My NYE 2020 Cottage Holiday Wishlist!

When New Year’s Eve hits it’s time to make plans. Not of the not eating any more chocolate variety or banishing alcohol… Gosh life is for living after all, but of the ‘something to look forward to’ calibre because new beginnings need new plans and those plans have to be of excitement and something to look forward to.

The day to day of work, eat, sleep, repeat keeps everyone floating for sure but those special moments in planned and longed for trips away with dedicated family time is what it’s all about!

And I have a wishlist as long as my arm of the places I’d like to go and the things I’d like to see with my kin. I want to take them all over the world, of course! But actually… I also want to take them all over the UK. Show them cities and villages and towns and beaches that are on our home turf and yet often we forget that right here in good old Blighty we have an abundance of sights and scenes with fun to be had.

So I might have a wishlist for the world as long as my arm but I have a few staycations that sound perfect to me on that list too… A cottage holiday is just about perfect in any season be it wintry and holed up by a fire as you play cards in the evening and walk to pubs for grub and a beer by day or be they summer soaked sunshiney holidays near home where sandy feet tiptoe from beach to ‘home for the week’ where you can BBQ your way to food happiness with salty air breathed in solidly as you take a moment to just… Relax… Enjoy… Be…

I have four places (well, more really) but these would be my top choices for now… Just for now… With Original Cottages being the place I’d book each of these fine sounding breaks! A mini break for each quarter and season… Sounds good enough to me!

YORKSHIRE

I’ve never been. NEVER! I’ve been to India, to the US, to Africa and beyond but I’ve never stepped foot on Yorkshire soil though it’s a mere three and a half hours from home. I know only of this place, home to rolling countryside, from movies like calendar Girls and after seeing the stage show of the same name, when I think of Yorkshire I think of the song from the show written by Gary Barlow ‘One more year in Yorkshire’ which describes the county so vividly that it makes me want to leap into the green and you know what, I think a Mummy and Daddy weekend alone would be perfect so that we could enjoy a long weekend here just us. I think, with my penchant for the sea that I’d choose ‘Salty Kisses’, a modern townhouse with a close proximity to the sea. Scarborough to be precise and a short stroll from the house to the pub – sounds up our street and I’d go in the winter for wind swept beach walks with lots of atmosphere!

NORFOLK

A holiday close to home is always welcomed with little ones and with just a half an hour’s drive to Quexcroft, a gorgeous cottage in Brancaster, which is a place we almost never visit but should, I think this would bemy choice for a fun weekend with the kids and not a massive distance to travel. A food shop, quick bag pack and short drive away for a luxe weekend sounds amazing and on the coast too – what could be better?!

Quexcroft looks divine, a real home from home and what a location! We’d be there with bells on and I reckon spring would be just the ticket!

DORSET

We’ve been to Dorset so many times for a festival but we’ve never seen anything there aside from that and I would dearly love to take the children and experience more in this beautiful looking county. I hear the beaches are amazing and I’ve seen as we whizz through the countryside en route that the vista in general is super beautiful. I’ve found this gorgeous flint cottage called Wheatsheaf Cottage which has a four poster beds and a lovely little garden for the kids. Now I’m not averse to taking the kids out of school during term time but my husband literally can’t do that so for this one I’d take my Mum and go ahead of the summer break because that’s when we seem to have the best weather – you can’t bet on it but you can hope eh!

Wheatsheaf Cottage is in the small village of Askerswell but a short drive from the market town of Bird Port and the beaches of West Bay – it sounds idyllic!

CORNWALL

Cornwall has been a fave when we’ve visited. The surf is amazing and actually out of season why not keep the vibes of summer going? I reckon Autumn is a fab time to visit and we’ve not seen anywhere nearly enough of this lovely place. i want to go back and I want to go back NOW! We’ve only stayed in Polzeath before but Padstow, which is just down the road, is a place I’d love to see and experience the glorious restaurants on offer that everyone raves about! Florence is mega into surfing so we’d have to do LOTS of that but there’s so much more to Cornwall than the sea. I think an explore in the car and some day trips out would be brilliant but all with the base of Harbour Cottage which is on the edge of the old town, a two minute walk to shops and pubs and restaurants – divine!

ONE MORE FOR LUCK

So that’s the four… One for every season but actually… I’d quite like to kick off the New Year with a little holiday too. Maybe not too far from home, just across the county border in Suffolk would be my choice this time I think! It’s Florence’s birthday on NYE and Jonny’s on the 2nd of January. We could celebrate both in utter style and have a little staycation at The Cottage in Eye. I could just see us all bundled with blankets and eating sausages and mash with a glass of something fizzy to see in the New Year! We would play cards, go for long walks and enjoy time together as a family – doesn’t it look and sound utterly delicious! With three large reception rooms and able to sleep 6 this would suit us all very well – and hey, my Mum could come too – more the merrier!

Where would you go for your staycation cottage holiday of dreams?!

Collaborative post.