Tag Archives: honeymoon travel guide

Las Vegas: What to Pack, Where to Stay & Things to Do

August 19, 2016 in Honeymoons. Written by Kat Photos by Made U Look & Kat Williams

I’ve been meaning to write a definitive Las Vegas guide for ages – you guys are always asking me for recommendations of things to see and do! I’ve been there four times now and on each visit I find something new to entertain myself with.

I often hear people say they couldn’t stay in Vegas longer than a few days, or that one trip is enough, but I completely disagree! Sure, if you’re just there to drink, party and gamble you’ll probably be ready to go home after a long weekend, but if you want to broaden your horizons a bit more then one visit is barely enough time to scratch the surface. Vegas is so much more than blackjack tables and nightclubs (although a little of both is a hell of a lot of fun!)

Las Vegas is a city like no other, with a slot machine on every corner, gargantuan hotels, amazing shopping and some of the hottest weather you will ever experience! Seriously, during this recent trip (in July – we were clearly having a moment of madness when we booked it, who the hell goes to the desert in the summer?!) the temperatures soared to a scorching 48 degrees celsius (and it was still over 30 degrees at night!) It felt like god had left the oven on, thank goodness for the ample air conditioning!

What to pack

This is one question I get asked I lot! I like to think my Vegas wardrobe is pretty similar to my at home one… but with more sequins! Definitely bring comfortable shoes for the day time if you’re planning on walking up and down the strip, but for nights out pack your most OTT ensembles!

You see ALL SORTS in Vegas (some of them have to be seen to be believed) and its impossible to ever be overdressed. False eyelashes, glitter and your most extravagant shoes are a must. Plenty of swimwear too if you plan on lying by the pool or doing pool parties. I only bought one swimsuit on my last trip and I regretted it! Even lying poolside is a fashion moment opportunity.

Where to stay

Over my four visits I’ve stayed in five hotels – the Stratosphere, the Encore, the Cosmopolitan, the Flamingo and the Venetian. They all have their perks and downsides.

The Mirage is next on my list!

The Stratosphere is super cheap but waaaay the fuck down the far end of the Strip. You’ll have to get cabs everywhere which can be expensive and inconvenient.

The Encore is fabulous, super glam and definitely one of my favourite hotels. It (and the Wynn which it’s connected to) is a quite a bit more luxurious then a lot of the others so you pay a premium for it. The lobby interiors are stunning and there’s lots of natural light which is rare in casinos. Our room was no bigger or better than any of the other hotels we’ve been to though.

The Cosmopolitan is in a GREAT location, right smack bang in the middle of the strip and within walking distance to a lot of the main sights. I found it overpriced for the size of the room and the lobby had a bit of a funny smell when we stayed there! The pools were disappointingly small and unexciting too, especially when you compare them to the pools at the Flamingo, Mandalay Bay (they have an actual beach!) and the Venetian (below).

A view of the pools from our room at The Venetian

Honeymoon Travel Guide: A Surprise Trip to Vienna!

July 12, 2016 in Honeymoons, Sponsored Post. Written by Kat

When you decide to book a holiday, what’s the first thing you do? You probably figure out if you want to go lie on a beach, explore a new city or throw yourselves wholeheartedly into some kind of action/ adventure sports trip. Next, you might want to know how the weather is at the time of year you plan to travel. Then you’ll probably look up what the local food is like, research the must-sees and investigate all the popular sites to decide if they sound like something you’d enjoy…

But what if I told you you could go on a holiday that you knew nothing about until two hours before take off!? Well, that’s exactly what Gareth and I did last weekend!

Surprisetrips.co.uk is a new concept from the people behind Expedia.co.uk. How it works is you tell them your preferred departure airport, send them a short list of places you don’t want to visit (maybe you’ve already been there or you just don’t fancy it) and they book you a completely surprise European holiday!

They currently offer 77 weekend destinations in Europe and the service is open to all UK, IE, CA, AUS, NZ and US passport holders (all flights depart from the UK or Ireland). All flights are at convenient times (we flew out at 9am and back at 8pm) and are under 3 and a half hours.

When I heard about the concept I was excited, if not a little bit nervous. I’m not an over-planner when it comes to travelling, but I do like to do a little basic research so I know what to expect of a new place. Not least of all, I like to know beforehand how I’m going to get to my hotel from the airport!

The anticipation of where we might end up was definitely one of the best parts of this whole experience and everyone I told about it was like “Wow that’s so cool, I’d love to do that!” Once you book, Surprise Trips emails you a link which tells you which airport and terminal to go to and what time you need to arrive. Then, a couple of days before the trip they email you again with a weather report from your destination so you have some idea of what to pack. Ours told us it was going to be 26-30°C so we were kind of expecting that we might end up on a beach somewhere… But as you can see, that couldn’t have been further from what happened!

Now I’m no YouTuber, but I thought it might be fun to make a little travel video so you can see what we got up to. Enjoy!

Honeymoon Travel Guide: Hiroshima

April 28, 2016 in Honeymoons. Written by Kat

For most people, only one thing springs to mind when they hear the name ‘Hiroshima’. As the first ever city to suffer a nuclear attack, it has a sad history for sure, but today’s Hiroshima is far from a depressing place.

I had no idea what to expect when we hopped on the 90 minute train from Osaka, but what greeted us was a lively city with some of the friendliest people (and wildlife!) ever. They also have great food (make sure you try Okinomiyaki, a local speciality which is a fried cabbage, egg, meat and noodle dish) and fantastic scenery. We spent 48 hours here at the end of our time in Japan.

Here’s how we filled it:

The Atomic Bomb Dome and Peace Memorial

Our first stop was the Atomic Bomb Dome, one of very few structures left standing after the nuclear attack. The iconic ruin is a natural place to start your visit as from here you can walk down the river to the Peace Memorial Park and museum.

