Discover my favourite destinations of the year in this 2025 travel review, featuring 12 of my favourite photos — one from each trip I took.
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2025 promised to be a good year of travel.
I had trips lined up for every month of the year until September, culminating in a long-awaited trip to Madagasgar in October for Stu’s ‘big’ birthday. Stu’s birthday is actually in January, but January is cyclone season in Madagasgar. So, we postponed his big birthday trip until October, when the weather is largely warm and dry and there is a high probability of spotting baby lemurs (due to their mothers giving birth in September).
Madagasgar had never really be on my radar, largely due to my assumptions about how inaccessible it is, how expensive it is to get there, and how challenging independent travel can be in the country. But Stu is massively into his natural history (between us, we’ve probably watched every single programme David Attenborough has ever presented) and a whopping 90% of all animal and plant species found on Madagasgar are endemic, which means that you won’t find them anywhere else in the world.
As a result, this was the place he chose to celebrate surviving another decade 😉
So, without further ado, let’s get started with my 2025 travel review.
2025 Travel Review
January | A long weekend in Seville, Spain
Despite the fact that we’d already spent way too much money on Stu’s ‘big’ birthday trip to Madagasgar, it seemed a shame not to do something to mark his actual birthday this month.
So, we headed over to Seville in Spain. I’d first visited the city back in 2007, and loved it, but Stu had never been.
We found affordable flights at decent times of the day from our local airport in Birmingham, and booked ourselves three nights in this lovely little apartment, just 300 metres north of the city’s cathedral.
We touched down in Seville at just gone 4 p.m., which left us just enough time to catch the bus into the centre of the city and check into our apartment before an evening of tapas bar hopping until gone midnight! Our favourite was Bar Alfalfa — a popular spot on the corner of Calle Alfalfa (no surprises how the bar got its name!) and Calle Candilejo. We loved the lively, cosy atmosphere in here and the prices were so much more reasonable than anywhere else we dined at in the city.
Whilst the weather could have been a little kinder to us during our stay (it generally stayed cloudy until mid-late afternoon each day, when the sunshine finally managed to break through), I still very much enjoyed my return visit to Seville, and I managed to explore a number of sights that I’d missed the first time around.
We began our first day a little later than planned (due to over-indulging the night before!) at Plaza España, and then headed over to the Real Alcázar, a stunning royal palace and UNESCO World Heritage Site that is still used by the Spanish royal family. We spent a good few hours here marvelling at the intricate detail of its interior and wandering around its expansive gardens. When we eventually dragged ourselves away, we had just enough time to check out the Torre del Oro (‘Tower of Gold’ — once part of Seville’s old city walls) before ending up back at Bar Alfalfa for more tapas and rioja.
Archbishop’s Palace, Plaza Virgen de los Reyes, Seville
Our second day was a day of contrasts. Of modern art and ancient palaces. We started with a visit to Las Setas de Sevilla (also known as the ‘Metropol Parasol’) — an enormous, modern, timber-lattice structure in Plaza de la Encarnación, designed by Jürgen Mayer and opened in 2011. It’s the world’s largest wooden structure and features a rooftop walkway, a market, restaurants, and an underground Roman museum (Antiquarium).
We subsequently enjoyed a delicious breakfast at La Cacharrería before continuing north to Palacio de las Dueñas and Casa de Pilatos. We rounded the afternoon off with a climb up to the top of La Giralda (cathedral tower) and a walk across the river to peruse some bizarre but intriguing pieces of art at Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo.
We pushed the boat out in the evening and had dinner at Artefacto Bar (I’d heard wonderful things about their Pata de pulpo a la brasa), followed by some craft beers at Hops and Dreams, and a nightcap at one of the most bizarre bars in the city.
When you walk into Bar Galochi, you’ll feel like you’ve opened the wrong door and wandered into the church next door by mistake. Except that there isn’t a church next door.
