I pity the tiger. We watch him pacing backwards and forwards along the wall with his gaze fixed on whatever’s in the enclosure behind. He looks beautiful, powerful and frustrated. My son says: ’Mum, look at the baby tigers’. He points to a grey screen showing three tiger cubs and their mother lying on some […]
Penshurst Place and Gardens, Kent
My eleven year-old son’s eyes widen as the woman offers him a tankard of beer to drink. He looks towards me. The woman says: ‘The young master is of age. Everyone from the age of five drinks beer. But if you don’t want to drink it why don’t you just smell it?’ She tilts the […]
Seven great things about Seven Stories
I think Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books, may actually be one of my favourite places in the world. I spent a morning there exploring on a recent trip to Newcastle. There’s loads going on from story times, craft activities, exhibitions and special events and there’s even a bookshop and a café. Here […]
Sea Life London Aquarium
The Sea Life London Aquarium is on the city’s South Bank near to the London Eye. My children and I often visit the South Bank with my sister and her boys during the school holidays. There are lots of things to do, the kids enjoy watching the street entertainers and it’s a mostly car-free walk […]
Tips on visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios
As I sat in the tram and watched the flames devour the truck I could feel their power and heat from where I was sitting, a few metres away. Suddenly water poured into the canyon around us, the flames died and the tram carried us on to the next stage of the tour. I was […]
Secret rocket testing site on the Isle of Wight
The last thing I expect to find when we visit the Isle of Wight is a secret rocket testing site. I wasn’t even aware that Britain had ever launched a space rocket. But we come across an exhibition in Newport called Chasing Sputnik and learn that rockets were indeed tested on the island during the […]
Things to do in Amsterdam with kids
I visited Amsterdam recently with my ten year-old son. We had a great time and it’s definitely somewhere I’d recommend for families. Here are some ideas for things to do with kids in the Dutch capital. Make a splash Just in front of the famous Rijksmuseum is an attractive, formal garden with manicured hedges and […]
Family activities at the British Museum
My favourite object at the British Museum is a bronze statue known as the Gayer-Anderson cat. I decide this as I read its description when I visit the London museum with my teenage daughter and Sergio, her Spanish exchange student. Apparently this cat, a beautiful, ancient artefact which is now carefully lit in a glass […]
Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Florida
As a toddler my eldest ignored regular clothes and generally dressed herself as Tigger with wellies on, or occasionally as Cinderella or a mermaid. She’s now fifteen and adored Disney’s Magic Kingdom when we visited Florida this summer. She berated her Dad and me for not taking her there when she was younger, but was […]
Wembley Stadium Tour
The teen isn’t terribly enthusiastic about going on a Wembley Tour but the trip’s in honour of her Dad’s birthday and so she doesn’t complain. We’d planned to go to London Zoo but it’s a grey rainy day, we decide that the animals will all be in hiding and opt for Wembley Stadium instead. As […]
