My husband celebrated turning 60 in August and this was his 60th birthday trip, for his 50th we did Vencie, so another Italian adventure seemed appropriate!  After months of planning, hours of reading Facebook group recommendations, lots of stressing over what to wear, what to pack and what man-bag my husband might agree to actually use, we finally made it to Tuscany, Italy.  And we loved every single moment (well maybe not every moment, there were downsides too) but yes we fell in love with Tuscany and absolutely want to go back! 

​I know planning holidays can be hard work, I literally did spend hours researching, drafting an itinerary, finding the perfect Airbnbs (keeping in mind a budget - ours isn't massive), finding the best and available tour guides, and then re-drafting the itinerary after I realised it was probably a bit full on!  I don't want all the hours of research to go to waste now we are back - so I am sharing three blog posts about our Italian road trip and I hope sharing a few useful tips and some inspiration for your own visit to Tuscany.

This is how we split up our Italy road trip:

Fly into Florence, Italy and spend 3 nights exploring the capital city of Tuscany.
Pick up a hire car and drive to Lucca for 4 nights.
Drive to the Chianti region for a final 4 nights of rest, relaxation and exploring.

​And my first blog post is all about the top things to do in Florence, this is how we organised our time, we tend to take it easy, preferring a slower pace rather than a full itinerary.

We are just back from a week in Morzine and Avoriaz, these two neighbouring ski resorts in the Portes du Soleil area of the French Alps are our favourite place to ski, it's where we all learnt to ski and where we keep going back to!  In fact apart from one ski holiday in Austria, we've not ever skied anywhere else!  After a break of 6 years with no skiing due to the travel restrictions of the pandemic, we were feeling a little nervous and had forgotten some of the details that make a ski holiday work.  Skiing at this time of year can be hot, weather conditions are variable, with a mixture of sunny days and warmer temperatures then heavy snow thrown in, it was a little confusing to know what to pack and what to wear (for après ski too).

I don't like packing at the best of times, but skiing adds another dimension, and I never get it quite right but fresh from the slopes, I am sharing my top tips for skiing in the warmer weather as well as some advice for a ski holiday based in Morzine.

My daughter and I found ourselves with a small window of opportunity for an early spring break back in March.  We knew it was a bit soon in the season for a short haul guaranteed sun holiday but as we were keen to get some down time we didn't want to do a full on city break either.  We spent hours researching different options!  How long does holiday planning take?!  We were super keen on Italy but Sorrento (our first choice) doesn't really open up for tourists until Easter.  Finally we settled on Cádiz in Spain ... we booked our flights, found an Airbnb with an outside terrace, booked a walking tour and sat back to pray for mild days and bright skies!

Here is our itinerary and recommendations for what to do in Cádiz in early spring!

Do you remember our childhood holidays in the 60s and 70s?  I was born in 1966 and I love looking back at the old holiday camp photos, there was the year I won the Bonny Baby competition wearing a silver lamé bikini that my auntie had sent from the USA (she was in the circus (yes really) and her gifts were always quite wild).  We'd go to Norfolk, to Kent, the Isle of Wight and West Sussex, stay in chalets or caravans, meet up with family and friends, my granddad would roll his trousers up, put his handkerchief on his head and paddle in the sea with me.  Later on when my own children were growing up we had a touring caravan and recreated some of these experiences albeit in a slightly more modern way.  But my point is that a good old fashioned holiday, either going with friends or making friends when you get there, can be so special, the fun and camaraderie is something that stays with us for years after.  So when I saw that Potters started in the 1920s in Hemsby in Norfolk, all the old memories came flooding back!

Potters Resorts asked me if I'd like to spend a weekend at their Essex resort, Potters Resorts Five Lakes and share a review on my blog.  I was a bit unsure at first, we have never done an all-inclusive break before and I wondered how I would feel about the games and entertainment, I didn't want to feel obliged to join in.  But there was no need to worry, my concerns were totally unfounded and we had a super 3 night October break with the added bonus of sunshine!

Potters Resorts Five Lakes is exclusively adults only but don't be deterred, the age range of guests varies from younger couples in their 30s visiting with family groups, midlife couples like us keen to have a weekend away exploring the area and older people either on an organised group trip or happy to be spoilt for the weekend and not worry about cooking - and of course to enjoy the fantastic (and entirely optional) on-site entertainment and activities.

This is a sponsored blog post.