Painted effigies and iconography depicting the Virgin Mary are crammed into every nook and cranny in this weird and wonderful little late night drinking haunt. Owner Miguel Fragoso, a native of Seville, is a devout Roman Catholic, and insists that none of the antiques on display in Bar Galochi were ever blessed or used in religious services or ceremonies — he clearly just loves his religious art and artefacts! The bar has been open since 1978 and really has to be seen to be believed! They even serve a cocktail called the ‘Blood of Christ.’
February | A visit to see friends in Spain
Trinny, one of my closest friends, has been living out in Spain for six years now, along with her mum (who’s also a good friend of mine), husband and two children. Stu and I usually try and visit a couple of times a year, but due to her husband setting up his own painting business last year and Trinny leaving her teaching job to do his admin, accounts, customer service and marketing, neither of them are able to take as much time off as they used to be able to. So, whilst we’d also planned for a visit this coming November, it didn’t happen simply due to their busy work schedules.
Oh, and they’re also in the process of buying their own house.
Whilst much of this particular trip was spent ferrying the kids around, helping with chores (there’s always a visit to Mercadona on the agenda!) and generally catching up, we did take a day out to follow a lovely five-mile hiking trail near Macenas in order to do some geocaching with the kids. And, on another day when Trinny had to work, we headed out to the aqueduct at Albanchez with her mum, Fiona.
The aqueduct at Albanchez, Spain
March | A long weekend in Budapest, Hungary
This month, Jayne and I were finally able to use our Wizzair credit from our cancelled flights to Warsaw (the first leg of what was meant to be a trip to Azerbaijan in October 2023).
We’d both been to Budapest previously, but, considering that Wizzair only run flights to a very limited number of cities from our local airport in Birmingham, we didn’t have a lot of choice regarding destinations.
I’d loved my visit to Budapest back in June 2012, so I didn’t need too much persuasion to return. However, I had a very different experience this second time around — largely due to the fact that we’d inadvertently booked a hostel on one of Budapest’s busiest main roads and above one of its busiest metro stations. In between the traffic and the drunken chatter (there were lots of bars along this particular road), and the rumble of the trams all the way through the night, we didn’t get a lot of sleep for the duration of our trip.
The weather was also awful for the majority of our time there. It didn’t stop raining for the entirety of the first day!
Sightseeing in the pouring rain is no fun, so we spent a large chunk of our first day inside the House of Terror Museum. Although we had to queue for a while to get in, this place was actually really interesting and a lot bigger than it appears from the outside. It was a shame no photos were permitted inside, but if you get the chance to go, definitely do.
We spent the rest of our time re-acquainting ourselves with the city’s ruin bars (more specifically, Szimpla Kert, which was almost unrecognisable since my last visit), sampling some lángos, wandering around the grounds of Vajdahunyad Castle, hunting down the Columbo statue, being moved by the Shoes on the Danube memorial, and exploring Castle Hill and the Fishermen’s Bastion.
On our last day, when the weather had improved a little, we decided to head out of the city to take a little hike. The National Blue Trail is reportedly the oldest long-distance walking trail in Europe. It starts at the peak of the Írot-kõ mountain on the Austrian-Hungarian border, runs for 1170 kilometres, and finishes at a small village called Hollóháza on the Hungarian-Slovakian border.
We’d discovered that we could catch a train out to Piliscsaba and walk the 27.3 kilometre route (stage 13 of the trail) to Hûvösvölgy, where the unique Gyermekvasút (Children’s Railway) is located. This is a railway that is staffed entirely by children (save for the driver of the train), aged between 10 and 14, as an extra curricular activity.
The Gyermekvasút (Children’s Railway) at Hûvösvölgy, near Budapest
I love quirky and unusual finds, so I was probably more excited about having a ride on this railway than I was about the hike itself. The Children’s Railway runs for seven miles between Hûvösvölgy and Széchenyi-hegy. From there, we could catch a bus and then a connecting metro back into the centre of Budapest.
