dog tried to eat me
Elda Castle
Elda Castle
Elda-Petrer Train Station
Random Shoes dotted around
Random Shoes dotted around
Random Shoes dotted around

Where to eat?

Some sort of Calzone
A free Croquette
Those Olives have big ass rocks in them, be careful!

Usually I wouldn’t suggest going to Spain & eating Italian food, however I was very hungry & this was the only spot I could find.

The family that ran this place were really lovely & the food was awesome. They don’t speak much English though so either learn Spanish or have Google translate ready to go.

Pizzeria PAPILLON was the name of the place, definitely stop by if in town!

Bonus tip; Look up! ✅

For a variety of reasons we often have our heads down, trying not to make eye contact with street Electricity sales reps, avoiding nutters, looking at Social Media or following Google maps to find our way around. However, everything about this town is beautiful, there was something in particular that really stood out & that was the street art.

Ranging from portraits of the city to some of the awesome animals, it is definitely advisable to look up 🤠

Street Art
Street Art
Street Art
Street Art
Street Art
Street Art

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be writing about my trip out to Elche where Google had me waiting on a bus that didn’t exist & there were no Ubers, causing me to almost miss my flight, I had to go full survival mode! So definitely hit subscribe to find out what happened when the post goes live, thanks for reading through as always, if you have any questions drop me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as possible ❤️

Villena | A quaint Spanish town 🏰

Cheeky whistlestop tour!

Setting the scene

Whilst I was soaking up some winter sun in Alicante I decided to venture further out into the wider region. That way I wouldn’t spend the whole morning in bed dying from the 2 euro beers the night before. This brought me on a day trip to Villena, whereby I originally only wanted to see the Atalaya Castle, but fell in love with the whole city. Other than making a complete calamity of the planning & organising it was well worth the journey.

Modern Day Villena

Villena sits to the NorthWest corner of Alicante near the borders between Murcia & Castilla – La Mancha. It is the Capital of Alto Vinalopo.

Although the Atalaya castle is the centrepiece of the city, there has been some important archaeological finds of treasure & jewellery etc. There are a couple of small museums, awe- inspiring holy buildings, scenic landscapes, a cool theatre & beautiful skyline views.

Story time 📔

Google is a liar sometimes! According to Google maps in Villena there is a Castle – Castillo de Salvatierra, I am now fairly confident that this is a lie. If you go on maps you can see there are no streets around it, when I got there it was the side of a mountain with quite a rugged terrain & insane precipitous drops all over the area. Let me know in the comments if you have ever actually found this Castle! After around 90 minutes of going in circles & not finding the Castle (which may or may not exist) I was fully ready to send up an emergency flare in the hope that Bear Grylls would come save me.

Plan your trip! As this place isn’t a major tourist hotspot a lot of things weren’t open when I went & it was quiet as it was a Monday in February. This meant I didn’t get to go into any of the Museums or the Atalaya Castle 🫣. However, I still loved walking around looking at the buildings etc.

A few cheeky snaps! 📸

Villena auditorio
Santa Maria
Atalaya Castle
Atalaya Castle
Villena skyline
Entrance to the phantom Castle
Atalaya Castle
Atalaya Castle
Santa Maria
Arch of Santa Maria
Santa Maria

Money 💰

I did not see many cash machines around & a lot of places looked very local & cash only.

So I would suggest bringing some paper with you! As I didn’t get into any of the tourist sites I am not sure which accept card & which don’t.

Getting around 🚕

I didn’t see many taxi’s floating (pun intended!) about but the city isn’t massive. I would say your best bet is to walk if you don’t have a car.

Getting into Villena was easy enough, the train goes directly from Alicante & only costs a couple of euros.

Bonus tip ✅

There are a variety of places called “Mirador de *Name*” on Google maps. These don’t look like anything you would stop by. However, I highly recommend that you do. They are basically platforms whereby you get stunning views of the city & sites.

The 2 that you should definitely visit are Mirador Alt Vinalopó & Mirador del Castillo de Villena. They are close to each other so you can get between them easily enough.

