Rain, rain go away please come back another day…….is the first nursery rhyme my little boy is able to say, hmmm, I wonder why?  Smile in the face of adversity that’s the motto, so although the British weather is currently failing us and leaving us all miserable, I thought I’d try and remain optimistic and look ahead - with fingers crossed - to plan some Big Days Out (BDO from now on) for me and the family, and perhaps for you and yours! If you’ve got anything to add please leave me a comment!

Formby Beach

I’m a big fan of rollercoasters so that’s where I started. Alton Towers, Chessington, Thorpe Park – I love them all! I found this great article on Money Saving Expert which gives loads of purse-friendly tips for visiting theme parks. Things like 3 for 2 at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, 10% off at Legoland and 2-4 at Sealife Centres. There are loads of BDO destinations on here from across the country and it’s always nice to save money, I think we can all agree on that! Lastminute.com also has some great offers (and while you’re on there looking at something family orientated you can have a quick ‘I wish’ look at some of the lovely spas).

Sometimes I prefer a slightly slower paced day, which is when the National Trust membership comes in handy. It’s especially useful at this time of year when it’s (meant to be) sunny, because so many of the properties have gorgeous gardens to look around and cute coffee shops to have a rest and an ice cream! The National Trust has got a great (free) Summer Holiday Planner which helps you decide where you want to go – from open air plays to medieval castles. They also have a great article called 10 things to do before you’re 10, which is all about getting the kids away from video games and into the great outdoors, although some of the suggestions will depend on your location and your energy levels!

A BDO I always enjoyed when I was younger was a trip to the beach. Granted, our beaches are not quite up to the standards of some of our European neighbours, but there are still some pretty ones here and there – Formby Beach is one of my favourites. I found a nice little article about ‘secret beaches’ in the UK which is a good starting point for anyone on the hunt for a nice spot. A nice beach, for me, must have sand dunes, or cliffs, or some kind of forest behind it – a strip of murky sand leading to the even murkier sea doesn’t quite hit the spot.

There are loads of websites with great ideas for places to go, but my favourites at the moment are Ideas for the Kids and strangely enough the Coke Zone site – found both of these on Twitter and I think they’re great!

Council websites are also a great source for local days out as are good old fashioned newspapers. I’ve also found that some of my favourite trips out have come from Googling things like “Fun day out UK” and “Family day out Lancashire”.

So if you’re planning a BDO, have a great one and let me know where you went and how it was!