Except that, we happened to rock up on one of the few Mondays in the year that the train doesn’t run 🤦🏼♀️Epic fail! We snuck on to the platform to snap a few shots of the train in situ, but that absolutely did not offer much in the way of compensation. A important reminder to always do your research!
April | Discovering the beautiful French city of Limoges and a delightful weekend in Falmouth (Cornwall) with mum
I kicked off the month of April by flying out to the french city of Limoges with a couple of my very good friends, Kath and Gloria.
I’ve been friends with Gloria since sixth form and with Kath since some point in my early 20s. The three of us have taken trips away together for the past 10 years, only missing 2020 for obvious reasons (read: Covid-19).
We all love to travel as much as possible, so by 2025, we were running out of options for city break destinations none of us had been to.
But then Limoges popped up on my Skyscanner ‘UK to everywhere’ search. I’d never heard of Limoges up until this point, but have since discovered that Limoges porcelain is actually world-renowned, and the city has been manufacturing this product since the 18th century.
However, as none of us are massively into porcelain, we were concerned that there wouldn’t be enough to keep us entertained in Limoges.
How wrong we were!
Limoges is an attractive, underrated, and relatively undiscovered city that’s steeped in history.
You’ll find a grand 13th century Gothic cathedral, a well-preserved medieval district, a couple of medieval stone bridges, and an architecturally distinctive railway station that’s arguably one of the most beautiful in the whole of France. Limoges is also home to a fantastic art museum, some buzzing markets, and a plethora of independent boutiques and galleries.
Half-timbered buildings at one end of Pont Saint Martial, Limoges
10 days after I returned from Limoges, I was hopping on a train with mum in order to head down to Falmouth in Cornwall for the Easter weekend.
Mum’s neighbour, Diana had moved down to Cornwall in 2024. The two of them had become good friends since mum moved into her bungalow eight years ago, so mum had been keen to go down and visit Diana ever since. However, as mum is not a confident driver (she rarely drives much further than her local supermarket) and gets nervous about long-distance train travel, I suggested that maybe I could come with her and we could make a bit of a holiday out of it.
So, that’s exactly what we did.
We booked a beautiful (and very luxurious, by both our standards!) hotel, just a short walk from Falmouth’s train station, which, as well as offering an amazing inclusive breakfast every morning, also provided us with complimentary spa, pool and gym access.
We spent our first morning exploring the town’s art galleries, and in the afternoon we jumped on a ferry across to St. Mawes to visit the castle. Once we’d arrived back in Falmouth, we secured a table at a highly-rated Spanish tapas restaurant before heading back to the hotel for the evening.
The next day, Diana collected us both from the hotel and dropped me off at Porthallow Beach while she and mum continued on to Diana’s for a catch up. From Porthallow Beach, I followed the South West Coast Path back to Falmouth. The 16-mile (26 kilometre) section includes a ferry crossing at Helford (only running April – October), as well as lots of stunning coastal scenery along the way. It also passes Trebah and Glendurgan gardens, which, had I more time available, I would have loved to have had a good look around.
I arrived back in Falmouth around 3:30 p.m. (I’d actually been able to run a fair bit of the route) and met up with mum back at the hotel for dinner.
We both spent our last full day in Cornwall with Diana. We caught the train into St. Ives, and headed straight for the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden. I’d been wanting to visit this place for years, but it had been closed when Stu and I were last in St. Ives for his birthday a few years ago, so I felt very excited at the prospect of finally being able to tick it off the wish list. And it was everything I hoped it would be! Mum loved it too, and came home with a book all about the artist’s life and works.
Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, St. Ives, Cornwall.
We then stumbled upon a lovely little cafe in the grounds of St. Ives Parish church, where we sat soaking up the sunshine and sea views until it was time to catch the train back. We spent the last few hours of the day at Diana’s, where she cooked us dinner before driving us back to our hotel in Falmouth.
