Staycations – UK & Ireland

Everyone loves a holiday right? This year I hope to get a few staycations in the UK and Ireland. There are so many wonderful places to visit around these fair isles that it would be impossible for me to mention everywhere. So let me take you through some of my personal priorities.

Dublin

Not been to Dublin for years! I believe the last time I went to Dublin was when I was a teenager so you’re talking at least 15 years ago! Ah I once used to dream about living in Dublin – I think it was the love for Irish pop music that influenced that! Not only that but I wanted to find out if I have any family connections there are my Great Grandfather was originally from Stepaside, Dublin.

In 2019 I hope to revisit Dublin and take in the sights and sounds including some top tourist attractions:

• floozy in the Jacuzzi
• Guinness Brewery
• walk over the Ha’penny Bridge
• The Book of Kells at Trinity College
• Dublin Ghost Bus

If you’re a local, where else do we need to visit?

Wicklow

Specifically, I want to visit the tiny village of Avoca in County Wicklow. Why? Because that’s where Ballykissangel was filmed. I absolutely adored that show! Looking at Google Street View, the village looks exactly like it did back in the day. I want to visit Fitzgerald’s bar for a pint, go  to St Patrick’s Church and stand on that infamous bridge. If I can find Brian Quigley’s house whilst I’m there then I’d be overjoyed!

I also want to visit Wicklow town itself. I have no idea what’s to see in the town but I want to visit so I can say I’ve seen more than just the train station! Dad and I went on holiday to Ireland and took a trip down to Wicklow. We got off the train and because I can’t read timetables I said the last train back to Dublin was in 10 minutes. So we walked to the nearest pub, had a drink before walking back to the station… where we waited for 3 hours!!!

Pembrokeshire

We’ve been watching a few programmes recently which featured South Wales and we loved it. It’s somewhere we know nothing about so there’s lots of exploring to be done.

• Tenby looks pretty spectacular. Really want to have a chippy on the seafront.
• Visit St Davids Cathedral
• take the kids to Folly Farm
• walk the coastal path to take in the views of the stunning Pemrokeshire coast.

York

I’ve not been to York in over 20 years! What I remember is the massive cathedral but that there was scaffolding around it the day we visited so we didn’t get to see it in it’s full glory. So with that in mind, here’s the list of things we want to do in York:

• • visit York Minster
  • visit the National Railway Museum – I have a very vivid memory of visiting this place as a child. I want my girls to experience the same. They love trains!
  • visit Jorvik Viking Centre – this is for the husband more than me. He’d love this!
  • walk down those storybook streets!

Doncaster

You know we have to visit Doncaster just to visit David and Donetta! But as for the tourist attractions:

• • visit Yorkshire Wildlife Park again – I met David and Donetta there last year but running around after the girls on my own didn’t make it easy.
  • visit Markham Grange Steam Museum – what can I say, I love steam engines!
  • visit Doncaster Market – upon the recommendation of David and Donetta of course.
  • catch a family day at Doncaster Racecourse – if we’re lucky that there’s a family day at the Racecourse whilst we’re there we’d love to experience it!
  • visit Conisbrough Castle… a bit smaller than Caernarfon Castle but still a sight to see.

Liverpool

Despite being only 90mins away from Liverpool, it’s a city I rarely visit. During one of our day trips there last year (we saw both the Lost Castles and The Giants there), we saw quite a few things we’d like to see:

• explore the city’s museums properly. I particularly would love to see the
• explore the Williamson Tunnels Heritage
• take the kids to Mattel Play

I KNOW I’ve missed out on a lot of places but as I said, there are so many places I want to visit.

What’s top of your staycation list?