Whether you’re just starting out with your blog or you want to turn your blog into your full time career, I have lots of blog posts crammed with my blogging tips and advice. Maybe you’d like to set up a blog as a creative online scrapbook or a platform to advertise your businesses, I cannot …
Monica
Today on the blog I’m sharing my guide to visiting Budapest for free. Sometimes affordable city breaks can be boring as there’s not much to do there but Budapest is not one of those cities. To help you along, I’ve put together a list of the 16 best free things to do in Budapest, just …
I’m very excited today to announce the hostel voted as the best hostel in the UK by LateRoom’s Simply the Guest Awards. Simply the Guest is the annual awards from LateRooms.com. They use the 1.5 million guest reviews and ratings published on the site to recognise the highest standards in the hotel industry. Reviews can …
If you’re the kind of person who loves their annual ski holiday and can’t imagine skipping it, but also can’t imagine how you’d cope on a ski holiday with a baby or a toddler then this is for you! We’ve just returned from a family ski holiday to Les Gets in France with our two …
Going on a safari is a bucket list experience for most people. Witnessing Africa’s wild animals in real life (and not just through a lens with David Attenborough’s voiceover), falling asleep to the vibrant sounds of nature and filling your senses with the raw beauty of some of the world’s most striking and exciting wilderness …
Whenever I’m planning a weekend away I always look to travel bloggers for ideas and inspiration. I love to read blogger’s itineraries and highlights and recommendations for places to eat and drink. A few weeks ago I took Sam to Barcelona for a surprise birthday weekend away. I managed to keep the trip a secret until …
I came home from Scotland last weekend to find a chunky wooden box waiting for me on the doormat. It was small but solid and had the branding of this blog perfectly etched into the lid. The box itself was so lovely that I almost didn’t want to open it (I have a thing for …
“You’ve been converted!” Sam said excitedly over the speakerphone in the car. I was driving home from the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show at the NEC in Birmingham and was telling Sam all about my day. “The motorhomes were really nice! They were like hotel rooms on wheels!” I was telling him. “They were enormous …
**This competition is now closed. Congratulations to Rebecca Sharp who is the winner!** Did you see my post earlier today about our new feature here on The Travel Hack? I’m introducing a monthly feature called ‘The £200 Weekender’ and, as the name suggests, it’s all about having a weekend away within the budget of £200. …
“What would you like to see more of on The Travel Hack?” This is a question I pose to readers all the time and the overwhelming response is always, ‘cheap weekend breaks!’ Yes, everyone wants more cheap weekenders. And why wouldn’t we? Weekend breaks give us something fabulous to look forward to and they mean …
In the southwest of the UK, Cornwall is a glittering gem of British paradise. Looking at the images of white sandy beaches and turquoise water you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a Caribbean island. It feels a million miles from those grey city streets or murky beaches we’re used to. Nowhere else in Britain …
Why is it that travelling far away always seems so much more exotic than travelling close to home? What is it that makes us want to spend hours in the car, hours queueing at airports, hours crammed onto tiny planes and hours waiting to get through immigration when we could travel to very similar places, …
I’ve just returned from an amazing weekend in Barcelona. I went with my partner, Sam, and our baby boy, Joseph, who was 12 weeks old when we travelled. Since getting home I’ve had a few readers ask me what it was like to travel to Barcelona with a baby and if I thought it was …
If you’re planning a weekend break that ‘has it all’ then I can’t recommend a trip to Chester and North Wales enough. Spend your first day exploring the Roman city of Chester with its cobbled streets, Tudor-style buildings and pretty views. Then spend your second day exploring Snowdonia National Park, home to the highest mountain …
Happy Sunday everyone! It’s a long Weekend Reads this week. I missed it last week as I was in beautiful Barcelona. It was my first trip to Barcelona and I booked it as a surprise holiday for Sam’s birthday. I somehow managed to keep it a surprise right up until we got to the security …
Cheap family travel. Now there are three words you don’t find together very often. I remember the days when I could have a weekend away for under £100. I’d book a last minute flight and stay in a grimy hostel, get all my meals from a street food vendor and drink nothing but cheap beer …
Following on from part 1 of my Les Castels travel journal from my trip to France… Day #5: Exploring Dinan To say Dinan is ‘charming’ is the biggest understatement of the century. Dinan is another ‘Harry Potter-esque’ kind of place and it felt a lot like Hogsmeade (I say that like I regularly go …
Would you like to find a way to make exploring cities easier and more manageable? Do you like the ease and convenience of having a tour guide but prefer the excitement and flexibility of exploring alone? Yep, me too! If you answered yes then keep reading to find out about GPSmyCity, a travel app that …
Today is Blue Monday, officially the most depressing day of the year. Just typing those words is making me feel depressed. We’re currently stuck in this miserable winter limbo where Christmas feels like so long ago and spring seems so far away. Looking out the window at those dreary grey skies and bare trees shivering …
Did you see Tuesday’s post with an introduction to the French campsites, Les Castels? Check it out if you’ve never heard of Les Castels before. Les Castels are gorgeous camping grounds all around France set within the grounds of stunning chateaux’s. Last summer I travelled to France for one week and visited three Les Castels …
