Earlier this month we were lucky enough to have a 4 night break at
Bluestones National Park Resort in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, a welcomed relaxing trip after the mania that was Christmas. Unfortunately John had to work but my mother was more than happy to come along which was lovely as both Mr A and I got to spend some quality time with both her before the baby arrives next month.
It took us just under two hours to reach Bluestone although we were in no rush and enjoyed driving along some pretty country lanes. Once we arrived and checked into our Ramsey Lodge it was already dark but that didn't stop us having a night time walk to explore our surroundings and get our bearings.
The next morning we were up bright and early as it was going to be the driest day of our stay. We walked down to the village where we enjoyed some fresh pastries from the bakery before having some fun in the treetops treehouse which is a little wooden playpark that encourages natural play and has some fun slides, bridges, ropes to climb and a stream running underneath which Mr A loved wading through. We then decided to have a walk around Bluestone Lake and came across the Bug Hotel which was of much interest to Mr A. We wanted to make as much use of the free range outdoor fun while it was dry and as always spend as much time in nature as possible.
After we had explored the village we took a lazy walk back up to the lodge for lunch, Bluestone is very hilly but a great place for walking and cycling. We had planned to only use bikes during our stay but as we knew two of the days were going to bring pretty heavy rain we decided to hire a buggy to get around so after lunch on our way to Blue Lagoon we picked one up. I was actually glad we had not pre-booked one as they were running a mid-week special for £40 to hire it from Mon-Friday and it turned out to be a really fun way to get around the Resort and Mr A couldn't get enough of riding around in it.
Indoor Facilities
We enjoyed two evenings at Blue Lagoon swimming centre, which I have to say is great for kids and adults although do bring your own paddle boards for little ones. There is a lazy river which Mr A loved going round and round riding on my back as well as the wave machine which happens 2-3 times an hour. There is also a little toddler and baby section with very shallow water and a mini slide and rock pools. The only negative we had was there is not much for the in-between as Mr A was too small to go on the big slides and little to big for the baby one but he still really enjoyed it, as did I and couldn't wait to go back for more.
On the Wednesday which was rather stormy and very wet we decided to see what The Adventure Centre had in store as well as giving us a chance to try out the Wild Wood Cafe for lunch, as we had been taking full advantage of the self-catering facilities up until that point. As soon as we stepped into the centre Mr A was drawn to the mini putt putt, it was the first time he had tried it and found it very exciting, we had a few rounds of it during the day and by the end he had really got the hang of it. He also enjoyed the lego station, ball pit, jumping castle and wooden treehouse and climbing frames. The Adventure centre is free but they also offer 4 more adrenaline options at a cost which included the sky trail, win, drop and wall, all of which Mr A was just a little to small for. but looked like a lot of fun and something I would love to bring him back to do at a later stage.
The Wild Wood Cafe had a lovely atmosphere and a large magical tree in the centre which was wonderful for kids. We sat upstairs in a little treehouse hideout while Mr A tried to spot the hidden fairies and birds in the tree. The staff were very friendly and we didn't have to wait too long for food, the only improvements I felt that could be made would be to have more healthy options on the menu especially for kids, although saying that Mr A did enjoy his cheese and tomato pizza which was a real treat. I opted for the Swamp soup and roll and my mother went for the Mushroom Rarebit. Also they only offered filter coffee in takeaway cups which is something that could be improved but we enjoyed our lunch and found it reasonable and Mr A loved the magical surroundings.
Overall
Bluestone is set within a beautiful location that is perfect for family walks, bicycle rides and outdoor fun. It's also not to far from the coast as well as some wonderful little Welsh villages, including Narberth which we went to on Thursday and I can't wait to share that adventure with you in post soon. There are a lot of extra activities which range from £7-£28 and if you had older kids I can imagine that it's easy to spend a lot of money, however there was less for Mr A's age range but had it not been raining on the Wednesday we would of tried out the nature hunt which sounded really fun.
There is a variety of places to eat, from the very family friendly to a more upmarket affair in the form of Carreg Las which would be perfect for a kid-free evening out. You can also take advantage of the self catering facilities in the lodges or they even offer a takeaway service. The lodge was perfect, spotlessly clean and again will be doing a separate post about it very soon. Overall we really enjoyed our time, rain or shine and would recommend it for a relaxing break away.
Tips
Bring a torch - it's very dark at night
Bring either bikes or hire a buggy as it's a pretty spread out site. We did do a lot of walking and we were located near both the Villae, Blue Lagoon and Adventure centre but you could be placed on the authorised of the site which would be a pretty far trek each day.
We were guests at Bluestones