All in all, it had been a lovely weekend away. For the most part, mum had been my good weather omen once again. And, the train journeys there and back, whilst very long, had worked like clockwork. Which makes a very refreshing change!
Read more:
14 Things to Do in Limoges: A Hidden Gem in West-central France
May | Walking the Liechtenstein Trail
I first became aware of this hiking trail after reading this blog post from Lauren Juliff of Never Ending Footsteps, and immediately it got added to my travel wish list.
Because Liechtenstein is such a tiny country, its official trail (which takes you through all 11 municipalities) is just 75 kilometres long. I loved the idea of being able to walk the entire length of a country over a long weekend. So, that’s exactly what I did over the bank holiday weekend at the end of May.
As Liechtenstein doesn’t have its own airport, I flew into Zurich (Switzerland) and caught a combination of buses and trains across to the start of the trail in Balzers. The official Liechtenstein website splits the route up into five official stages (i.e five days of walking). I chose to walk it in four, but, having reached the end of the trail, concluded that, as a reasonably fit and active individual, I could easily have walked it in three.
This would also have saved me a night’s accommodation, which in Liechtenstein, cost me average of £130 per night!
However, in spite of Liechtenstein’s high prices (although, surprisingly, transport costs are pretty reasonable), and the fact that its very-nearly-summer weather was not as co-operative as I’d hoped it would be, I really enjoyed the four days I spent exploring one of the world’s smallest and least-visited countries.
The trail is very well signposted, so navigating my way along it was an absolute breeze; you’re never very far away from a town or village, so you don’t need to carry a lot of food or water; English is widely spoken; you don’t need to bring cash with you because cards are accepted everywhere; and if you’re a fan of castles (like I am), you most definitely will not be disappointed.
Vaduz Castle, viewed from the city’s old district.
Read more:
Walking the Liechtenstein Trail: A 75-kilometre Hike Across One of the World’s Smallest Countries
June | A road trip through Bosnia and Herzegovina
My birthday month always means a trip away with Stu to mark the occasion.
I was very tempted to head back to Greece after really enjoying our Cyclades island hopping adventure back in 2023, however, I only had a maximum of 10 days leave available this year, and the itinerary I’d roughly mapped out for the Pelponnese would require longer than this.
So, I started looking at alternatives.
I’d really enjoyed the road trips we’d taken around Montenegro and Albania, and I’d been keen to explore more of the Balkans (specifically Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia, and North Macedonia) ever since. We settled on Bosnia and Herzogovina simply because I remember seeing the Una National Park (located in the far west of the country, close to the border with Croatia) on a TV programme and thinking “I must go there!”
And, wow, Bosnia and Herzegovia was even more incredible than I imagined it to be! The whole country is so lush and green, with immense forests, dramatic waterfalls and imposing fortresses. But, not a lot of people seem to know this.
We found the roads lovely and quiet, the people incredibly welcoming and helpful, the accommodation both affordable and of great quality, and the food a lot better than I expected it to be!
Firstly, the capital, Sarajevo really surprised me. It’s a city that doesn’t feel like a city, because you don’t have to walk very far at all before you’re up in the hills, surrounded by beautiful tree-covered landscapes dotted with minarets. Whilst busier, I also loved wandering around the cobbled streets of Sarajevo’s old town, popping into the odd tea or coffee shop for a traditional brew.
And, to top it all off, we took a recommendation from the girl at our hostel, and booked ourselves on to the War Scars and New Times free walking tour. Along with the Red Cap Tours walking tour we took in La Paz, Bolivia, this was one of the most informative and interesting walking tours I’ve ever taken. Our guide, Neno, who was just eight years old when the war hit, was fantastic. He delivered the information clearly, honestly, and with a perfect level of humour, where appropriate.
