It’s funny but I sometimes forget how beautiful our little country is. Whether it’s the vintage streets of Manchester or the calming coast of Cornwall, there are plenty of treasure troves in the UK and Plymouth is just another one that everyone needs to visit.

Known for its maritime heritage, Plymouth is now a modern uni city that is filled with historic places and stories. You may expect a seaside town to be slight run down and neglected like most are now sadly but Plymouth has maintained its originality and has also attracted creatives from all over the country to set up restaurants, shops and are helping keep this town current and cool.

Now Plymouth wasn’t somewhere I really ever planned to visit but as Gary really wanted to visit Dartmoor Zoo (it inspired the movie, ‘We Bought a Zoo’), I decided to plan a little trip down to the South West for his birthday.

After scouting Twitter and Instagram for some hotels (who uses Google anymore?), I came across the Duke of Cornwall Hotel which was beautifully traditional yet close enough to walk around the town. I loved the building and all it’s original features so after we visited the zoo, we drove 30 minutes to the coast and parked up in the hotel’s carpark.

We checked in with no fuss and was shown to our room, which was based at the front of the hotel. It was the perfect room, with a large bathroom, big bed and the sun shone through the windows making it cosy and warm. We had some time to kill before we were scheduled to have dinner so we chilled in our room before changing and heading down to the restaurant on the ground floor.

Positioned at the side of the hotel in a very grand room, the restaurant was a welcoming place with white table cloths and helpful staff. I was so hungry by the time we sat down so I decided to order the steak, (so did Gary) for the main and the goats cheese and battered mackerel for our starters. Both courses were cooked to perfection(and filling) but I just had enough room to squeeze in some ice-cream which was amazing, and a glass of baileys.

As the night was young and we wanted to let our food go down, we had a little wonder around the nearby streets to see just how close the coast was. Funny enough, it was so close we could see some of the ferries coming in to port when we peeked over a sea wall right near the hotel.

It was the perfect night for a romantic walk with Gary and it was nice to just walk around and reminisce about our past trips together and where we wanted to go on our next adventure once our house is all decorated.

I was really surprised how much I loved Plymouth but what really made it so enjoyable was our lovely stay at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel. The staff were just super friendly and the whole experience is one that me and Gary look back on regularly. It was the perfect escape for us as the stress of renovating our house can be pretty overwhelming and it was just so needed.

For more info on the Duke of Cornwall Hotel, click here.