Archive for category: Holiday bucket list

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Everything you need to know about St James Club, Antigua

What it’s like to stay at St James Club, Antigua

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So after my life-changing few days celebrating the launch of the W8 GYM, I thought you might be wondering what it’s like to stay at St James Club, Antigua, and I’ve been looking forward to sharing more about this beautiful resort. This was my first time in Antigua, but my Dad travelled and worked - and indeed played cricket - a lot in the Caribbean, and adored it there. I grew up listening to stories of Curtly Ambrose and Viv Richards so it was lovely to finally experience the island for myself. St James Club occupies a stunning 100 acre peninsula on the south east coast of Antigua, with pretty shell-coloured villas and small clusters of hotel rooms dotted around a wide, vanilla ice cream scoop of beach facing into sheltered Mamora Bay on one side, and the other, smaller Coco’s Beach open to the cooling breezes of the Atlantic. When we arrived, we were taken to our rooms by golf buggy, and snatching tempting glimpses of the turquoise bay and swaying palm trees, I wanted to pinch myself a bit just to make sure it was real. Tempted yet? Here’s everything you need to know.

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Discovering the W8 GYM at St James Club, Antigua

Discovering the W8 GYM at St James Club, Antigua

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Imagine receiving an email that says ‘hey, you’re into fitness - fancy coming to Antigua with Fleur East for the launch of a brand new fitness partnership?’. Well of course I said yes, and last week, we jetted off to the beautiful island of Antigua for a few days of workouts on the beach, and of course a little downtime in the sunshine too. So what was it all about? Well, Elite Island Resorts - a beautiful collection of beachfront resorts in the Caribbean, has teamed up with W8 GYM, a really clever, completely portable gym system created by the lovely Fleur East and her cousins Nick Meaney and Clive Payne. The exclusive partnership will see the W8 GYM being available at Elite Island Resorts locations in Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados (remember I went to their beautiful The Club Barbados resort for my singing holiday?) and The Grenadines, to use in-room, in the resort gym (where group lessons will be available) and even on the beach, if you fancy it. I spent a happy few days discovering the W8 GYM at St James Club, Antigua, and do you know what? It turned out to be a pretty life changing experience. Let me explain…

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A cosy cottage Christmas in Dorset. Gold Hill, in Shaftesbury, North Dorset. Pic: dorsetcottages.com

Holiday bucket list: a cosy cottage Christmas in Dorset

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One year, when the kids were small and we were still living in Ireland, our whole family came over to spend Christmas with us. I remember it as the most magical time: loads of fun and laughter, walks to the pub snuggled up in hats and scarves, the kids opening their presents together on Christmas morning… Years later, we still talk about our lovely family Christmas together, and one of the things we’ve considered is renting a cosy cottage somewhere and decamping as a family for the festive period. I’m thinking The Holiday but with considerably more people. So why am I hankering after getting away from it all? Well, here are five great reasons why we should all be having a cosy cottage Christmas:

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Grand Cayman - my perfect destination for Plan a Cruise Month

Grand Cayman: my perfect destination for Plan a Cruise Month

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October is a super exciting month in the cruise industry. It’s when everyone who loves to cruise comes together to celebrate Plan a Cruise Month: a whole month devoted to everything to do with cruising and the perfect time of year for you to plan your own cruise - especially as there are loads of fantastic offers and incentives available throughout the whole month. This year, the theme of Plan a Cruise Month is ‘destinations’, and I thought I’d tell you about Grand Cayman, one of my very favourite cruise destinations, by having a reminisce of my own lovely trip there, on assignment for Cruise International with Charlie.

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New Disney hotel, ticket and dining packages from Attraction Tickets Direct

New AttractionTickets.com Disney hotel, ticket and dining packages

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You’ll probably already know that I’m a huge fan of AttractionTickets.com: they’re one of the world’s largest attraction ticket brokers, and we’ve been everywhere from the West End of London, to Disneyland Paris, and even Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando with them. Last week I headed to the gorgeous Sea Containers in London to celebrate their 15th birthday with them, and to hear some really fabulous news about new Attraction Tickets Direct Disney hotel, ticket and dining packages!

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A culinary trip to the Far East - English Mum

A culinary trip to the Far East

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The Far East boasts some of the most unique and diverse cuisines in the world. From Japan and Thailand, China, Vietnam, India, and Sri Lanka, the use of spices and aromatics bring flavoursome taste experiences like no other, with everything from fabulous, colourful street food to fine dining on offer. If you’re planning a culinary trip to the Far East, I’d recommend that you arm yourself with the local currency (especially important with the street food), so do your research on travel money providers (there are several companies reviewed here), and make sure that as you switch countries, you exchange your local currency before leaving. With smaller currencies like THB or INR, it can be tricky to get them exchanged after departing the country.

