A Norfolk Staycation with Kids

February 8, 2021February 8, 20212 Comments

It seems 2021 will be the year of staycations and so I thought it was about time I shared our wonderful trip to Norfolk last summer for those wondering where to go this year. North Norfolk is home to miles of beautiful sandy beaches, some surrounded by woodland and sand dunes, some easily the most stunning beaches I have seen in the UK. I found everywhere to be so family friendly – and also doggy friendly too if you have a pet you like to take along on trips! There is so much to do with kids with lots of natural outdoor places to explore and miles of untouched sandy beaches that we could have easily spent longer than a week here. Cornwall always seems to be the most popular place to go for a UK summer staycation but Norfolk is much less crowded and seems to be a little peaceful corner of the UK that no one yet knows about. I am even considering going back again this summer myself!

So here are all the best things to do in Norfolk with kids (there are many) along with the best places to stay in Norfolk.

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48 Hours on the Suffolk Coast with Kids

August 24, 20203 Comments

Our holidays this summer are a little different to usual seeing as we can’t go abroad, but going on a UK staycation and exploring more of our own country has been a really wonderful adventure. Our roadtrip took us from Kent all the way up the coast through Suffolk and onto Norfolk. I don’t like being stuck in the car for too long when it’s just me and Evie (there’s only so much playing eye spy and listening to the Frozen soundtrack I can handle), so Suffolk was added into our itinerary as a brief stopover on our way up to Norfolk. But we ended up having so many fun adventures here that I hadn’t even anticipated for that I even changed some of our plans to stay in this part of the UK for a bit longer.

The coastline has some stunning child friendly beaches and traditional seaside towns as quintessentially English as can be. There is also the countryside to explore with its many farms, wildlife, nature walks and fields of gold to frolic in, as well as plenty of entertaining attractions for the whole family.

So here are my recommendations on what to do on the Suffolk coast with kids if you only have a couple of days:

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A Return Visit to Our Favourite Staycation Spot

October 17, 201810 Comments

It’s not often that I return to somewhere I’ve visited previously, but Clavertye Shepherd’s Huts is a place that I just couldn’t get out of my head from our girly getaway last October. So as autumn started creeping up on us again this year, I couldn’t resist planning a trip back.

This visit would be slightly different to last year though when Evie was just a tiny seven month old baby who didn’t do much more than sleep, giggle, try new foods and sit nice and still for all the photos mummy wanted to take. Whereas this year my extremely active little toddler is now walking, talking and has a huge personality that never stops.

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A Flying Visit to London Gatwick’s Coolest Hotel: YOTELAIR

August 23, 20184 Comments

I may have stayed at a few airport hotels in my travels but when you get to stay at one as seriously cool and quirky as YOTELAIR, it really makes the actual travelling part of a trip so much more fun. I’ve stayed at YOTELAIR once before, the night before an early morning flight, but this time we only had a few hours layover at Gatwick airport in between travels. Not quite long enough to get a room for the whole night, but also too long for me to sit around in Costa with an excitable and/or tired one year old. The amount of coffees I would need to buy to keep myself sane would almost make it worthwhile getting a room!

This is where YOTELAIR wins the best airport hotel competition as rooms can be booked by the hour making it absolutely perfect for a quick nap or to freshen up in between flights.

Evie and I had five hours to kill but instead of stressing about how on earth I was going to keep her entertained for five whole hours, all I felt was relief when we hopped off our flight, made our way through customs, headed straight to the hotel that’s located right inside Gatwick’s South terminal, where we had a comfy bed to collapse into waiting for our arrival.

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Starting a Holiday off right at Bloc Hotel London Gatwick

July 18, 2018July 18, 20182 Comments

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of airport hotels especially before an early morning flight. I’ve stayed at (and written about) a few over my travels because they really do make the start of a journey so much easier.

My first ever airport hotel experience was at Bloc Hotel at Gatwick Airport a few years ago, and because of the convenience, the friendly staff and the seriously amazing rooms, this is a hotel I go back to time and time again. So when I planned mine and Evie’s trip to Germany and Bloc offered us a stay the night before our flight, it seemed like the perfect way to start off our girly getaway and to make travelling with a toddler a whole lot less stressful. And as I was travelling alone with a toddler I needed it to be as stress-free as possible!

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A Girly Getaway to Clavertye Shepherd’s Huts

November 6, 2017September 13, 201818 Comments

It’s no secret that I love a road trip and when we’re not travelling abroad I like to make the most of exploring a bit closer to home. Even though I passed my driving test well over ten years ago I have only just got my very own car last month and this was just the excuse I needed to plan a mini adventure with just me and my girl.

Clavertye Shepherd’s Huts was the perfect place. Set on a huge farm in the countryside near Canterbury just over an hour from home, meant that it wasn’t too far for me to travel alone with a (possibly screaming) 6 month young baby. Luckily for me Evie slept away soundly in the back of the car for the entire journey so when we arrived at the farm nice and relaxed and I spotted our tiny little hut far away in the distance at the top of the valley, I knew this was going to be a wonderful getaway.

