Author: Bethan May

Despite the long-held scepticism regarding Valentine’s Day and commercialism, I believe that as long as we are devoting a day each year to our mothers, our fathers and our anniversary of birth, we are also entitled to devote one day a year – if not the other 364 – to our significant others, be that romantic partners or best friends… And what better way to celebrate that than by travelling the world. Although a cliché, the Lovelock Bridge in Paris is a classic, as long as you’re not too superstitious: with concerns over the bridge collapsing, your lock may be…

Helpfulpeeps is a newly developed social networking site and app. Starting in Bristol but rapidly spreading, making appearances in 50+ countries thus far. It is a site that facilitates helping. You sign up for free and type in a message asking for help, whether music lessons or a lift to the doctors. If you don’t need any help then you can browse through the feed to see if there is anyone out there that could benefit from your help. At no point is money involved. The core values are that of community, sharing, human connections, and karma. Real old school.…

Reykjavik was recently ranked as the number one city destination by Trip Advisor and I can now confirm this to be a very reasonable decision. On arriving at Reykjavik – Keflavik airport, a forty minute bus ride from the city, I was immediately struck by the snow, having missed out on a Yorkshire White Christmas. There was a lot, and what struck me the most was the sheer normality of it. Whilst England would have been halted still, this country seemed to thrive off it, with hunks of snow indicating lanes of traffic and thus forth. This was evident…

What could be more romantic than Rome? Bursting with the idea of love, from the heart-fluttering views of the skyline at Janiculum Hill, to the renaissance architecture and luscious gardens in Villa d’Este. If, like me, you haven’t found a love worth taking there, you can fake it and accept a rose from a true Italian salesman. Visit the 18th Century Trevi Fountain at night and wish for love. Take charge and follow your wish by indulging yourself with an extra scoop of peach ice-cream. Perch on the Spanish Steps and watch love go by: family, friends, food in the…

The country that made me fall in love was Australia: my first solo trip and the trip that taught me about myself – that I was independent, that I could speak to strangers, and book trips myself. I witnessed another way of life, one that revolves around the beach and the sun, not the TV and rain. I tried to surf, I scuba-dived alongside a whale shark, and I kayaked meters from whales and dolphins.I saw the Sydney Opera House, jumped out of a plane at 14,000 ft, and then celebrated surviving the jump by seeing Far East Movement. In…

For me, the best places to travel to over Christmas are ski resorts. My favourite spots have been Val Thorens and Andorra, but there are so many more places for non-skiers. St Moritz in Switzerland has a beautiful lake, the perfect site for winter walks. It also has a bobsleigh track for those interested in lessons. Zermatt in Switzerland also has a winter walking trail, and, with the highest cable car in Europe at 3883 m, it’s got amazing views over Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa. For those interested in culture, the town of Kitzbühel in Austria dates back to…

1.       Visit Sydney for the infamous Opera House or try the bridge climb over Harbour Bridge. A cheaper option is to climb the south-eastern pylon—only $13 and you’re allowed to bring your camera. Have a barbeque on Bondi Beach or try the Bondi to Coogee cliff walk. Less than an hour out of Sydney are the breath-taking Blue Mountains, perfect for a weekend hike. 2.       Byron Bay is the perfect hippie spot, full of weed smokin’ and tightrope walkin’. Visit the Main Beach and walk along to the lookout point, or go to the unofficial…

All main cities in the UK have a Christmas market. From experience, Manchester and Leeds are great and offer lots of bratwurst and cheesy garlic breads. For the real deal though, hop over to Germany. Berlin is known to offer about 50 Christmas markets per year, while Nuremberg is famous for its 180 stalls. On the Saturday before the second Sunday in Advent, visit Dresden, where a massive Christmas fruit cake is paraded through the city and then cut up and distributed to the bystanders  Make the most of ice this winter. Go to an ice bar in Prague or…

This Summer I did the old rite of passage Interrail-around-Europe thing. Starting in Amsterdam and making my way round to Paris via Brussels, Berlin, Prague, Slovenia, Venice, Milan, Switzerland, and Nice. As you can guess my Summer involved a lot of pizza, pasta, wine and peach flavoured ice-cream. I also did Switzerland proud and ate copious amounts of their speciality cheese fondue. It was faultless. My sunbathing days were unfortunately few and far between – Nice however was dedicated to acquiring the brown skin that had become the aim of our summer. Nice’s beaches were rocky – which can work…

Meet Ana, an English Language with Creative Writing Undergrad at Bangor, currently on a study abroad in the land down under. We’ll be hearing from her every issue as she fights with spiders, wild roos and tries to get to grips with the Aussie lingo. G’day… 28 hours and exactly 10.551 miles away from home, with no friends and family and with my whole life packed into 30kg, I set off for my year long adventure to the land down under. I held back my tears saying goodbye to my parents and friends at the airport as the realisation that I wouldn’t…

Me and my boyfriend took the ferry over to Belfast from Birkinghead for my Grandad’s 80th Birthday bash. We slept on the ship and when we woke up drove straight off to the family’s town. We visited Belfast and Newcastle, as well as a few small towns like Minerstown. We stayed in a beautiful 18th century property that we’d found through ‘Air B&B’. We struck gold with our hostess who used to run a café, so our daily ‘fry’ was delicious and we got a few tips for Irish baking. The countryside seems busy in Ireland. The skyline is dotted with different houses, the fields crisscross…

1. Book your flights either really far in advance or last minute. … or trains, or (mega)buses. You all know the drill that if you wait to book your train home ‘til the week before the price can be astronomical, but if you plan ahead and get it done months in advance you can lower the price for yourself a lot.  Obviously, sometimes you don’t know where you want to go nine months in advance so in this case look around on the Internet and ask at the travel agents to see what deals they have going. Be prepared to…

Don’t let being at Uni stop you embracing the travel bug. Here are ten must-see, easy to get to places for you to visit before you leave. Snowdon. You are privileged to have one of the magnificent three peaks right on your doorstep, so don’t waste the opportunity. There are routes to suit all walkers –the Pyg Track is the shortest but the Miner’s is generally regarded as one of the easiest. Whichever route you choose, you’ll always be subjected to the magnificent views and crisp mountain air that makes Snowdon such a popular destination. To get there, take the 85…