Top 19 Travel Experiences of 2019

A new year and lots of new things to look forward to… But it’s also that time of year when you look back over the previous year and take stock: what happened – the good and the bad. There’s plenty of 2019 that I’m glad to see the back of including lots of ill health. However, the best part of this review time is remembering the great things that happened and the fabulous experiences I had, many of which revolved around places I visited. So here’s a run-down of my favourite travel related experiences of 2019, largely in the order in which they happened. And as its 2019, there are 19 of them!

1. Visiting the Knife Angel (UK)

Seeing the monumental sculpture that is the Knife Angel was one of the most sobering experiences of my life. At 27 ft tall, this sculpture is impressive. It is made from over 100,000 knives that were handed in during a knife amnesty in 2016 and attempts to tackle the prevalent subject of knife crime in the UK. I saw it in Liverpool which was the first location the knife angel was situated (till the end of January 2019). It has since gone on tour around the UK giving more people the chance to see it whilst spreading its message further. You can read more about it here, including details on where it’s been and where it’s going next.

2. Wakefield Rhubarb Festival (West Yorkshire, UK)

In February, I headed to Wakefield as I’m on a mission to visit all UK cities in the not too distant future. Despite being geographically close, Wakefield had somehow remained stubbornly out of reach. I wanted to visit the cathedral and The Hepworth Gallery, but had no more plans beyond that for the weekend. It was only when my mum and I arrived in Wakefield that we realised something was happening. As we walked up the main street from where we’d parked, we soon found ourselves weaving amongst hundreds of market stalls. I’d only managed to time our trip perfectly with the city’s annual Rhubarb Food and Drink Festival.

Whilst I was initially peeved as it meant I couldn’t get an uninterrupted view of the cathedral, I soon found myself really enjoying the tastings on offer with all sorts of unique Rhubarb goodies. Before I knew it the weekend got somewhat overtaken by this fabulous festival. I spent way too much money, discovered some amazing products and companies and vowed that I must return every year because as it turns out: I love rhubarb!

I still visited Wakefield Cathedral and the Hepworth, both of which I loved, but the food festival really made the weekend for me!

3. Bilbao and Finally Visiting the Guggenheim (Spain)

Ever since it opened in 1997, I have longed to visit Bilbao in Northern Spain to see the Guggenheim Museum. An epic and unbelievable work of art in its own right, it was more the building itself I was desperate to see being the huge architecture nut I am.

I’d visited the Guggenheim in New York two years after the Bilbao museum opened and was astounded by the collection (although at the time I never wanted to see a Dali again). Visiting one stupendous Guggenheim building only made me want to see the other more. After two aborted trips to Bilbao due to ill health, March 2019 finally saw me get there and tick off one of my top bucket list entries.

To me, the Guggenheim lived up to all the hype and I was blown away by Frank Gehry’s architecture. The art collection inside was equally impressive with exhibits by Gerhardt Richter, Jenny Holzer and Richard Serra; not everyone’s cup of tea but fascinating to me.

I’m glad it’s taken me so long to visit Bilbao, as it had allowed what has become known as the ‘Bilbao effect’ to take place – regenerating a once industrial city in tatters into a cutting edge artistic and technological city. Bilbao is now a vibrant city with a rich cultural scene that had me wanting to stay longer.

4. Vizcaya Bridge at Portugalete, Bilbao (Spain)

While I was in Bilbao, I learnt of the UNESCO listed transporter bridge situated approximately 10 miles North West of Bilbao on the coast at Portugalete. It is the world’s first transporter bridge that allowed river traffic to pass underneath at the same time as the moving gondola transported you from one side to the other. It looked immense, so one afternoon I decided to hop on the metro to go see it. No picture could ever put across just how huge this bridge is. It’s also a transporter bridge that still works today so you can travel across the mouth of the Nervion River on it.

Interestingly, the accompanying information panels detail other similar transporter bridges around the world, including the decommissioned one in my home town of Warrington, England. I didn’t expect to see reference to my small home town in a foreign country, that’s for sure.

5. San Sebastián (Spain)

Also while I was in Bilbao, I took a day trip to the foodie Mecca of San Sebastián, known locally as Donostia. While many would be disgusted to know the only food I bought in San Sebastián was gelato, (as I’d taken a packed lunch with me) the reason I’d gone was to sight-see and explore this beautiful piece of coastline. I walked my socks off that day (30,000+ steps) and saw San Sebastián’s stunning coves from various vantage points, my favourite being from the Monte Urgull.

