Cool Travel Destinations!

Got these oh-so-inspiring travel destination suggestions from other "stumblers" while adding my websites in Stumble Upon. I love nature and I adored Europe so these suggested European holiday getaways really caught my attention.

What made these getaways very interesting is its terrific location in the countryside, calm, quiet, and romantic with a vibrant scenery of rolling hills, streams and valleys, a perfect diversion from the redundant beach resorts and luxurious amusement parks regularly mentioned in travel magazines and websites.

So let's get to know more about these spectacular villages in Europe we rarely read in travel columns. 

BIBURY, ENGLAND

Well, my closest friends know I am obsessed with England. :-)

Bibury village in the Cotsworld Region, Southern England

Image source: Stumble Upon

I love everything about Britain, from the afternoon tea tradition, beautiful countryside to castles and royalty, it's cool to explore the archipelago even just in my thoughts. 

I've been researching for quite sometime now how to travel to Britain (Great Britain is composed of three countries which are ancient in existence: England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland is not part of the geography of Britain but it constitutes the whole part of the United Kingdom, the official name of Great Britain) and read everything about its beautiful countryside, Northumbria, Grasmere, Cornwall, Gloucestershire and the Scottish Loch ness for instance, but I didn't know anything about Bibury! I read stuff about Cotswold, which is known as the area of outstanding natural beauty, and its breathtaking sea side but haven't heard anything about its villages.

Okay, so here. According to the source, Bibury is a beautiful English village at the Cotswold region in Southern England. So lovely that by looking at the village's cobbled houses and pathways through photos you will be instantly entranced with its extraordinary beauty of nature!

According to the image source, Bibury has relaxing lush meadows that serve as a natural backdrop to the ancient stone cottages with steep pitched roofs in the village. The most scenic area is the Arlington Row, a lane of sepia-hued cottages believed to be built around the 17th century and has been preserved up to the modern times.

Oh I love Cotswold! This Southern England region is really fantastic and dreamy. The countryside and the beaches are captivating and I believed the Isle of Mull (correct me if I'm wrong) is part of this region.

CONG, IRELAND

Before going elsewhere in the continent, let's have another taste of wonder at England's nearest neighbour, Ireland. This might sounds strange as some globe-trotters never included this country in their list of favourite travel destinations, but did you know that Ireland, known as the emerald isle, is equally interesting as England? Or so I thought (I just read it in the book).

Classic Victorian architecture of Ashford Castle in Cong, Ireland

Image source: Stumble Upon

I'm not quite familiar with Ireland, aside from its capital, Dublin, and the Giant Causeway, the only Irish village I know (through books) is Limerick. But Oh, there's one, Cong! What a name!! Never heard about it.

Cong is a lovely village whose topography straddles between the County of Mayo and Galway dominated by vibrant meadows, lakes and lush plants, it has medieval cottages that survived up to the modern times. The most fascinating thing about this village is that it is home to Ashford Castle, a grand Victorian estate that has been converted to a luxurious hotel.

Cong, Ireland might not be your ideal travel escape but with its amazing gift of nature and interesting culture, it's not bad to include this place when travelling to Ireland.

REINE, NORWAY

Known to the world as the Land of Midnight Sun, Norway is equally interesting as the rest of the countries in the Scandinavian peninsula. Its countryside is covered with fjords, streams, lakes, rugged terrain, rolling hills and beautiful blooms.

Experience the snowy travel in Reine, Norway

Image source: Stumble Upon

Everyone knows Norway's capital is Oslo, but only few travellers are aware that the country has an extraordinary and lovely lakeside. Here, let's find out more about this lakeside sort of thing and discover Reine, one of Norway's wonderful villages which has a direct access to the Arctic circle.

According to the source, Reine is located in the North of the Arctic circle, so expect to experience a terrible blizzard of ice during winter when visiting this place. Basically, Reine is a fishing village in the Lofoten archipelago which is shrouded by the breathtaking wilderness of Nordic!

This village offers visitors an extraordinary experience of breathing the cool fresh air from the Norwegian sea and the amazing view of the summer midnight sun through its cottages and cabins which are directly facing the sea side.

BLED, SLOVENIA

Oh! Another unpopular European destination, you might thought. But no, Slovenia is as lovely as Austria and Germany.

Bled is a small Alpine Town in Northern Slovenia cradled with lake, mountain and meadows

Image source: Stumble Upon

To make things easier for everyone to know Slovenia, here's a little background:

This country is once part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, when this Kingdom was partitioned and thoroughly erased in the map of Europe, Slovenia for a time was annexed to Serbia until 1991 when it became an independent country. Now, this small nation is one of the most interesting places to visit in Central Europe. The country's capital is Lijublijana.

It borders Italy, Austria and Croatia and what's interesting about the landscape of Slovenia is its ideal location near the Alps! So just imagine how romantic it is to visit Slovenia during winter or even Autumn.

One of its amazing villages is Bled. The atmosphere is so relaxing because this small Alpine town is cradled by mountain hilltops, meadows and a lake whose glacial blue waters encircled the tiny island with a baroque church smack in the middle.

While we never gone yet to Bled, Slovenia, we can easily picture out how everything runs when we travel to this place someday. After visiting the church and marvelling at its placid blue water, a quick mountain trekking is somewhat ideal and experience the soothing breeze while throwing glances to the panoramic view of the Alps. Picture-perfect isn't it?

There you go, the amazing European villages we almost never know as these are rarely featured in the travel magazines and articles. Countryside travel is ideal especially if you want to discover the natural beauty of the country you are visiting and experience the stillness of the mother earth.