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My top five holiday parks in Holland - Efteling

Holiday bucket list: my top five holiday parks in Holland

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As a nation, I don’t think Holland crops up that much as a destination when we’re planning our next family holiday, but this little stretch of land across the channel offers a lot more than the cultural riches of Amsterdam. It’s easy to reach by train, plane or ferry and boasts long stretches of coastline, rugged woodland, excellent cycle routes and some of the best theme parks in the world. The holiday parks are numerous and really high quality, so if you’re looking for a little bit of inspiration for the summer holidays, here are my top five holiday parks in Holland.

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Villa Thymari, Katelios, Kefalonia

Planning a 2017 villa holiday!

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We all absolutely adore Christmas, but the funniest thing is that while we were all sitting around the fire, Christmas Radio Times on hand to pick the best Christmas movies, sipping on a Baileys, talk actually turned to planning for the summer holidays. I was telling them that the fab villa holiday company, Villa Plus had asked me to talk about our holiday plans for next year, and, as a family with older children, it’s sometimes difficult to pick a holiday that suits everyone. As we were chatting, it was interesting to hear what the boys want from a family holiday. Whereas Jim and I really both want somewhere comfy to lounge and read a book and some sunshine, the boys have different ideas:

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Niagara Falls. Photo: Stephen T Frazee

Holiday bucket list: Niagara Falls

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I’m probably not alone in having Niagara Falls on my bucket list. It’s one of those places that everyone wants to visit, but I’m thinking that maybe it tends to have a reputation for being more of a romantic getaway. I totally get it: stunning views, beautiful restaurants, wine tours… it’s the perfect honeymoon destination. However, recently I’ve been looking at it from a family perspective, and I’m pleasantly surprised at just how many attractions are aimed at families and children in the area. As if you needed convincing, here are a few of my discoveries and recommendations for family fun at the Falls:

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The Maharajah Jungle Trek at Disney's Animal Kingdom

New experiences at Walt Disney World Resort, Florida

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…and some old favourites. So last time, I told you a little about Walt Disney World Resort, Florida’s fabulous free dining offer. This time, I thought I’d bring you an update on some fabulous new experiences at Walt Disney World, including stunning new dining options and new attractions. I’ve also added in a few things that aren’t new, but that I experienced for the first time too. So sit back, grab a cuppa, and I’ll begin… Read more

Novotel Tangerang pool

Holiday bucket list: Indonesia

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On the plane back from Florida this week, I was reading an article about Indonesia. It really is a fantastically interesting place. The Republic of Indonesia (to give it its full title) is actually made up of something like 13,000 islands and is actually the world’s fourth largest country by population (I know!) which makes you wonder why most of us have only heard of Bali!

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Piscines Municipals de Montjuïc from Kylie's 'Slow' video

Holiday bucket list: Barcelona

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Every since we spent one single day there after our Disney Cruise back in 2013, I’ve been desperate to go back to Barcelona. Way back then, we were lucky to be with some lovely friends, Dave and Drew, who go to Barcelona a lot and could cherry pick all the best bits to show us in a single day, but even so, it’s impossible to cover in a day. Next time we’re back (which I think is in September), I’ve got so much stuff I want to see.

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Holiday bucket list: Mallorca

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My very first holiday as an adult, away from my family for the first time ever, was in Mallorja (or Majorca). My friend Clare and I went to Palma Nova. We chose it because it was it was supposed to be a bit quieter than its slightly noisy neighbour, Magaluf, and we had the most wonderful week of sunbathing, cocktails and lazing on the beautiful beach. One thing we didn’t do, though, was explore much, which is one of the reasons why Mallorca continues to rate quite highly on my holiday bucket list and why I was delighted with Booking Mallorca asked me to pick a few faves from their selection of lovely villas and apartments.

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Holiday bucket list: Sicily

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Ever since I watched Alex Polizzi’s Secret Italy on Channel 5 last year, I’ve wanted to visit Sicily. The little island just off the toe of Italy keeps popping up in travel magazines I read and I’m just desperate to go and visit. I think what I love about it is that it has everything: gorgeous coastline; fabulous, ancient cities; and wonderful, vibrant food markets.. It’s one of those places (along with Cuba at the moment) that’s very high on my travel bucket list.

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Disney stay and cruise: our week in pictures (part three)

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So after our 24 magical hours in Walt Disney World and boarding the gorgeous Disney Dream in Port Canaveral, it’s time to tell you about our shore adventures in the final part of our photo diary. From Port Canaveral, we cruised south east to Nassau and then back north towards Disney Cruise Line’s private island, Castaway Cay. Here’s what we got up to:

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