Whitby

 I first heard of Whitby through my work colleagues and just 1 word attracted me to the place. Dracula! Me and kids love anything paranormal, blood and gore so off we backed our bags again to explore another part of England. We've never been to Yorkshire so I was  very excited. However, the weather wasn't on our side but that didn't stop us!

As we do, we literally dropped our bags and off we went to walk around the town. We were right by the beach so that's where we headed. We didn't swim because it was cold and windy  but had a nice stroll by the beach. We then headed to the arcade games to loosen up a bit before the Ghost Walk that I booked. The kids never got to play in the arcades as they are usually quite expensive but these games were just £1! We had so much fun! After dinner, we went on a  Ghost Walk around Whitby. The leader was great and was very kid friendly and walk was quite easy. . We heard lots of ghost stories! It took 1h30 but we learnt so much about Whitby. 

The next day, we did all the touristy things. We climbed up the 199steps and did a bit of grave hunting on top of the hill. We were especially looking for Humpty Dumpty's grave which funnily enough was there in an egg-shaped grave.

We then headed to the Dracula Experience. It was alright, more for the kids. My youngest was a bit scared but a good way to learn about Dracula.

We did couple a couple of museums too which didn't take us long. The Captain Cook museum was alright. We especially like the Hand of glory in the Whitby Museum. However, I enjoyed the Whitby Jet Museum which had some beautiful jewellery made out of jet.

We wanted to do some crab catching but it started to rain so much that we had to miss it.

We had dinner on the Endeveaour Experience which is the replica of the boat that Captain Cook went on to his voyages. The food was good and the portions were huge. It was an experience nonethless.

We also did a few hikes too but literally had to drag the kids. We took the steam train to Goathland which appeared in the Harry Potter movies. The journey there was beautiful with some picturesque views. We did another hike to a waterfall called the Mallyan Spout Waterfall which was absolutely stunning. The kids loved the moderate climb up the rocks to see the waterfall. 

Finally, we visited Whitby Abbey which was exquisite. Part of the English Heirtage so free for members. What enhanced the visit was the kid-friendly Dracula show. It was so good that even my pre-teen and I enjoyed it. It was not a sit-down performance but took us through and around the Abbey.

One thing about Whitby was it was very cheap. From the food to attraction, everything was cheap! Another great place to visit with kids!

Lake District

 I never knew that the train journey to Lancaster to Windemere was going to be as beautiful as it was. It was so much green and instantly felt calm and relaxed. I also underestimated how stunning Lake District was going to be. I am going to apologise in advance for repeating how stunning the views were! 

 Despite the long train journey, me and the kids were buzzing. The weather was great and we didn't want to waste any time.  Our B&B  was close to Windermere station so we dropped our suitcases and off we went to our first activity which was the Beatrix Potter museum. The walk to it was idylllic and close to  Winderere Lake.

The Museum was so cute and my Peter Rabbit fan was over the moon, explaining everything he saw (eventhough I watched the movies a million times with him!) I particularly enjoyed the bit about the life of Mrs Potter. If you got little ones, I will highly recommend it. Prices were reasonable and can be done under 1 hour. 

We then took a stroll around Windermere Lake. Again, you have to see it to understand the beauty of what we saw. The beautiful waters against the green surrounding you... It was just stunning. There were numerous paths to walk around. After dinner by the lake, we decided to watch the sunset from a high point so off we went to Orrest Head. The clim up was only 20-30mins with lots of beautiful views. When we reached the top, the sun was setting and the colours it threw was so pretty!! Its places like that where you appreciate nature so much. No matter how many photos I took, it doesn't quite capture the actual beauty of what we saw!

Windermere is such a cute town with lots of places to eat from. We were spoilt for choices.

After some good rest, the next day we spent the day in Brockhole further up Windermere lake. This is an adventure park. There was so much to do for kids. There was a Go-Ape inspired activity. I had a great time chasing the kids up on The Treetops Nets. What a workout we got! The kids had a go at Krazy Karts which looked so fun that I wanted to join in but it was kids only. There was archery and clay shooting. You can also do lots of water sports but kids weren't keen on it so they just swam in the lake. We also walked around the grounds to enjoy the views.

