This post was written by August, aged 10, who entered our Young Persons’ Writing Competition 2020.
I am only ten, but I have travelled to many places. In my expert opinion, the ideal UK holiday would be less than a two-hour drive from London and have good quality food and magnificent forests and beaches to make it idyllic and ideal. Imperatively, this place also needs to have leisure attractions and rare plants and wildlife. To make this even better, this holiday must be enjoyable for kids as well as adults and adolescents. I also believe the local history is important. In other words, a destination that is picturesque, relaxing, diverse and fascinating, all at the same time.
Where can you possibly find all these wonderful attributes in one place? Well, the answer to that is the New Forest National Park! It has good quality food in its hotels, pubs and restaurants, it is less than a two-hour drive from London and is enjoyable for kids as well as adults and adolescents. There are many historic sites from the Second World War and a truck-load of interesting wildlife such as a venomous snake (the adder), and a harmless one (the grass snake) and many lizards. You can see the most fantastic forests and trees like a crowd of vivid umbrellas embroidered with the most stunning plants stuck to their branches like joeys in a kangaroo’s pouch.
You can also go to the seaside on the Solent Coast and from there you can see the Isle of Wight. Some of the National Park’s parts were used in the Second World War for airfields, bombing ranges and another part for the take-offs for the historic D-Day in 1944. In the restaurants in the hotels you can eat locally produced food which is absolutely heavenly. You can order a hearty roast for dinner and a silky-smooth yoghurt for breakfast. The food is an absolute joy! Apart from food, you can relax in the pool and look at new landscapes like heather moors.
In conclusion, everyone’s holiday dreams can come true at the New Forest National Park. Whether you want to see plants and wildlife or relax in hotels or take long nature walks or even go to the seaside. New Forest has it all! As I said before, you eat scrumptious local cuisine food and there is more than plenty of things to do. New Forest really is a dream destination!