London – Battersea Power Station

Every respectful tourist destination offers travellers a wide variety of entertainment, from exhibitions, museums, and art galleries, to amusement parks and even shopping centres.
After a while, something new has appeared in London and that place is worth visiting – Battersea Power Station. And this site may not even been included in all tourist guides yet.

One of the well-known categories of these objects is landmarks. Along such famous landmarks as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Statue of Liberty in New York or the Colosseum in Rome the Battersea Power Station looks quite impressive.

The methods of building and presenting these objects as well as their offerings to visitors can be very different, but they have one thing in common – they are all well known internationally and become symbols of those places they are located.

Battersea Power Station interior design
Battersea Power Station interior design

From the second half of 2023, a new object in London has been opened for viewing and visiting. Battersea Power Station complements such existing attractions as the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Kensington Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral and others. Battersea Power Station offers a historical insight into London’s history, as well as many opportunities to eat, relax and shop. And you get a chance to see the London skyline from over 100 meters above sea level. In addition, all this is created in a modern style using the latest technologies. Recently, as of early 2024, 11 million people have visited this site.

The story about Battersea Power Station

Battersea was a coal-fired power station which became a National Historic Landmark when it was decommissioned in the second part of the 20th century. The first stage of the station was built between 2029 and 1935, and the second stage was put into operation in 1955. Accordingly, the first stage of the power plant ceased operation in 1975, and the second stage was three years after that.

Battersea Power Station in the evening
Battersea Power Station in the evening

The architecture of the power plant was made in the style of a brick cathedral, of which there are not many examples. Apparently for this reason, in 1980 the entire complex of buildings was given the status of a listed building. Despite repeated attempts to rebuild the area, for a very long time, nothing new was started due to lack of funding. While all the buildings were standing empty and abandoned until 2014, it led to the situation that they started looking like ruins.

The situation finally changed after investors from Malaysia agreed to renovate the buildings and nearby structures. The intention was to create a business and entertainment centre, as well as a new residential area. However, it was also required that the restored complex retain its historical appearance.

Since the money was found, the reconstruction of the main building of the power plant was completed in 2022, and the entire complex with a total area of 17 hectares was put into operation in 2023. The total investment in the reconstruction of the complex reached almost 9 billion pounds (10.5 billion euros).

There are other noteworthy facts associated with the restoration of this place. For example, the London Underground’s Northern line was extended by 3 kilometres and two new metro stations were built. Total investment in the development of the metro network exceeded £1 billion. It was the first major expansion of the London Underground network since 1999, and the new section opened in 2021.

Getting there

Unlike most London attractions, Battersea Power Station is located on the right bank of the Thames River.

We headed to Battersea Power Station after visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum, so it was most convenient to take a bus to Chelsea Bridge. When you get off at the bridge on the left bank of the Thames River, you will have to cross the bridge, walking a total of less than a kilometre. It’s worth doing this way as you can observe the surrounding area from the bridge.

The easiest way, of course, is to take the Northern Line underground line to the Battersea Power Station stop, and from there walk about 400 meters to the station. Just be aware that not all southbound Northern Line trains go to this station. If you miss the correct train, your last chance to change is at Kennington Station (near the Elephant and Castle – if you’re there, it means you have to change trains).

Attractions

In total, the site has about 140 establishments of various types: from shops and bars to a cinema.

Upon entering the power plant complex, you will immediately notice the fact that the whole interior does look like an industrial facility. Even individual rooms have retained their original appearance. For example, if you enter the bar in Control Room B, from the bar tables will see the power plant’s control panel.

The prices overall are not lower than the London average, but in some cases, they can be a little higher. The main reason for this is that this is a fairly new and relatively posh area of London. This is evidenced by the fact that such a company as Apple has chosen this area as the location for its central London office, where around 3,000 employees are expected to work across six floors.

Shopping mall

The shopping centre features such famous brands as Apple, Boss, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Jigsaw, L’Occitane, Lacoste, Lego, Mango, Nike, Omega, Ralph Lauren, Superdry, Tag Heuer, Tommy Hilfiger and Zara.

Entertainment

If you add to the entertainment such establishments as a cinema, an exhibition hall and mini golf, food and refreshments in bars, the choice is also quite impressive. Including such well-known brands as Pret a Manger, Starbucks and Wagamama, in total more than 50 different venues for entertainment are available.

Inside Battersea Power Station
Inside Battersea Power Station

Other attractions

The complex has a virtual reality zone where you can visit Egyptian pyramids, fight dragons or meet zombies. Just to add that I haven’t been there yet, so cannot comment on those.

