Weekend Trip – Maldo Travels https://www.maldotravels.com Travel - Learn - Share Wed, 27 Apr 2022 22:47:24 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://www.maldotravels.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Favicon-Black.png Weekend Trip – Maldo Travels https://www.maldotravels.com 32 32 Peak District – Cycle Trail and Caves https://www.maldotravels.com/europe/england/peak-district-cycle-trail-and-caves/ https://www.maldotravels.com/europe/england/peak-district-cycle-trail-and-caves/#respond Sun, 17 Nov 2019 21:50:00 +0000 http://54.211.235.180/?p=9416

From London, it’s about a 3-hour 30-minute drive to Peak District National Park which makes it ideal for a weekend trip. We headed out on a Friday evening to the small town of Aston just outside Sheffield. On Saturday, we planned to go cycling on a trail. There are several trails in the National Park and we chose to go on the Monsal Trail. This trail used to be a railway track that has been converted for walking and cycling. It’s mostly a dirt and pebble trail but parts of it have been paved. We first drove to Hassop Station which is 45 minutes away from Aston. On our way, we stopped at Bakewell for some brunch at a quaint B&B that had a fireplace. There’s a bike rental shop at Hassop Station and there are different types of bikes for hire starting from 2 hours. We chose to rent a standard adult bike for 2 hours which cost 12 GBP1. We set out at 11.45 AM making stops along the way for pictures. The trail ends at Blackwell Mill and we stopped at the last bridge to turn back. When we got back, we were very muddy since the bikes didn’t have mudguards. We cleaned up a bit and then headed back to our Airbnb2 in Aston.

On Sunday, we decided to check out some caves. First, we headed to Speedwell Cavern which was about an hour away from our Airbnb in Aston. We got there at around 12.30 PM and there’s plenty of parking space opposite the entrance. When buying tickets, we saw that there was a discount on a joint ticket with Peak Cavern. We bought the joint ticket for 20 GBP each and then waited about 15 minutes for the next guided tour. A guide then calls us into a room where we pick up a helmet. He goes over the schedule of the tour and begins talking about the history of the cave. We’re then taken down some steps and arrive at the underground river. The cave is very narrow with just enough space for the boat to fit. Everyone gets into the boat and the guide then uses his hands on the ceiling to navigate down the river. On the way, the guide talks about the mining operations that used to happen in the cave and how the miners and children were exploited. After about 15 minutes, we reach the end of the river and get out of the boat into a chamber. There’s a small waterfall inside and the guide says that now you can see the bottom since the miners dumped rocks from their excavations into the hole. The guide then talks about the geography of the cave and we have about 10 minutes to take pictures. We then get back on the boat and head for the exit.

Next, we drove about 5 minutes to the nearby town of Castleton. Peak Cavern is located in this town and there’s no dedicated car park at the site, so you have to find parking in the town. We found a space nearby and it’s a nice walk by the riverside to the cave entrance. We got there at 2.10 PM and a tour had just started so we joined in. The guide was talking about how the site was used to make rope and showed us some of the tools used. We then continue into the cave and the guide mentions that several movies have been filmed in the cave. He also mentions that Queen Victoria once visited the cave and they dug a new passage so she wouldn’t have to crawl. We arrive at a large chamber and the guide talks about the history and geography of the cave. We then head back to the exit. Following our visit, we went for a walk around the town and grabbed some food before making our way back to London.

]]> https://www.maldotravels.com/europe/england/peak-district-cycle-trail-and-caves/feed/ 0 Edinburgh and Loch Ness – Winter Holidays https://www.maldotravels.com/europe/scotland/edinburgh-and-loch-ness-winter-holidays/ https://www.maldotravels.com/europe/scotland/edinburgh-and-loch-ness-winter-holidays/#respond Mon, 10 Dec 2018 19:42:12 +0000 http://54.211.235.180/?p=5981

From London, it’s a short 1 hour 30 minute flight to get to Edinburgh making it perfect for a weekend getaway. We left on an early Saturday morning getting to Edinburgh at 9.30 AM. We rented a car to get around the city and after dropping off our bags at the hotel, we headed out to the National Wallace Monument. It was an hour’s drive away from Edinburgh to the site which is near the city of Stirling. Entrance tickets were 10.75 GBP3 and you can find more info on the site here. Once you’ve paid for your ticket, there’s a bus service included which takes you up the hill to the monument. You can wait for the bus or hike up the hill which took us about 15 minutes. At the monument, you can then walk up the stairs in the tower to top for panoramic views of Stirling. Inside the tower, there’s a museum laid out on several floors. These make for good checkpoints to explore the museum on the way to the top. The museum goes over William Wallace’s and Scotland’s history. Once you reach the top, it gets very windy so make sure you take warm clothing. After taking some pictures, we headed back down and took the bus back down to the entrance.

By now it was around 1.30 PM so we headed back to the capital to visit Edinburgh Castle while we still had some sunlight. Finding free parking in the city can be a little tricky but we found a paid car park near the castle. We got to the castle ticket office at around 3 PM. Tickets cost 19.50 GBP but we got them for half price with our English Heritage membership. A free guided tour is included or you can hire an audio guide for 3.50 GBP. We had about 1 hour 30 minutes to explore the castle which is full of history. There are also some great viewpoints from the towers and castle walls. It was dark by the time we finished touring the castle when the site was closing at 5 PM. We then went for a walk around the city and came across a winter Christmas market which was set up in the Princess Street Gardens. There were several rides and the city is nicely lit up with Christmas lights. After getting some dinner, we then headed back to the hotel to get some sleep for an early morning the next day.

On Sunday, we left at 7.30 AM for Loch Ness, stopping for breakfast at Inverness at 10.30 AM. It’s then a quick 15-minute drive to the start of Loch Ness. Along the highway, there are several viewpoints with parking spots to get some pictures of the lake. We continued along the lakeside highway until we reached Urquhart Castle. This is roughly the halfway point of the lake so we decided to visit the lakeside castle. Tickets cost 12 GBP and there’s no English Heritage discount here. There’s also a free guided tour included with the ticket which leaves from the mound at the end of the castle. We walked around the castle ruins before the tour started at 1.30 PM. On the tour, the guide takes you through the site going over the history and the changing appearance of the castle through time. The tour takes about 30 minutes and ends in the keep. There’s also a pier at the site for boat tours that stop here. We were done with our visit at around 2.30 PM and started to head back to Edinburgh. When we got back, we went for another quick walk around the city to get some dinner. It was then an early night to be up to get our early morning flight back to London the next day.

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