day out Archives – Emma Reed

Visiting The Living Rainforest

Posted on February 12, 2018November 14, 2024 by Emma Reed

We discovered The Living Rainforest in Berkshire a few years ago and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of it sooner. Situated in Thatcham near Newbury, Berkshire this indoor gem is an ecological and educational centre which attracts visitors all year round. It provides a tropical environment based across 3 rooms in which you can discover wonderful plants, insects and animals all of which are becoming endangered in our rainforests today. If you love The Eden Project you will also love it here!

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The National Botanic Garden Of Wales- A Great Day Out

Posted on July 26, 2017November 11, 2024 by Emma Reed

We have just come back from a lovely break in Wales where we visited so many amazing different places but my favourite from the week had to be The National Botanic Garden Of Wales. Set in the beautiful countryside of Carmarthenshire these gardens are almost like a scaled-down version of The Eden Project. With stunning gardens of varying styles, a butterfly house, play areas, wooded walks, a waterfall to discover and the world’s largest single-span glasshouse there is something here for everyone.

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The Isle of Wight in a Day? Here’s What You Can Get Up To

Posted on May 18, 2017November 11, 2024 by Emma Reed

Visiting the Isle of Wight for the day may seem like an unachievable trip but, if like me, you live within an hour’s drive of the nearest docks, you can easily jump on the ferry, hovercraft or catamaran and be on the beautiful within 60 minutes. Your choice of transport will all depend on what activities you intend on getting up to when over on the island. If you want to be on the island in 10 minutes you can do so via the hovercraft from Southsea to Ryde. You can be on there in 22 minutes via a catamaran from Portsmouth to Ryde or 25 minutes from Southampton West Cowes. With both of these options, you won’t have your own mode of transport once on the Isle of Wight but there are bus services which can take you to the landmarks of your choice and the open top is a lovely way to take it all in on a summer’s day. We chose to take 1 car for 5 of us so opted for the ferry service from Southampton to East Cowes which takes 55-60 minutes. We booked online the night before (it was a last-minute, spontaneous decision), we selected our times for departure and printed out our ticket; all very easy and quick to do. On arrival, you simply show your printout and wait in your car until instructed to drive straight on. We paid extra for priority tickets, meaning we drove on and off first so there was no waiting around and no wasted time.

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Why Southsea is a great day out for all the family

Posted on April 20, 2017November 11, 2024 by Emma Reed

I have lived in Hampshire all my life and spent a lot of my childhood visiting the great places it has to offer. Certain places hold special memories for me and the coast, especially Southsea and Hayling Island, were two of my Mum’s favourite destinations.

Southsea is located in Portsmouth at the southern end of Portsea Island and is most well-known for its castle, its naval history, the events which take place on the common and its pier. Each time I visit there seems to be a new gem to discover. As a child, I would enjoy the funfair, arcades, the Pyramids Centre and I adored the model village. As an adult, I have loved going down there for a long dog walk and to pick up a treat of honeycomb for the journey home! Since having Jake we have found Southsea to be a perfect place to visit from being baby up until now at three.

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Jake at Little Street doing the activities being a fireman, sitting on a digger and working in the shop

Our Trip to Little Street

Posted on November 28, 2016February 3, 2026 by Emma Reed

Little Street is an indoor play centre with a twist:

“Responding to children’s love of role play, we have created a realistic street designed with little people in mind. Featuring a supermarket, construction site, cafe, beauty salon, fire service, medical centre and more; our Little Street is a scaled down version of a typical town, inspiring children to explore life in the world around them”

Little Street Website

After I featured it in my post 10 Activities To Do With Your Kids In The Winter I felt that it was only right that I visited Little Street and found out exactly how good it was for myself… we were not disappointed.

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Wherever The Train Takes Us: Visiting Hythe

Posted on November 8, 2016November 10, 2024 by Emma Reed

Visiting Hythe was a last-minute decision for my birthday this year but I am so glad that my husband suggested it. Jake had begged and begged us to take him on a train so we decided to combine my trip with his – he is train mad! We had originally planned a trip to London but with colds and tonsillitis getting to us we opted for the closer city of Southampton which provides an easy gateway across to Hythe.

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