However, the most impressive place is Lift 109. You can take the trip on an elevator to get up inside one of the station’s pipes to a height of 109 metres and to watch the London skyline. I recommend this and it may be an even better alternative to the London Eye.
It’s best to book your tickets in advance as this attraction is in high demand. The adult ticket cost £17, in my opinion, this was a very reasonable price for what we got. Various multimedia effects are used to make the entire journey even more exciting.

Why to visit Battersea Power Station?

If you have already visited enough museums and exhibitions, then this is a place where you can have a good time, eat good food, watch a film and observe London from above. What I liked most was the fact that being in a historic building it feels in every way that you live in the twenty-first century – history, heritage, technology and the opportunity to relax as you wish.

Portavadie

West of Scotland

If you are in Glasgow and fancy to go somewhere else, you can reach an interesting place on one of the western peninsulas of the Argyll and Bute region in a few hours.

The Argill and Bute region is the second largest (almost 7,000 square kilometres, larger are only the Scottish Highlands) in Scotland and borders the Stirling, Scottish Highlands and a few other regions. However, the region has low population density and, with less than 90,000 living there, it is the sixth from the bottom of the list.

Portavadie boats
Portavadie boats

The region begins relatively close to Glasgow, just before Helensburg. Because of its lakes, region has two large peninsulas and three large western Scottish islands – the Isle of Islay, the Isle Jura and the Isle of Mull.

There are two major roads in the region in the north-south direction and one in the east-west direction (in its northern part).

The vast majority of roads are local and on many occasions those have single lane for driving in both directions. However, as elsewhere in Scotland, all roads are paved and the road surface is of good quality.

Portavadie

Portavadie is a very small village with a small marina and nice Scandinavian spa complex. This spa complex is not widely known and is mostly used by locals and sailors, however we did not found anything better in Scotland in five years living there.

In principle, everything is built for the recreational needs of sailors. In a relatively large area there are hotels, a restaurant, a modern administrative building of the port and the already mentioned Spa complex which is quite tiny but the best in terms of services I have enjoyed in the United Kingdom.

There is also a ferry terminal in Portavadie, from where you can quickly, in about 15 minutes, reach the port of Tarbet on the next peninsula in the direction of the Isle of Arran. The journey from Portavadie to Tarbet would take at least two and a half hours.

Portavadie marina
Portavadie marina

If you are on the ferry, you can observe the nearby Scottish salmon farms, which are set in a fairly large area across the bay. Once when we visited Portavadie, we took a ferry to Tarbet on our way back to Glasgow. The trip was interesting, it was worth stopping in several places along the way and enjoying the surrounding landscape. Of course, there are different Scottish castles there.

For example, in the town of Inveraray there is a parking lot by the water in a very beautiful place. It is also worth visiting the castle and its garden – there you can spend several hours in a pleasant atmosphere (there is also a parking lot near the castle).

On the way back you can stop at the northern end of Loch Fine to relax and eat. If there are no vacancies at Loch Fine Oysters Restaurant (often, reservations must be made several days in advance), you can also enjoy a delicious, good-value meal at the café in the garden centre next door.

Hotel and Spa

Returning to Portavadie, we’ve been there quite a few times, taking friends there as well. We also stayed in the hotel apartments. Prices are quite high, but spending an entire afternoon going to the spa complex’s pool and treatments is a great pleasure.

Sunset in Portavadie
Sunset in Portavadie

Inside the complex there is a swimming pool, sauna, café, on the second floor treatment rooms, while outside there is a heated pool and jacuzzi. It feels especially good to go there when the weather is cold outside. After leaving the sauna, you should walk about ten meters and then it is a real pleasure to sink into the pool and look at the surrounding landscape.

It’s even difficult to describe those feelings, so it’s better to go there and try it.

Cornwall

This time I will start with a short summary. We were planning to go to Cornwall for at least seven years. It didn’t happen because it was quite far from Scotland – travel costs also played serious role. While living in the south of England we couldn’t do it in the beginning because there were many other places to go.

We decided to go to Cornwall after listening to stories from others about how unique and beautiful it is. After the trip there, I can say one thing – the idea of visiting Cornwall could have been not the highest priority. Mainly because of associated costs. The cost of the trip was essentially at least the same as nice comfortable weekend in Rome. To be honest, the feeling and impressions after returning home from Rome were also better at the end.

