Travelling Twinkles

Days out

Things to do in the Peak District with kids

Things to do in the Peak District with kids

Living in Nottingham we’re not that far away from Derbyshire and the Peak District. Now that the twins are that bit older, we’ve started to visit more regularly. In fact, we recently spent half term in a cottage in Hope Valley and had a great time. I thought I’d share some of our suggestions of things to do in the Peak District with kids. Walk up Mam Tor There are lots of walking routes for Mam Tor. However, we decided to follow the National Trust’s Circular route, which was perfect for kids. We’ve written a full post all about our…

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Restaurants
George’s Great British Kitchen – Nottingham

George’s Great British Kitchen – Nottingham

One of our favourite places to eat with the kids in Nottingham city centre is George’s Great British Kitchen (George’s). Whenever we visit, we always have a great time and everyone is happy. I thought I’d share our most recent visit on here. We always tend to visit on a Saturday and this was also the case for our last visit. We went with my mum and dad and the kids. The kids love the seaside theme of the restaurant and always love having their photo’s taken in cut outs in the entrance. On this occasion, …
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UK
A half term break in the Peak District

A half term break in the Peak District

During October half term, we decided to book a cottage in the Peak District for 6 nights. I thought I’d share the highlights from our trip. Whenever we go away we always tend to go abroad, but with having been to Spain during the summer and with Tenerife booked for late December, we needed to keep the cost of our October break as low as possible. We don’t live that far from the Peak District and recently we’ve taken a few day trips there and have really enjoyed walking and exploring with the kids. We decided that it …
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Days out
Mam Tor with kids

Mam Tor with kids

We currently staying in the Peak District where we’ve been exploring lots of the local villages and doing various walks. Yesterday we walked up Mam Tor and I thought I’d share our experience (and tips) of walking Mam Tor with kids. I never walked up Mam Tor before and the day before we actually walked it, I didn’t actually think we’d be able to do it with the kids. The night before, I spent time on Google, trying to find out if walking up Mam Tor with kids was actually advisable! During my research I cam …
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Days out
Blue John Cavern – Peak District

Blue John Cavern – Peak District

We’re currently staying in the Peak District for October half term and today we paid a visit to the Blue John Cavern, near Castleton in Hope Valley. The Blue John Cavern is home to Blue-Stone Stone, a beautiful purple and yellow mineral that has been mined in the Cavern for many centuries and continues to be mined in the Cavern during the winter months. Oscar is quite into his stones and minerals, so we knew that he’d love visiting the Cavern. We followed the signs from Castleton to the Cavern, which is well signposted. We parked on the …
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Blogging
An update – it’s ok to go backwards to move forwards

An update – it’s ok to go backwards to move forwards

For those of you who are regular readers of Twinkles and More, or who have visited this site before, you will have noticed that there has been a few changes. I thought it was worth given you all a bit of an update on what’s been going on. Over the past 6-12 months, I had fell out of love with blogging. Twinkles and More has been up and running for a few years now and has always been something I’ve dipped in and out of. One of my biggest challenges with my blog was coming up with ideas …
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Further afield
Our family travel bucket list

Our family travel bucket list

There are so many places that we want to visit in the world. Some of these are actually countries that we want to explore, others are hotels, resorts or destinations that just look amazing. I’ve decided to share our current family travel bucket list, so that we can hopefully tick them off over the years. Although I suspect as one place gets ticked off, another one will get added! The Maldives – this is probably top on my list. I’m not sure Simon is quite as keen as he worries that he’ll get bored. For me though, it …
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Restaurants
Browns – Nottingham

Browns – Nottingham

On Sunday, we went to Browns in Nottingham for a special family meal for my mother-in-law’s 70th birthday. I’d been to Browns a couple of times before, but never with the kids, so I was looking forward to see how well it caters for families. Browns is a bar and brasserie near to Nottingham Castle. I really like the fact that it’s more upmarket than a pub, but not too formal and stuffy, so it was the perfect choice for a special family meal. We all met in the bar and had a pre-dinner drink. There’s …
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Cruising
A Mediterranean Cruise on Symphony of the Seas

A Mediterranean Cruise on Symphony of the Seas

We’ve always been a fan of cruising and over the last few years have been on a few with the kids. When we heard that Royal Caribbean, one of our favourite cruise lines, were building the biggest cruise ship in the world, Symphony of the Seas, we were desperate to give it a try.  As soon as we heard that the ship would be doing its inaugural season in the Mediterranean, we knew we had to go! We booked the cruise through Bolsover Cruise Club, who we’ve used quite a few times to book cruise holidays. Often they …
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Restaurants
Sushi Mania – Nottingham

Sushi Mania – Nottingham

Sushi Mania, in Nottingham, is a relatively new addition to Nottingham. A few weeks ago we decided to try it out with the kids. Simon and Oscar both love sushi and recently the twins have started to try it, so we thought we’d see what Sushi Mania had to offer. Here’s what we thought… When we first entered the restaurant, I was really impressed with the decor, which is as expected Japanese themed, although definitely on a more luxury level. On first impressions, I was a little worried that it might not be that child-friendly, although I really …
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Tips and advice
Luxury travel on a budget – top tips

Luxury travel on a budget – top tips

If I’m totally honest, I’m all about the luxury travel. I know that for some people, travel is all about experiencing the local culture and that a bit of luxury is an added bonus. I’m not one of them – a bit of luxury makes a holiday for me. Don’t get me wrong, I like experiencing different cultures, but if I can retreat back to the luxury of a five star hotel at the end of the day, it makes it so much more enjoyable! As a family of five, holidays can be expensive. However, this hasn’…
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