We tend to choose a few districts of London that particularly interest us. As history is a subject that we both love, it’s so easy to find intriguing nuggets of the past and unusual facts about London.

In January 2020, we decided on Spitalfields, Camden and Westminster. And as I am still ticking off the ‘Magnificent Seven’ historic Victorian cemeteries, we also visited Kensal Green Cemetery.

Spitalfields is a fascinating region to visit, today, it is becoming a little gentrified. However, if you look beyond the boutiques and barbers, you’ll soon be immersed in its captivating past.

The beautiful Georgian architecture once bustling with French Huguenot silk weavers and the dark narrow lanes which were frequented by Jack the Ripper.
 
Once you’ve had a rummage around the famous Spitalfields Market, take a few streets east, and you’re in Brick Lane. Famed for its mix of cultures, oh and yes, the endless choice of ‘curry houses’.

Camden has certainly changed over the years, and its market is amazing. Winding through the underground tunnels, with such an eclectic mixture of vintage clothing, unique gifts and plenty of odds and sods.
 
It’s incredible just by taking a short hop west for a couple of streets, and you’re in exclusive Primrose Hill district.

Mid-March arrived, and the ‘lockdown’ loomed, it was apparent we wouldn’t be travelling anywhere soon.
 
As we like to keep to a schedule for our website, it was time to be more creative. Also, to start looking at the content and ideas we’d been keeping on the back burner.
 
There’s more below from our ‘Road Trip Itineraries’ and also our fun ‘Truths & Trivia’ posts.

With the imposed overseas travel restrictions and the UK excursions being limited to within our shores, it was time to look at where we would recommend for a day trip from London.
 
In fact, we came up with quite a few locations. In ‘Part 1’ you’ll see seaside adventures at Margate and Folkestone, the beautiful Art Deco palace at Eltham, the colleges of Oxford and the historic city of Canterbury.

There’s an abundance of heritage and history in these half-timbered villages from visiting Royalty in Charing, hop-picking around Faversham and picture-postcard filming locations like Chilham.
 
We often drive past some of these locations, and it isn’t until you jump out and scratch the surface that you realise how much there is to visit on your doorstep.

A few days prior to the end of 2019, we squeezed in a visit to the coastal Royal Harbour town of Ramsgate.

It was from here that the ‘Little Ships’ set sail to the Dunkirk evacuations during Operation Dynamo in 1940.

Ramsgate is full of nautical history, it was given the status of Cinque Port in 1483 and became a Limb of Sandwich.

Faversham is a charming Kent town, full of half-timbered dwellings a magnificent arched Guildhall and Faversham Creek. One of the loveliest spots here is Standard Quay lined with old sailing barges, Victorian warehouses and granaries.
 
This quay is now home to local food producers, antique shops and cafés.

Heading across the English Channel and we have spring Dutch road trip itinerary. This venture was planned for 9-days, and we visited the magnificent Keukenhof Gardens, Haarlem, Alkmaar and Utrecht.
 
Of course, no Dutch road trip would be the same if you didn’t seek out the impressive, grand windmills and snaking waterways.