Giant projected female face with multicoloured cluster ceiling at Wake the Tiger Bristol

Our Wake the Tiger Bristol Return Visit 2026 – Was It Worth It With Teens?

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We first visited Wake the Tiger in Bristol a few years ago, just me and my son when he was eight. It made a big impression – visually at least – even if he spent the first ten minutes trying to drag me back out! So when my daughter said she wanted to go for her birthday this year, we decided to make a proper family day of it.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew it had been a few years and wondered if it would feel the same, or whether the kids being older would change things. As it turned out, quite a lot had changed – and mostly for the better.

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6 hours in segovia

Is Segovia Worth Visiting for a Day? What We Saw in Just 6 Hours

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On our recent family road trip from the UK through Portugal and Spain, we needed somewhere to break up the long drive from Sedella in the Andalusian mountains to Santander on the north coast.

Segovia was an easy choice.

My husband had wanted to visit for a while, mainly to see the famous Roman aqueduct, which is one of the best-preserved in the world.

The only issue was time.

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Costa Nova Striped Houses Portuga

Visiting the Costa Nova Striped Houses & Cool Architecture in Portugal

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Colourful striped houses right on the beach, it looks like one of the most photogenic places in Portugal.

But what’s it actually like to visit?

We spent two nights in Costa Nova as part of our Spain and Portugal family road trip in April, arriving late in the dark after our overnight ferry crossing and a long drive across Spain and Portugal.

The next morning we were visiting family in Viseu, then heading all the way south to Salema in the Algarve.

That meant we only had one full day here, and so the weather was just whatever it was going to be.

And honestly, our experience wasn’t quite the sunny postcard you might expect!

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Sedella Spain in April

Sedella, Spain, in April: Return Visit for 2 Days to the Andalusian Mountains

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Sedella isn’t somewhere you stumble across by accident.

It’s a small white village set high in the mountains of southern Spain, and you really have to want to go there, or know about it.

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Salema Portugal in April

Salema, Portugal, in April: Return Visit for 3 Days on the Algarve

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You know when you return somewhere and hope it feels just as good as the first time?

That was Salema for us.

We’d visited Salema in February once before and loved this quiet pocket of the Algarve. We’re not fans of built-up, tourist-heavy places, and Salema offered a peaceful escape that felt completely different from the busier parts of the region.

On that first visit, we stayed at NAU Salema Beach Village and honestly felt like the only guests there. It was that quiet.

So coming back again during the UK school Easter holidays in April, how would it compare? Would we love it just as much?

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brittany-ferries-priority-disembarkation-worth-it-review

Is Priority Disembarkation Worth It on Brittany Ferries? (With vs Without)

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When you’re on a long ferry crossing, especially one that lasts over 20 hours, the last thing you want is to sit waiting to get off.

So when booking our ferry with Brittany Ferries, we added priority disembarkation on the outward journey.

We were travelling lots with long drives on a road trip across Spain and Portugal, so thought it would be nice to get off quickly and crack on with our first long drive. 

On the way home we decided not to pay extra for the priority disembarkation as we didn’t have such a long drive and thought we’d just save the money, as we were heading home anyway by this point.  

But did we make the right choice?

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Brittany Ferries Pont-Aven Cabin Review: Commodore vs Deluxe

Brittany Ferries Pont-Aven Cabin Review: Commodore Suite vs Deluxe Cabin

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We recently travelled on the Pont-Aven overnight ferry with Brittany Ferries from Plymouth to Santander and decided to try two of the higher-end cabins, one for each leg of the journey.

A Commodore suite on the way out, and a 4-berth deluxe cabin on the way back.

Here’s how they compare, and whether paying extra is actually worth it.

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plymouth-to-santander-overnight-ferry-vs-flying

Plymouth to Santander Overnight Ferry vs Flying: Would We Do It Again?

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42 hours on a ferry.

We recently travelled from the UK using the overnight ferry from Plymouth to Santander, taking our own car, for a road trip through Spain and Portugal.

It sounded like a great idea at the time. A slower, more relaxed way to travel. Part of the holiday itself.

But now we’ve done it, would we do it again?

Honestly… probably not.

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