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be writing about my trip out to Elda-Petrer where I had a meltdown trying to get into a Castle, got chased down by a terminator dog & fell into a water fountain! So definitely hit subscribe to find out what happened when the post goes live, thanks for reading through as always, if you have any questions drop me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as possible ❤️

Alicante | Cathedrals, Castles & Cervezas🍻

Awesome trip, but Spain definitely needs to outlaw 2 Euro beers & 6 Euro bottles of Gin 😂

Setting the scene

My yearning for Winter sun brought me to the effervescent Alicante. Usually I try not to visit the same city twice, however it was such a wonderful experience that I am strongly considering making Alicante a yearly pilgrimage. That is assuming I am not banned after my overtly jovial antics on this trip. I have made an executive decision that anything occurring after 10pm does not make it onto the blog as a travel tale 😂

Modern Day Alicante ⛱️

Alicante is a lovely city within the Valencia area. It has pristine beaches, beautiful architecture, cheap beers, amazing food & plenty of tourist sites to see.

The weather there is decent all year round but I was really lucky to have had 20+ degree weather in February, meaning I just wandered around in my kilt most of the time 😂

Story time 📔

If I ever write a book about my life, the flight out to Alicante would require an entire chapter. The plane was full of rather unique characters & stag parties headed out to Benidorm. The lovely young chap beside me was having a meltdown because he wasn’t allowed to smoke. When I say lovely young chap, what I mean is he actually looked hard as nails. I did my best to avoid eye contact & pretend I was sleeping when he kept trying to speak to me 😂

On the first evening, there was a big football match on, the Madrid derby. I was walking down a street that had lots of seats outside bars/cafes with people watching. I decided to stop by for a beer & see if I got talking to anyone. I thought everyone was supporting Athletico, so when they scored I started cheering. Obviously I was wrong & they were all Real fans, leading to boos all round & I think someone called me fat ass. My attempts at diffusing the situation failed, “lo siento, estoy amigo” didn’t get me out of the pickle, so I had to relocate to another bar, I just kept quiet the next time someone scored!

I found a little bar that can only be described as a pathway to Narnia. It didn’t have a sign or name, it isn’t on Google maps & has a little board outside advertising 2 Euro pints of Guinness (which turned out to be lager in a Guinness glass 😂). This bar is the most wild place I have ever been in! The DJ (a barman with an AUX cord on his phone) was only taking requests for Spanish songs. I spent 15 minutes trying to convince him Take That were Spanish, so he would play relight my fire. He eventually gave in & played it, just to shut me up!

Within this bar there was a female birthday party, I think must have been between 50-60 age range & they were a very very rowdy gaggle! In hindsight, before going to the discos it may have been wise to ditch the kilt! As the only male customer in there, I was getting a lot of attention, which I was loving, I have to admit. It is hard to pin point at what stage in the evening the line between flattering attention became full on assault by these rowdy women 😂. There was only one toilet with no lock, which had a urinal & toilet seat in same room, which incidentally was where they stored the empty kegs (photo below). As there wasn’t many people in the bar, I thought if I was quick I could get a number 1 done without any interruptions. WRONG! In bursts one of the revellers & plops themselves down on the toilet (which is mere inches from the urinal) & proceeded to slap me on the backside. Having no idea what to say, I just spluttered “Feliz Cumpleanos” (Happy birthday), I don’t even think she was the birthday lady. This was around 10pm & nothing after 10pm makes the blog, so you will have to use your imagination as to how the evening ended!

Places worth stopping by! 🏰

There are so many amazing places that you really need to visit! Some of my key highlights were Santa Barbara Castle, the Basilica Santa Maria, Alicante Market, Castell de Sant Ferran, La casita de las macetas azules, Playa Postiguet, Paseo de la Explanada de España & El Carrer dels Bolets (the mushroom street!)

View from Santa Barbara
View of Santa Barbara Castle from Castell de Sant Ferran
View from Santa Barbara
View from Santa Barbara
View from Santa Barbara
View from Santa Barbara
View from Santa Barbara
View from Castell de Sant Ferran
The counterfiet 2 Euro Guinness
Narnia bar where I got abused
Random Street
Random Street
Basilica Santa Maria
Basilica Santa Maria
Avenue General Marva
Mushroom street
Spain trying to murder me with 6 euro bottles of gin!
Elite level candy

Where to eat & drink? 🍻🍽️

Restaurante CASABLANCA

Lovely little tapas spot in the shadow of the Santa Barbara Castle. Relative to the price it’s a nice spot & the staff are cool too. They have a decent courtyard you can sit in outside.