Rydal Water was another beautiful place. I loved the climb up. The highlight of the Rydal water was a cave. The way to get into the cave was by stepping stones through water which was filled with fishes. The walk up was longer than Orrest Head. We stopped so many times to admire the views and take photos that I don't actually know how long it should have taken us.  Another beautiful hike that I would highly recommend.

Keswick is another place we went to before we headed home. The weather suddenly turned a bit chilly so it's a good thing I had a museum booked. The Puzzling Place was so intriguing. It had such cool things to see and experiment! It was dead cheap too. We then headed to Derwent Water for another hike and a picnic near another lake. Again, absolutely stunning. 

We will go back and visit Lake District for more hikes and stunning view. This has now become my favourite place in the whole of Britain!!!

Hastings

 We were looking for  a place to stay near the seaside, not busy  and little so easy to get around. Hastings popped up and off we went on the train journey there.

Didn't take long from London and we thought we will also fit in another town before we got there. Looking at the route, Rye stood out. I heard that Rye was beautiful and had a nice beach so we did a quick stop. Rye was such a cute town with cobblestones. We didn't stay long in the town. We went to the Camber Sands where we spent our afternoon. This was during the heatwave so we coudn't wait to get into the water and it was so refreshing. We don't know how long we stayed in the water but we stayed for a very long until early evening. It was a pebble beach which was the downside off it and there wasn't may cafes to get any ice cream or snacks! 

We then got back into the train to go to Hastings. When we came, it was the beginning of dusk. I always wanted to go to the beach at dusk and so we literally dropped our bags and went to Hastings beach. It was another pebbled beach much to our chagrin. We didn't  swim but we did do some rock hopping and the scenery was stunning. 

The next day, we went for a walk around Hastings Town. We went to Hastings castle. The road to the castle was very steep so if you are on feet, take care of kids. The backdrop of Hastings against the sea was stunning. They also had musicians playing and made the atmosphere very merry. The history was great as the kids learnt about the Hastings battle at primary school so for them it was great to see the place where they've read about it in books only. It's part of the English Heritage so free if you are members.

Next stop, behind the castle was the Smugglers adventure. The walk to it again was very scenic. This was very exciting as it was underground and we learnt a lot about the smuggling history. It was very intereactive and even had games inside it. Some areas were dark so beware. Entry prices were reasonable and it had a great gift shop.

For lunch, we headed to the pier. We took the cliff lift to take us down. It didn't have big rides  but suitable for younger kids. We then spent the rest of the afternoon, swimming in the sea before we headed back home.

Hastings could easily be done in a weekend and has something for everyone!

Reading on a budget

 I'm a bookworm. Reading is my happy place where I can escape for a few hours in another world, another life. I read during my commute and before I go to sleep. However, I can't afford to buy books all the time. So how do I still read without having to spend a fortune on books?

Libraries - We don't appreciate libraries enough. Library for me was also one of my favourite places since I was a child. It's free to sign up and every town has a library. If your library doesn't have the book you want, you can always request it. What's not to love about libraries?

Charity shops - I love to find hidden gems in charity shops. Yes, it's time consuming but when you find a good copy of a book you've been looking for everywhere, the feeling is something else.

Community mini-library - These are popping up everywhere now. I'm in the process of setting up one too. These are mini libraries (built out of shed or just books in a plastic box) where people give away their books and you can just take them home. Some mini libraries request you to swap books i.e you have to give some books to take some books. It's also a great way to bring people in the community together and get to know each other.

Book swaps - There's an annual London Children's bookshop which happens. We usually take a bag load of books to swap for other ones, Sometimes you can take adult books too but it depends on the place where you are swapping. 

Markets - my favourite book market is on the Southbank under the bridge. It's one of my favourite place. i cannot come empty-handed if I go past it. Some great gems to be found at a reduced price.

Abebooks - this is a second-book selling website associated with Amazon. The price is so reasonable with free postage on most books. You can find some hard-to-find-books on this website. 

Do you know of any other cheaper ways to get books?