After a full day of exploring Sarajevo, we picked up the car and headed up towards Srebrenik Fortress and our overnight stop of Gradačac. Not many tourists make it up to the far north of Bosnia and Herzogovina, so we loved how authentic it felt up here. From Gradačac, we drove along winding roads through forests to one of the country’s most impressive spomeniks (abstract war memorials), before following the picturesque Una River all the way to Bosanska Krupa.
From Bosanska Krupa, we continued further into the Una National Park, visiting Štrbački Buk and Martin Brod waterfalls before arriving into Jajce, and wandering up to its impressive fortress, which looked pretty spectacular bathed in the golden light of the late afternoon sun. Jajce is famous for having a waterfall right in the centre of town, so we headed there the following morning before getting back on the road and driving down to Jablanica via the old watermills on Plivsko Lake.
In Jablanica, I was meant to be doing a nine-mile out and back hike up to Hajdučka Vrata (Outlaw’s Door), but the information online varied wildly about how safe it was to do alone, what the terrain was like, how much ascent/descent there was, how long it would take, how well marked the trail was and the sort of footwear I needed to do it. Add into that the fact that the temperatures were meant to top out at 33 degrees (24 is the average for this time of year), so I didn’t know whether I’d be able to carry enough water to see me through what could have been anything up to nine hours on the trail.
Long story short: I decided not to do it. But, I was gutted.
So, instead we explored Konjic and Šćit. The latter I chose mainly for it’s name (it’s pronounced “shit” 😂), but it actually turned out to be a rather lovely island on a lake, connected to the mainland via a causeway.
From Jablanika, we continued south to Kravica Waterfall, and then spent the entire afternoon at stunning Počitelj — a historic walled village that reminded me of Berat in Albania, and somewhere that turned out to be my favourite place of the entire trip. Although I was really wishing we’d factored in an overnight stop in Počitelj, I was more than happy when we arrived into pretty little Stolac at the end of the day. And we followed our host’s recommendation for dinner by heading down to The Old Mill.
In the morning, we climbed up to Stolac’s fortress before breakfast and then hopped in the car to visit a Dervish House built above the largest underground spring in Europe (Blagaj Tekke), before arriving into Mostar just after lunch.
We’d actually visited Mostar previously on a trip to Dubrovnik many years ago, but we got to have a much better look around on this occasion. In spite of the place being ridiculously touristy (it’s so close to Dubrovnik that a lot of day-trippers from Croatia head there), I do really like Mostar.
Our final stop on our 10-day Bosnia and Herzogovina itinerary was Lukomir. Lukomir is the highest (1495 metres) and most isolated permanently inhabited settlement in Bosnia and Herzegovina (and is one of the longest continually inhabited villages in all of Europe), and has a population of just 13 residents. These residents often re-locate in winter (between the beginning of December and the end of April) because the village is inaccessible during these months as a result of meter-high snowfall.
It’s quite unlike anywhere else we’ve visited in this country and is more reminiscent of Ushguli in Georgia.
I found it almost impossible to choose just one photo from what had been the most wonderful 10 days exploring an amazing under-the-radar country, but I finally settled on one of me admiring the incredible views from Srebrenik Fortress, because lush green landscapes and fortresses are two of the three things (the third being waterfalls) that will always remind me of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Me admiring the incredible views from Srebrenik Fortress, Bosnia and Herzegovina
July | A weekend in the Lake District with mum
This was my second trip of the year with mum, and this time we were heading up to The Lake District for a whistlestop tour of Kendal, Bowness-on-Windermere, Hawkshead, and Coniston, with an overnight stop at the lovelier-than-expected Holiday Inn Express in Barrow-in-Furness.
Although significantly more rushed than those overnight trips where we’ve focussed on just one or two destinations (I’m particularly reminded of our wonderful trips to Durham and Lincoln), I had just about enough time to make it up to Kendal’s castle by sacrificing coffee with mum after our brief wander around town, we found a wonderful little ice cream shop at which to escape the crowds that thronged Bowness-on Windermere, and we enjoyed a relaxing hour or so down at Coniston Water, watching the boats come and go.
