Visiting Rye & Camber Sands: The Perfect Day Trip from London
Rye, in East Sussex, is one of England’s best-kept secrets. It’s got the charm and beauty to match the country’s most popular spots, but somehow it’s still escaped the tourist hordes. Located between green rolling hills and the English Channel, it’s one of the best-preserved medieval towns in England — the kind of place where cobbled streets lead to half-timbered pubs, independent bookshops spill onto the pavement, and the pace of life genuinely slows down. Add Camber Sands, one of the closest stretches of golden sandy beach to London, and you’ve got one of the best day trips you can do from the city.
I’ve done this one more than once, and it still doesn’t get old.
VISITING RYE & CAMBER SANDS BEACH: THE ESSENTIALS
Transport / Rye is easy to reach from London — trains from Kings Cross take around an hour and run almost every hour and you can book them using Trainline. From Rye to Camber Sands it’s only a 10-minute drive or a 15-minute bus ride. For more flexibility, renting a car is a great (and often cheaper) option if you’re two or more — I use DiscoverCars.
Stay / The best options depending on your style include: B&Bs and cottages in Rye Town (see all options here) Beach houses in Camber Sands (see options here).
Connect / Stay connected with an eSIM — I use Sim Local (get 5% off with code TRAVELWITHPAU). Grab one here.
Get Insured / Unfortunately, things can and do go wrong when you travel. World Nomads offers coverage for more than 150 activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and more.
Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland and one of the most underrated city breaks in the UK. It’s compact, incredibly walkable, and packed with history, culture, and one of the best food and bar scenes I’ve encountered anywhere in the British Isles.
It’s also a city that wears its complex past openly — the murals, the Peace Wall, the political taxi tours — and that honesty makes it one of the most thought-provoking places I’ve visited. Come with an open mind, and you’ll leave with a genuine understanding of a city that has worked incredibly hard to reinvent itself.
Nowadays Belfast is my second home, as I own short term accommodation properties in the city. I’m constantly advising and engaging tourists so I do dare say I know a lot. So if you are visiting do me a favour and stay in one of them… wink, wink!
GRAND OPERA HOUSE
VISITING BELFAST: THE ESSENTIALS
Transport / Belfast City is quite small and fully walkable, there’s buses of course, but frankly you don’t even need them. However, I do encourage you to get a rental car so you can independently visit the rest of Northern Ireland which is also very small so you can use Belfast as your base. Book your rental using DiscoverCars, the website I recommend for all international car hires. If you are not renting a car, should you require an airport transfer, I always use WelcomePickups.
Connect / You’ll need mobile data while you are in Belfast, I always recommend using an eSIM (there’s absolutely no need for a physical one!). I always use Sim Local, and you can get 5% discount with code TRAVELWITHPAU. Get it here.
Luggage storage / You might need to store your luggage before checking in to your hotel, you can use this website which has spots all across the city!
Get Insured / Unfortunately, things can and do go wrong when you travel. World Nomads offers coverage for more than 150 activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and more.
WONDERFUL THINGS TO DO IN BELFAST
Visit the Titanic Belfast Experience
The Titanic Belfast museum is, without exaggeration, one of the best museums I’ve ever been to. Built on the exact slipway where the Titanic was constructed, it takes you through the full story of the ship — from Belfast’s industrial history to the night of the sinking and beyond. The building itself is stunning, designed to resemble the prow of a ship.
A great way to start your trip is to take a hop-on; hop-off bus across all Belfast city top attractions. It’s the perfect way to get started and get an overview of the city if you are short on time and an efficient way to get around the furthest away sites. I took this one with Belfast City Tours and loved it. It stops on 19 sites (many which I feature below) and pricing wise it’s great. Book it here, or below:
I’ve visited Birmingham from London more than seven times already and lived there for a couple of weeks while I was renovating my Airbnb. When I asked in my Instagram stories I realised no one really visits Birmingham, but it’s quite an interesting city! Some of the things that make it special are that it’s actually the second largest city in the UK and also the youngest city with over 40% of the population being under 25 (fun! right?).
Also, Birmingham is home to more canal waterways than Venice and is home to the Bullring Shopping Centre which is one of the biggest shopping centres in Europe. If you ask me personally, I really like the industrial vibe of Birmingham, the mix of old and new architecture and the artsy vibe the neighbourhood of Digbeth breathes. On top of that, Birmingham boasts of fine arts, fine dining and greenery. It is the home for some of the most ground breaking music in the world (metal was born here!), Cadbury’s chocolate factory and the Peaky Blinders!
BIRMINGHAM, UK: ONE DAY ITINERARY & THINGS TO DO – Victoria Square
VISITING BIRMINGHAM: THE ESSENTIALS
Transport / Birmingham is a very walkable city, there’s great transport links to it and a great bus system in the city. Many still choose to drive there using a rental car as some attractions are a bit spready out. Book your rental using DiscoverCars, the website I recommend for all car hires. If you are not renting a car, should you require an airport transfer from Birmingham airport, I always use WelcomePickups.
Connect / You’ll need mobile data while you are in Birmingham, I always recommend using an eSIM (there’s absolutely no need for a physical one!) – here’s some eSIM options for UK.
Get Insured / Unfortunately, things can and do go wrong when you travel. World Nomads offers coverage for more than 150 activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and more.
In the realm of immersive experiences, 2024 brings forth a new beacon of intrigue and adventure – The Key of Dreams. Crafted by the masterminds behind The Locksmith’s Dream, an experience so special that it was visited by Neil Patrick Harris himself, this venture promises a voyage into the extraordinary. It is a one-of-a-kind experience: it takes place in a 17th-century manor house in Wales and it lasts 24hrs – including an overnight stay and meals.
Treowen Manor
What is the Key of Dreams?
The Key of Dreams defies conventional categorisation, transcending the boundaries of escape rooms, immersive dining, and interactive theatre. At its core, it offers an overnight immersion into a 17th-century manor house in Wales, where guests unravel a tapestry of secrets woven into its very fabric. With a four-to-one guest-to-actor ratio, the experience blends historical intrigue with narrative puzzles, inviting participants to forge connections with both the characters and the environment.
