Category: My travel & days out diary

Our family staycation to Fishcombe Cove and Brixham in Torbay, Devon

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After what feels like forever, we finally went away on a mini holiday to Devon!

It’s the first summer that we hadn’t been away on holiday and were desperate to go away.

We had booked a weekend in Swansea earlier this month, but that was cancelled last minute as they went into a local lockdown!

Other travel plans we had set in mind for the year, and luckily not already booked, were cancelled due to the coronavirus lockdown.

We kept our fingers tightly crossed that our Devon trio would still go ahead, but we really thought it would get cancelled so never got our hopes up.

Luckily the south west of the U.K. has remained out of the local lockdowns so far and we were able to take our short staycation in Devon – phew!

Read on to see what we got up to and all our travel photos!

Continue reading “Our family staycation to Fishcombe Cove and Brixham in Torbay, Devon” →

Painswick church 99 trees

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I’ve always lived in Gloucestershire, living in Cheltenham until I was 26 years old and then moving to Gloucester. Now I live in Brockworth right on the edge of Gloucester, bordering both Cheltenham and Stroud.

No matter whether I lived in Cheltenham, or now Brockworth, we always take the same route to Stroud passing through the picturesque Cotswold village of Painswick.

As a child I’d occasionally go to Stratford Park in Stroud. That was pretty much my Stroud experience as a child and every time we went, I’d remember my mum pointing out the 99 trees in Painswick as we drove past them.

We were always slightly fascinated by them and the story of how there came to be only 99…

Continue reading “Painswick church 99 trees” →
Ystradfellte waterfalls: Brecon Beacons National Park four waterfalls walk

Ystradfellte waterfalls: Brecon Beacons National Park four waterfalls walk

Published on by Victoria1 Comment

On Sunday we did the iconic four waterfalls walk in Ystradfellte, Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales. It was the farthest I’d been from my home since the whole coronavirus pandemic began in March!

The drive was two hours from our house and it was my birthday day out!

9 years ago, just before we had children, Ben had surprised me with a night away in the Brecon Beacons and we did the this very same Ystradfellte waterfalls walk.

It was great to return with the kids and show them this amazing place, make some memories and capture them too in the below photos. Continue reading “Ystradfellte waterfalls: Brecon Beacons National Park four waterfalls walk” →

Whitmore Bay beach Barry Island Wales Climbing Wall

Is Barry Island worth a visit?

Published on by Victoria1 Comment

At the start of March, Reuben celebrated his 5th birthday!  When we asked him what he wanted to do, his first response was to go to the forest and have a campfire and sleep in a tent!  It’s definitely out of season for camping, so we asked if there was anything else he wanted to do.  “Go to the beach” was his next response!  So on the Saturday after his birthday we decided to visit Barry Island in Wales. Continue reading “Is Barry Island worth a visit?” →

Oystermouth Castle Mumbles Swansea Wales

24 hours exploring Mumbles, Gower, kid-free!

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Earlier this year I asked my mum if she’d have Bella and Reuben overnight for the last weekend of February.  It’s the month of mine and Ben’s anniversary and we’ve now been together nine years.  I wanted to go away for one night and explore somewhere new together.  I wasn’t sure where, but as we only had around 30 hours in total kid-free, it couldn’t be too far.

We’ve been to the Gower in Wales two times before kid-free and love it there.  We’ve previously been to Rhossili Bay and Oxwich Bay.  We decided to go again as it’s not too long a drive, around two hours.  This time we decided to visit Mumbles!

Read on to discover what we got up to in Mumbles and where we found lots of yummy vegan food!

Continue reading “24 hours exploring Mumbles, Gower, kid-free!” →

Family travel spending diary £1200 six nights portugal with kids

Travel spending diary: 6 nights with kids in Portugal on a budget

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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 if we were at home that week.

As well as keeping a travel spending log to stick to our budget (or at least try to), I also like to see exactly where we are spending money and how much things cost.  It means we can see where we can cut costs on travel, if we need to, and also helps me predict how much similar trips will cost in the future.

Hopefully it’s also useful for others to see how much family trips cost or can cost.

When planning our recent six night stay in Portugal, I had a rough budget in mind of £1000.  This all depended on how much we could get our flights and accommodation for as it was half term so prices were, of course, higher than usual.

£1200 was around our maximum and for six nights in Portugal as a family of four with all travel, food, accomodation and entertainment, I think this was a more reasonable amount as a budget.  £300 per person for almost a week’s stay, food and transport.

Read on to discover how close to our ideal budget of £1000, but maximum £1200 we managed to get. Continue reading “Travel spending diary: 6 nights with kids in Portugal on a budget” →

Top instagram spots in Castelo Branco Portugal - Portuguese Streets

The most Instagrammable locations in Castelo Branco, Portugal

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Castelo Branco in Portugal has a lot to offer.  There are many beautiful traditional Portuguese villages that are almost stuck in time.  The landscape is vast and we discovered lots of beautiful historic places to explore mixed with stunning mountains and the natural environment.  We spent a day in the centre of Castelo Branco, but also ventured to Penha Garcia and Monsanto to explore castle ruins, rock villages, fossil mountains and more.

If you already follow me on Instagram then you’ll have already seen my top Instagrammable locations in Castelo Branco from our recent trip, but here I will share some more photos that I haven’t put on Instagram yet.

Here are my favourite Instagram photos and locations from our recent Portugal travels. Continue reading “The most Instagrammable locations in Castelo Branco, Portugal” →

rock village + castle of Monsanto Portugal travel with kids

The amazing rock village + castle of Monsanto, Portugal

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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” →

Fossil mountains Penha Garcia Castelo Branco Portugal travel with kids

Visiting Penha Garcia fossil mountains in Portugal with kids

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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.

If you want a holiday with a difference then I’d recommend looking at villas in Portugal and getting off the beaten track to explore some of the incredible inland landscapes.  We discovered rugged mountains, stunning wild swimming spots and old worldly Portuguese villages.

The best part about visiting parts of Portugal beyond the well-known beaches and tourist hotspots was just how quiet it was.  We had many of these places to ourselves and rarely saw another person.

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” →