My travel highlights 2022.........
I hope you’re well and, despite the state of the world and our individual corner of it, are staying positive, optimistic, and looking forward to a brand new shiny New Year. I thought I’d finish my 2022 by a) writing a blog for the first time in months (!) and b) sharing where I’ve been in the last year to give you some ideas for staycations or where to visit if you’re coming to Europe.
Because of finances, old doggie Jack and various other issues, it hasn’t been the year of exotic and long-haul travel that I used to enjoy pre-Covid but I still feel blessed, especially when I see photos like the one below! So, I’m kicking off with Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. It’s always warm there (it’s just off the coast of Africa but is in Spain) and is just a four-hour trip from the UK, so I’ve been twice this year. (I’ll add info. along the way.)
FEBRUARY & APRIL
I’m filming an intro for my vlog on a windswept dune in Fuerteventura about the film Dune! Best job in the world! (There are many, quite pricey, one-hour ferry trips across to this little island, which is well worth a visit or a stay.)
The view from the hotel, surrounded by the volcanic rock at the H10 White Suites Hotel, Playa Blanca…..it’s my fave hotel because it’s Adults only and has the best buffets ever!
By the time I return, I suspect there will be new hotels and apartments all over this lovely, not too-touristy corner of the island. Everything is within walking distance from the hotel: the Rubicon Marina is a lovely walk one way along the long promenade (with a great twice-a-week local market) and there are more shops, restaurants, and live music the other way. I just loved my walks morning, noon, and night. There are also great trips around this volcanic island and our beach wasn’t bad either! (There’s a fabulous Chinese lady who does the best and cheapest massages on the beach, look out for her!)
Playa Blanca a quick hop and a skip from the H10 White Suites hotel.
With the girls on my first visit to Lanzarote in February. Sitting outside at night with just a light jacket on was just bliss!
Those are just the highlights from my two trips to Lanzarote. You can see much more on my Vlog here.
MAY
My next break was a short staycation in Bath, my second visit in the last 18 months! And, again, I treated myself to the gorgeous Gainsborough Hotel, the only hotel in Bath that, uniquely in the UK, has the exclusive privilege of having access to the natural thermal, mineral-rich waters that Bath is so famous for. (There is also a very lovely public mineral-rich rooftop pool, called the Thermae Bath Spa, right next door.)
Enjoying the thermal mineral-rich waters at the Gainsborough Hotel in Bath. I slept like a log there!
This visit was specifically to see Russell Brand because it was the only place I could get tickets! It was so worth the effort and a great excuse to revisit this beautiful city that is fast becoming one of my favourite places in the UK. If you’ve never been, you really should spend a couple of days there, at least. There is stunning architecture and history around every corner, lots of independent and high street shopping, fabulous eateries, and guided tours by bus or walking available all over. Even a ghost walk! The open bus tour is a must as is a visit and tour of the Roman Baths. There is classical and modern live music everywhere on the streets and in the pedestrian area. In fact, there’s so much to do and see that I’d suggest at least 4 nights there! (I’ve come to the conclusion that 3 nights is never enough because you lose at least two half days traveling.) Here are just a few of my highlights from my visit. Again, there is an extended tour on one of several Vlogs on my YouTube Channel. Click here.
The beautiful Bath Abbey. During the day you’ll see the most amazing singers and musicians performing near the front of the Abbey and next to the Roman Baths. And there are benches to rest your weary feet!
AUGUST
Now we’re off to the Isle of Wight and my favourite ferry trip that I absolutely have to do when I visit my best friend from school Dalia, who lives in Old Portsmouth. (Also worth a visit.) If the weather’s good I always beg her to go for the day. We tend to go to Fishbourne (although we have done Ryde a couple of times) and eat at the pub there, called the Fishbourne. Then we have a wander around Quarr Abbey and visit baby piglets and the local produce shop there. There’s also a small art gallery with some gorgeous locally-made ceramics and paintings. This year, our other best friend from school, Donaldine, visiting from Bali, joined us for the trip. We had such a fun day out and during our long hot summer, the weather could not have been better..………
Donaldine, me and Dalia on the ferry to the Isle of Wight. We were at school together from 1962!