Coniston Water, Lake District
August | A sunny weekend in Llandudno with mum and a solo hiking trip along the Camino Finisterre in Spain
Mum had been wanting to visit Llandudno for quite some time (she grew up on the coast down in Dorset, so being by the sea always holds a special charm for her), but we hadn’t been able to get the dates of any of the tours she’d found to work for both of us. However, this summer, mum found a three-night trip, leaving on a Friday (better for me due to working Monday-Friday), and staying at the highly-rated 4-star Dunoon Hotel, just steps from the Great Orme Tramway station.
The tour also included visits to Llangollen, Caernarfon, Conwy, Lake Padarn, and Betws-y-Coed.
Where the weather had been a bit hit and miss up in the Lakes the month before, the sunshine was out in full force for our little Welsh coastal adventure.
We had a brief stop in Llangollen — just enough time to wander down to the bridge and have a little peruse around The Market on the Fringe — before arriving at our hotel in Llandudno.
Keen to make the most of our time there, mum and I headed straight out to catch the tram up to the top of The Great Orme. It’s a funny little journey, because The Great Orme Tramway is Britain’s only funicular, or cable-hauled tramway, that travels on public roads. You’ve got cars driving past you, people walking alongside you and others waving to you from their front doors. And then, when you arrive at the half-way station, you subsequently walk through a little museum in order to reach the next tram which takes you all the way to the summit. The Great Orme Tramway has been operating since 1902, and the appearance of the trams hasn’t changed much since Victorian times!
If you’re not a walker, there’s not a great deal to do up at the summit of the Great Orme, so after a brief wander around, mum caught the tram back down into town while I made the journey on foot, passing Pen-y-Dinas Hillfort, Happy Valley Gardens and Elephant Cave.
Our second day was all about town walls and castles, with visits to both Caernarfon and Conwy. Although Caernarfon was a bit rushed, we had a decent amount of time in Conwy and even had time to walk along a few sections of its town walls. Conwy’s town walls run for three quarters of a mile and incorporate 21 towers and three original gateways. Back in Llandudno, we rode the land train from Llandudno Pier for a circuit around the base of the Great Orme.
Llandudno Pier viewed from Happy Valley Gardens
On our final day, we swapped the sea for a lake, and rode the Llanberis Lake Railway alongside Lake Padarn, followed by an afternoon of coffee, Welsh cakes, Bara Brith and a leisurely mooch around the shops in Betws-y-Coed. While mum relaxed at the hotel in the afternoon, I set off on a four-mile circular hike along Lover’s Walk, over the Great Orme and down to Saint Tudno Church.
It was a nice little warm up for the next trip on the agenda — five days of walking the Camino Finisterre in Spain.
When I walked the Camino Primitivo last year, I desperately wanted to continue on to Finisterre and finish my journey at the coast, but I simply didn’t have time, even if I sacrificed the two days I spent exploring Santiago de Compostela at the end of my walk. So, I made it my mission to return the following August and walk the Camino Finisterre in its entirety.
I say in its entirety because a lot of hikers simply walk to Finisterre and then catch the bus back to Santiago, but the full trail goes to both Muxia and Finisterre (the path splits at Hospital), so my plan was to follow the signs for Muxia at the split, then walk from Muxia to Finisterre and then from Finisterre to Hospital, where I would catch the bus back to Santiago to avoid walking the same ground in reverse.
Although, I didn’t find the terrain or elevation as challenging as the Camino Primitivo had been, I walked some big miles on the Camino Finisterre. My average daily distance was 30.77 kilometres!
It felt wonderful to be back in Santiago, albeit only for a brief amount of time either side of my walk. I revisited some of my favourite parts of the city (Parque de San Domingos de Bonoval was one I particularly loved) and discovered a few new places, too. A blog post about this city is still currently sat in my drafts folder, but my plan is to finish and publish it early next year.
