As a travel blog, with a distinct lack of travel for 2020, I was worried about a lack of content for this year.

In fact, my blog as had more views this year than any other as people searched for things to do in my local area, with one post alone overtaking my entire annual page views for 2019 on its own.

Here are my most read posts of 2020:

Finding Dorset’s Poppy Fields

In 2019, my husband worked in Blandford and drove along the main Blandford Road daily.

In July, he spotted a field of red poppy’s just past Badbury Rings and took us along to see them.

This year, with lockdown in full swing, people were searching for walks to try and my poppy field search was an extremely popular post. We actually headed back for a revisit ourselves and found that the National Trust had made a feature of it, with parking facilities and trail sign posts this year.

This year it was much busier, and my next most read post was about the best time to visit Dorset’s Poppy Fields. The freshest blooms can be found in the morning, as the buds open, but the poppies then start to fade by the evening which can lead to a disappointing visit

Testing Out our Paddleboards on the River Stour

One thing, other than our daily walks, that kept us sane during lockdown was days out on our paddleboards and our favourite location to paddle was the River Stour.

We are lucky to live a short distance from the River and normally launch by Canford School and paddle to Wimborne and back, but we also like to head out to Eye Bridge.

The Best Places to Pick Pumpkins around Bournemouth and Poole

By October, we were subject to some restrictions, but could still head out for days out with the kids.

I update my 2019 post about the Best Places to pick Pumpkins around Bournemouth and Poole to reflect the changes for 2020 and it was again a very popular post.

I really shouldn’t give away so many secrets though, as when we arrived at our favourite farm, the queue wound around the carpark with people wanting to buy their pumpkin haul, but in an improvement from the previous years, they had built an instagrammers paradise photography area!!

How to enjoy at Day Out with the Kids during COVID19

During the first lockdown, we were all really hesitant about what we could and couldn’t do to stay safe.

My How to enjoy a Day Out with the Kids during COVID19 gave an outline of places that were open for exercise and activities that you could try to keep the kids interested as you walked.

Our visit to see the Christmas Lights at Kingston Lacy

With many Christmas activities being cancelled this year, we were excited to learn that our local NT house Kingston Lacy would be showcasing their Christmas Lights again this year.

It seemed others were using my post as research, but sadly for us, instead of being included in as part of our NT membership this year, they decided to charge extra for entry which would have meant an extra cost of £75. Sadly, us and many others decided the cost was just too much!

At least we have the memories of last year.

Our favourite Beaches for Fossil Hunting in Dorset

We love fossil hunting and this year I updated my post on our favourite beaches for fossil hunting in Dorset.

We actually enjoyed a guided fossil hunting walk at the beginning of the year at Charmouth, which was brilliant as we knew what else to look for and found so much more than we would have normally.

A Winter Visit to St Michael’s Mount

With travel off the cards and staycations on the cards for this year, another post from 2019 which was popular this year was our winter visit to St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall

5 Great Walks for Social Distancing in Bournemouth and Poole

We love our local walks, but during lockdown even us seasoned walkers found some more hidden gems locally.

Our 5 great walks for social distancing in Bournemouth and Poole include the Stour Valley Way, Hengistbury Head, Canford Heath and Wimborne although we have many more we can feature now.

10 Things to to do in Bournemouth and Poole during October Half Term

Although there were restrictions during October half term, activities were still open and my 10 Things to to do in Bournemouth and Poole during October Half Term was a popular evergreen post.

I have to admit were are really lucky to have so many fun activities on our doorstep.

Climbing Mount Snowdon with Kids

Another staycation post from back in 2017, when we enjoyed an adventure holiday to North Wales. As part of it we climbed Mount Snowdon with the kids.

Climbing Snowdon is doable with kids, Sebby was 5 when we climbed it, but it is hard going at times and I would definitely recommend getting some walking practice in before you try it.

Visiting the Giant’s Causeway with Kids

My 10th most popular post was our staycation to Northern Ireland and our visit to the Giant’s Causeway.

The causeway has around 40,000 interlocking, hexagonal-shaped, basalt columns, which developed as the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption almost 60 million years ago and was an excellent prelude to our holiday to Iceland.

My next most popular posts all feature staycation travel and local days out, so I will definitely be keeping with this theme for the foreseeable future.

Do you use blogs to research holidays and days out, or do you prefer sites like Trip Advisor?