I always have a lot of questions about accommodati I always have a lot of questions about accommodation when we stay anywhere as a family so I thought I’d share this little tour of our room at @windjammerlanding which was a pretty perfect place to stay.

It’s the ‘Ocean View Two Bedroom’ which was like a little house, with an upstairs and downstairs, built into the hillside. Both rooms had outdoor space and their own shower rooms. Such a great option for a family.
A little photo dump from our holiday in St Lucia. A little photo dump from our holiday in St Lucia. We’ve been back a few days now but still miss the heat, the food, the pool, the constant sounds of wildlife and the lovely people. It was such a great holiday and I’m sure we’ll be back one day.
And just like that, Athena is 12! What a joy it is And just like that, Athena is 12! What a joy it is watching her grow and what a wonderful young woman she is becoming. We could not be more proud. Love you Pickle, have a great birthday.
We’ve just got back from two glorious weeks in S We’ve just got back from two glorious weeks in St Lucia staying at @windjammerlanding and it was just the holiday we needed. Two weeks of sunshine and relaxation in what must be one of the most beautiful islands in the world. 

We can’t wait to go back again in the future. Here’s just a little snippet of our trip.
AD - Press Tickets | We had such a nice day at @na AD - Press Tickets | We had such a nice day at @national_motor_museum despite the rain! The children loved the Little Beaulieu play area and we loved exploring the National Motor Museum and Top Gear exhibit before having a ride on the monorail! We went on an old open topped bus, explored the Beaulieu Manor House and loved the gardens. 
Beaulieu is always a great day out - whatever the weather. This summer they have a whole ‘Summer of Fun’ planned, with activities most days - parades, bird shows and hundreds of sculptures within the grounds too. If you’re looking for a day out this summer definitely think about heading to Beaulieu.
AD - Press Tickets | Tonight we took the kids to t AD - Press Tickets | Tonight we took the kids to their first concert - but it was so much more than just a concert! @abbavoyage is incredible. With CGI ABBA and a live band, it’s like being at an ABBA concert 40 years ago but with modern lighting, effects and sound. ABBA look and sound real, it’s a mind blowing experience.
The set includes all the songs you know and love as well as a few less familiar ones.
You can’t take photos during the show which actually made a refreshing change. A whole arena focused purely on the show and soaking up the moment. It’s definitely something the four of us will always remember.
Now, I’m off to sing Dancing Queen all the way home.
AD - Press Trip | We had such a great day at @phdo AD - Press Trip | We had such a great day at @phdockyard today. They have a fantastic Ultimate Explorer ticket that lets you visit all the attractions as many times as you like for 12 months - and after a day at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard we can see that you need more than one day to really do everything!

We explored HMS Warrior, HMS Victory and the Mary Rose Exhibition - which is incredible! We also saw where ships are built and restored and spent time in Action Stations where the kids climbed and did an assault course.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is such a fun, educational day out with something for all ages - we can’t wait to go on their harbour tours next time we visit!
AD | WIN!! Would you love to win a holiday? To cel AD | WIN!! Would you love to win a holiday? To celebrate #100YearOfARoads National Highways have launched their #ARoadsToSummer competition! It's all about celebrating summer holiday moments, time together, fun in the sun, days out and more.

So why not be in it to win it? To enter, all you have to do is send @nationalhways a DM on here with a photo or video of your favourite holiday moments. You can also comment on their Facebook or Twitter #ARoadsToSummer posts with your holiday photos. I've shared a few of our favourite photos to give you some inspiration.

The best six entries will each win a £500 @nationaltrust holidays voucher! SO what are you waiting for? Dig out your favourite holiday photos or take some new ones to share!

The #ARoadsToSummer competition runs from 24 July to 10 September 2023. Winners will be announced in September 2023.

Good luck!
Oh these two! Every day I feel lucky to have them. Oh these two! Every day I feel lucky to have them. As school draws to a close at lunchtime, I’m looking forward to a whole summer with them. My favourite people.

They’ve both had a great year at school this year. Troy’s first without his sister by his side and Athena’s first at secondary school. 

They both had great reports, always did their best and have made some really lovely new friends this year. I could not be more proud of them.

Now, let’s go and enjoy the next six weeks before school starts all over again!
  • Reviews
  • Recipes
    • Slow Cooker Fudge Recipes
    • Christmas Recipes
    • Easter Recipes
    • Slow Cooker Recipes
    • All Recipes
  • Travel
  • Blog
  • About
  • Featured In…
  • Work With Me/Contact
  • Reviews
  • Recipes
  • Travel

What the Redhead said

The Future's Bright, The Future's Ginger

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • As Featured In…
  • Work with Me

Days Out, Days Out and Attractions/Events, Reviews · March 10, 2017

Exploring more of the UK – Leeds Castle | AD

*This is a paid post

As a family we love exploring the UK and we tend to fill weekends and school holidays with days out to places we haven’t been before. Scottish Friendly’s Disposable Income Index showed that more families are doing what we do – opting for staycations and searching for cheaper style holidays. With this in mind they challenged us to have an affordable day out, under £100 for our family of four.