I was very lucky with the weather along the Camino Finisterre (the first day was even a little too hot for walking, at 34 degrees!) right up until the last day. So, oddly enough, my arrival into Santiago at the end of my walk was, for the second year in a row, in the pouring rain!
My highlights of the five days I spent on the Camino Finisterre trail were:
- my arrival into the ridiculously picturesque village of Ponte Maceira, with its scenic riverside location, medieval bridge, and 18th century chapel and mill;
- my overnight stop in the pretty village of Olveiroa (Pension As Pías was my favourite of all the places I stayed along the trail);
- witnessing the sausage dog of grain stores in San Martiño de Orzón. It’s the longest in Spain, at 27 metres in length!
- heading down to the first beach I came to when I arrived at the coast, and finding it completely empty!
- arriving into Muxía and heading down to see the lighthouse and church (Santuario de Virxe da Barca) at sunset.
- following the alternative route out to Praia de Lires between Muxía and Finisterre;
- taking the longer route from Finisterre to the lighthouse via A Insua. This involves quite a climb up on to the headland, but the views are stunning and I only met one other person doing the same; and
- my delicious celebratory meal at Restaurante o Centolo in Finisterre. One of the best ensaladas mixtas (mixed salads) I’ve ever eaten followed by pulpo a la plancha con cremoso de patata (grilled octopus with creamed potatoes).
Praia de Lires, Cee, Galicia – one of the Camino Finisterre’s ‘alternative’ route sections, and one that was 100% worth following!
October | A cancelled trip to Madagasgar and a few days along the Ceredigion Coast Path in Wales
Yep, you read that right — just two days before we were due to fly, I received a text message from Emirates informing me that our flight had been cancelled.
Now, I’d read a little about the violence that had broken out in Madagasgar’s capital city on the 25th of September, and was getting rather concerned that our trip itinerary may have to be altered to avoid spending any time in Antananarivo, but it never occurred to me that the situation would become so serious and widespread as to impact our entire trip.
When I received the text message, I phoned Emirates in a panic in order to try and get seats on an alternative flight, because we were booked on a tour that departed three days later. After placing me on hold to find out exactly why our flight had been cancelled and to look at alternatives for me, the customer service representative for Emirates informed me that, as a result of the violent situation in the country, they had halted all flights into Madagasgar; we could only get as far as the Seychelles. And, much as I’m sure we would have enjoyed a holiday in the Seychelles, this wasn’t helping the fact that we could potentially stand to lose the money we’d paid for the Madagasgar tour if we couldn’t get there to join it.
My next step was to contact Explore in order to pass on this information and to find out what our options were regarding the tour we’d booked and paid for. I explained the situation and the lady on the other end of the phone advised me that they were just in the process of contacting everyone booked on to the trip, to inform them that they’d made the decision to cancel it.
And, so it was that, after months of looking forward to what could potentially have been the most incredible trip of the year, we were suddenly left feeling enormously deflated and overcome with disappointment and sadness. But, we soon consoled ourselves with the fact that it could have been a lot worse. We could have been caught up in all the violence out there. We could have arrived in the country and not been allowed to leave our hotel. We could have been unable to get home.
As it was, we got full refunds from both Emirates and Explore (I couldn’t fault their customer service), and the money was back in our account in a few weeks. What’s more, we were able to re-book the tour for next year, taking advantage of 20% off in the Black Friday sales.
Whilst Stu was happy to stay at home for the two weeks we were meant to be away (he needed to get the cambelt fixed on his Land Rover before he drove it too much further), I was desperate to get away somewhere in October (I hadn’t left my hometown since returning from the Camino Finisterre at the end of August), so I found a dry weekend and caught the train over to Aberystwyth in Wales in order to complete 52 miles of the Ceredigion Coast Path (part of the 870-mile long Wales Coast Path).
