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| Image Credit: Pexels |
{This is a collaborative post}
As a child growing up we holidayed in the UK each summer, in fact, we were even more predictable than that and we basically only went on holiday to beach resorts within a couple of hours' travel of our home in Surrey. My Dad has never liked long drives and he's a bit of a homebody so we didn't even contemplate going abroad.
Roll forward a few years when I had my own income I was desperate to travel and explore further afield, so each year I'd go abroad two or three times a year and always to somewhere new, so I could experience different cultures and places. It was great to have this time of exploration and excitement, but then once I had settled down into married life we had children, my desires changed. The idea of taking babies, toddlers or even young children on a plane and dealing with the burning sun sounded like a nightmare!
So, for many years we chose to holiday in the UK and explore our amazing country. There is so much to see and such a lot of variety of places to visit, that you do not need to head to Europe, the Caribbean or the Americas. You can also travel the UK in all sorts of ways, so let's explore a few that my husband and I fancy taking on in the coming years.
Caledonian Sleeper Train to Edinburgh
None of our children have been to Scotland yet, so we are really keen to expose them to the delights of this amazing country. Edinburgh is a very easy train ride away from London, just 7 hours and 45 minutes away and we can book seats or sleeper cabins to enjoy our ride. I'm sure we'd have an early morning call to ensure we can see some of the sights as we travel into Scotland.
It feels like August is a perfect month to visit as the weather should be good and we will get to see the Edinburgh Tattoo, which is an amazing sight to behold. We've been to many military parades before, but I don't think any will come close to this and it will give us a taste of real Scotland.
A few days in Edinburgh will be easy to fill with visits to the castle, the Royal Mile, the Underground vaults, Calton Hill and the Royal Botanic Gardens.
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| Image Credit: Unsplash |
British Isles Discovery Cruise
We've never experienced a cruise as yet and it is something I really fancy. I love the idea of visiting multiple places but without it being too difficult to move between them. A UK cruise is perfect for people like us, who have not yet cruised, as we can ease into it gently and see if it is for us.
There are multiple places in the UK to be able to board the cruise, a range of different cabin types depending on your budget and of course so much delicious food and drink to enjoy as you cruise. Depending on the cruise you choose you can be at sea for as little as three days or as many as you like if you decide to go long haul.
On a British Isles cruise, you may get to stop and explore places such as the Orkney Isles, Isle of Mull, Isle fo Sky, Belfast, Cork, Isles of Scilly, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Bristol, Liverpool and you might even choose to add in a little more excitement by choosing stops at the Channel Islands, Belgium or the Netherlands.
Cornwall by Camper Van
OK, I say by campervan, but if I am honest, I am more of a woman who likes her comfort, so I'd probably choose the less cute motorhome option, and know I can have a decent night's sleep. We've never explored Cornwall as a family as it is a very long drive to get there, but I feel it is somewhere that I want to go to.
I'm an old romantic at heart and the amount of books I have read that are set in Cornwall has really whet my appetite to visit there. It's another trip that I'd like to do in the warmer months, but maybe in early May or late September so that we don't have the full summer holiday gang there at the same time.
I'm picturing the motorhome parked up somewhere beautiful with a nice glass of wine and a book as the sun goes down and my husband and I enjoy being in each other's company, before heading to a small restaurant for some beautiful home-cooked food.