WHEN WILL WE STAYCATION AGAIN?

Personally I’m not sure when I’ll want to stay somewhere that isn’t home, as the security of home is really important to me right now. But no doubt when things start to open up and the staycation becomes more than staying at home I’ll get itchy feet to explore beautiful bits of the UK again.

2020 and probably 2021 too are going to be about the staycation. I just can’t see the draw of getting onto a plane – with other people in close proximity and with pilots a little out of practice… Thankfully we have always loved the great British staycation, this island is a green and pleasant land, surrounded by beaches, with plenty to explore.

Here’s my little list of places I’m hoping we might see again soon.

Hampshire

Let’s start at home, because we are very lucky indeed to have Hampshire as our doorstep. There’s beach, forest, woodland – a little bit for everyone. Our adventures in lockdown have been fantastic, with bluebells, poppies, dandelions, beaches, streams and fields of crops. Not needing to stay local there are only two places I can recommend from experience. The Pigsty gives you social distancing in the middle of a field, in a custom made self catering luxury pigsty. For a splurge then there’s the Chewton Glen, which is an old favourite, especially the dreamy treehouses.

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Cornwall

Cornwall is always calling us back ‘home’, although definitely not until it is open for business. With one hospital it doesn’t need visitors until it’s ready. When it’s ready then I can’t wait to walk the coastal paths with our little boy, find hidden coves and beaches, enjoy pasties kept warm in tea towels sitting under an umbrella in the rain, explore the magical Lost Gardens of Heligan, spot seals and dolphins, climb Carn Brea and hunt for the ‘moon’ rock and explore the tin mines relics. The Bedruthan hotel is excellent for families. The Lugger Inn is a hidden gem n Roseland. The Bull Shed is part of a small group of self catering cottages and the cottages at Boho Cape Cornwall are about as close as you can get to America right now! I still have my eye on a stay at one of the cottages at my favourite vineyard – Camel Valley.

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Norfolk

Another place I dream of, with summers spent sailing on the north coast. It’s a walkers and bird watchers paradise and very much on our list to return to. There’s some incredible small hotels around Burnham Market, Brancaster, Cley and Holkham, however for me this area has always been best enjoyed in self catering accommodation. There’s such a choice and we’ve never gone wrong using Norfolk Hideaways. Personally my favourite spot is Burnham Overy Staithe, and I can’t wait to walk along the dunes to Holkham again, or head out to Scolt Head Island at low tide again!

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Cumbria

Mr P’s favourite and where we went on our first holiday together, it is definitely somewhere to take our little boy when he can walk (run) even further and is showing more interest in sailing! I remember summer holidays walking in Cumbria and I remember camping in the snow on my Gold DofE expedition. We’ve also climbed some of the biggest in more recent years – Scafell and Striding Edge and the views are spectacular. We had a magical stay a while back at The Drunken Duck, for our first wedding anniversary. Incredible food and in particular the daily cream teas! I’ve long had my eye on staying at The Gilpin but we’ve never quite got around to arranging it!

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Wales

Well as of a few days ago, we need to go and house-warm a great friends new home. We’ve had some lovely long weekends up in Anglesey and Snowdownia being shown the best bits only locals know! We had a girly weekend up there in November in a dreamy house on the straits with views for miles, thank goodness we got that in before lockdown! I love going to the beaches of Llandwyn and Porthdinllaen particuarly. Another bit of Wales that we discovered quite by chance a while back is Pembrokeshire – we spent Christmas up there and it was magical. There was even a Michelin star rated chef cooking up fish and chips walking distance from our gorgeous cottage, Yr Hafan.

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Cotswolds

I have a love hate thing with the Cotswolds. But at the end of the day, as much as it is a little London, it’s 90 minutes from home and it’s beautiful. The water park would be perfect for us to cycle round as a family – although last time we were there with friends, we actually lost Sam at a roundabout… There are so many gorgeous little villages to potter around and so many lovely places to visit – the lavender fields and Broadway tower are particular favourites. For (one of) our babymoon we stayed at the wonderful Lygon Arms and it really is charming, and quirky too. More laid back than many places in the region.

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Dorset

I’m thinking of coastal walks in the Purbecks, pub lunches (will that be a thing again soon) and fish and chips and ice cream. We have spent a lot of time in Dorset over the years – day trips, sailing events, holidays. In fact we even got engaged in Dorset – we stayed at The Bull in Bridport and it was fantastic, amazing rooms. Last spring we stayed in an Airbnb near Corfe that was pretty spot on. Great location and plenty of space for us. Walks in all directions, even a steam railway! Much as I love Cornwall, this coastal scenery in Dorset is one of my favourites as it is so in reach. I’d recommend lunch at The Pig too, and interestingly they are very family friendly so a stay I like the idea of. However – did you see those Durdle Door photos from a few weeks back… Now is not the time for us to visit Dorset.

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Peak District

The only way we can visit Mr P’s parents now is if we can stay somewhere near their home and see them at a distance. So brutally unfair that we can’t see them (or my parents) properly for the foreseeable but their health is important. 18 months ago we had a little weekend break up in the Peak District, so that we could visit them and get a few days away as a new family. We’ll be looking at doing more of these. Bollington where they live now is right on the edge of the Peaks and with a bit of research I’m sure there are a bundle of great cottages for us to try out! And hopefully some local pubs that do takeaway food as good as our village one here!

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Other ideas

Just as lockdown started we should have been on holiday on the Isle of Wight, in a cabin on a farm by the sea. Basically everything to everyone – farm for the little one, views for us and beaches in the sunshine. Sadly that was obviously cancelled but hopefully we can rebook sometime soon. Getting on a ferry over to the island would feel like an insane adventure compared to current levels! Another idea is yacht charter – we could do this in the UK and i’d love to very safely take the little man to sea, to see what he thought about it! I’ve also been digging around the Luxury Family Hotels website fairly frequently as they come recommended by so many friends and colleagues. It seems to take the excellent formula we found at The Bedruthan and rewrite it at a number of spots across the UK.

Anyhow, for now I can count my trips to ‘places’ since early March on one hand – doctors, dentist, nursery, delicatessen with no other customers, pub to collect a coffee… Rule abiding rock n roll. We aren’t about to go anywhere on the basis that I have to write and plan for an hours trip to the beach so out of practice and unconfident I am about going out… But one day maybe soon maybe we will go away for a few nights!

And if all that fails, well – so practiced are we at camping in our own home now… We could in fact find the tent and try camping in the garden instead… Although we’d need to watch out for a very friendly hose pipe operator!