Fishbourne is the most beautiful port for the Isle of Wight but the Wightlink ferry also goes to Ryde, the main town. There are also hovercraft services from Portsmouth. I had a gorgeous swim here, it was just gorgeous.
Another must-visit if you’re in East Sussex is Alfriston. It is so worth a short staycation for walking the South Downs, eating and shopping, or just a day trip from Brighton. We went to eat at The Star, a boutique hotel made famous by a TV documentary featuring Alex Polizzi and her mother (part of the Forte family) buying and renovating this historic pub. The food was unbelievably good, we spotted both the manager and the mother from the series, and had a great snoop around the hotel and all the delightful shops in the village!
I haven’t heard rave reviews about the food at The Star from everyone but, so you know, there are other hotels, pubs, and restaurants in Alfriston. Let me know if you visit!
OCTOBER
At last, we have a trip to a place I’ve never been to before! The Scottish Highlands. The first stop, before heading our way North by train, was Glasgow where I met up with my best friend from Australia, Jude. We stayed at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow which was booked for us by Byway Travel, who organized our trip. The hotel is right in Central Station and we both absolutely loved it and will definitely stay again! I have always loved this city: the people are the friendliest on the planet, the architecture is wonderful and the food is amazing and cheap compared to the South. I would thoroughly recommend an open bus tour around the city, from George Square, and more time than the 3 nights we had there. We visited the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, and St. Mungo’s Cathedral, and walked for miles and miles. Here are some of the highlights:
Then we started our big train adventure heading North to the Isle of Skye. …..we booked this slow travel company because of the awesome train journeys they specialize in but, sadly, they had very little control over Broken Britain! Our first train out of Glasgow, going past Loch Lomond heading North, had to return after the first hour because of a breakdown on the track! We had a lovely brunch at the Ivy near the station with another stranded passenger but when we finally set off 4 hours later, the train was packed and the windows filthy, so it wasn’t quite what we had hoped for. But I did get very excited about the scenery and the first and last Highland cow I spotted on this trip……………..
We stopped off at Fort William to change from the train to a coach to get to the Isle of Skye. By this time it was supper time so we headed for the nearest eaterie. It’s expensive here because this is where the Harry Potter Hogwarts Express starts its trips from. We were lucky enough to see it and both agreed that we would love to have been told about this trip so we could have maybe had an overnight there and caught this lovely old train like one of our lucky traveling companions was doing. I’d go for it if you get the chance.
Harry Potter’s Hogwarts Express at Fort William, Scotland.
Finally we got to the Isle of Skye after 10 hours of traveling! We were so late arriving that we missed half of our first day on this beautiful island. Two full days is nowhere enough time to explore and, of course, you have to allow for the weather. The first day was just perfect and really warm but the second was lashing rain which put the kibosh on our adventures. We only saw half of what we wanted to see but fell in love with the island nevertheless.
My top tips: take or rent a car as the bus service around Skye is good but not frequent enough. Stay at least 4/5 nights or more. Visit the Tourist Office, they are extremely helpful. And do eat at the Indian nearby. It was such good food we went twice!
The main little town Portree. There are lots of bed and breakfasts that are walking distance from here.
Poor Jude braving the weather to go next door for breakfast! I was in bed with a streaming cold!
A closeup of the view from the top of Portree, Skye.
After a fabulous but all too short visit, it was off to our next location in the Highlands: Inverness. This time it was a coach trip because of a rail strike. I can’t remember anything about it, apart from traveling along the huge Loch Ness. It wasn’t a long journey and, thankfully, Inverness turned out to be the perfect place to spend our last couple of days in the Highlands. What a wonderful, wonderful city! I would go there again in a heartbeat. We just walked and walked taking in the superb architecture and loving the gorgeous weather. And shopping and eating! Just make sure to check that there isn’t a Marathon on Sunday as it prevented us from going to Loch Ness and doing a city open-top bus tour!
