This weeks TTT prompt was a ‘non-bookish freebie’ so I’ve decided to do a post about the top ten places I’ve visited in my travels. This was a mega hard list to narrow down because I was lucky enough to spend over 6 months travelling a few years ago and pretty much loved everywhere I went, but the place’s I’ve chosen for this post are the ones I would, and have, returned to in a heartbeat. It’s a mixture of nature and cities, and I have some many amazing memories from my time in these places.

Top Ten Tuesday is run by Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl and you should definitely go give her blog some love.

Hobbiton – New Zealand

Every LOTR fans dream right? New Zealand as a whole is one of my favourite countries, but Hobbiton, as well as a place I’ve mentioned a bit farther down stole it for me. They’ve left it looking like an almost working village with smoking chimneys and houses with fish and bread outside and you can even have a beer at The Green Dragon. Safe to say my nerd heart soared, and I just wanted to move into one of the little hobbit holes.

Elephant Nature Camp – Thailand

Elephants are my all time favourite animal, so you can guess at how excited I was to be staying here. Lex, the woman who runs the Elephant Nature Camp is one hell of a woman, and if you ever get the chance to read about how and why she started this refuge for animals I would highly recommend it. We spent our week cleaning up after the Elephants, preparing food and feeding them, but you’re doing it all with the most beautiful backdrop and Elephants walking around which blew my mind. The site is mainly host to rescued circus, working and logging Elephants who get to spend the remainder of their lives in this beautiful place.

New York – U.S.A

First city and, despite not being a city gal myself, I absolutely fell in love with NYC the minute my feet hit the pavement. I would love to go back because we packed in so much time seeing the sites, that we didn’t really get to see the city if that makes sense. I did get a few Broadway trips: Chicago & Finding Neverland which blew me away, but most of our time was spent taking in as many sites as we could.

Berlin – Germany

Another city, but this one for a completely different reason. I’m a bit of a world war buff… thank you GCSE History, so loved spending time in Berlin and learning more about the City itself and the history of the area. While there are sites a plenty to see and humongous amounts of history, I think what I love most about Berlin is the peacefulness of it. Even on what I would call the busy nights, the city just seemed to take it’s time and it’s a place that I would love to spend more time in.

Reykjavík – Iceland

Iceland is bloody beautiful, but I would definitely like to go back when it’s a little warmer. The picture of me on the horse? Minute 14 degrees. But I love snow, and the cold never bothered me anyway lol, so my time here was spent marvelling at the landscape, searching for the Northern Lights and trying to see as much of it as I could.

Scottish Highlands

I feel like Scotland is almost my second home with the amount of time I spend there. It’s one of my all time favourite places in the UK to visit, especially the Highlands with the likes of Glencoe, Ben Nevis, Loch Lomond etc. It’s stunningly beautiful and so, so peaceful, if I ever need to get away from it all for a little while, Scotland it my go to for that. Plus the people are lovely, the scenery is stunning and they do the best fish and chips ever.

Yosemite – U.S.A

Now for the nature side of the US. We did a few National Parks while we were over there: Yellowstone, Badlands etc, but there was just something about Yosemite that blew me away. It was stunning and we ran into a few furry friends whilst we were there… I saw my first Brown Bear.

Milford Sound – New Zealand

If you ever find yourself in New Zealand, the South Island, I can highly recommend a trip to Milford Sound. It is one of the most picturesque and peaceful places I have ever been to. Almost Fjord like, you exit the island via a waterway filled with scenic mountains and numerous waterfalls and we even got to see a mum and baby humpback whale!

Paris – France

I mean… how could I leave Paris off. Having been lucky enough to visit Paris multiple times now, I love going and just meandering my way around the city, finding places and sites that I never thought to visit. It’s got that proper old style European vibe and is just beautiful to spend time in… plus the pastries!

Porto – Portugal

Did I go to Porto for the library? 100% yes. But it turns out that the rest of the city is just as beautiful. I spent 3 days there for my 30th birthday a few years back and loved wandering around the streets and learning about the history of the city itself. Very hilly, but 100% worth it.

And there you have it! 10 of my favourite places I’ve visited. I could add onto this list forever: Florence, Prague, Queenstown NZ… and go on and on, but these are definitely some of my faves. Have you visited any of these places? Do you have any favourite trips? Let me know in the comments.