48hrs in Lincolnshire – 4 Things We Loved Discovering

While all of the well-known places in the UK are definitely worth a visit.. Stonehenge, London, Cambridge, Bath… I mean why else would they be well-known?! BUT we love going off the beaten path and experience places which you might not find on the typical tourist bus itinerary.

So recently, we headed out and spent 48hrs discovering the sights, sausages, farm yard smells, North seas beaches and the mulled wine which Lincolnshire had to offer.

Lincoln

There are lots of things to do during a family day out in Lincoln. Set within a reasonable distance to the A1, the entire town oozes charm and character. It felt like a quintessential English market town with plenty of pubs + open fires, small boutique shops and at its heart a stunning cathedral which impressively dominated the landscape.

We loved the windy streets with had lots of shops which weren’t your typical high street store. Instead they had personality, warmth and a local running them. Quite incredibly the stunning Lincoln Cathedral of St. Mary stood as the tallest building in the world for over 230 year.  Compare that to the race to build vertically nowadays, you can only but imagine what a profound impact the cathedral had on the landscape.  We spent quite a bit of time within the cathedral, wandering around and taking in the stunning windows.

https://www.visitlincoln.com/ We coincided our trip with Lincoln Christmas Market. If you read the reviews about it, then you get the feeling that this is all you’ll experience;

“Too many people in too small a space. Crush, crush, crush..”

But research always suggests that people heed negative reviews more than positive ones. Our top recommendation would be to get there nice and early. Even if it opens at 10am, make sure your on site by 09.30am. This will give you a much needed head start.

Another top tip would be to avoid driving in. Simply park up at Lincolnshire show ground and head in on the pop up park and ride system.

Grimblethorpe Hall

Our fantastic long weekend away was all made possible thanks to the kind team at Grimblethorpe Hall. https://grimblethorpehall.co.uk

The location is great! We only had a short drive to reach Donna Nook Nature Reserve and to get there from Lincoln was just over 30mins. It also has some very good pubs on offer nearby, which was perfect for Saturday night.

The owners Andy and Nicola was also very welcoming. We turned up late on the Friday night and less than 5 minutes on site we were in our lovely warm facilities. Our accommodation was also really well furnished, clean, family friendly, comfy beds and the nice touches (like some farm made Sausages being left for us) really made it feel like a home from home experience.

We were also given a great tour of the farm and learnt the lengths they gone to becoming a certified organic farm with a wide range of rare animal breeds. Donna Nook Nature Reserve

Every November and December, hundreds of grey seals come to the Donna Nook coastline to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes. We loved seeing the wildlife spectacle of seeing grey seals on the sand dunes! It was remarkable how close you could get to these seals as the peered out of the fence.

Donna Nook does attracts thousands of people from across the UK at this time of year – so its worth putting on your walking boots and trying to escape the crowd by walking a bit further down the coast.

https://www.lincstrust.org.uk/get-involved/top-reserves/donna-nook When we left, it was nearly time for lunch, but a greasy food truck didn’t look that appealing! Instead, we stumbled upon Gi Gi Italian Restaurant North Somercotes  https://www.facebook.com/gigirestaurantNS/

The inside of the restaurant was charming, warm & we were given some great service. It also felt really Christmassy and very nicely decorated, with specials for less than £10! We picked up a couple of good Italian coffees and cheese/ham toasties and got change back from £20 note!

North Sea Observatory, Chapel Point

For Sunday afternoon, we went and explored the North Sea Observatory, the UK’s first and only coastal purpose-built marine observatory. It offers some absolutely unbelievable views of the dunes and the North sea. But in our mind the most striking thing was the buildings stunning architecture. I really would urge anyone to go visit.

After a winters walk on the beach we sat down to piece of cake, pot of tea and all accompanied by some fabulous sea views.. and the girls had an activity table to play with.

https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/bathing-beauties/north-sea-observatory/128816.article Lincolnshire, we love you! We’re coming back!