Our family holiday in the Costa Calida, Spain

Yesterday we arrived back from a lovely family holiday in the Costa Calida, Spain. We stayed in a villa on the El Valle Golf resort, about 20 minutes from Murcia.

We were blessed with sunshine and pleasant temperatures, the Costa Calida (warm coast) definitely lived up to it's name. With wall to wall sunshine and temperatures ranging between 24 and 31 during the day it was prefect!

We have lots of happy memories of this holiday, you can read them in more detail on the new Holiday Tots blog but Freddie's highlight of the trip, so he tells me, was the visit to the seaside. We went to the Mar Menor (little sea). It is the largest salt water lake in Europe and boasts crystal clear warm water that  is shallow and calm and although the sand isn't golden it is perfect for building and burying!

for more details of our family holiday in Spain and some ideas of places to visit in the Costa Calida visit our Holiday Tots blog.

Our trip to Lancashire

A few weeks ago we stayed in Lancashire for a few days. Having never been before I really didn't know what to expect. While we were there we found a lot of places we didn't enjoy but actually after returning and looking back on the pics we did have a wonderful time – Here is our time in pictures and a few words to make sense of it all...

On our way we stayed in Chester with my Nan. Chester is a fab place to visit, the bridges, city wall, Grosvenor Park with miniature railway, Roman ruins, River Dee trips and Amphitheatre (Britains largest and most elaborate!) are all within walking distance of each other and there are lots more things to do further afield (Freddie loved the Amphitheatre and playing Snakes and Ladders with his Great Nan!).

After two nights we ventured north and stopped off at Formby Beach in Southport home to the rare Red Squirrel.... Super beach and we did spot a Red Squirrel in the woods!

This is not a Red Squirrel!

We stayed in a holiday park called Ribby Hall Village, absolutely the perfect base to explore this part of the country. With Blackpool and St Annes just a few miles away and lots of activities on site I would definitely stay again if I were to visit the area. They have all different styles of accommodation to suit all tastes and budgets their website is Ribby Hall Villagehttp://www.ribbyhall.co.uk/short-breaks-holidays. You can read a full review of how child-friendly our holiday was on my other travel blog.

Blackpool was a bit disappointing (sorry Blackpoolians) we really didn’t enjoy it, the Sea Life Aquarium was small, and not very inspiring, it looked tired and in need of an overhaul, although the little green chap here did raise a few eyebrows.

Actually it is probably a little unfair to paint a bad picture of Blackpool as, even though it was half term, the Pleasure Beach was closed and the Shark walk in the SeaLife aquarium closed due to maintenance but everything apart from the seafront looked tired and in need of some TLC, maybe in the summer months it will be a brighter place.

Now St Annes beach was glorious, we walked a long way out when the tide was low and had lots of fun in the small arcade on the pier finishing off with a yummy ice cream. Flip braved the cold sand and offered to be buried...

A terrific place to grab a bit of Fish and Chips is The Cottage. It is not in a location you would expect but worth a trip - it's located in a residential street a few miles from Blackpool beach and has had plenty of famous visitors over the years such as Freddie Fiyntoff, Dawn French and John Mayor. The Cottage is also featured in Rick Steins 'Seafood Lovers Guide' as the best fish and chips in Blackpool.

Inland a great place to visit is Old Holly Farm in Garstang. Freddie really enjoyed this little farm where he met calves, lambs, watched cows being milked, played on mini tractors and finished again with an ice cream! Heaven!

There are lots of things to do in Lancashire, a good place to plan your visit is the Lancashire website Visit Lancashire

Our family friendly property owners enjoy the snow in the Languedoc!

Our families on our Holiday Tots website took a break from preparing your child-friendly holiday properties to enjoy the snow in the Languedoc region a few miles from Carcassonne.

Our newest property owners, Andrea, Mark and Naia who have just finished their conversion for their first holiday season, have had a fun week with the snow. They were snowed in for a few days and made the most of the toboggan as did all the other village children who are still off school. When I spoke to family it was evident that they are enjoying every minute of their village life! 

‘Every chimney has smoke from the over worked wood burners and there is a real sense of community as the younger folk dig paths to the older folks houses...’
Ax les Thermes has had some fresh powder - a much needed snow dump - they've done really well to keep 80% of their slopes in action - as soon as the roads are better we'll head up for another day - its a great resort for families as the blue/green runs are right at the base with the coffee shops so children can play and parents can enjoy a gluvine!
Scenery is stunning as you can imagine - the white rolling hills stretch for miles and against blue skies its really pretty.....it is however a tad cold!!’

Not too far away in the Languedoc are, Mike, Katie, Joelle & Callum, one of our holiday makers favourite families. Their gite complex looks just as beautiful under snow and their snow man skills aren’t bad either!

These wonderful child-friendly properties between them offer a selection to suit any family with babies, toddlers and/or older children. From a detached village house to a cluster of gites...

Mark, Andrea and Naia’s newly refurbished house is going to enjoy it’s first season as a family holiday home. Located in a tranquil French village about 20 minutes from the medieval town of Carcassonne, the house has 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, private garden with swimming pool and play barn. You have the option of self-catering, half or full board, bed and breakfast or just the odd meal cooked for you!

For more details visit Holiday Tots here, where you can contact Mark and Andrea directly

Alternatively Mike and Katie’s offering is a cluster of luxury family friendly gites also 20 minutes from Carcassonne but in the opposite direction. There are a total of four gites, each with their own private terrace, ranging from 2 to 3 bedrooms. In the extensive grounds you will find a fully enclosed swimming pool and great lawn for children to play, which is also fully enclosed. Further afield there are 6 hectares of woods and meadows, ideal for walks and picnics.

For more details visit Holiday Tots here, where you can contact Mike and Katie directly

I run Holiday Tots as a small company offering a bespoke service for families looking for individual family friendly holiday properties. All of our properties are baby, toddler and child-friendly. There are no booking fees and all bookings are made directly with the property owners. If you are looking for a holiday please feel free to contact me any time...