Would highly recommend the Albondigas, I didn’t get many dishes there but everything coming out of the kitchen looked awesome! They do cold beers etc too.

100 Montaditos

There are a few of these as it is a chain. It isn’t 5 star standard, but really cheap & they do 100 flavours of mini baguettes. It’s the ideal place if you want to try different small plates without breaking the bank!

The beers here are 2 euros & it was the best pint I had in Alicante, there is one beside the beach that is worth a visit!

Red Corner Sports Bar

This is a cool Sports bar & has everything on you could imagine, with plenty of seats outside. It isn’t the cheapest place in Alicante but really good beer!

There are 2 of the same bar on opposite corners, the TV’s in the bigger one are a couple of minutes behind, so if watching sport, go to the smaller one!

Murphy’s Celtic Bar

This is a decent little pub if you want to watch rugby, football or anything in between. The staff here are really sound & the owner is a good guy. He has about 4 laptops going with all sorts of streams & will get whatever sport you want to watch on one of the TVs.

Please note; It is a decent pub, but it isn’t somewhere you would go for a nice date night for example.

Money 💰

Everywhere I went took card, but for food etc it’s best to have some cash to tip.

There are cash machines all over, I spent around 200 euros over 3 days & that was with eating well & drinking a lot of beers.

Getting around 🚕

Alicante does have Uber but everything you need is within walking distance so I never got one. There is a tramline & trains are decent to get between cities. I took a bus from airport, it was under 5 euros & only took about 20 minutes to city centre, saved a fortune on a taxi!

Bonus tip ✅

The centre piece of the entire city is the Santa Barbara castle, but it is perched up on top of a seriously high ass mountain! You can spend the whole day climbing up the side of it & give yourself a heart attack.

Or you can do a little research ahead of time (I didn’t!) or read my blog, there is actually a lift you can take from the bottom of the mountain to the top, but it wasn’t all that obvious to me that it was an option 😂. To get to the lift the entrance is just off the Postiguet beach.

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be writing about my trip out to Villena, which is an hour away from Alicante. Unfortunately it was not as eventful as the Alicante trip but managed to get some awesome photos & did make a complete mess of the organisation. So definitely hit subscribe to find out what happened when the post goes live, thanks for reading through as always ❤️

Lanzarote | A surprisingly wonderful trip! 🏝️

Sun, Sand & Sea, the perfect mini Winter getaway!

Setting the scene

Occasionally I will put ‘Everywhere’ into Skyscanner & visit the first place that comes up which I haven’t been to. It has led to some incredible experiences & some less so, but such is the magic of travelling. On this occasion, I landed with Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. Usually I book first & ask questions later, however with Lanzarote I had some slight trepidation.

I knew little of the Island previously, other than it’s reputation for attracting a very particular demographic of UK tourists. I had thought it would be full of rowdy, drunken whoppers that seem to be ubiquitous on some of the Spanish Islands, lacking any sense of propriety (I know, I used to be one of them, many moons ago!). However, I am very glad Skyscanner gave me Lanzarote, I was pleasantly surprised & had a lovely time. It reminded me that it’s important not to allow your pre conceived notions & perceptions to stop you from getting out & experiencing the world for yourself.

Modern Day Lanzarote ⛰️

Lanzarote is one of the Islands in the Canary Archipelago, not far off the coast of Africa. It is the island furthest East & is the only one that has an active Volcano, however it probably won’t erupt while you are there so don’t worry 🤭

I was only there for a few days so missed out on a lot of fun, however you can do all sorts from surfing, to mountain climbing, to sea safaris, to cave exploration or you can just load up on the Cervezas & enjoy the beach!

Given that the region has historically seen a lot of Volcanic activity, the Island is full of beautiful mountains, providing the opportunity to see the most stunning skylines & sunsets.

After spamming Duolingo & learning some basics from Spanish friends, this trip was the first time I tried to only speak in Spanish to locals etc. Given that I am from Scotland, I can barely speak English properly so conversing in Spanish was a challenge! For about 60% of the time I managed to pull it off. However, calling the more senior/elderly ladies ‘senorita’ instead of ‘senora’ definitely doesn’t come off with the level of charm I had thought it would. I definitely need to work on my ‘Rizz’, I think the young folk are calling it these days! 🫣

If you would like to go walking up in the mountains, definitely make sure you plan ahead, sort out travel, take appropriate clothing, provisions & a map or tour guide. Definitely do not rock up in trainers, without any supplies & having sunk 6 or 7 cervezas the night before. Only a dimwit would be so foolish & yes I can confirm I am the aforementioned dimwit 😂.