From Aberystwyth, I caught the bus down to Cardigan and then made my way back up to Aberystwyth over the following three days. I only took my 12-litre Salomon running pack, as I’d planned to run as much of the trail as I could. I’d been struggling a bit with motivation for running since the nights started drawing in, but trail running (particularly along coastal trails) always manages to reignite my enjoyment of the sport.
I chose overnight stops in Aberporth and Aberaeron, and even treated myself to a stay at the highly-rated Harbourmaster Hotel in Aberaeron. Although the weather wasn’t particularly sunny (the exception being the second half of the second day, as I arrived into Newport), it was lovely to be back out on the trails along Wales’ beautiful coastline. I was even lucky enough to see some dolphins along the way!
Arrival into Newport in the sunshine on my second day on the Ceredigion Coast Path
December | A wet and windy trip over to Ireland to visit friends
I’ve written about this numerous times before in my travel round-up posts and this 2025 travel review is no different! The first Saturday in December is Muppet Christmas Carol, Cheese and Wine Night at my friend Katy’s.
Katy now lives in Ireland (with her husband, Tom, three kids, dog, three cats, and several chickens!) so, as you can imagine, not as many of her friends are able to make it over for this event compared to when they lived a couple of hours drive away in Wales. For this reason, we always try to make the effort to attend. Stu and I don’t have kids (well, Stu has kids but they’re all grown up now), and it’s easy enough for us to take a couple of days off work at that time of year.
It was touch and go as to whether our flight was running though, due to the strong winds and rain that had suddenly descended upon the UK. Fortunately, our flight did run, with some turbulence, but the weather over in Ireland wasn’t a lot better!
As none of us were keen to just sit around the house for the entire weekend, we decided to head over to Galway, have a quick mooch around the Christmas market and the Old Town, and go up on the Ferris Wheel (a first-time experience for Katy and the kids 🙌🏼).
The following day, we popped down to the village hall in Feakle, mingled with the locals, watched the kids compete on the hanging bar, had our faces painted by Bellatrix (Katy’s oldest child), and met Father Christmas.
And, of course, we drank lots of wine, ate lots of cheese and watched The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Polar Express, and Die Hard (which is NOT a Christmas film, but was actually more entertaining than I expected it to be!)
The photo below is of my Godson Rex with Katy and Tom’s adorable new rescue kitten, Agi, because I failed to take any decent photos that weren’t of the kids or the animals! Agi loves to climb up people’s backs and sit on their shoulders 😁
Rex and Agi, Feakle, Ireland
And that was my 2025 travel review!
I visited six countries altogether, two of them new (Liechtenstein and Switzerland), bringing my total count up to 55. My favourite was Bosnia and Herzegovina (the whole country is just so damn pretty!), but my beautiful walk along the Camino Finisterre hiking trail came a close second. And, I loved spending so much quality time with mum on the three wonderful trips we took together this year.
Blog posts on Bosnia and Herzogovina and the Camino Finisterre will hopefully be published very soon.
But, first of all, I shall be ringing in the new year in Guatemala!
My friend Jayne and I fly out early on New Years’ Day (incidentally, a great time to score flights because getting on a plane is the last thing most people want to do when they’re nursing a hangover after the previous night’s celebrations 😉) and have a busy itinerary planned for the following 10 days. We’re starting off in Antigua, doing an overnight hike to the Acatenango and Fuego volcanoes, heading across to Lake Atitlan, and then flying up to Flores to visit the Mayan ruins of Tikal.
Watching the latest series of Celebrity Race Across the World has really ignited my excitement for returning to Central America.
I hope to be able to post to Instagram stories on a daily basis while I’m there, so keep an eye on my Instagram page.
How was your 2025? What was your favourite trip or new favourite destination? Share away in the comments below 
If you’d like to read any of my other review posts, you can do so here:
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