San Sebastián’s City Hall was my favourite building and the gardens in front were a lovely spot to sit and relax a while. The stumped trees in this area (called the Tamarix Pentandra) completely fascinated me as I had never seen a tree quite like it.

The Miramar Palace was another beautiful landmark to visit and I could easily see myself returning to San Sebastián in the future as there was so much more to see and do. I feel like I only touched the tip of the Basque Country iceberg.

6. From Bala to Barmouth (Wales, UK)

In April I unfortunately had to cancel my long awaited for Texas road trip due to Mr TJG ending up in hospital having emergency dental surgery the day before we were due to fly. Once he had recovered enough to travel, we booked a last minute week in North Wales to utilise his remaining time off.

OK, so it wasn’t quite Texas, but we had a lovely relaxing time. Staying in Bala, an area of Wales I had not been to before, I did plenty of walking in the area and visited Chirk Castle, Barmouth and Llangollen during the week. While in Llangollen we walked across the famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, marvelling at the engineering that went into its construction. It’s no wonder that this is a UNESCO world heritage site. One day I’d love to actually take a narrowboat across and after this trip, Mr TJG and I spent a good while looking at narrowboat holidays. Nothing is booked yet though….

I was pleasantly surprised by Barmouth finding it to be a relaxed and quaint seaside town with a spectacular mountainous backdrop and beautiful white gold sand. I would happily stay there in the future that’s for sure.

7. Peterborough Cathedral (Cambridgeshire, UK)

My second new UK city of 2019 turned out to be Peterborough where I went for a long weekend in May with my Mum. The cathedral is stunning and has a very unusual asymmetrical appearance. The symmetry in the great west facade is completely thrown out by the additional off-centre tower, but it does make the view of the tremendous wall of stone all the more unique. The interior is vast and in my opinion, the most impressive Norman cathedral I’ve seen. The huge rounded arches of the nave are beguiling in their simplicity and sheer scale.

I didn’t get much of an impression of the rest of Peterborough city centre as we encountered horrendous weather on leaving the cathedral so we retreated to the comfort of our hotel. The following day we decided to spend the day at Nene Park and Ferry Meadows County Park so the rest of the city centre went undiscovered.

Maybe a return trip is needed, perhaps during the Katherine of Aragon festival which happens in January each year. I only discovered the connection Peterborough has to Henry VIII’s first wife on this trip. The festival commemorates the date 29^th January 1536 when she was buried in Peterborough Cathedral following her exile. The festival consists of a programme of events on the Tudor theme to celebrate the city’s treasured heroine.

8. Talacre Beach (Wales, UK)

Around June time on the North coast of Wales, I discovered a superb beach that quickly became my favourite beach to take my dog to. Luckily for me it’s not too far from home. But what makes Talacre so perfect?

Well first of all, it’s a vast stretch of sand that goes on for miles, so even when the car park suggests it’s busy, there’s still tonnes of beach to feel like you have it all to yourself. It also means I can use the ball chucker easily without running in to other dogs. The sand is clean and tidy and I didn’t see any litter. There were even dog bins at various points. The lighthouse adds a certain picturesque quality to the beach view too.

On the access road to the beach there is a pub called The Point which does excellent food and you can get Cheshire Farm ice cream from the little cafe kiosk too. Bonus! You can read all about my visit to the Cheshire Ice Cream Farm here.

9. Wirral Walks (Merseyside, UK)

During the summer of 2019 I found myself heading out onto the Wirral peninsula a number of times to find some new walks. I love exploring somewhere new with my dog Roger and always feel so pumped when we’ve had a great day out somewhere. One day took us to Arrowe Country Park, another to Birkenhead Park.

We explored the woodlands of Caldy Hill criss-crossing and using practically every single path while we were there. And it was while sat admiring the view from Caldy Hill over the Dee estuary that I decided I wanted to do the walk out to the Hilbre Islands which you can see quite clearly from Caldy Hill. There is a specific safe walking route you can follow across the sands at low tide but obviously this takes some planning to fit it in on an ideal day with tide times. I’m hoping to do it in 2020 so watch this space. If anyone reading has done this walk, please let me know what you thought.

10. Exploring the Reading Area (Berkshire, UK)

A massive change that happened in my life in 2019 was that my husband got a new job that required him to work away from home Monday to Friday. This has taken a lot of getting used to but one thing we decided was that from time to time I would go down there for a week so we had more than a couple of consecutive days together at any one time. This of course has meant I’ve started to see quite a bit of the area around where he’s working in Reading.

