Brighton - January 2023
On Sunday 15th January I visited Brighton, I have been several times and always enjoy going for the day.
I have previously been a handful of times and have stayed over, i am hoping that my next visit will once again be an overnight trip.
On this occasion I decided to walk along the seafront and take in the sounds of the waves.
I took a nice chilled walk along West Street and then continuing my walk towards the pier, ending at Brighton Pier .
Whilst enjoying the walk, it gave me an idea in my head to next time, stay over for the night and explore more of the area. With the range of hotels in the area i should have no difficulty in finding somewhere to stay.
As I wrote this, I was having lunch in Wetherspoon (The Bright Helm) which is situated in a great location and very close to the seafront.
On my walk back to the station to head home, i visited The Royal Pavilion Estate, not that i could get inside due to it being very busy and a big queue outside and the rain pouring i decided to walk around the outside.
Brighton is a great place to visit and i will always return with any doubts, it is roughly 1 hour train ride from London.
A total return ticket price was £9 with a network rail card.
Newton Abbot - January 2023
Newton Abbot (Day Trip)
Having never been to Newton Abbot for shopping or a look around or not remembering, it was time for a trip. During the trip I visited the high street and had a look around a few of the shops. It is a nice little town and is home to the department store Austins which was founded in 1924 and has four locations within a short distance of each other and is a major employer within the town and the largest known independent brand within South West England. Not that i visited it but it looked very nice and had a range of different items being sold.
I returned to Newton Abbot on Monday 9th January 2023. I sat with my thoughts in the park opposite Newton Abbot train station, (Courtenay Park) whilst waiting for the return journey home. It was a nice relax although was a little wet and windy, I believe the town centre is not to far from the station but having already visited the town previously I didn't not go again.
I would return in the future
Dawlish Warren - October 2022
Dawlish Warren is a short journey from Dawlish, but is just as nice it has a kids theme park which is open most of the time, although do check before visiting if out of season.
The boathouse restaurant is nice and relaxing and has a range of food and drinks on offer.
There are a variety of shops, one selling all different brands of clothes and the other ones are for seaside bits such as, buckets and spades and souvenirs as well as branded clothes.
There is an amusement arcade which i did not visit but it looked nice and had a wide variety of different machines available to play.
As always the same as Dawlish i am always happy to return to Dawlish Warren when possible.
Dawlish- October 2022
I have visited Dawlish many times and love the town, it is always a relaxing time walking through the town.
The station is in the town centre so it is very easy to visit, trains run regularly to and from Exeter, Paignton and Cornwall.
You can walk along a seawall from Dawlish to Dawlish Warren which is a very calming and relaxing walk, however until further notice major upgrade works are taking place to improve the wall due to bad weather that damaged it
I have family in Dawlish so will always visit when i get the chance.
Newquay - August 2022
Newquay is a very popular place to visit, especially for surfers.
I cannot remember visiting in the past but i was very impressed with how clean and tidy the place was at the time of my visit.
It was very busy due to a major event taking place (Boardmasters) which was very busy and it took a while to get around the town but did not affect our day.
The beach was very clean and well kept and its a very big beach and was busy.
It was a nice walk around the beach, even though i was not dressed appropriately for the beach.
Bodmin - August 2022
Bodmin was a nice village to walk through and visit some of the shops and also visited the museum which is free entry, it is not that big but has interesting things to see.
I would return to Bodmin and explore more of the area.
St Ives - August 2022
Could not remember visiting St Ives but what a lovely town it is.
The car park is on a slope which is quite strange when walking but all in all a great relaxing place to visit.
We took a boat trip around the harbour which allowed us to see some seals.
Poole - May 2022
I returned to Poole after many years of visiting as a child and there are many happy memories.
Returning was a joy, it is a lovely town and the harbour is just as nice.
This was a stop over trip in a local Travelodge which is located opposite Poole Station. There is a shopping centre next door to the station.
Cromer - May 2022
A nice sea side town with a small high street, was very busy when I visited but it was a bank holiday.
A nice peaceful sit down at the top of the seafront, the sea air certainly made me sleepy.
I would return here and would consider staying over for the night
Norwich - May 2022
Having previously visited in November 2021 I returned to Norwich, stayed the night in a Travelodge. I had a mooch around the town, didn’t buy anything, also busy due to the bank holiday.
On this occasion I visited Norwich Cathedral, a lovely and well kept building, sat down and listened to the choir and was asked by a volunteer if there was anything I wanted to talk about and if so to let her know.
Polperro, Cornwall - April 2022
(Polperro, Cornwall)
A lovely small village near Looe, not a lot to do but certainly a relaxing place and a nice walk through the village
Looe - April 2022
A lovely day out in Looe, it was very relaxing, i visited when i was a child, so going back was great.
April 2022
Great Yarmouth - April 2022
My backpack journey’s continued in April 2022, i made several journeys, my first was Great Yarmouth, i had a lovely relaxing work through the town had a mooch in the shops and visited the pier, i had a nice sit down and relax in “The Waterways” and before i knew it, it was time to go home.
There are loads of different restaurants, which all have a different variety of food offerings. I chose to eat a wetherspoons as this was the only place that had availability, I did choose to go and visit on a sunday. As always was god value for money
The Waterways
The Waterways is a garden area in Great Yarmouth and is a very relaxing place to sit and just enjoy the atmosphere, i was so relaxed I could've missed my train. Definitely worth a visit if you are in Great Yarmouth.
On this occasion I did not stay over, however there are a variety of hotels all offering a different service, there is a Travelodge and Premier Inn as well.
To summarise Great Yarmouth is a nice place and will return in the future, when I visited my ticket price was £30 return which includes a transfer from Norwich.
The journey i undertook was Stratford London - Norwich / Norwich - Great Yarmouth.
It is always a good idea to check around for prices to make sure you always get the best deals
My tickets were purchased via The Trainlne and were correct in April 2022
Cornwall (Port Issac) - April 2022
As a family whilst enjoying our week's holiday in Cornwall, we visited Port Isaac which is a lovely small village. As a fan of the HIT ITV show Doc Martin it was a joy to visit and we were lucky enough to be there when filming was taking place although we didn’t get a chance to see any filming or the cast during our visit but it was a great opportunity to visit.
The Location
There is a selection of gift shops in the town and is a nice walk around especially seeing the places that are featured in the ITV show. It was nice talking to some of the shop owners to find out what it’s like there when filming is taking place. The village also looks and feels a lot smaller than it does on the TV.
Met a Celebrity
We were lucky to meet Jon Cleave, a singer/song writer from the The Fisherman's Friends band, who also owns a shop in the village. We purchased his book “Nasty Pasty” which was a very good read.
Words cannot describe my experience of visiting Port Issac especially as I am a fan of the hit ITV show DOC MARTIN. I was very grateful to visit and will certainly return again.
Standing outside the exterior of the house used for the doctors surgery was a dream come true and being able to visit the locations that were used in the show was great, it was certainly a great experience.
I remember seeing the location used for “Burt Large’s Restaurant” which i have to say is very small in reality, i pointed this out to some other tourists who soon realised and then called there friends over to have a look.
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