This was an emotional morning, especially because we’d both completely fallen in love with Japan and the people who live here. Just the thought of what it must have been like during the aftermath of the bombing is unfathomable.

Honeymoon Travel Guide: Kyoto and Osaka

April 18, 2016 in Honeymoons. Written by Kat

One of the things I was most looking forward to on our recent trip to Japan was that we were going to take the Shinkansen (bullet train) to a few different cities. The transport in Japan is so fast and reliable and it really wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. (I wrote about our itinerary and all the ins and outs of getting the bullet train in my Japan 101 article.)

After Tokyo, the next city on our tour was Kyoto which is less than a three hour journey away. We opted to spend five nights, and although it was beautiful and peaceful, any longer and I think we would have struggled to fill our time. I must prefer to be busy and occupied when I travel. I’m terrible, I know, I literally do not know how to switch off!

There are way more people in traditional clothing in Kyoto which was so cool to see. These colours!

If you enjoy history, castles, palaces, gardens and museums, you’re going to LOVE it in Kyoto.

Castles and shrines

Being an older city there are plenty of castles (many of which have been converted into museums) for you to explore. Doing touristy things really isn’t my idea of a brilliant time, but Gareth particularly enjoyed our visits to Nijo Castle, the Silver Pavillion and Osaka Castle (which is in Osaka, obviously! More on that below). The Golden Pavilion, which unlike its silver counterpart is actually covered in gold, was also on our list, but we were feeling a bit Pavilion-ed out by the time we came to visit so we gave it a miss.

There are also SO MANY shrines in Kyoto. It’s hardly surprising that the city’s nickname is ‘the city of ten thousand shrines’! I’m pretty sure that’s literal too. Nearly every corner you turn its like “Oh hey, there’s another one!”

Honeymoon Travel Guide: Tokyo

April 6, 2016 in Honeymoons. Written by Kat

The movie Bright Lights, Big City may be about New York, but I think the concept is much more suited to Tokyo. I’ve been very lucky to have travelled a lot over the past few years, every time falling in love with new places, but nowhere has my heart quite like Japan’s capital.

I am 100% a city girl. I love the hustle and bustle, that fact that everything’s open super late, and that you never know who you might meet or what whirlwind adventure you might end up on next. However Tokyo is unlike any other city I’ve ever been because of one major thing – the people.

I don’t think I can adequately express just how much I adore the Japanese. Although Tokyo is one of the busiest places on the planet (with a population of THIRTEEN MILLION), unlike other big cities, it never feels rushed. People just don’t hurry like they do in New York, they’re not rude like they can be in London, and they don’t push and shove you as they cram onto the subway (and we went on it during rush hour! There were white-gloved attendants stuffing people on to the train and everything!) Yes, its hectic, but I never felt uncomfortably claustrophobic like I can do in London… maybe it’s because I’m easily a foot taller than everyone else there? HA!

People say “please”, “thank you very much” and “excuse me” all the time. They smile, they nod, they offer to help you with your bags down the steps. Even at Shibuya Crossing, the busiest cross-walk on the planet, the sea of people felt almost calming, not intimidating. I really don’t think I can explain how much I love this place to you properly unless you just go! I really hope you will too because there is literally no place else like it.

OK, OK, enough gushing! What I really want to share with you today is some fun things to do in Tokyo. As I mentioned in last week’s post, we were only there for two days this time (sob) and we’d been there before so we did most of the major touristy things that time. You definitely have to visit Odaiba Island, Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo Tower, the Imperial Palace, the ancient Sensō-ji Temple and Ueno Park. You should also try to take part in a traditional tea ceremony or a cooking or origami class if you can. But if you’re looking for some more out-of-the-box ideas for your visit, then this is the article for you!

Kawaii Monster Cafe

Honeymoon Travel Guide: Japan 101

March 30, 2016 in Honeymoons. Written by Kat

It’s official: Japan is my favourite place on the planet. Gareth and I first visited Tokyo in 2008 for our honeymoon and we’ve always wanted to go back. We haven’t really had the time or money for a (non-working) holiday since then though, but at the beginning of this year we thought “Screw it, we’ve worked our arses off these past few years, let’s just do it!”

Today I wanted to tackle some of your frequently asked questions about our trip. I’ve received so many since I’ve been (over)sharing on Instagram! I’ll be sharing some recommendations of things to see and do in each of the cities we visited over the coming weeks too.

Our itinerary

The first time we visited, we spent our entire 10 day-trip just in Tokyo. While you can certainly spend more time than that exploring and experiencing this magical city (we still haven’t made it to the Sanrio theme park – TRAVESTY!) Japan is so much more than just its capital.

As we’d been to Tokyo before, and done a lot of the main sites already, we decided to spend just two nights there this time. At first I was worried we wouldn’t get to see enough of it, but we really did manage to pack a lot in. They were long 10+ hour days, but I love being busy and soaking everything in when I travel. The idea of lying on a beach all day sounds so dull to me! Our itinerary went a little something like this:

Thursday 17th March – Arrived in Tokyo
Sunday 20th March – Shinkansen (bullet) train to Kyoto (approx. 2.5 hours)
Friday 26th March – Shinkansen train to Hiroshima (approx. 1.5 hours)
Monday 28th March – Shinkansen train back to Tokyo (approx. 4 hours)
Tuesday 29th March – Flew back to the UK

Osaka is also only a 15 minute journey from Kyoto, so although we hadn’t planned to visit, we did! A lot of my research beforehand told me that Osaka wasn’t that exciting, but I’m so glad we ignored that because we loved it! It was more like Tokyo than Kyoto (which is way more quiet and traditional) but less intense and busy.

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