I’ve spent a few days in Reading itself and actually rather like the town. The museum is particularly good and I was stoked to learn that there was a copy of the Bayeux tapestry there. Absolutely superb it is and it means I no longer feel the need to see the original in Bayeux anymore.

Venturing slightly further out, I visited the National Trust estate of Basildon Park and walked some lovely stretches of the Thames path, including that between Pangbourne and Maple Durham.

On a random culinary note, I discovered The Herb Farm at Sonning Common, just north of Reading which I recommend any one who loves cooking to visit if they’re in the area. I challenge you to leave without a new herb you never knew existed. I added Pineapple Sage, Oriental Thyme and Chocolate Peppermint plants to my collection.

11. Woodlands Walk above Streatley and Goring-on-Thames (Berkshire / Oxfordshire, UK)

I learnt about this route when visiting Basildon Park, as much of the land is neighbouring National Trust land. I enjoyed doing this walk so much while I was staying in Reading I thought it deserved its own mention.

It has a bit of everything – green fields, woodlands, river, gorge, quaint villages and expansive views. It was perfect for dog walking too as I didn’t have to lift Roger over any stiles. All field crossings and access points were gated. He could be off lead for a good proportion of the walk too which is also a bonus.

The pub I stopped at in Goring when the heavens briefly opened even managed to rustle me up a pot of tea despite the amused looks I got when I asked for one. The best bits of the walk though were definitely the views, particularly of the Goring Gap from Lardon Chase. Thankfully, the National Trust had put a few benches up for weary walkers to sit and watch the world go by.

12. Westonbirt Arboretum (Gloucestershire, UK)

While staying in the Reading area I got the opportunity to meet up with fellow travel blogger Sophie who blogs over at Third Eye Traveller. We had a couple of days out together at places I’d always wanted to visit and that were a heck of a lot closer to Reading than where I live up north.

The first was the spectacular arboretum at Westonbirt, nestled in the southern Cotswolds. The array of trees here is second to none and the scale of the place is huge. It is home to over 2500 different tree species from all over the world, as well as 5 national tree collections. You even get the chance to walk amongst the tree tops on a wooden walkway and if you walk the right way, you may spot the Gruffalo too! I would love to return during autumn when this place must really become magical.

13. Avebury (Wiltshire, UK)

Our second day out was to Avebury in Wiltshire. In all honesty, I did not think there was going to be much to see outside of the infamous stone circle and I really wasn’t prepared for just how big the circle was. So all in all Avebury was a complete revelation!

As a huge lover of stone circles and Neolithic structures and monuments in general, I was so stoked to have finally made it to Avebury. The stones were impressive and the scale of it just epic! However, what made Avebury for me was the quaint and uniquely formed village built amongst the stones. The main road cuts right through the middle of the circle which I was totally surprised to see. There is a gorgeous line of old houses and shops, a beautiful church, a striking pub and a fabulous Grade I listed 16^th century Manor House and gardens.

What makes Avebury Manor very unusual is that everything inside could be touched – chairs sat on, crockery handled, beds laid on and billiards played. The interior was refurbished in 2011 as part of a TV programme (To the Manor Reborn) and the furnishings recreated to reflect different time periods of the manor’s history. This is a unique and refreshing scenario to encounter in houses like this.

14. Elmer’s Big Parade Sculpture Trail in Ipswich (Suffolk, UK)

I’ve not done many sculpture trails in 2019 compared to the previous year, but the big one of the summer for me was Elmer’s Big Parade Suffolk. One of three Elmer parades held in 2019, the Suffolk one saw 55 elephants based on the well-loved children’s character Elmer the Patchwork Elephant take up situ around the town of Ipswich.

I spent a great weekend finding each and every one of them, whilst meeting up with some of the artists I had previously met online through social media and whose work I’d seen on other trails. You can read all about my time on the trail here and see which Elmer’s were my fave…. but which are yours I wonder?

15. Eden Valley (Cumbria, UK)

After my first holiday to the Eden Valley in 2018, I loved it so much I returned twice in 2019. There is so much to see and do in this part of Cumbria and after 3 individual weeks exploring the area, I feel like I’m really getting to know it. I spent a lot more time walking the various paths in and around Kirkby Stephen including the poetry path, the disused railway and a (long) walk up onto Nine Standards Rigg and back, in horrendous weather I might add.