How is 2017 treating you so far? I feel like we’re far enough into January to ask that now – last week was far too soon and I was definitely still in a post-Christmas fog. Actually, I think I’m still in the post-Christmas fog. I’ve mostly spent this week with my head buried in my …
The Supa Dupa by Cosatto is a double pushchair I’ve been using for the past few months with my two boys. We have George who is currently 21 months and Joseph who is 3 months. I really struggled to find ‘the perfect double pushchair’ because they’re either too big, too bulky, too expensive or too …
Take a look at these photos below and see if you can guess their locations. Go on, I’ll give you a minute. No cheating and scrolling down! I’ll know if you cheat 😉 If you’re anything like me, you’d probably guess that these photos were taken in far flung, exotic destinations. The kind …
At the end of last summer I took my favourite family holiday of the year. It was a one-week glamping adventure in France staying at three different Les Castels campsites around the country. Before this trip I’d never heard of Les Castels, but I was soon to discover that Les Castels is a family holiday …
Devon is one of the UK’s most popular holiday locations, and for a very good reason too. It’s a beautiful English county known for its picturesque towns, charming villages, atmospheric harbours, and those gorgeous beaches. While Devon’s coastlines (uniquely the county has two) serve as one of the main attractions for visitors, there are also …
Happy New Year! And welcome back to Weekend Reads. Remember I used to do this series all the time where I shared some of my favourite articles from around the blogosphere, competitions, stuff I’ve found and loved and a little life update? I don’t remember why it dwindled away but I’m determined to bring it …
I remember when I was learning to drive (a terrifying 12 years ago) and during one driving lesson my instructor made me spend the entire hour getting on and off the same roundabout. It was the dreaded ‘B&Q Roundabout’ and I hated it. Every time I approached it my palms would be sweating and my …
Paris is the perfect city for a weekend break, especially for us Brits who can get there in a hop, skip and a jump. The French capital is one of the most famous and popular tourist destinations in the world. It’s one of the top five most-visited cities with around 15 million visitors a year! …
This was our fifth and final foodie challenge with Huawei and took us to the shores of Wales on a sustainable lobster safari. Huawei had set us the challenge to seek out unusual food trends throughout the UK and to document it with the Huawei P9. Of course, we happily accepted such a delicious challenge! …
Located in southwest Canada, the wild and sparsely populated Yukon territory is paradise for every adventure seeker and landscape lover. It’s a place to escape from everyday life and enjoy a natural, unedited version of the world. Glassy blue lakes fringed with impossibly straight trees and rugged mountains with snowy peaks lingering in the distance. …
2016, what a year! But I’ve got to admit, before writing this list I genuinely thought I hadn’t done much this year. In some ways the year has flown by in the blink of an eye but in other ways it’s felt like the longest year of all. The things I did in January feel …
Today’s blog is from Lucy over at The Unlikely Bookworm. She’s currently living in Sydney and, as you can tell from this post, has fallen head over heals in love with the city. Here’s her insider’s guide to Sydney with some great things to see and do and gorgeous places to eat and drink. Often …
Are you looking for ideas about how to give a holiday as a gift!? Well you are in the right place! I have so many fun, thoughtful, exciting and easy ways to present a holiday as a gift. I’ve written lots of travel themed gift guides over the years but, realistically, the best gift you …
It’s been 7 weeks now and I still haven’t got round to properly introducing you to my baby boy. Introducing someone to your baby for the first time is a weird thing because you really want to jump up and down and clap your hands like a seal and squeal, ‘Oh my goodness, come and …
You may be thinking it’s impossible to find an affordable but stylish and luxurious hotel in Paris. Admittedly, it’s a difficult task but it’s something I cracked during my last visit. With a perfect location near to Le Marais district, Place de la Republique, Canal Saint-Martin and Gare du Nord, Renaissance Paris Republique Hotel ticks …
It’s time for our final Christmas competition. Today’s prize is the gorgeous North Face Thermoball Jacket from Blacks. Check out the ladies jacket here and the mens here. I’ve been wearing this jacket for a couple of weeks now and I love it. With the fitted, nipped-in waist it looks stylish but is still really …
I tried so hard to get into the festive sprit this year but I just wasn’t feeling it. This really isn’t like me because I usually start feeling excited just after my birthday in October! This year is particularly exciting because George knows what’s going on a bit more. I don’t think he understands Santa …
Do you want to know the best places in London for a selfie? Or gorgeous locations to get the best photos of the city? London is such a beautiful city but it can be difficult to photograph, especially when you’re at street level. All those tall and historical buildings actually make it really difficult to …
“Are you employed?” “Yes, I’m self employed. I’m a…blogger….” I say with uncertainty, knowing my answer would be met with a familiarly blank expression. “I’m a travel blogger,” I add with a bit more conviction. “A….blogger….? That’s your job…?” I know the drill now. Her expression will either turn from confusion to intrigue as she …
Today’s post is all about our quest to find the best Lebanese restaurant in Manchester! If you’ve been following The Travel Hack’s epic UK foodie adventure so far, you’ll have learned all about Korean food in New Malden, Caribbean food in Bristol and Nepalese cuisine in York. The next stop on our quest to find …