Last year I wrote a post all about our travel plans for 2018 and although we succeeded in travelling to the places we had already booked, plus a couple more, we didn’t manage to achieve any of the places on our wish list.

This time last year we had planned holiday’s booked with Martinhal Resorts in Lisbon, Portugal, Camp Bestival and Christmas at Coombe Mill to look forward to, but this year we have booked nothing, mostly due to the fact that Hubby was threatened with redundancy at the end of the year and we only learned that he had a job to go to in late December.

Where we visited in 2018

It feels like we have had a quieter year of travel this year, until I look back and see where we have been.

Portugal

We started the year with a visit to Lisbon, Portugal for February half term and spent four days with Martinhal Resorts, staying at their Cacais Resort for two days and then moving to their Chiado Hotel in central Lisbon for a further two days.

Both hotels were very different, but the perfect base for family holidays and we fell in love with Portugal, which was unseasonably warm for February. We got to explore Sintra, Cabo de Roca and as much of the city of Lisbon that we could squeeze into two days. The first day saw us exploring the local area on foot, but day two we boarded a tram and the underground to find the Torre De Belem and Oceanaria de Lisboa.

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is really close to us here in Bournemouth, so we normally just head across the water on a day trip, but in April we were invited over to stay with the newly refurbished Rookley Park.

It is a beautiful location with lots of fun activities for the kids to enjoy, plus is the perfect base to explore everything the island has to offer and we made visits to Carisbrooke Castle, Osborne House, as well as family favourites Blackgang Chine and Robin Hill.

Yorkshire Dales

Half term saw us heading to Yorkshire for a family walking holiday with HF Holidays.

We stayed in Newfield Hall, a grand 19th century country house with magnificent views of the Yorkshire Dales and took part in daily walks and activities organised by the leaders.

The kids walked an impressive 6-7 miles per day, across some quite challenging terrain and we got to see some amazing natural wonders including Ingleborough Cave, Gordale Scar and Malham Cove.

Puy Du Fou

In June I was invited on a press trip to Nantes, France with Britmums to a little known theme park called Puy Du Fou in Les Epesses.

Calling Puy du Fou (pronounced “pwee de foo”) a theme park is actually doing the park a disservice as it is so much more. There are no rides and no tacky merchandise, just pure entertainment in the form of spectacular daytime and evening shows and four period villages.

I still struggle to describe just how brilliant France’s top rated theme park is, even now, and cannot wait to take the kids back to visit this year to stay in their themed hotel see the amazing shows that are packed full of action and entertainment. The finale, La Cinéscénie literally blew me away.

Camp Bestival

After 2017’s Camp Bestival being a bit of a washout, we had high hopes for this years festival as we were enjoying a heatwave and it started brilliantly.

The kids got to take part in a world record attempt, try their hands at tree climbing, met some of their favourite stars of kids TV as well as rocking out to some cool bands.

The weather dramatically changed on Saturday with high winds overnight, leaving our tent in a sorry state of repair and when we returned to it after a day full of fun, we decided to abandon ship – a very good decision as the weather got so bad that they cancelled Sunday’s activities all together.

A Summer of Fun

We stayed local for the summer holiday’s but enjoyed lots of days out, making the most of our English Heritage Annual Pass by visiting Old Wardour Castle and Stonehenge.

We also attended Countryfile Live, a very wet and windy New Forest Fairy Festival, Victorious Festival and Dorset County Show.

Manchester

September saw us heading to Manchester and Media City, where the kids got to explore the Blue Peter Garden, Imperial War Museum and the Football Museum.

London

Hubby and I got a rare day away from the kids and headed to London with Red Letter Days for a meal and to see Les Miserables.

Paris

I have wanted to visit Paris for years and in October we headed to France with Al Fresco Holidays to stay at their La Croix du Vieux Pont park, situated just outside Paris.

We used the site as a base to explore the surrounding area and enjoyed a day trip to Paris, the Palace of Versailles, Disneyland Paris and Parc Asterix.

Coombe Mill, Cornwall

Our final trip away was to Coombe Mill for Christmas.

What sets Coombe Mill apart from other cottage and farm holidays, is that it is set on a working farm and the kids are invited to join other guests to take part in the feed run everyday at 9am, where they get to meet and feed the animals which includes ducks, chickens, pigs, a herd of fallow deer, alpaca and even a wallaby!!

There is plenty for the kids to do onsite with numerous indoor and outdoor play areas, a daily train ride, games room and a new crazy golf course!

Plus, you have beautiful Cornwall to explore whilst you are there too!

So, now my focus is planning and organising our holiday’s for 2019 and we have Northern Ireland, North Wales, Iceland and Florida in our sights for this year, although we may postpone Florida as Hubby wants to go for the new Star Wars themed land and its launch has been postponed until the Autumn.

What are your travel plans for the coming year?

• france
• lisbon
• paris
• portugal
• Yorkshire