This post is a little late in the writing but as summer is coming up and many teenagers will have some free time and be considering a mini break with their friends, I thought this might be useful. During February half term, my friends and I (4 in total) took the train and visited Skegness for 2 nights and three days. Here I thought I would give you a brief outline of our trip and some tips and tricks to make everything run smoothly and not break the bank!
We chose to use Booking.com to compare hotels and ended up choosing the North Parade B&B, we got two twin rooms, both of which had ensuites. After reading the reviews, it seemed to have friendly staff and was in the perfect location: a 10 minute walk from the train station and right on the sea front so easy to access everything, which is something to consider if you don't drive. Another thing I would definitely recommend is calling the hotel you choose to stay in if you're under 18 or even 21, some of the places we looked at weren't willing to have us without someone over the age of 21 (I won't rant, it's fine.......) also staying.
We chose to eat breakfast at the hotel as it meant that we didn't have to pay for this as well whilst we were there. It ended up costing about £6 more per person for both days so it really was worth it - plus it meant we didn't eat much/ any lunch as we'd had a cooked breakfast in the morning.
If you're a regular train-traveller like two of us are, having a Railcard really pays off. You save at least a 1/3 on train fares and it meant that my ticket to Skegness was around £25 rather than nearly £50. This saving nearly paid off the cost of the Railcard itself, which was £30. We bought flexi tickets meaning we could return whenever we wanted so long as it was on the Thursday which was fantastic as on the final day the weather wasn't brilliant and so we left an hour earlier than we had planned to which was a shame but not terrible.
On the first night we dropped our bags off at the hotel (most hotels will let you store your bags there before check in or after check out time if you want to explore but also have a suitcase) had a wander around to get our bearings and then got ready to go out that evening after a walk along the seafront. Here's where planning comes in. My biggest tip is to plan what you're going to do on your trip. This might sound over the top but it can make everything much smoother - you don't have to stick to the plan, we didn't, but it's good to have a list of things to do rather than sitting in the room unsure. In addition, it can really help budgeting, for example we knew roughly how much our meals and activities would cost (Trip Advisor is your best friend) from a quick Google search.
We chose to eat breakfast at the hotel as it meant that we didn't have to pay for this as well whilst we were there. It ended up costing about £6 more per person for both days so it really was worth it - plus it meant we didn't eat much/ any lunch as we'd had a cooked breakfast in the morning.
On the first night we dropped our bags off at the hotel (most hotels will let you store your bags there before check in or after check out time if you want to explore but also have a suitcase) had a wander around to get our bearings and then got ready to go out that evening after a walk along the seafront. Here's where planning comes in. My biggest tip is to plan what you're going to do on your trip. This might sound over the top but it can make everything much smoother - you don't have to stick to the plan, we didn't, but it's good to have a list of things to do rather than sitting in the room unsure. In addition, it can really help budgeting, for example we knew roughly how much our meals and activities would cost (Trip Advisor is your best friend) from a quick Google search.
On our first night, instead of going to wherever we had planned, we went to an American diner style restaurant on the pier next to the bowling alley where we could all sit down as a four and eat decent food (2 of us are veggies and the veggie burger was really really tasty) but also not break the bank. However, that's not the most spontaneous thing we did - we found a Lazer Quest and played for an hour. This was possibly my favourite part of the whole trip, it was absolutely hilarious and we took it far too seriously, sneaking and hiding around corners and forming two teams of two in an attempt to win. None of this was planned but it goes to show that the plan is not a fixed method.
On our second day, we had breakfast and headed to the Seal Sanctuary which was home to baby seals found washed up on the shore who were being treated before release; adult seals unable to look after themselves in the wild; penguins; meerkats and reptiles of all kinds as well as some fish.It was only a small place but we spent a few hours there, watching all of the talks and feeding the goats (which they also had, bizarrely). This is where another tip does come in though: let everybody have their space. As much as you love your friends, everyone needs a little break; you wouldn't sit talking to your family for 3 days straight, from waking up to going to bed. Therefore, in the afternoon we took some time alone to escape the confinements of shared rooms: we went to the beach,in to the town to do some shopping or just stayed in and read a book. That way when we all got ready that night to go out, we felt less tired and more enthusiastic.
That night we got ready, curled our hair and put on make up and went to a (quite fancy) Italian restaurant that we'd seen on Trip Advisor. It didn't look like much from the outside, but, as the 5* reviews promised, inside it was incredible and the food was some of the best I've ever tasted. Plus, the Italian family that owned it were lovely hosts. After this, we went to the cinema to watch La La Land; it was an independent cinema created from a converted ballroom with high ceilings and long red curtains and the whole experience was incredibly enjoyable. The film finished around 10:30 pm and so we headed back to our hotel to pack for the following day and go to bed! This would be my one of my last tips - don't leave packing until the last minute and check you can carry everything for a considerable distance, you never know!
On our final morning we left our bags at the B&B after check out and did the things we hadn't had chance to before, including visiting the High Street, getting some food for the journey home, grabbing some lunch and having a walk through the parks and beaches. Leaving this day free was a good idea,it didn't feel hectic and meant that we were able to get everything done that we wanted to during our trip.
Whether you're planning a trip in the UK or abroad, I hope this has been helpful! Remember, stay calm, have a plan (don't necessarily stick to it) and enjoy
Thank you for reading, for more posts and information click the sidebar
Elle xxx
LINKS:
http://www.north-parade-hotel.co.uk/
http://www.skegnesspier.co.uk/
http://tarantino-restaurant.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Tarantino-Italian-Restaurant-Skegness-Menu.pdf
https://www.towercinema.co.uk/
https://www.skegnessnatureland.co.uk/
https://www.thetrainline.com/
https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/
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