West Dean Gardens West Sussex:
West Dean Gardens is near Chichester in West Sussex and is part of an estate, the college of which provides horticultural courses, click on the title and it will take you to their site. However, this is not going to be a long disquisition on the merits of the estate, but just to say, that this was where me and my hubbie had our first date. We walked the gardens and then went and had tea and cake.
It was a perfect day, and is why it’s one of my favourite places to go. It’s near to where I live and is not expensive.

West Dean Gardens are truly lovely, there are various walled gardens, hot houses, an arboretum, spring and wild gardens and more, as well as the tea house and cake, an important feature in any of my outings!

We have been here more than once over the years, and will probably go again this year, and I will no doubt eat a lot more of their home made cake and buy things I don’t need!

One good thing about going to West Dean Gardens is, that I always feel inspired by the place to go home and get out my paints and pastels and create something!

So, West Dean gets a ‘favourite places’ rating of 9/10!

The Victoria and Albert Museum London:
I have been visiting the V&A on a regular basis since I was 16 years old. If you have never been there and love art & design of all cultures and ethnic diversities, then this place is a must see! The V&A is a fantastic example of Victorian architecture in the heart of fashionable Kensington, and is handily situated next to the Natural History Museum.

Currently the V&A is free admittance though donations are appreciated. However, if special exhibitions are taking place then they usually require a fee for admittance. The V&A is continually adding to its fantastic collections, all of which cost a lot of money, so in my view a a donation is well worth it

The V&A is packed full of beautiful pieces of art and design, from antique Ottoman carpets and Japanese Kimono’s, to very old and beautifully crafted musical instruments. For those of you interested in Fashion and the history of Haute Couture, then the permanent costume exhibition is required viewing!

I could go on and on about the ancient Chinese figurines, the Greek and Roman sculpture, the Asian glassware and all the other wonderful collections, but I really advise everyone to go and see for themselves. Even if you only ever go once in your life..it is well worth it! Click on the title to go to the V&A homepage.

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London gets a ‘favourite places’ rating of 10/10!