Last week we went on a little family adventure, to Dorset, which also happens to be where we live! Although we’ve only been down this way for a little under a year so hadn’t visited Corfe Castle yet. Enid Blyton, who is well known for The Famous Five and Secret Seven books but will always be remembered by me for her Noddy books. I was obsessed with them when I was little and can still remember my dad reading them to me before bed. Enid used to holiday in Purbeck three times a year and Kirrin Castle out of The Famous Five books was actually inspired by Corfe Castle.
We headed straight to Corfe Castle and the sun came out just as we got there which was lovely, the castle is actually in the little village of Corfe which has some little shops and cafes. We walked right up to the top and the views were amazing.
After exploring the castle we went on a vintage steam train to Swanage, we kind of messed up the times though which meant we either had ten minutes in Swanage or an hour and forty minutes which would have meant we’d have been there till quite late and given that the sun had gone in by then we decided to just get straight back on the train instead of walk down to Swanage pier. Tiger absolutely LOVED the steam train so he was more than happy to get back on and we sat in the first class carriage on the way back which was fun, we got to see them filling up with water too.
After this we decided to head into Bournemouth for some dinner in Zizzi’s (their vegan pizza was worth sitting in traffic for!!) before heading over to the Travelodge in Poole. It’s a new addition and also has a bar / restaurant. We only live about an hour away from Poole but staying in a hotel made it much more of an adventure, the kids absolutely love staying in hotels. In fact that was the bit they were most excited about! It’s right opposite Asda too so after popping over there for a few bits we all got into bed and watched telly. Tiger fell asleep quite quickly but Cherry stayed up with us watching a programme about a hotel build in the middle of the jungle, it was really lovely.
We slept really well, the beds were comfortable and in the morning we headed down to have breakfast. We took our own dairy free milk and butter but found there to be cereal, toast and fruit salad that we could eat. There were also beans, Linda McCartney sausages (which are vegan) and a few other bits from the hot food section.
We quite frequently stay with Travelodge when we need somewhere to stay for the night but this one would make a great base if you were wanting to holiday in this area. It’s in a great location being walking distance from Poole harbour and close enough to explore Bournemouth and all the lovely beaches in that area. Plus it’s not far from Corfe Castle and Swanage. I would definitely recommend it if you are wanting to do some exploring in Dorset.
I also made a little video of our day…
Thanks to Travelodge for inviting us to stay.
