Swansea - The Mumbles

I am fortunate to live only about 40 miles from Swansea, and although there are beaches nearer to us, The Mumbles holds a special attraction - hence we took a day-trip there last Sunday as the weather was very pleasant.
It is such a popular spot, that if you leave it late in the day, it is always tricky to get through the traffic and find a parking spot - Once there however, there are plenty of things to do. The Swansea coastline is very extensive leaving plenty of room for sun-worshippers, sand-castle builders, paddlers and swimmers. When you have
become drenched enough with either sun or sea, there are all the usual sea-side attractions such as small parks, shops and crazy golf, yet the Mumbles is surprisingly un-tacky and remains a relatively tasteful haven for locals and visitors alike.
After a pleasant hour exploring rock-pools and a walk along the promenade, the highlight of the afternoon was Fish and chips from 'Yallops' an idyllic sea-side meal in an idyllic setting. I don't think this will be our last visit to Mumbles, but next time, I would like to be there a little earlier and beat the traffic. There has been such a lot of development in Swansea Bay, but correspondingly little done to ease the flow of traffic at peak times.

Cheap stop-overs in the UK

I usually use somewhere like Travelodge or Premier Inn for my work and leisure stop-overs within the UK, but lately I have been sticking exclusively to Travelodge because they have such good deals when you book up front.
Check out their saver deals for their £12, £19 and £29 special offers - there are even deals for EUR12 in Ireland and Spain included.
This is not by any means a sponsored post, I am genuinely a customer of Travelodge (stayed there twice in August, both times were a special offer) and am committed to writing about good deals that I find...
Normally when booking, you are not required to pay until you arrive or leave, and cancellation is available until 4pm on the day - under the terms of the special offer, you pay when you book AND bookings are non-refundable and non-transferable.