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Airport Parking Made Easy with Purple Parking

September 22, 2016September 22, 20161 Comment

Airport parking is never something that is high on my radar when booking a trip. I’m much more interested in researching our new destination, scoping out sights off the beaten track and the best viewpoints in the city, or finding a cosy airport hotel to stay in before an early morning flight. So usually we simply opt for one of the cheaper parking options. Yes, the car parks always seem to be down the most difficult to find country lanes and there is the annoyance of a 15/20 minute bus ride to the airport, but I would rather save that extra bit of money for eating as much of the local food as I can once we’ve left London (and our car) behind.

But on our recent trip to Turkey, we tried out the meet and greet service at Gatwick airport courtesy of Purple Parking and I think it may have just swayed me into paying that little bit extra in the future.

There was no bickering as we tried to figure out where the car park was, no checking the car in, no waiting around for the next shuttle bus and no extra journey to the airport. We simply drove straight to the drop off point right outside Gatwick’s south terminal and, with a quick phone call to Purple Parking to let them know we were there, a few minutes later a friendly chauffeur came to meet us, checked our details and then whisked our car away.

I was left thinking that surely there was something else we needed to do. But nope – it really was as easy as that and we wandered the few steps into the airport without any stress or worry and, least of all, not a single bit of rushing about.

After a sunny and relaxing break in Turkey, returning to the airport would have been nice and easy if it hadn’t been for someone (not mentioning any names – but it wasn’t me) leaving our tablet in security on the way out. This meant that when we arrived back at Gatwick airport just after midnight, we had the hassle of changing terminals and making our way to lost property (and paying a ridiculous £20 lost property admin fee in the process).

With a quick phone call, Purple Parking were extremely helpful in meeting us with the car at whichever terminal was easiest for us and, just a few minutes later, we could see the Purple Parking chauffeur in his snazzy purple jacket along with our car already sitting and waiting for us as soon as we stepped out of the airport doors.

At this time of the morning when I had to be up for work in six hours, we were so grateful that there was no waiting around for a shuttle bus and hauling our bags about, no bus ride full of crying children and tired adults, and no having to wait in line to collect the keys to our car. This was by far the easiest and most convenient airport parking we have ever had and, as the Purple Parking representative handed our keys over to us, it couldn’t have been any more welcome.

Have you tried a handy meet and greet airport parking? Let me know what you thought in the comments below or at:

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Big thanks to Purple Parking for taking care of our car while we were off relaxing on holiday!

Need an airport hotel? Take a look at my favourites at Gatwick airport:

The Perfect Way to Start a Holiday: Bloc Hotel Gatwick

Smart Luxury at Yotel London Gatwick

A Lasagna Feast at Mister Lasagna, London

June 20, 201616 Comments

When your favourite cuisine in the whole world is Italian and a new restaurant opens up in London dedicated to everything that is lasagna, it only makes sense to try it out as soon as possible. With 21 different types of lasagna on the menu (yes, you read that right – 21 different types of lasagna!), Mister Lasagna opened up in Soho just over a month ago and has already become so popular that they’re opening up a second restaurant soon.

A very casual but cosy restaurant, Mister Lasagna is the place to go for a quick, easy meal and, considering it’s in such a popular part of Central London, the prices are extremely affordable, but that doesn’t mean that they scrimp on the taste. With a counter to select your dishes from at the front of the restaurant (cue lots of temptation as you drool at the food in front of you) and several quiet tables at the back, it’s a cosy little place for a tasty lunch or for a relaxed meal after work.

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Latest London Adventures

March 17, 2016March 17, 201624 Comments

The desire to get on a plane and step foot in a different country is currently taking over my every thought. I haven’t been away since our trip to France back in December and although I love a staycation, our weekend break in Brighton just does not count. I know I may sound greedy but I’m sure most of you travellers out there will agree with me – travel is like a drug and right now I am having some massive withdrawal symptoms.

So the thought of our impending American adventure next week is like the light at the end of a very long very dark tunnel.

But I’m not one to sit around at home just waiting for something exciting to happen, so in the meantime I’ve kept myself busy by becoming a tourist in my own city and exploring more of London. I often take for granted the fact that I live in such a fantastic city but it’s little adventures like these that make me remember how great London really is.

So I’ve put together a little itinerary of some of our latest explorations over the past few weeks that would make for a fun weekend in London.

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A Valentine’s Weekend in Brighton

February 23, 201624 Comments

Apart from family trips when I was little, as well as the odd night out in my slightly wilder days of partying and actually being able to cope with a hangover, Brighton is somewhere that I haven’t really seen in years. So when my mum gave us a Segway experience voucher for Christmas, we decided to spend Valentine’s weekend trying out this new adventure near Brighton and then spending the rest of the weekend exploring the city.

After an afternoon of fun whizzing our way through the woods on our Segways, with me desperately trying to avoid tree trunks while attempting to keep up with Mr Ayla, we made our way down to the seaside. Thankfully we didn’t have too much mud to wash off ourselves before heading out for dinner where, for once, I didn’t take a single photo of our food. Shock horror I know! But it was Valentine’s weekend and we just wanted to enjoy our meal for a change. (I think Mr Ayla was rather happy that he was able to eat his food while it was still hot without all my photo taking!)

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