Cornwall scenery
Cornwall scenery

The value you get for the money you spend plays significant role here and for me it would be in favour of Italy. Roughly speaking, everything in Cornwall was about half as expensive as it should be based on my travel experience in Europe. In short, the prices in remote places of Britain are inflated to the maximum and do not really meet expectations. In this case, the only exception might be the guest house where we stayed, although it was not cheap either.

About Cornwall in brief

Cornwall is a relatively large area in the very south-west of England. If you look at the map, it ends up with only water around it. For this reason, there is even a place called Lands End.

One peculiarity of Cornwall is that, unlike the rest of England, it has historically been a Celtic region. It can also be felt, for example, by many strange names of places or the way the locals pronounce them.

The territory of Cornwall is 3.56 thousand square kilometres, it is the 12th largest of 48 regions. More than 550 thousand people live there and it is only 40th in terms of population. The population density per square kilometre is only 160 people. The administrative centre of the region is Truro.

The Eden Project

The first place we visited was the Eden Project. It is a complex of gardens and greenhouses where plants from all over the world have been collected. You need about three to four hours to see everything. All in all, quite interesting, especially if you get to stand in line and climb up to the dome itself and look at the tropical world from above (the observation deck is open periodically and there are quite a lot of people who want to participate in this 5-minute dizzying attraction).

Sunset in Cornwall
Sunset in Cornwall

The entrance ticket costs around 35 pounds (around 40 euros) for adults (prices vary depending on the season) and 11 pounds for visitors aged 5 to 16. In essence, it is a ticket for a year, but it does not make much sense, because hardly anyone will want to drive that long way again during the same year. In my opinion, it would make sense to reduce the price for one visit (up to £20 per adult’s visit would be more appropriate price).

Accommodation

We booked a guest house in Cornwall a long time in advance, because during the high season the prices skyrocket, often the accommodation is simply not available. The main reason – those Britons who do not go overseas visit Cornwall and other similar regions of Britain.

Guesthouse in Cornwall
Guesthouse in Cornwall

As I said at the beginning, the price for this accommodation was reasonable in given circumstances – £245 for two nights in a two bedroom apartment with a fitted kitchen, living room, bathroom and a nice little private courtyard at the side of the house. The beds were comfortable, the hostess had left local eggs and ham in the fridge for breakfast, so I can definitely recommend this Church House guest house to other travellers (we booked this through Airbnb).

That’s it about our first day in Cornwall in 2022, you can also read about our second day in Cornwall.

Abbotsbury Swannery

Visiting Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset

We have visited Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset, England twice. The first time at the end of March and the second time at the beginning of May when new swans and other birds just had the first new babies born. Either of the visits were nice and we would go there again even just to have an amazing walk around and enjoy this peaceful relaxing place in the company of these amazing creatures.

birds nesting place
Birds nesting place

The Swannery was established by Benedictine Monks in the 11th century where they farmed the swans to produce food – how practical! They say that the Abbotsbury Swannery is home to the world’s only managed colony of nesting mute swans, although that is not the only thing you will find there. From the entrance gate, you will have to walk almost one kilometre (about 2,400 feet) to reach the colony of swans; free car parking is located in front of the entrance. On the way to Swannery, you will find other attractions such as a labyrinth and a small ricing arena where usage of pedal-driven means of transport are available free of charge.

Swannery

There is something else you benefit from visiting Abbotsbury Swannery – you may buy a ticket with a huge 25% discount to also enter another site located nearby – Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens. At the time we visited the Abbotsbury Swannery, there was an option to also enter another site designed very well for visitors with kids. However, this has been changed, hopefully temporarily, since the pandemic began in March 2020 (there still are some restrictions for visitors in 2020 due to the coronavirus).

Feeding swans

One of the most exciting things about Abbotsbury Swannery was feeding swans. At the time we visited the swannery, the feeding was at noon – keep this in mind when planning your trip and booking tickets.

feeding of swans
Feeding of swans

It was allowed for volunteers, especially kids, to enter the feeding area and feed swans with the food they provided on-site. This process was long enough to take a lot of photos and shoot videos. All swans from the surrounding area were gathering together to get food. Before and after feeding you may walk around the territory using convenient paths and many other birds living in the area. There is also a small museum providing more information about swans and the history of the site.

Usual swannery opening times are from 10 am to 5 pm all week, with the last entry at 4 pm; online ticket price for an adult is £10, for a child £5. Be aware that dogs are not allowed to enter the swannery. The minimum time for the visit might be two to three hours, although you may spend even more time easily.