One of the many beautiful buildings in Inverness along the River Ness.
One of our highlights was the river walk to Ness Island. It was absolutely beautiful and one of my recommendations as you might spot seals and other wildlife in the water. Not on this Sunday though, because of a Marathon! It’s an easy walk and well worth doing.
This is a sculpture of Nessie made from one of the trees!
My suggestions: We were in a fabulous guest house called Dionard Guest House, a lovely walk from the city center. Right opposite the guest house is the Court Town House where we had one of our best meals and 10% off thanks to the owner of our B&B. (BTW the breakfasts in every single place we stayed in Scotland were superb, especially if you like haggis or porridge, as well as all the usual.) And another of our highlights was the Irish Pub Johnny Foxes on the river bank. It was as Scottish as it was Irish and the food and staff were just fabulous. The Mustard Seed is an upmarket, trendy little restaurant much talked about. We had a light lunch there which was OK but not astounding although the look of the place and the architecture made it well worth a visit.
We both had the best time in this gorgeous city but, again, recommend longer than the 3 nights we spent there. Top tips: do check that there isn’t a big event, such as a marathon, that might stop the traffic and you from doing more, and do check that there aren’t any train strikes or cancellations! We were quite desolate when we went to the station the night before, just to check the timings for our long journey back to London, only to discover that there might be more changes the next day at the crack of dawn………
…….we had the journey from hell from Inverness to Edinburgh for the first leg home. Again, the train journey did not deliver what we were promised. it was so early, dark and freezing cold that we didn’t enjoy any fabulous scenery or comfort. The promised food and hot drinks onboard did not exist. The American tourists traveling with us in First Class were as unamused as we were and made me feel quite embarrassed to be British. Fortunately, the last and longest part of the journey back to London from Edinburgh was warm, catered, and comfortable. But I have to add here that Jude and I have both done extensive rail trips across America, Australia, and beyond and have never experienced such disappointment on any rail journey anywhere else - even India! Looking back on our entire journey, we are now both done with slow travel in Broken Britain! Fly and hire a car is all I can say in retrospect, planet or no planet! However, it was a trip I’ll remember for the rest of my life, we laughed non-stop, and I will definitely go again. If you want to see more of our adventures in Scotland, here’s the vlog.
NOVEMBER
And, much nearer to home, I’m off to a health spa for my birthday treat………………….
So, not the most exotic or long haul breaks and holidays this year but I’m so grateful for the few that I did. And, most importantly, we had such a wonderful summer in the UK that staying at home to be with little elderly Jack was like being on permanent holiday living on the coast! I even made the most of trips to London for meetings or work by staying in places like Richmond upon Thames (Ted Lasso land!) to make the most of the heatwave as well as catching up with friends that end of town and……. to have a wild swim in the Thames during the heatwave!
I haven’t swum in the Thames for at least 30 years! It was gorgeous.
The Petersham Hotel is a bit out of the centre of Richmond but doable by foot if you’re not in the middle of a heatwave! There are plenty of buses to and fro and I loved it there because it was like a country in the city with the centre of London just a tube ride away (albeit quite a long tube ride!) I must warn my US readers though that there is no air-con in the hotel because it is such an old and beautiful hotel. But they do have fans! If you want to see more of my trip to London in the middle of our long hot summer, here are the moving pictures!
I leave you with my favourite memory of staying at home all summer! Rushing down to the beach with Jack really early in the morning to enjoy the tide out and splash around with all the other dog owners cooling their fur babies before the heat of the day set in. Sorry, there’s no Jack, he was off playing with friends in the water!
I hope you’ve enjoyed my little look back on the year and please let me know, in the comments below, if you go to or have been to any of these locations.
A very Happy and Healthy 2023,
Love Suzi x (and Jack)
Enjoying the heatwave at home in Brighton.
