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My Top Posts of 2018

Posted on
December 31, 2018

I love looking back at my old posts, mainly as a reminder of the adventures we got up to throughout the year.

I was also very excited to find out today that I made the top 20 travel bloggers chart in the UK for 2018 on Trips100, so thank you all for reading.

Here are my most read posts of 2018

Our Favourite Beaches for Fossil Hunting in Dorset

We live in Dorset and I love sharing our top tips for exploring this beautiful county.

Fossil

One of our favourite activities is fossil hunting and we have definitely got better at finding them with practice and becoming Jurassic Coast Rangers!

10 reasons to buy a Merlin Annual Pass this January

We love our Merlin Annual Passes and would be lost without them, as there are numerous attractions you can visit throughout the year.

Legoland

The cheapest you will see them is in the January sale and there is some fab new rides coming this year including the Room on the Broom at Chessington, a Haunted House at Legoland and Alton Towers Dungeons!!

Climbing Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh with Kids

Back in February 2017 we enjoyed a holiday to Scotland and one of the highlights was climbing Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh.

Arthurs Seat

It is a beautiful walk but definitely a learning curve for us and we will be more prepared next time!!

Top 10 Tips for Booking a Holiday to Lapland

Last Christmas we enjoyed the holiday of a lifetime to Lapland and it seems that many of you want to experience the magic too.

Santa's Lapland

In my post I share our hints and tips for booking your break and getting the most out of your stay.

10 Things to do in Dorset in Winter with Kids

Another Dorset post to make it onto my top 10 – finding things to do in winter can be tricky, especially when many of the tourist attractions close for the winter months.

Sebby Rockreef

We are very lucky to have such varied attractions on our doorstep that remain open during the winter months.

A Winter Visit to Monkey World

Monkey World is one of our favourite Dorset attractions as not only do you get to see some fabulous apes from around the world, but they have one of the biggest and best play parks in the County, for your own little monkey’s to enjoy.

Monkey World

We did chuckle at the radiator huggers, but it was a bit chilly!!

The New Tropical House at Marwell Zoo

We had a bit of a baptism of fire getting to this event as my car hit a pothole en-route and damaged the wheel, but thankfully we managed to get inside to see the fabulous new Tropical House.

Marwell Tropical House

Powered by “zoo poo”, the innovative and sustainable “Energy for Life” Tropical House is the first in the UK to generate energy using waste created by animals at the zoo and it is very impressive as they keep adding to it as it gets established, with butterflies now the newest residents that we saw at Christmas.

Our Walking Holiday in the Yorkshire Dales

This year we enjoyed our second holiday with HF Holidays, who specialise in family walking and activity holidays.

Gordale Scar

I still cannot believe quite how far the kids walked, completing around 7 miles each day and getting to see some amazing scenery including Bolton Abbey, Ingleborough Cave and Malhamdale.

Malham Cove

The Highway Rat Trail at Moors Valley

Last Christmas we enjoyed watching the TV adaptation of the Highway Rat and could not wait to take part in the new trail at Moors Valley.

Highway Rat

The activities are always really good fun and get the kids engaged with the local environment, so we cannot wait to try the new Zog trail which is launching in the new year.

Visiting Castelo do Mouros and Sintra with the Kids

In February we flew out to Portugal to stay with Martinhal resorts and one of the highlights of the trip with our visit to picture perfect Sintra.

Sintra Centre

Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for the colourful Pena Palace, Castle of the Moors, Palacio Quinta da Regaleira and Monserrate Palace and we did our best to see as many attractions as possible, but it was the stunning Pena Palace that stole our hearts.

View from Pena

So that is my Top 10 viewed posts for 2018. Some of my favourites are not there, although only a couple of pageviews behind, so keep your eyes peeled for my favourite posts of the year later this week!

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17 Comments
  1. Reply

    Sara

    December 31, 2018

    Looks like you had a blessed year! Hope the next year brings just as many blessings for you and your family!

  2. Reply

    Yeah Lifestyle

    January 1, 2019

    We as a family love to travel and having young kids I find travelling hard, so your blog shares have been really helpful to us as we learn before hand what to expect and are prepared before we head out anywhere. Keep sharing for 2019

  3. Reply

    Tiffany Barry

    January 2, 2019

    These are so great! You can really get a good sense of how amazing your year was!

  4. Reply

    Claire Lee

    January 2, 2019

    Omg that monkey! Haha, I love reading travel posts! Happy New Year 🙂

  5. Reply

    Sincerely Miss J

    January 2, 2019

    You guys looked like you had a lot of fun traveling and doing activities as a family. Great round up.

  6. Reply

    Nathan

    January 2, 2019

    THese are some lovely collections , keep writing them blogs and inspiring folks all around the globe.

  7. Reply

    Jasmine Hewitt

    January 2, 2019

    great roundup of your top posts. cant wait to see what 2019 brings you!

  8. Reply

    Twinspirational

    January 2, 2019

    What a great round-up of your blog posts. Good luck in 2019.

  9. Reply

    Surekha Busa

    January 2, 2019

    Those were great such a great blogs. I love how you enjoy every trips and activities with your kids. Kids enjoyment is all that matters.

  10. Reply

    Laura - Dear Bear and Beany

    January 2, 2019

    I looked at my top posts for the year and it always surprises me which ones make it! What fab trips you’ve had this year.

  11. Reply

    Tracey Kifford

    January 2, 2019

    Happy New Year! I hope this year is as travel and experience-rich as the last x

  12. Reply

    Laura Dove

    January 3, 2019

    Happy new year! This is such a great way to look back on your blog! I need to do the same!

  13. Reply

    fashionandstylepolice

    January 3, 2019

    I would love to visit Lapland with the kids. I have heard a lot of good things about the place.

  14. Reply

    Nikki Thomas

    January 3, 2019

    Wow, you have been on some amazing trips this year! Fossil hunting in Dorset was one of our favourite trips this year, I absolutely love Dorset and really want to go back again this year.

  15. Reply

    Anosa

    January 4, 2019

    The Dorset post was one of my favourite reads for your website. It is always interesting to see what readers are gravitating towards.

  16. Reply

    Lucy Dorrington

    January 5, 2019

    I remember the Monkey World one, I still really want to go there!

  17. Reply

    Louise

    January 8, 2019

    Aww, it looks like you had a jam-packed year! I’ve loved reading your posts, and you’ve just reminded me that I need to grab myself a Merlin Pass for the year ahead 🙂
    Louise x

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KARA GUPPY
Bournemouth

Are we nearly there yet? is a new online blog run by me, Kara Guppy, and is named as such thanks to my daughter Eliza who always asks that very question when we are less than 5 minutes up the road heading off on our adventures. You may know me from my other family blog chelseamamma.co.uk