Exploring Castles in North Wales

With the exception of weather, which actually wasn’t that bad, North Wales pretty much ticked all my boxes for a good holiday. It was an opportunity to escape from normal life for a little, to go walking in some beautiful scenery and fit in a little bit of history. What I hadn’t realised was quite how much history we’d be fitting in! There are an abundance of castles in North Wales, and even better, they’re pretty easy to travel between. We didn’t get to them all (got to leave something for next time!) but here’s a quick guide to the ones we did see. View Post

A day in Cardiff

Recently I was staying in the South West of the country visiting James, and so it was the perfect opportunity to explore somewhere new, as well as returning to some sites I had seen and enjoyed before. Whilst I had briefly visited Cardiff once before (for dinner on the way back from a day trip), I hadn’t seen much of it and was keen to see more. Although Cardiff is a capital city, for some reason I had originally thought that it was quite small and rundown. I was wrong, and now hope that I can return in the future as there was far more to do than we could fit into a day trip from Bristol. View Post

A day trip to Scarborough

I last visited Scarborough when I was a child, and remembered very little of it, so when the opportunity arose for James and I to go to the beach for the day, we decided that it was a good place to visit. Scarborough is a very easy day trip from York, with regular buses and trains. However, due to these transport links it should also be easily accessible from the rest of the UK, so if you are planning on going for a few days then it is possible to do so without a car. View Post

A break on the Northumbrian Coast

Last week I spent a couple of days in Northumberland, in a cottage very close to St Cuthbert’s Cave. Having grown up in Cumbria, I’m reasonably familiar with the Northumbrian coast and always enjoyed days out at Druridge Bay, and then going further up the coast for fish and chips at Seahouses before returning home. However, there was still plenty which I hadn’t explored before (or it had been a long time ago) and so I was excited to return and add to my knowledge of the area. Here’s a small overview of what I got up to… View Post

Poison and magic at Alnwick Castle and Garden

I love the town of Alnwick and have visited it several times over the years. The Barter Books shop is a firm favourite with my family and has always been our main stop off point in the town. I’ve just come back from a short break in Northumbria and was pleased to be visiting the town of Alnwick again, but this time even more excited to finally make it to Alnwick Castle and Gardens. View Post