We continue our series of My Best Family Holiday Ever. This week Samantha Rickelton shares a cozy Winter getaway in Craster. Samantha has been blogging for 6+ years now (full-time self-employed for 2 of those). She set up Mrs Mulled Wine last year as she is a huge Christmas fan and Christmas posts were always very popular over on her main blog North East Family Fun. Mrs Mulled Wine starts being updated from September to December, usually daily with lots of festive ideas, recipes and Christmas inspiration.
Tell us a little bit about your family:
We’re a family of 5 – Steve and I have been married for 11 years this year and we have three children – Harry (11), Heidi (8) and Jack (6). We love outdoor holidays, camping and walks but also plenty of time to chill out too.
Where was your Best Family Holiday Ever? Craster, Northumberland
When Was it? approx. December 2015
How did you get there? By car – it’s only a 40 minute drive from our home in Northumberland. We even managed to take our children to school from their ‘holiday home’.
What did you do on your Family holiday and what was it that made it the best one?
Craster is my favourite place in Northumberland – I would love to buy a cottage here myself one day. It’s a sleepy fishing village with a fabulous pub, a Smokehouse, a small park, a cafe and that’s about it. There are fantastic views along the coast from and the walk to Dunstanburgh Castle is superb.
We stayed at Craster Reach through Sykes Cottages in December. I love staying in a cottage in the winter and tend to book a similar break every year (we’re staying in Embleton this December). There’s something warm and cozy about a cottage and it’s nice to escape the mad rush that is December for a few days.
Our cottage was a hop, skip and a jump away from The Jolly Fisherman pub and evenings were spent around the Christmas Tree and real fire drinking a nice glass of wine. Days were spent just taking advantage of the peace and quiet and reading or watching Christmas movies. Our cottage had a skylight and gorgeous views across the sea towards Dunstanburgh Castle. Sometimes it was nice just to head upstairs and look at the stars.
It’s my birthday in December and we decided to push the boat out and hire a private chef on the evening of my birthday. We booked Paul’s Private Dining who was super reasonable and cooked Steve and I a delicious 3 course meal. We packed the kids off to bed early and it was such a lovely way to celebrate and I’d recommend to anyone who struggles with childcare to celebrate like this.
When you think of your ‘best holiday ever’, you might think of somewhere where you tried something new or enjoyed glorious weather but I don’t think that always has to be the case. As someone who loves Christmas, escaping to a cottage in December and spending some time just relaxing and taking things at a slower pace as well as spending lots of time with family is definitely my kind of holiday. As long as there’s WiFi and a decent pub you can walk to, I’m happy.
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