Holidays in the UK are, I think, probably the best holidays that you can go on. The sites and sounds are just amazing and I love this island I am on! Now as the title implies, I have never been abroad on holiday. I know that may be shocking to some people and some will be saying 'how can you have gone through life without going abroad!', but to be honest with you I have never had the inclination or the want to go abroad. I have always loved staying in the UK and visiting some of our lovely and special places. I have never been good at laying around and catching the sun (I know that is not all that holidays abroad are), but just never had the interest.
The furthest that I have been is Jersey! I went with a friend many years ago and really loved it. It is an amazing place, so easy to travel around (as it is so small) and everyone was really friendly. I can remember that we both ran out of money very quickly (we were young and just spent it!) and this lovely guy who ran an antiques shop would give us vouchers for the fish and chip restaurant so we wouldn't go without anything to eat. Another lovely husband and wife ran a coffee shop and they would give us a coffee and cake in the afternoon. I had a lovely time and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the whole island. Would definitely go back again.
Of course my first love is Yorkshire, my home county. There is a reason it is called God's county - absolutely stunning and lots of things to do and see, whether you like city breaks, coastal breaks or just want to stay in the middle of a field, Yorkshire has it all for you! One of my favourite places, and the one I call my second home, is Whitby. An absolutely beautiful coastal town on the East coast. If you are driving to Whitby it is wonderful if you could go over the North York Moors and past Hole of Horcum. Beautiful scenery and magnificent drive.
We used to take my parents to Whitby and they fell in love with it as much as we did. There is so much to do. Of course you have the famous Whitby Abbey, there is Pannett Park which also houses the Whitby museum. The park, by the way is stunning. So peaceful and beautiful and the squirrels are super friendly!!
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| Steps leading up to Whitby Museum in Pannett Park |
There are also various trips out on boats that you could enjoy. I have done these numerous times and always enjoy seeing Whitby from another perspective.
Whitby has a wide range of shops, some independent, clothes, jewellery, bookshops, household items (like candles, cooking etc) and some lovely eating places. One of the more famous eating places is The Magpie, but I have never personally been there, but I do recommend Terry's fish and chip shop or The Royal Fisheries. You can spend quite a while going around all the shops and buying lots to bring home!
Of course, Whitby is famous for Dracula and you can find allusions to Bram Stoker and Dracula everywhere you go. There is also a very good ghost walk starting from the whale bones that I recommend.
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Caption Cook Statue, Whale Bones and Royal Hotel
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Another famous resident of Whitby is Captain Cook. There is a statue erected near the whale bones of Captain Cook and also a Captain Cook museum. The museum is housed in the property that Captain Cook lived in and is really fascinating to go around - worth a visit.
Everything about Whitby is fantastic to me. I feel extremely safe when I am there and I go for evening walks on the front without hesitation. Absolutely love it!
A bit further afield and, completely out of Yorkshire, is Scotland. If you have a chance I would highly recommend visiting. Now when we went we stayed at a village called Dores, which is just outside Inverness and we stayed in a cottage that was on the banks of Loch Ness. The cottage we stayed in used to be the old Post Office and was extremely comfortable and spacious.
Scotland has some stunning scenery, but if we did not have the car we would not have been able to visit the places that we wanted to. Everything was spaced out so we planned each day in advance on where we were going to go and visit.
Just down the road from where we stayed is Urquhart castle. I have always wanted to visit this castle and I am going to say - I was not disappointed! It was magnificent and it was a lot bigger than I imagined - it was huge!!
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Urquhart Castle
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I was so impressed with everything about the castle, I loved it. We spent a good few hours there and then on the way back we visited the Loch Ness Museum which was fascinating and blew our belief of the Loch Ness monster out of the window (sorry, but I am pretty sure Nessie is not there!).
One of the other places that we visited was Culloden Battlefield. Now I have to say that I was unsure if my partner would enjoy the visit as it is a battlefield and he is not into history as much as me, but have got to say we were both blown away! The tour guide that we had was absolutely amazing and brought everything to life. We spent a good few hours on the battlefield and were stunned at how much we loved it.
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| Culloden |
We also visited Brodie Castle and Cawdor Castle, which I highly recommend as well. The tour guides in both places were fabulous and brought everything to life and you had so much fun being taken around all of the places we visited. Must also give a thumbs up to all the staff who worked at all the places we visited. So friendly and super enthusiastic in telling you the history of the places.
The only thing I will say is that, especially if you staying near to where we did, the roads are super small!! Most of them were tracks for one car if you were not on the A roads!!
For a day out my favourite place is Rufford Abbey, Nottingham. Rufford is situated virtually next door to Sherwood Forest (you have to go through Edwinstowe to reach Rufford) and is one of my special places.
I have been visiting Rufford since I was a little child and I find it magical every time I visit. Within the grounds are the ruins of a Cistercian abbey dating from the 12th Century and the ruins of a Manor House owned by the Saville family. In 1938 the household items (and every other item connected with the house) were placed into auction as the house and items were being sold by the Saville family. Not long after a fire broke out and destroyed the house. There is only a small portion of it left now. One of my most prized possessions is a complete auction catalogue from the sale of the items in 1938. The site is now run by English Heritage and the last time I went the parking fee was £3.
There are walks all around the site and the best walk is around the lake that is always full of wildlife, lots of swans, ducks and geese. Within the grounds are various areas to explore and even a child's playground. It is so well kept and is a credit to those that work there. There is also a lovely courtyard cafe and a restaurant. It is delicious food and always a nice cup of tea after your walk!
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Rufford Abbey
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Well I hope that you like my picks of some of the most special places to me. If you have chance, go visit them; I promise you will love them. As for me, I think I will stay in the UK and enjoy these beautiful places, but you never know, I may one day tell you about my trip abroad! Until then, enjoy your special places and have fun!
(All pictures are my own and taken by me!)
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