Whenever we travel we have a budget to try and stick to. This is money we have saved specifically for that trip, plus we can add on what we would have allowed for food shopping… More
The amazing rock village + castle of Monsanto, Portugal
I can now add another location to my list of most amazing places I’ve seen. My favourite beach so far is Hemmick Beach in Cornwall and now my favourite village has to be Monsanto rock village in Castelo Branco, Portugal.
Whilst visiting my brother-in-law who is now resident in Portugal, we took a half day trip to Monsanto mountain after visiting the amazing nearby fossil mountains of Penha Garcia in the morning.
What a day! Two really incredible places that can be visited in central Portugal in the same day. A feast for the eyes!
In this blog post I’ll share what we discovered at Monsanto in Portugal and lots of our incredible travel photos of the rock village, boulder houses and castle!
Continue reading “The amazing rock village + castle of Monsanto, Portugal”
Visiting Penha Garcia fossil mountains in Portugal with kids
Last week we stayed in Portugal for one week in the district of Castelo Branco. We were visiting my brother-in-law who has moved to an offgrid farm in Vale de Prazeres. Not too far from the centre of Castelo Branco is an absolute gem of a place called Penha Garcia.
Read on to learn of the historic mountain houses, rocky fossil mountains and castle of Penha Garcia with lots of our travel photos! Continue reading “Visiting Penha Garcia fossil mountains in Portugal with kids”
Things to do with kids in Castelo Branco Portugal for one day
We have just returned from one week in Portugal to visit my brother-in-law. He’s been living in Portugal for one year and it was the first chance we had to visit him. Originally he bought a plot of land and lived in a caravan with a dream to set up permaculture land to live off. It was around 10 minutes from the town of Castelo Branco. This was where we were originally going to visit when I booked the trip, but he has since moved to a much larger plot of land a little further from the centre of Castelo Branco in a village called Vale De Prazeres.
It’s still in the Castelo Branco district, but more rural. His plot of land looks over vast amounts of countryside, goes up a mountain and he’s living offgrid with no electricity or water to the house! Water comes from the springs on the mountain and wells and he currently has two solar panels with plans to increase the number so he can run some more appliances. It’s an amazing place and he is just starting to develop the offgrid house into a self-sufficient abode and two other outbuildings will be turned into Airbnb residences.
Things to do with kids in Castelo Branco town centre
Continue reading “Things to do with kids in Castelo Branco Portugal for one day”
Bluestone National Park Resort twixmas holiday review + Kingdom of the Elves
For the second year running we stayed at Bluestone National Park Resort for a ‘twixmas’ break. That’s the days after Christmas and before New Year if you didn’t know. I didn’t!
In this blog post is my Bluestone 2019 Christmas review and photos.
I wrote a pretty thorough and honest review of Bluestone last year too. We did do things a little differently this year as we stayed in a wooden lodge instead of a cottage in the village. We also decided not to book any activities.
Last year we had two activities each day (for the two full days we were here) and we didn’t fit much else in. With kids we were restricted with eating times, especially as Reuben was only three last year. So our days were pretty much: breakfast, paid activity, lunch, paid activity, dinner, bed.
We didn’t get to explore the whole site and grounds or the woods or trails that are accessible straight from the resort.
For our trip at twixmas 2019 there was also a new feature to the resort – the ‘Serendome’. We heard all about it last year from the staff as it was to open in summer 2019. It’s a huge outdoors dome. A see-through roof in the forest to bring the outdoors in. New activities and play areas for the kids to explore!
Read on to discover everything we got up to on our 2019 Bluestone twixmas holiday.
Continue reading “Bluestone National Park Resort twixmas holiday review + Kingdom of the Elves”
Spending diary for our budget family holiday to London. 3 days, 4 people, only £350!
London on a budget is totally possible, even if you’re travelling with kids, so long as you’re willing to make some sacrifices and take advantage of the free things you can do in London.
In this blog post I reveal our spending diary as a family of four in London for three days. Continue reading “Spending diary for our budget family holiday to London. 3 days, 4 people, only £350!”
Our 3 day London family itinerary + travel diary
Just before Christmas we went on a two night budget stay to London with the kids.
Bella, age 7, has been asking for about three years to go to London since she learned about it at school.
She was dying to see a red double decker bus!
It was one of her wishes on our family travel bucket list for 2019 and we managed to squeeze a budget trip to London in just before the year was out.
We went on a tight budget so decided to stay within walking distance of the free museums to keep our spending costs as low as possible.
We found a cheap place to stay, took a coach from our home city of Gloucester and ate as cheaply as possible with total spending money whilst there of £150 for four of us. I share the total costs of our trip in my London spending diary.
So what did we get up to?
We managed to squeeze in Buckingham Palace, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, Hyde Park and some sightseeing.
Here’s a look at our family London itinerary for three days and our photos and videos. Continue reading “Our 3 day London family itinerary + travel diary”
