travel | Right from the Start

It has been a year since we took an amazing trip home. We had a long list of places and people we wanted to visit and top of the list for our stay in Wales was a castle. Growing up in Wales, I took it for granted that my kids would get to visit historical sites with school. Now, I need to pack all the things they can’t experience here, into our visits home.

Top of our list for our week in Wales, was a castle. There are so many castles in Wales it was difficult to choose the right one. I considered Castell Coch and Cardiff Castle, but eventually went for Caerphilly Castle, as it was the most traditional of the 3. I wasn’t certain if it would be too ruinous or if there would be enough there to entertain the kids. As it turned out, it was the kids favourite day out in Wales.

They couldn’t wait to get to the castle as we walked towards it and when they were greeted by Dewi the real Welsh dragon, at the entrance, their excitement mounted.

Dewi, who first arrived at the castle on March 1st 2016, is a star attraction at the castle. This May, he flew to Caernavon Castle, to join his sweetheart Dwynwen. Dwynwen soon laid two eggs. The eggs hatched into baby dragons Dylan and Cariad, on May 26th and are now taking on summer adventures across Wales. The dragons are an integral part of Visit Wales’ 2017 Year of Legends, inspiring visitors to discover Wales’ rich folklore. Dewi has returned to his home at Caerphilly.

Where can you meet Dwynwen and the baby Dragons?

12 -25 June Raglan Castle – Dwynwen and the baby Dragons.

27 June – 9 July Tretower Court

11 – 30 July Kidwelly Castle

1 – 13 August Harlech Castle

15 – 28 Aug Beaumaris Castle

Treasure Hunting

Included in the admission fee (£23.70 for a family ticket admitting 2 adults and up to 3 children under 16) was a treasure hunt activity. The children visited every part of the castle looking for information to answer to clues that would lead them to the treasure.

We descended spiral staircases.

Walked along balconies.

through dark corridors

and explored the grounds for clues.

After hours of fun (and a few painful feet from new shoes) we found the treasure.

The children exchanged their treasure hunts for a special prize in the gift shop. We admired the view and said our goodbye’s to Dewi, before heading home.

On my recent trip to Vegas, I was surprised at the number of people trudging the strip with young children in tow. Though there are things for kids to do in Vegas, museums, shows, the Bellagio fountains and lounging by the pool, I’m pretty sure my kids would soon tire of walking up and down the strip.

If you visit Vegas with kids and want to get away from the strip, the container park is an exquisitely designed haven in the heart of downtown Vegas.

The container park as the name suggests, is fashioned from shipping containers. The 3 storey’s of shipping containers are transformed into shops, restaurants, bars and cafes. The container park was built as part of a drive to transform Downtown Vegas and provide affordable spaces for new and small businesses.

For the kids, there is a wonderful independent toy shop, Kappa Toys whose owner is clearly passionate about toys. I spent a long time in there choosing a perfect gift for my kids. Another favourite was the vintage clothes shop, Vintage NV. We ate a delicious brunch at The Perch, on the 2nd storey overlooking the rest of the park .

Below the Perch, is an open space with a stage, building materials and chalk boards for the kids.

The play and stage area container park — The stage and play space with comfortable seating for adults

In the centre of the park is a huge, well thought out, children’s playground and outside the playground is another small stage for children’s activities.

The giant slide and bridges

the playground

playground at ground level

By night the container park is transformed into a civilised eating and drinking area, where people sit quietly at the wine or whiskey bar. It shuts down at 11pm so doesn’t attract a rowdy crowd.