My visit was the week before Christmas & I stayed in Arrecife, the capital. It was a lot quieter than Peak season which I really enjoyed. On my first day I managed to pick up a pair of Armany (with a Y) sun glasses on the beach for 5 Euros, however I managed to lose them on the first night unfortunately. No matter what you are in the market for, I am fairly certain you can pick anything up at Playa del Reducto for 5 Euros. When I went back to the beach the guy was gone, I managed to find him later in the trip but the replacement Armanys had magically double in price! The gent was an astute businessman indeed 💷

Places worth stopping by! 🏰

As mentioned, I didn’t do nearly enough ‘touristy’ activity. However, It wouldn’t be a travel guide without at least some recommendations. The Castillo de San Gabriel is well worth a visit. The Castle itself isn’t massive however the bridge, beach, pier & surrounding area is really beautiful. You also get a cool view of Arrecife against the background of the mountains.

The Marina Arrecife should definitely be on your list of places to visit. There are lots of shops, bars & awesome boats. It is definitely a dream of mine to have a boat there one day as a retirement retreat. So if you or someone you know is in the market to settle down with a slightly podgy Scottish person who may or may not be a little bit zany, hit me up! We can split the cost of rent, heating & other exponentially growing bills, then use the saved £££ to buy a boat in Lanzarote, solid plan if you ask me! There is also the added benefit that if I am driving you mad, just launch me overboard, the sharks will think you have laid on an all you can eat buffet for them 🦈

View from bridge of Castillo de San Gabriel
Bridge to Castillo de San Gabriel
Charco de San Ginés
Arrecife from Castillo de San Gabriel
Marina Arrecife
Random beach
Charco de San Ginés
Castillo de San Gabriel
Christmas sand castle display
Random beach
Random Street
Marina Arrecife
Arrecife from Castillo de San Gabriel
View from the Marina
Random beach
Charco de San Ginés
Lizard Point Lighthouse Pier View

Where to eat & drink? 🍻🍽️

Unfortunately I didn’t get many photos of the bars or restaurants I visited. However a couple of decent bars to check out are Manhattan Cocktail Bar & Mojito’s Lounger Bar. They are on the same street & close to beach. Manhattan has an American pool table in the back, lots of decent drinks & you can get shisha if that’s your thing (I didn’t try it so can’t say if any good). Next to Manhattan there is a cool little Italian pizza place called Pizzeria La Sonrisa that I enjoyed. If you want something more authentic, Malecon was awesome! It is on the waterfront at Charco de San Gines & had amazing food!

Money 💰

There are cash machines dotted around the Island, however I just paid on card & used Starling as they have no fees. I took 150 in cash I think & that covered me for about 3 days. If you aren’t smashing back the cervezas you could get away with spending a lot less.

The tipping culture isn’t as prevalent as some places I have visited, but if you receive good service, throw in a few Euros, don’t be tight!

Getting around 🚕

Lanzarote does not have Uber, but there are regular taxis. You can rent bikes & the buses are pretty decent too, although the timetable is more of a guess than as actual plan.

On the first night I ended up at a party on other side of Island with some Moroccan lads I met & had to take a taxi back at 1/2 in the morning, it was around 30 Euros from one side of Island to the other. Lets just say the driver wasn’t exactly shy on the accelerator either 😂

Bonus tip ✅

Usually in this section I would share some really useful information on keeping safe, or some little anecdote. However, what I am about to share is the most important piece of information on this blog.

If you are planning on doing some snogging, bin that idea immediately, find the nearest corner store & get a bag of these badboys in. They are unparalleled in the crisp world, you will suffer crisp induced halitosis for days, no amount of toothpaste or mouthwash will get rid of the stench. But believe me when I say, these are a Jewel in the Spanish crown. Increíble!

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be writing about a recent trip to Alicante. It will cover a fair few incidents from trying to convince a local that Take that were Spanish, to being accosted by a mental birthday party, to visiting some of the most wild west Bars I have ever been in, definitely not one to miss! Hit subscribe to get a notification when it goes live ❤️