YHA Blog
YHA Poppit Sands has left the YHA network. Many other YHA hostels are available for Exclusive Hire. It was a long, winding journey west through the Preseli Mountains towards the rust-red horizon. Arriving after dark, we could barely see the sea, but what a view...
Dear YHA, With the season of love upon us, I wanted to share some moments that make me smile from my stays with YHA. Adventuring around the magical Lake District staying with YHA holds wonderful memories. It is no wonder that prolific authors, William Wordsworth...
Dear YHA, Dusk had fallen over Robin Hood's Bay. Our children were laughing and whooping as they jumped into rock pools and got caked in sand and mud. The tide was out, and the immense expanse of the beach was their playground. At last, worn out and happy, they...
You never know who you'll meet in a hostel self-catering kitchen, and at YHA New Forest, at a certain time of year, you're as likely to find yourself surrounded by ethereal creatures with wings and flowers in their hair as by hikers with backpacks and bobble hats....
To be awestruck by an engineering wonder of the world you don't need to travel to the Pyramids or even as far as the Humber Bridge. There's one a minute's walk from YHA Ironbridge Coalport, past the kilns of the old china works and the duck houses bobbing on the...
Imagine you're a seagull and swoop down to YHA Manorbier using the satellite view on Google Earth. This is the best way to appreciate in advance of arrival the hostel's location, perched above the craggy Pembrokeshire coast. It's surrounded by wildflower meadows,...
Is there a more carefree way to travel than on the open top of a double-decker bus? On a sunny spring morning we wound slowly through the lanes towards Land's End, looking down on clouds of blackthorn and out to the turquoise sea. We heard the cheerful twittering...
In the walled garden at Avebury Manor lime-green fists of rhubarb were punching through the soil. A ladybird crept out of hibernation to warm up on a twig. The low sun lit up snowdrops and crocuses; now and then a bee buzzed past. After a dreary winter, spring was...
"Goodbye orange door, I love you!" said the little girl next door as her family hoisted their rucksacks and left their chalet in the dim October morning light. How attached kids can get to a place in a very short time: we too have often had to say formal 'goodbyes'...
"The road to the Honister Pass has turned into a waterfall!" "Abandoned cars are blocking the road to Keswick." "A four-wheel drive might be able to get out via Grange." Reports came in thick and fast as the rain fell in sheets, non-stop, for three days; the River...
I had overheard people discussing The Winter Timetable in tones that suggested it was important, but didn't understand why until a member of the team at YHA Keswick spelled it out for me: "It means that some local bus routes will stop running from tomorrow. So if,...
Along with a camera and a coffee pot there's one more thing I try not to forget when packing for a trip: our kite. To untangle its colourful tail streamers and throw it straight up into the gale blowing off the sea brings an instant and joyful feeling of connection...
