[21/08/2010] We'd booked a night at the Ramada Encore Chatham as part of a family package offered by Dickens World. The package included the entrance ticket to Dickens World, 1 night in the hotel for the 4 of us (2 adults, 2 children aged 8 and 9) in a family room and breakfast. We booked for a weekend in August and the deal cost us £109, which was cheaper than booking hotel and entrance tickets separately even though the hotel seems to have some very affordable offers.

[09/08/2010] Aroma is part of a small chain of buffet-style Chinese restaurants in Essex. The Braintree branch is located right at the Freeport Leisure complex, just a few metres from the entrance to the Freeport shopping village.

[09/08/2010] The Mulberry Tree is a large family orientated gastro-pub in Braintree, situated directly at the Galley's Corner roundabout of the A120 bypass. It belongs to the same company as its neighbour, the Premier Inn and the entrances to the hotel and the restaurant are connected by a covered walkway. So if you are planning to stay there this will probably your port of call for a dinner or lunch, or is at least intended to be by its owners.

[09/08/2010] We hadn't made a trip to London to see a museum in ages and both our daughters were begging that we take them. As the weather wasn't all that promising we decided to give the Natural History Museum a go, although it was Sunday and in the middle of the summer holidays and we'd have to expect that it would be crowed.

[06/08/2010] The Redoubt Fort is located in the middle of Harwich, not far from the Harbour, and part of a defence line of 120 towers that runs along the full length of the Essex coastline.

[04/08/2010] We only had half a day to spend in Stratford-upon-Avon, which wouldn't quite leave us enough time to see all of the Shakespeare properties in town. The reason why we decided to settle for the childhood home of William Shakespeare's wife is that the properties within town can only be accessed with a rather pricey combined ticket and only the cottage and Mary Arden's Farm, which are both located outside the city centre, offer single entrance tickets. The cottage is located in the small village Shottery, which is around 1.5 miles out of Stratford. It is possible to walk there and, to the best of [mais]

[04/08/2010] When we decided to make a short trip to Warwickshire to see Warwick Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon we were in need for a hotel that would offer us a solid breakfast and family rooms big enough to accommodate the four of us (two adults and two children). The later is not as easy to be found as you might think as a lot of hotels that offer family rooms are restricted to 3 people per room only. Any fancy frills and features were irrelevant as we knew that we would only need a bed to sleep in and otherwise be up and around most of the time. The Premier Inn Coventry Ansty did not only have rooms av [mais]

[04/08/2010] To visit Warwick Castle was the main idea behind our recent trip to the area and the kids, who'd seen about it on TV, were very exited to see the famous castle. To find the castle is relatively easy. It is THE attraction in Warwick and you can expect to find it signed out well already from far, so nothing to worry if you don't have a satellite navigation device, you won't get lost. We arrived by car and I have no clue how easily it can be accessed by train or other means of transport but guess that they make it easy for tourists to find the way and pay their extortionate entrance fees. We v [mais]

[08/07/2010] Paradise Wildlife Park is a privately run zoo with huge play areas. It is located in Broxbourne, not too far from North London, and the park can easily be accessed from the A 10. Broxbourne also has a railway station and this is served by the parks own free shuttle bus. We didn't use this service and I can't tell you in which intervals the shuttle bus arrives at the station or if you have to call them from there to tell them that you wish to be picked up, so if you are interested and want to find out more you better contact them directly. We arrived by car and found that the way to the park w [mais]

[24/05/2010] St Hilarion is one of three fortresses that have been built high up in the mountains of the Beşparmak range. The other two are Kantara and Buffavento and St Hilarion is not only arguably the best preserved but also, in my opinion, one of the must-see places if visiting the northern part of Cyprus. To reach there you'll need to follow to the dual carriageway that connects Girne with Nicosia. St Hilarion is located on the western side of the road and signed out. Once you find the turning you'll follow a narrow and winding road up into the mountains. You'll pass from a Turkish Army Base that is [mais]