Buxton

Buxton actually has an Opera House

We were staying in Buxton when visiting the Peak District, it's only 45kms from Manchester, we went out via Stockport, which perhaps wasn't the best way to go. It's kind of depressing driving through there. It's just closed down businesses and eternal traffic lights. We were glad when we were out of the town and into the countryside.

Buxton is a pretty town, probably because of the geothermal spring which has made it a popular spa getaway since the 1700s. We didn't actually try the water from the spring, or go to a spa, since we were mainly here for walking.

We did manage to stop in at Lyme park on the way back to Manchester. Definitely recommend a visit here. It was the exterior for Pemberley in the classic BBC Pride and Prejudice series. And the location of the famous pond scene with Colin Firth. There was a little blurb about this scene on the information boards. And Colin Firth never dived into the lake. They had to use a stuntman. They were too worried that he would catch some disease from the algae or rats. Kind of changes the feeling around that scene.

The famous pond and Pemberley.

We didn't have a heap of time to look around, plus it was raining pretty hard, which was a shame. But you could easily spend a day at this place, the grounds are huge!

Seven Sisters

First view of the cliffs

One of the more popular day walks from London is the Seven Sisters, in Sussex, starting in Seaford and ending in Eastbourne. It's a longish day, about 20km with some up and down as you go over the sisters. It's a great view of the white cliffs, probably better than from Dover. If the weather is nice, this is a really great day out, though there aren't many opportunities to go for a swim. To be honest the cliffs are much nicer than the beaches. The beaches all seem to be covered in pebbles and moss, not what I look for in a beach. Eastbourne, where you finish, has a massive beach, still covered in pebbles. But it's nice sitting on the beach having a well-earned drink at the end.  The seven sisters are the seven cliff peaks from Cuckmere River to Birling Gap. And when you see shots of the cliffs of Dover in TV and films you are generally seeing these cliffs instead.

The beautiful English beach

Looking back along the cliffs and the National Trust lunch spot.

There is a bit of a slog out of Seaford, and before you get to the actual cliffs you have to ford a river. The council must have changed this part of the route, because in the past I think it was a couple of kilometres detour to walk up the river to a bridge. The river was definitely passable for us though, I'm not sure if that was because the tide was low. It was soooo cold, definitely halted any thoughts of a swim.

Lighthouse view 

I would definitely recommend this walk, I can see why it's so popular, it's a bit of a trip from London though, being 90 minutes on a train. The line is also Southern, which is a total pain, since there are just constant cancellations, strikes and delays on that train line at the moment.

Anyway, the Seven Sisters is a classic English walk, good views, gentle, rolling hills and not too strenuous. With ample chances for tea and scones.

Dolomites

Our awesome home for the week

We spent almost a week in the Dolomites over summer. I had never thought to really go to the Dolomites, but I'm so glad I did. They were so great, warm everyday, great walks and fantastic views. It was quieter than I would expect for somewhere with such great views, and weather. For some reason I would have thought the walking trails would have been a lot busier, but we kind of had them to ourselves.

We hired a house just outside Cortina D'Ampezzo, which had the most stunning view. Looking out across a meadow and Cortina proper to massive mountain peaks. It turns out that Cortina is actually where all the ultra-fashionable Italians go. So it was a bit funny for us to pop into the supermarket in town in our normal clothes only to see everyone super polished walking up and down the mall. I had to buy a whole new set of clothes there so I could go out to dinner. I had only packed hiking gear, which wasn't going to make the grade in Cortina.

The view from our balcony

There was a really good mix of forest and mountain walking here. Plus there are cable cars running, so no need to slog up and down the steep hills. We were thinking it would be a bit chilly, given Cortina is at 1200m elevation, but nope, lovely and warm the whole time. The Dolomites are super close to the Austrian border, in fact I think Austria used to control this area, so there is quite a German influence in the house design. And yet still Italian in other ways, you could always get a pizza and nice cheeses.

So many mountains

Village of Cortina - surrounded by mountains

We did some nice easy walks too, almost directly from the house. There was a good forest walk through a mountain meadow and then an isolated farmhouse for lunch. With a good selection of animals to play with.

There were some walks from the top of cable cars, with fantastic views out to the mountain ranges around us. It was up there that you could see how far the mountains went for. There was some good history around too, because this region was part of Austria until after World War I. So there was some fighting in the mountains surrounded Cortina. That would have been hard-core, fighting battles in those mountains.

View from the cable car stop above Cortina

It was a really relaxing holiday, because we were staying just out of Cortina it was nice and quiet. But only a 5 minute drive into the village. And with great views and perfect weather. Italy really does deliver on the weather front. I think if I was to go back to Cortina I would fly into the cheap Venice airport, and then it's almost directly north from there. So actually pretty easy to get to from London.

Fancy lunch venue - who's view we ruined by eating lunch on the other side