A Family Trip To Bluestone Wales

Disclosure: We were invited to Bluestone in exchange for an honest blog post & supporting social posts but all opinions shared are, as always, entirely my own.

We've been fortunate to have been kindly invited to Bluestone Wales twice now. Our first time at Bluestone was when I was heavily pregnant with my second Son Logan, so just over 4 years ago now and the second time was a couple of weeks ago when we returned this time with both of the boys. 

If I was going to sum up how I feel about Bluestone, I'd have to tell you first of how both times I have returned home a more chilled version of myself. Despite all of the many activities and exploring that you can do at Bluestone and at the places surrounding Bluestone itself, I find that there's such a relaxed vibe at Bluestone and the accommodation (the lodges) help to massively encourage that vibe.

What I love most about the lodges, is that they really feel like a home away from home. I'm a Mummy to two young children and as lovely as staying in hotels is, I generally find myself feeling on edge a lot as I worry that my boys might be making too much noise and disturbing others. This, however, isn't something I worry about at Bluestone, the lodge we've stayed in both times has been detached and we've even had our own grass and bench area outside so that if the weather is nice we can't sit out there with a drink or dinner whilst the boys scoot up and down the path that leads up to our lodge door. There's an open plan kitchen, a dining table, a living room area with sofas and a TV. The bedrooms have enough space for us to sleep and for the suitcases to be kept out of the way. It all feels very homely and on both occasions we've been fortunate enough to have had the most amazing views from our lodge - sitting there in the evening watching the sun go down is just amazing. 

There's so much to do at Bluestone itself, they're known for their free-range fun and it's honestly so true. There's a whole list of daily activities and entertainment you can get involved with and they have the most amazing swimming pool and water park called The Blue Lagoon where there are some seriously fun slides, a lazy river, jets, a fun section for babies and toddlers, a section where there's a pirate ship for the kids to play on and our favourite part - the wave pool which is SO much fun! The only reason we ever leave The Blue Lagoon is when our skin starts to shrivel up from being in the water for too long! 

Bluestone also has such fantastic indoor and outdoor play areas. The play park located outside is right in the centre of Bluestone in the village area which is just by the shops and their own restaurants. This is amazing, especially so during the warmer weather, as it means that you can sit outside having dinner or a drink and see your children playing in the play area right in front of you. 

The indoor play centre is incredible - my boys played for hours in there as there's so much to go on asides from just the giant activity centre, including a bouncy castle and little trikes that they can hop on and off of. There's also free crazy golf which is something the whole family can get involved with! 

At Bluestone you can do things like hire bikes and follow bike trails, there's the option to do some kayaking, paddleboarding, raft-building and coracle racing. There's a tournament field when you can have a go on the shooting and throwing range. There are some amazing woodland walks not to be missed and also the opportunity to have a go on High Ropes, Zip Wires or Tree Climbing. Inside the activity centre, the children can have a go at indoor rock climbing and sky trails. Children can also get involved with being a Bluestone Ranger where they get to further explore the magic of nature, discover exciting wildlife, making new friends and learning new skills. Some of these activities incur extra cost, but the many options are there.

On both occasions that we've visited Bluestone, we've explored the surrounding area too. I can totally recommend a few nearby places like Folly Farm (which we visited last time we were there), Tenby Beach (which is SUCH a pretty beach town to visit) and Pembroke Castle (for anyone who also loves their history and castles). 

Tenby Beach

Pembroke Castle

Bluestone is the sort of place that is hard to sum up in one blog post, I've always thought that it's the sort of place that you need to visit yourself to really understand how amazing it is there. We've visited both times with the boys' Grandparents (my in-laws) and I have to say that it is the perfect place to go with family or close friends. The lodges are all different sizes so can accommodate different size families/parties and because of how much there is to do there, there honestly is something for everyone. And because of this, I honestly don't think there's a perfect age to take your children, you could go with them at any age and have the most incredible time and then go back a few years later and again have an incredible time doing different experiences. 

Bluestone Wales is somewhere that I hear a lot of people sing high praises about and I can safely say that we are those people too. I know that we'll be back again in the future, it's a place that captures your heart and makes you sad when you leave! 

Some top tips for a trip to Bluestone

• My top tips for visiting Bluestone are to go with family/friends if you want to or can as it's the perfect place for a get together/family holiday.

• I'd also advise hiring a buggy to get around Bluestone in as Bluestone is HUGE and it saves for having tired legs. The buggies, in my opinion, could perhaps be a little cheaper (we paid £95 for the 4 days we were there), but even so, it was worth having. 

• I'd also advise doing a click and collect grocery order before you arrive (if you want to be super organised). There is a village shop at Bluestone, but I personally found it so easy to order what I wanted before we arrived and have it picked, packed and ready to collect from the nearby Tesco there. There's a fridge and a small freezer so you can order a few chilled and frozen items and have them in your lodge for any nights that you might like to eat in. 

• A trip to Tenby beach is definitely another recommendation of mine, especially so if the weather is nice, it's not to be missed. 

• I'd also advise maybe upgrading the WiFI in your lodge. We found that it was quite slow and so instead, we used our 4G. There is an upgrade option for a small cost, so if you don't have a great amount of mobile data then it might be worth doing that.

• We found personally that because of how much there is to do and see at Bluestone and in the surrounding area, we easily could have stayed for longer than four nights. Of course, ideal holiday lengths are different for everyone and it's just our personal opinion, but we'd easily have filled our time during a 7-night trip and that really is a testament to Bluestone themselves. 

If you'd like to find out more about Bluestone Wales and the cost of their holidays then please visit: bluestonewales.com. There's a video embedded at the bottom of this post showing a tour of our lodge and some of our favourite trip highlights if you'd like to have a look at that too. But finally, I'll leave you with a few more of our favourite photos from our time away in Wales. 

* A huge thank you to Bluestone Wales for inviting us on this trip in return for an honest blog post and social posts. We can't wait to return in the future! 

Take a look at our video to see what else we got up to during our trip to Bluestone:

Thank you for reading. 

  Alex xo