How to find the Giant Spoon in Cramlington, Northumberland

If you fancy a super short walk with the kids, I can highly recommend looking for the Giant Spoon in Cramlington, Northumberland. Scroll to the bottom of this post for exact directions and a postcode.

Planning a Summer Road Trip to France from Northumberland

Disclosure - AD -  Votre Vacances is providing our accommodation and Puy du Fou is hosting our trip. All other costs have been covered by ourselves. 

We fell in love with Vendee during our trip to France in Summer 2018. The weather was gorgeous but it wasn't too hot which suited us redheads just fine, the roads are super easy to drive on, there is loads to do and France really is home to the best food and wine in the world.

The Best Sea Life Aquariums in the UK

Over the years we have visited most of the UK's Sea Life Aquariums (which are operated by Merlin Entertainment). Sea Life Aquariums are usually educational, interesting for all ages from babies to pensioners and indoors so perfect for all weathers.

Over the past year, we have mostly used our pay-monthly merlin annual pass to cover the cost of our admission. It is always worth looking around for offers before you buy tickets as there is nearly always a kids go free or 2 for 1 deal around. Past deals have involved tokens from McDonalds, Walkers & Cadburys. Check out Money Saving Expert for deals before you book.

Howick Hall Snowdrop Walk & Sensory Garden

Howick Hall Gardens & Arboretum has been the Ancestral home of the Earls Grey since 1319. Located in Northumberland between Craster and Alnwick, they begin the year with a Snowdrop festival and it is one of the best places in Northumberland to spot these beautiful flowers.

Scroll to the bottom of this post for directions, opening times and admission.

How to Apply for a FREE Blue Peter Badge and Start Saving Money on Days Out

The Blue Peter Badge Scheme can save you lots of money on both local and national days out. The Blue Peter Badge scheme is open to children aged 6-15 years and if you're lucky to receive one, your children will be entitled to FREE entry to over 200 UK attractions until their 16th birthday.

Applying for a badge doesn't seem too difficult either and I'm going to set the kids the challenge of applying for their own badge in the holidays. Applications take around 10 weeks to process, so if you're looking to enjoy a few discounted days out this summer, I'd apply ASAP.

The Snow Queen by Scottish Ballet

Ad - we have press tickets

The Scottish Ballet's 50th anniversary year comes to a close with the world premiere of The Snow Queen. The ballet will be performed at Newcastle Theatre Royal from 12 - 15 February 2020 and tickets are available from £15.50. Tickets are available here. 

How to Spend 5 Hours in Florence

Florence is somewhere we have always wanted to visit. During our stay in Tuscany over October Half Term in 2019, we were able to finally visit this Italian city. 

Our closest train station was Arezzo - we parked here and bought our train tickets online via Train Italia (although our tickets were never checked). The trains were pretty easy to get to grips with in Italy.