Hi, you found me! I'm so glad you're here.

I’m Nicole Skinner and welcome to my blog, “3 days to visit”.

As a Costa Rican who lived almost 15 years in Barcelona and is currently based in London, I like to think I’d be on my way to becoming a millionaire if I had a pound/euro/dollar (all currencies accepted here!) for every time someone asked for tips and recommendations for any of these three places.

And I totally get it.

Costa Rica is an absolute gem of a country for nature lovers and adventure seekers. It’s got rainforests, cloud forests, out-of-this-world beaches you can practically call your own, active volcanoes, and it's one of the most biodiverse places in the world! In the almost 20 years since I moved to Europe, people have gone from asking me, “Where in Spain is Costa Rica?” “Errr… Keep going west after you hit the Costa del Sol!” to asking me for advice on how safe or family friendly it is, what’s the best time of the year to visit, or where can they go see animals in the wild.

Barcelona, well, who doesn’t love or want to visit Barcelona? It’s one of Europe’s coolest cities - it’s got Gaudi’s jaw dropping modernist architecture, one of Spain’s best gastronomic offers, all year round music festivals, amazing museums and street art, all right next to the Mediterranean Sea.

And London, oh London. It's definitely not as warm and sunny as Costa Rica or Barcelona – as everyone seems to want to point out – but right now, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. Samuel Johnson’s, “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life,” well – I couldn't agree more with Mr Johnson on this one. It’s impossible to finish discovering this city, the promise of something new is always in the air and there's pretty much something for every taste and whim.

So, every time someone asked for advice, I’d end up sending them pages full tips on things to do, places to visit and restaurants and bars to wine and dine. And that’s where the idea for this blog was born. Rather than having tens of versions of the same documents lying around on my computer, I thought I’d start collecting and curating them all in one place.

You see, the two of things I enjoy most about traveling, beside the actual trip itself, are all the researching and planning that happens before (surely I must have been a Virgo in a previous life!) and later sharing the experience, my friends and family through photographs and writing.

So think of this as my one-stop shop for travel ideas and itineraries, insider city guides, hand-picked restaurants and hotels, and travel stories to make your trip planning easy and fun!

So, why “3 days to visit?”

Three is just a great number, isn't it?

For most cities, three days feels like the perfect length of time to visit the most famous landmarks but also explore hidden gems and wander off the beaten path. It gives you plenty of time to visit the musts, but also look for more authentic experiences. Of course you could spend more time in any given place (and in most cases I would highly recommend it), but three days can be a fantastic city break. And, if you're on a more extended trip, three days is a good way to break up your holiday into different places, and I'd say that, on average, that's what I'll normally spend on a given beach or town.

So, I thought I'd start off with 3 of my favourite places and share... TBC