I visited Lowther Castle – a country estate that really was not what I expected. From photos I’d seen, I always thought the castle was complete, whereas in reality it is largely a ruin. There are some interior rooms which house a museum but otherwise it has been left for nature to take its course, as have the gardens. The gardens somehow still retained a beauty, albeit a natural overgrown one. Exploring them was almost like an expedition: I was an intrepid explorer picking my way carefully through undergrowth, along rough strewn paths and through long grass. It shouldn’t have worked, but yet it did.

I also completed a hike I’ve wanted to do for years – High Cup Nick, often referred to as England’s Grand Canyon. Walking out of the village of Dufton, it’s a 4 mile walk up to the head of the immense U-shaped valley and the unique geology of the place means there’s nearly always a bone-chilling wind howling across the top. The view is one of the most memorable I’ve ever seen and I can recommend the walk to anyone – it is stupendous!

16. Baytown (Texas, USA)

So, I may not have got to Texas back in April, but I did at least make it out there to see my friends in November for a week. I’ve been and stayed with them in Baytown several times before, but have never seen much of the city itself, so this time I decided to rectify that. I spent a day walking (yes, walking) around Downtown Baytown to see all the wonderful murals I’d read about.

I called in to the Historical Museum which I found completely fascinating as I know so little about American History, let alone Texan history. The Wetlands Centre was also really informative and I walked several miles of Goose Creek Trail which I had completely to myself. I loved how friendly all the Baytown locals were, though I think I will be remembered as that crazy Brit who actually WALKED around Baytown. All of them thought it was absurd (in a cute amusing way, lol)

17. Galveston (Texas, USA)

While I was in Baytown, I headed down to Galveston for a couple of days after hearing about a sculpture trail – I’m sure that doesn’t surprise you as a reason for me visiting! And being Galveston the subject of the sculpture was a sea turtle, specifically the critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle. What a beautiful creature!

Called “Turtles About Town”, the trail of 20 sculptures aimed to help showcase the conservation work of the Turtle Island Restoration Network while of course attracting more people to the area and helping boost the local economy.

The trail allowed me to see parts of Galveston I’d not seen before and I particularly loved walking around The Strand historic downtown district. I will always remember the superb sunsets I saw each night in Galveston too. I have witnessed very few that have beaten them.

18. Bodnant Garden (Wales, UK)

Autumn is my favourite time of year and each year I pick somewhere new to visit to see Mother Nature working her best magic. 2019 was the turn of Bodnant Garden in North Wales. The statuesque Bodnant House (not open to the public) overlooks extensive ornamental gardens terraced into the hillside, varied towering woodlands and shaded glades divided by an attractive river and peppered by a number of picturesque water features and architectural gems. There’s a surprise to be found round every corner and this garden is truly stunning with its autumn coat on – a kaleidoscope of rich colour.

Glowing fiery red and gleaming gold, the Acer Glade is an assault on the senses and particularly magical in autumn. As is the walk up the far side of the river from the Old Mill to the Skating Pond -this quickly became my favourite area of the gardens.

What was even cooler about visiting Bodnant Garden in autumn was I could take Roger with me. Between October and March, Bodnant Garden allows dogs in every day, whereas at other times of year, they are only allowed on Wednesday evenings from 5-8pm.

19. Snowman Sculpture Trails

I finished the year 2019 in the same way I started it, by following a magical snowman sculpture trail. The 2018/19 festive season saw the much loved Raymond Briggs snowman creation take to the quayside at Salford Quays in Greater Manchester. 12 sculptures each decorated to portray one of the 12 Days of Christmas formed a trail around Media City and the Quays and I just caught it on its final weekend – the first week of January 2019.

It was clearly so popular, that 2 further Walking with the Snowman trails launched for the 2019/20 festive season, one in Middlesbrough and the other in London on the South Bank near London Bridge. So to bookend the year nicely, I continued to do one of my all time favourite things, hunting out sculptures in Middlesbrough.

Sculpture trails have taken me to some fab areas of the UK over the years and I hope they continue to do so as they are some amazing ones coming up in 2020. Woop woop….

So, that’s an overview of my 2019. What did yours look like? Did you get to visit some great places too? What was your favourite trip of the year and did you tick anything off your bucket list? Drop me a line and let me know in the comments below…

Here’s to a happy and healthy 2020 ahead full of lots of great travels! Bon Voyage…

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