Chris Dyson's Travel Blog

Tromsø I visited Norway in the winter of 2014 for new year. The company I used to do this tour can be found here . I flew from the UK to Oslo and then stayed overnight, before making my way north to the city of Tromsø where the tour would start properly. Tromsø is inside the arctic circle so the sun doesn't rise above the horizon in the middle of winter and is a great for viewing the Aurora Borealis(northern lights). We checked into the hotel and had some free time before waiting for our pickup in the evening for dog sledding into the Norwegian forest. Special warm and windproof clothing was provided as we were pulled along by 5 huskies. We finished the day in a Sami tent and ate some stew before been transferred back to the hotel. The following morning we had some more free time to explore the city properly. So I took a bus to the other side of the Tromsø bridge and went up the Fjellheisen(Cable car) to get a great wide shot of the city. In the evening the cruise pulled up...

Saint Petersburg I visited Saint Petersburg in the summer of 2016 on Expat Explore's Northern Explorer tour. This was my first time in Russia and most people need a tourist visa to travel here. Visitors from some countries also need to get fingerprints such as the UK. We spent a half day here then a further full day, and we lucky enough to be there for Navy day and Paratroopers day. We visited many of the famous landmarks such as the Winter Palace, Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and Saint Isaac's Cathedral. Winter Palace/Hermitage Museum. Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. Moscow We took the Sapsan high speed train from Saint Petersburg to Moscow. This is a 4 hour journey in both directions and we took the first train there and got the last train back. This was a very long day but it is definitely worth doing as you can always rest or sleep on the spacious train. We visited the Kremlin grounds seeing Red Square and Saint Basil's Cathedral. W...

Tallinn, Estonia My first visit to the Baltic region was in Tallinn, Estonia this was apart of Expat Explore's Northern Explorer tour. Tallinn is easily accessible by cruise as it is very close to other European cities such as Saint Petersburg, Helsinki or Stockholm. It has a population of around 450,000 people and its old town is a UNESCO world heritage site. We arrived and took a walk around with a friendly local guide. Rooftop view of Tallinn. Riga, Latvia We then drove onto Riga in Latvia which is the biggest city in all of the Baltic countries. We again walked through the city with our guide to explore the area further. Latvia along with its neighbour countries joined the European Union in 2004. We enjoyed a meal here before walking through a park on the way back to our hotel with a sky bar. Centre of Riga. Vilnius, Lithuania After spending the night we moved onto Lithuania, first visiting the Hill of crosses. It is estimated that there are over 100,000 c...

Warsaw My most recent visit to Poland was part of Expat Explore's Northern Explorer tour. We spent 1.5 days here with the first evening consisting of a meal with the group and walking tour. The 2nd day was a full free day to do as we please with some optional activities provided by the company. One of the optionals I joined was a Nysa Van tour of the city. This is a type of van produced in Poland between 1958-1994 which we used to see the sights of the city. This tour gives you an insight into what it was like in communist times. In the evening I chose to tour the National stadium and meet up with a friend who I had met a few years prior in Norway. Nysa Van. PGE Narodowy National Stadium. My video from Warsaw can be found here: Krakow My first time in Poland was to Krakow in 2015, this was part of Expat Explore's Eastern Highlights tour. We had travelled from the Czech Republic and I remember the traffic was quite bad after some motorway maintenance slowed...

The French Riviera( Côte d'Azur) is located at the south east coast of France on the Mediterranean sea coastline. Nice, France I visited here in May 2017 as part of Expat Explore's London to Rome tour. We stayed a total of 2 nights in the French Riviera spending just over 36 hours total here. It was also the Cannes film festival and the Monaco Grand Prix on the same weekend that we were there, so the south of France was full of activity this time of year. While I was in Nice i walked up the hill to get a nice shot of the beach and the rest of the city from a good height. I walked back down the hill and along the beach front area, this is unfortunately where a terror attack occurred in July 2016. There was a statue that had been put nearby to remember those lives lost. I then further explored in the city centre which I found to be very spacious and peaceful. Monaco We were also lucky enough to visit Monte Carlo on the Thursday of a Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend. We...

I recently visited several cities in Italy back in May 2017, this was part of Expat Explore's London to Rome tour. I then travelled onwards to Venice after my tour officially ended. With it been in the late spring season with summer approaching it was around the 30 °C everyday. Pisa Our first destination in Italy on this tour was Pisa. It's most famous attraction is of course the leaning tower of Pisa. We stayed here for around 1.5 hours for an extended lunch stop if I remember correctly. Florence Then in the afternoon after lunch we headed towards Florence, which is the capital of the Tuscany region of Italy. We had a delay entering the region as they have a tourism tax, so we had to get that sorted first with a new coach, but after that we made our way into the city. We lost some time with the delay but there was still plenty of time to have a walk around to explore and get a substantial dinner such as the local pizza, and try gelato for dessert. Rome The ...

Interlaken I visited Switzerland for the first time in August 2014 as part of Expat Explore's Taster Tour . We crossed the border from France and from the moment we first arrived on the coach the scenery was beautiful. We made our way to the town of Interlaken where we would stay for 2 nights in the hotel. Interlaken is located in central Switzerland in the mountains between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. Shortly before arriving at Interlaken. On the first evening we had a walk around the town where we saw a local band practising. Interlaken has a population of just over 5,600 and approx 25% of those are foreign nationals. You can really see the friendly community that they have with no real traffic light system and bicycles unlocked outside the local supermarket. Jungfrau The following day was a free day, though most of the group would join the optional excursion up to Jungfraujoch in the Alps. We took the Jungfrau railway, built in the early 20th century up to the summit....

