Wales

While studying abroad in London, don’t make the mistake of overlooking the UK for more exotic countries on the continent. France and Italy are gorgeous, yes, but think a little outside (or should I say inside) the box for a weekend.

Make a trip to Wales. And do it with International Friends. When I went, it was only for an overnight trip, (North Wales Coast and Mountains, as the tour is called on IF’s website) but I think it’s been my best excursion of the semester. Everything we did was straight out of a fairytale: we saw secret waterfalls, ancient castles, bubbling creeks in the mountains reminiscent of a romanticized painting, quaint villages with Welsh names we couldn’t pronounce, the smallest house in Great Britain and the most beautiful sunset. Ever.

Our tour guide, David, knew all the off the beaten path places to take his small group, and repeatedly took my breath away in the process. It was also a highlight to learn each person in our group was visiting from a different part of the world: New Zealand, South Africa, Ethiopia and France to name a few.

Spoiler alert: you may just get to visit the tiny village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Not surprisingly, it boasts one of the longest place names in the world.