Our typical affordable days out would be using our National Trust membership – as this costs us less than £10 a month for the whole family and lets us explore so many places, taking a picnic to make it cheaper and just having the cost of petrol to think about. But for this challenge we decided to go somewhere new – and chose Leeds Castle for a little adventure.

Beautiful Leeds Castle is in Kent and so easily accessible from much of the south east. With over 900 years of history and 500 acres of grounds to explore we were so excited for our day out – and we weren’t disappointed.

Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle
Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle

When we arrived at Leeds Castle there was plenty of parking and we were given a map showing the area. We had a fifteen minute walk through the forest to the castle but this was full of things to look at, beautiful scenery and amazing views.

Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle
Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle
Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle

We were able to walk around the main moat – lake – around the castle to see Leeds castle in all it’s glory. It is one of the most intact and beautiful castles I have ever seen – not too big and just so lovely to look at. The children were in awe from the moment they saw it.

Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle
Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle
Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle

There’s one main pathway onto the castle island and from there we could visit the gift shop and exhibitions and walk round to the castle entrance, exploring the whole of the inside of the castle. I had no idea that Leeds Castle was home to Henry VIII and his first with Catherine of Aragon, until we explored the rooms of the castle. It explains why the castle is one of the most visited historic buildings in the country – the sheer amount of history it has been through and the beauty of the place too.

Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle
Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle
Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle

After investigating the castle we went in search of lunch and there were so many options – a main restaurant, a Costa and further along we found the Maze Cafe which was well situated, overlooking the children’s play areas and with a great view of the grounds.

Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle

The children had their favourite lunch bags and Dave and I had panini and chips. It wasn’t the cheapest lunch but it was in line with most tourist attraction prices. It would be a good idea to take a picnic although there aren’t that many places to sit and eat- take a picnic blanket too as there is a lot of open space to sit down and take a break.

Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle

After lunch the children wanted to play – not surprising as Leeds Castle has two fantastic play areas. One is a large wooden fort that we thought the children were a bit little for at the moment but the other play area, right next door, is full of adventure playground equipment, things to climb up, so many slides, a sandpit and swings.

Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle

The children’s favourite part was a pair of zip lines with actual swing seats attached, a great idea as there’s no fear of them falling off. They would have stayed on these all day – I have literally never seen them so full of energy and so blissfully happy before.

Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle

After an hour of play we went into the maze. As the weather was very hit and miss the maze was quite water logged – this may be worth baring in mind if you aren’t wearing waterproof footwear! The maze feels so big and it took us quite a while to get into the middle.

Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle

There’s a big rock structure to climb up to see the maze from above and you can then climb down to leave the maze through the grotto. LP and Little Man loved the grotto but found it quite scary too – it was quite dark with atmospheric lighting but it was definitely an easier exit than going back through the maze!

Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle

At this point the heavens opened and we had planned to watch the falconry display but it got cancelled due to the weather. Instead we got to say hello to an owl outside the maze cafe – and the children loved giving him a stroke and finding out more about him. After this we wandered around the falconry enclosures, looking at the birds of prey and learning more about them before it was time to head home.

Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle

Leeds Castle has a land train that costs 50p per person to take you back to the car park but we decided to walk back, and the children enjoyed taking a different route and looking at the castle from afar for one last time.

Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle
Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle
Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle

We had such a lovely day at Leeds Castle and although the tickets cost us just over £60, with Little Man being free as he’s under four, the tickets allow us to go back as many times as we like for a year – so actually a great value day out. I’m so glad that Scottish Friendly challenged us to go somewhere new and it’s shown us that it really can be easy to save money each month by having affordable days out.

Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle
Exploring more of the UK - Leeds Castle

In: Days Out, Days Out and Attractions/Events, Reviews

You’ll Also Love

Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight – Review
Review: Sleeping Beauty at Camberley Theatre, Surrey
HMS Bark Endeavour – The Endeavour Experience, Whitby

Comments

  1. Plutonium Sox says

    March 10, 2017 at 2:22 pm

    Oh this looks like a lovely day out. There’s loads for the children to do isn’t there? My girls would love it. I think it’s great to see your local area through the eyes of a tourist sometimes.
    Nat.x

    Reply
  2. Karen, the next best thing to mummy says

    March 10, 2017 at 6:26 pm

    This looks lovely, great to see a blue sky too, the children’s play area looks exceptionally exciting!

    Reply
  3. Ali - We Made This Life says

    March 11, 2017 at 9:24 pm

    This looks like a great day out – I love how open it is and how there are lots of different things to do. Brilliant value if you can keep going back as many times as you like for a year too!

    Reply
  4. Susan Mann says

    March 29, 2017 at 10:08 pm

    I love Leeds Castle. I went here many years ago when I was in hospital in Kent. I was allowed out at the weekends and my dad took me here. I loved it and wish I could go back. It is simply stunning, probably the nicest castle I have ever seen and I’ve seen a lot. Lovely post and many a fond memory you’ve brought back xx

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Next Post >

Blogger Behind the Blog {Next Best Thing to Mummy}

About Me
Hi everyone! I'm Donna. Mummy. Blogger. Social Media Manager. Traveller. Lover of stars, rainbows and gin. Firm believer that tea and cake can fix most things.

Sign up for Emails

looking for something?

Reader Favourites

Privacy Policy | Disclosure

Copyright © 2023 What the Redhead said · Theme by 17th Avenue