I have visited 3 different cities in Austria, and they were on Expat Explore's Eastern Highlights tour. I realise that Austria isn't really considered to be eastern Europe as it is more central, but we visited Austria several times on the way back to Germany to end the tour. Vienna We spent one night here in August 2015 after the short drive from Slovakian capital of Bratislava. My favourite place in Vienna was Belvedere Palace(Shown Below). With the sun shining the photo opportunities here are fantastic both at the front and around the back. As we walked around the city of Vienna we checked out some of the other famous buildings. During our visit there was also a film festival going on, with a big display screen in the city centre. In the evening there is an amusement park with one of the oldest ferris wheels in the world. It is called Wiener Riesenrad locally and costs €10 at the time of writing. I remember clearly there was 7 of us from our group that went on this...

I have been to several cities in Germany, I decided to put them together in 1 blog. Berlin I visited Berlin as part of an Expat Explore's Northern Explorer tour in August 2016. We drove in from Poland on the coach and spent roughly 36 hours here spending 2 nights in the hotel. On the first evening we had a quick visit to Checkpoint Charlie and then onto a meal at a local restaurant which was included. Checkpoint Charlie is the name given to the border crossing between East and West Berlin during the cold war. The following day was a full free day to ourselves. Some of the main activities to see are: The Berlin Wall(Free) remains all over the city and some parts remain in good condition with original graffiti to view. Brandenburg Gate(Free) Reichstag Building(Free with advance booking) is where the German parliament is. Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe(Free) Brandenburg Gate. My video from my video in Berlin can be found below: Munich I visited Mun...

Amsterdam is a city that I visited several times now, with my first visit been in August 2014. The most recent time was Summer 2016 on the Expat Explore Northern Explorer tour as this was the start and end point. Amsterdam is also a very common connecting hub for international flights into Europe at Schiphol Airport just 10km away from central Amsterdam. Amsterdam is most famous for its bicycles and canals. So on the first evening of our tour we took a cruise around the canals of Amsterdam. As we got to know our group we had the chance to have a pizza and some ice cream on board. Another top sight is the I Amsterdam sign. This is a great spot for tourists to get their group shots. The building just behind that is the Rijksmuseum(Shown below). This has arts and history of the city of Amsterdam and costs €17.50 at the time of writing. I have never been in and have only walked under the archway to get to the canals. Other places of interest in Amsterdam are: Van Gogh Museum...

I first visited Paris in August 2014 as part of an organised tour by Expat Explore . This particular tour that I did was a taster tour of Europe, consisting of 5 countries in just 7 days. This started and finished in London going via Paris(France), Interlaken(Switzerland), Rhine Valley(Germany), Amsterdam(Netherlands) and finally Bruges(Belgium) before heading back to London. If you are interested in this tour it can be found here . I visited Paris again in May 2017, this time on a different tour London to Rome . I try to visit different places when i travel but as I didn't get to the top of the Eiffel tower last time I was there I made it a goal to do that this time. As you can see I successfully made it to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I walked half way up to the 2nd floor then took the lift to the summit. You can buy tickets in advance if you want or you can just do it on the day by joining the queue. The cost of the entry fee to walk to the 2nd floor and then lift to th...

Hey, back with another blog post! A lot of my bookings for this Asian trip were made through Viator. As I get nearer to the time of travel I need to email the relevant people to reconfirm all of my individual bookings. These include 5 private transfers to and from the hotels, and also the tours in the 3 different countries themselves. So in total it should 8 different companies to email. I plan to do this in the 1st week of October before I travel as accessing email in China could be a problem with so many websites/apps blocked by the government. Thankfully the tours allow you to join with an e-voucher confirmation, but I will print off a physical copy as a backup anyway. Pretty sure I have just about everything bought I need now apart from just a couple of items. I still need to buy a small cheap disposable mask should I need it if the pollution does get bad while im in the big cities. Hopefully I won't need it but I have seen some images, especially in Beijing where it can b...

As the final month approaches I have 16 more shifts at work before I am on my way to Asia for the first time. This will be continent number 3 after Europe and the African continent with Egypt earlier in the year. Something I didn't mention in the previous blog was that most countries will need a Visa to enter China. This is something I got with the help from this website . It cost me £182.40 for a 2 year tourist visa as there doesn't seem to be an option for a shorter period any more for UK citizens. This can be done in person in Manchester, London or Edinburgh or sent via Royal Mail Special delivery. South Korea and Japan thankfully don't have any special entry requirements from the UK and are free entry. I got my 3 currencies that I will need for this trip recently too. China uses Yuan(CNY) and is approx £1 for ¥8.62. South Korea uses Won(KRW) and is approx £1 for ₩1,489.20. Finally Japan uses Yen(JPY) and is approx £1 for ¥144.08. Those conversions wer...

Hello, I'm Chris. In October 2017 I will travel to Asia for the first time travelling to China, then onto South Korea and finally onto Japan before heading back to the UK. Most of my travelling to date has been in Europe, with a few other trips to Russia, Egypt & Dubai. In total I believe I have been to 27 countries as an adult so after this holiday it should be 30 countries which will also tie with my age. I will spend approximately 10 Days in China visiting the cities of Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu & Shanghai. Moving onto Seoul, South Korea for 2 days where i will take a DMZ & JSA tour to the border with North Korea. Concluding my collective trip in Japan for 4 full days visiting Tokyo, before joining and organised tour to Mount Fuji, Kyoto and Nara. All together in total it should be around 17 days when you include the return flights from London, UK. I have already purchased some travel money for the 3 separate countries as I tried to budget before i le...