Abbotsbury subtropical gardens

After visiting the swannery, we went to Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens, a site located two and a half kilometres away by car. And again, there is a huge free-of-charge car park across the road just in front of the entrance to the gardens.

abbotsbury tropical gardens
Abbotsbury tropical gardens

About the history you may read on their website, the information provided is comprehensive. Amazing place both for adults and children to enjoy. All I may add is that gardens are really beautiful, especially during spring. There is a viewpoint where you may observe the coastline and even see a bit of Abbotsbury Swannery; getting there is quite nice physical exercise though.

Opening times of the gardens are from 10 am to 5 pm all week, with the last entry at 4 pm. Advance ticket costs £10 for an adult and £5 for a person aged from five to fifteen; children up to five years enter free, buying tickets on-site would be more expensive. Good news – dogs are allowed to enter the gardens!

Italian cooking classes in Rome

This experience was part of our trip to Italian capital city Rome. After returning from our one-day long trip to Vesuvius, we had one more major attraction booked – cooking classes in Italian restaurant.

small restaurant in rome
Small restaurant in Rome

Almost everybody around the world knows Italian food. Italian cuisine has been developing since ancient times and has spread around the world until nowadays. One of the main characteristics of Italian dishes is that it is usually simple to prepare a meal because just a few main ingredients (often two to four) are normally used. However, Italy is large country and the same dish may be very different in different areas of the country.

Some very well know ingredients of Italian cuisine are olive oil, pesto, pasta, tomatoes, peppers, olives, garlic, artichokes, eggplants, zucchini, all kinds of meat, fish, seafood and cheese (parmesan, pecorino, ricotta etc.).

There is a huge range of pasta used in Italy as well as in other countries around the world – macaroni, spaghetti, linguine, fusilli, penne, lasagne, ravioli and tortellini. Pasta differs from each other with various lengths, widths, and shapes but, for example, ravioli and tortellini are filled with other ingredients.

A while before coming over to Italy, we booked cooking classes at Le Fate Restaurant (Le Fate means fairy). In this privately owned restaurant, Italian Chief Andrea Consoli was teaching groups of 4 to 6 people about preparing excellent Italian dishes.

tiramisu
Tiramisu dish

We were really enjoying this cooking class and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to enjoy free time acquiring some new knowledge mixed with just having fun. However, I was checking for availability of this cooking class in 2019 and it appears that this restaurant has been closed – what a pity.

There is another blog about finding good restaurants in Rome for eating breakfast, lunch and dinner – this may save your some time in finding those as I can recommend all of them after my own positive experience.

So, this is it about our cooking classes in Rome but there also are travel notes about another trips to Italy, for example, to Italian Alps.

Cooking classes near Marrakesh

When visiting other countries, we always try to familiarise ourselves with local cuisine, at least as much as possible. For example, on our own we were buying and preparing seafood in Montenegro.

One way of doing this is visiting local restaurants, though it is even more exciting if there is a possibility to prepare food ourselves. It appeared that Morocco offers visitors to enjoy cocking classes; this is both an adventure and getting new useful skills in preparing Moroccan food.

Moroccan food

In Morocco, we booked a cooking class near Marrakesh – FAIM D’EPICES. The price was approx. EUR 50 per person and that included transportation, lessons in Moroccan food preparation, preparation of meals in practice, drinks and spice workshop (pick-up place usually would be arranged near the place you stay in Marrakesh, which is a norm in Morocco).

We learned how to make a complete meal, meaning bread, salad, a tajine and the special Moroccan patties. The main dish on the day we were there was the tajine of lamb with prunes. Be aware that they do not accept credit cards, so cash should be taken with you; we also paid a deposit in advance (half of the price).

Cooking classes

Faim d’Epices operates for a while, the kitchen is large and well-equipped. We also got very useful tips on different topics, for example, how to find out if argan oil is pure or how to make sure that saffron is genuine (these ingredients are expensive and people may try to sell fake stuff).

Argan oil is an oil produced from the kernels of the argan tree and saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus. Saffron has long been the world’s most costly spice by weight.

Both, argan oil and saffron are specific to Morocco. In addition to this, every household prepares its own mix of different spices to be used for everyday cooking; those may include caraway, cumin, saffron, sumac, fennel, mustard and many other ingredients.

You may wish to watch on YouTube my video about the Moroccan town Tafraout which we visited during COVID in 2020 (opens in a new window). In Morocco we also visited such places as Marrakesh, Taroudant, Agadir, Paradise Valley, Sahara desert and more which you can find on this blog.