Almost three years since I last flew from Stansted, I was back at the airport just before 0430 to begin my next trip, 48 hours in France, exploring the cities of La Rochelle and Nantes. The flights for this trip were with ‘Europe’s Favourite Airline’, Ryanair and, as with some of my previous trips, the destination had been chosen based on the cheap fares available.
Back in June we were lucky enough to enjoy three days exploring Manchester, however we enjoyed so much good food and drink, I decided to do a separate post covering the places we visited and what we tried. Obviously this isn’t a food blog, so the reviews won’t be in great detail but I’ll let you know if I recommend it or not.
Whist the week of the Summer Solstice should have seen us racing the sun from Lowestoft to Arisaig, strike action across the UK rail network meant this wasn’t possible. Having made plans to come home via Manchester so Beth could attend a gig, we decided to drive over to the North-West and spend a couple of days in the ‘Capital of the North’.
With a week off work that should have involved almost a dozen trains having turned into a week off work with none, I decided to make the most of my evening alone in Manchester and make the quick run up to Preston and back to tick off some stations and compare the operators running on the route, Northern and Trans Pennine Express (TPE).
Having thoroughly enjoyed my 24 hours in the Bulgarian capital it was time to head back to the airport for my flight home with Wizz Air. With Wizz having sent out an email specifically advising arriving at the airport 3 hours before the flight, I left the city centre with about 4 hours until departure to allow time for the metro and shuttle bus
Almost five years since my first attempt at visiting Sofia and two further failed attempts later, I had finally made it to the Bulgarian capital on the fourth time of asking.
Flights & Times 