We recently stayed in Mevagissey in an Air BnB and really enjoyed our stay. In particular the great food at She Sells. We found a number of vegan options on the menu and the food was very delicious. We enjoyed it so much that we ended up eating something different off their menu every day. (For the 5 days that we stayed in Meva.)
Continue reading “She Sells – Cafe – Mevagissey”
We recently spent two nights in an Airbnb in Devon to visit Woolacombe at my husband’s request for his birthday. Being a late booking, I couldn’t find accommodation left in Woolacombe, so we stayed in nearby Ilfracombe instead. With just two days to our visit in north Devon, we spent the first day at Woolacombe and the second whole day at Ilfracombe. Read on to see what we thought of Ilfracombe and our family travel photos.
Continue reading “Family day out in Ilfracombe, north Devon”
What a lovely beach to experience whether you’re with your loved ones, family, or friends, or want some alone time. This one has it all, amazing soft sandy beach, gently meandering river (The Gannel), tall steep sand dunes, rock pools, rocky cliffs, amazing wildlife and some half-decent waves.
Continue reading “Crantock Beach and the surrounding area”
Ooh, I’ve found another favourite beach in Cornwall – Crantock Beach!
A beautiful vast beach along the River Gannel and its estuary out to sea. It’s a huge sandy beach which is ginormous when it’s low tide. At high tide the beach separates into two with tall, steep sand dunes taking over and looking so impressive.
We spent a day exploring Crantock Beach with the children and also viewing it from Pentire Headland in the late afternoon.
Crantock beach is managed by National Trust and we were surprised to find a parking space at 10am in the summer holidays and even more surprised at how quiet the beach was.
If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the central Newquay beaches then Crantock is a must.
Here are my photos for the day exploring Crantock Beach and Pentire Headland.
Continue reading “Exploring Crantock Beach and Pentire Headland in Newquay, Cornwall”
At the weekend we camped for two nights at Lynmouth Holiday Retreat in Exmoor National Park, North Devon. We stayed in our Mazda Bongo campervan and went to see both Lynmouth and Lynton. Here is my travel photo diary so you can see what we got up to and just how beautiful the scenery in Lynton and Lynmouth is.
Continue reading “Camping trip to Lynmouth + Lynton, Exmoor National Park”
For half term we were meant to be in the Lake District; a holiday I had been waiting for as Ben, my husband, is from the Lake District and spent the first half of his childhood there, but I am yet to go. However, it was cancelled only two weeks before the summer half term as there was a water leak in the property we were staying in. They were unable to repair all the damage in time for our stay, so refunded us our money.
Panic!
It was only a couple of weeks until the half term and with travel abroad still banned, EVERYONE in the UK was going on holiday to the UK. It was short notice to book somewhere and I was up until the early hours searching for a week away that didn’t cost the Earth!
Continue reading “Family travel diary: Half term holiday exploring Cornwall’s north coast from The Towans to Fistral beach”
On Friday evening we drove to Cheddar in Somerset for camping at Bucklegrove Campsite with the kids. Their first request when lockdown was easing was to go camping! We also went to see Cheddar Gorge for the first time. Neither Ben or I had been before, even though we only live around one and a half hour away. Read on to learn things to do in Cheddar Gorge with kids, see the walk we did in Cheddar with absolutely amazing views and also check out where we ate.
But first, things didn’t really get off to a great start for our camping trip away…
Continue reading “Cheddar Gorge family day out + campervan stay at Bucklegrove Campsite”
We had a kid-free 24 hours over the bank holiday weekend and had planned to paint our block paving driveway, however the weather forecast had patches of rain and we needed a full 24 hours rain-free and warm for the paint to dry. So, not wanting to be stuck at home for a weekend when we had the opportunity to get away, we booked a last minute night away on Airbnb to Swansea to explore more of the wonderful Gower!
The Gower is around two and a half hours drive so it’s not too far for a quick one night stay. It’s also stunning and provides the perfect scenery for long walks, talks, ideas and clearing of the mind – much needed after the year we’ve had. It was great to get away from our home too where we have felt so trapped in recent times.
There were no stays left in Gower, but Swansea had a few choices and I decided to spoil us with one of the best looking. It was our ten year anniversary earlier in the year during lockdown and we couldn’t do anything to celebrate, so this was my excuse!
Continue reading “24 hours kid-free in Wales: Port Eynon, Swansea + Caerleon Amphitheatre”
On Good Friday I had a quick look on Airbnb to see if there were any holidays available for under £100 per night in Devon for the end of the Easter holidays.
The lockdown restrictions were easing as part of the government roadmap out of lockdown and we were allowed to stay in self-contained accommodation from 12th April 2021. Yippee!
Amazingly I found a cottage for just £70 per night in Landrake, Cornwall just next to the border of Devon. It was very lucky as there were only two accommodations available in the entire of Devon and Cornwall for the last weekend of the Easter holidays for under £100 per night.
So we nabbed it!
Cornwall was actually perfect for us. We were looking at Devon as it’s a bit nearer and it would only be a short break, but we absolutely love Cornwall 🙂
Read on to see what we got up to for three nights and three days in Landrake, Cornwall and beyond.
Continue reading “3 night family break in Landrake, Cornwall: travel diary + photos”
Almost all of our travel plans were scuppered this year. Luckily we did manage to visit Ben’s brother in Castelo Branco in Portugal in February, just in the nick of time before the first lockdown ensued and a short family staycation to Fishcombe Cove in Devon before the second lockdown kicked in.
We really did miss out on a summer holiday this year and having thought about it, I believe it’s the first year since me and my husband have been together that we haven’t been on a summer holiday!
Next year we really hope we can make up for what feels like lost time and lost travel experiences in 2020. This year has certainly been very different and it almost feels like many of our lives, dreams and ambitions have been put on hold.
I really hope 2021 will begin to get back to normal and travel plans can resume!
We’d been hoping to visit the Lake District for our 2020 summer holiday. A place my husband Ben is very familiar with as he was born in Penrith! He lived his childhood until age seven in the Lake District and has many fond memories.
He’s returned as an adult and is always talking about the beautiful landscape. I have never been and can’t wait to see the amazing beaches and mountains – my two most favourite natural scenes. Let’s hope this is possible in the new year.
One thing we have been discussing, when we can travel again and eventually make it to the lakes, is how to create extra room for our family.
Continue reading “Why a 4 berth caravan is the ultimate family staycation dream”
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”