How to Swap your Child’s Birthday Party for a City Break without Breaking the Bank!

A couple of years ago I found myself totting up the money we’d spent on a couple of hours in a play centre for my twin daughters birthday and realised that we could get a family weekend away for the same price. So we decided there and then that every second year we’d swap their birthday party for a family weekend city break. A couple of weeks ago saw us do just that for my 5 year old's birthday, we took ourselves off to Manchester for a fun filled weekend.

How did we get there?

I used my old reliable Skyscanner to search out the best prices for the dates we wanted. I bagged a flight to Manchester with Ryanair for just €82.58 for 2 adults and 5 children return including all taxes and charges.

Where did we stay?

After a hunt around the usual discount hotel sites I decided to book with Premier Inn directly as they had a better rate. I booked Premier Inn Manchester City Centre (Portland Street) for 2 nights B&B for 2 adults and 2 children for £175/€197 as it was slap bang in the centre of Manchester. Our room on the 3rd floor was huge with plenty of space even after a king size bed 2 single beds a roll out bed and a travel cot set up. The ladies on reception couldn’t have been more welcoming and even gave Cillian a packet of cookies and a sachet of hot chocolate when they found out it was his birthday.

How did we get from the airport to the hotel?

Easy, it’s a 5 minute walk from the terminal to the train station and we got the train directly to Oxford Road train station which is a 3 minute walk from the hotel. Tickets cost £5/€5.63 for adults and £2.50/€2.82 for children one way, under 5’s travel free. We didn’t get return tickets as Sunday off peak prices were cheaper at £4.80/€5.41 for adults and 50p/56c for children.

What’s to do in Manchester?

Manchester had oodles of things to see and do, so much so that we had to cross some things off our list, we simply couldn’t do them all. We went to the Imperial War Museum, the Science Museum, the Transport Museum, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester Museum, Trafford Centre, Legoland Discovery Centre and Manchester Sea Life. We managed to pack in lots of culture including a trip to China Town which was right around the corner from our hotel and educational things as well as the fun stuff.

Did we use public transport to get around?

While Manchester has a constantly expanding tram system it doesn’t go to the intu Trafford Centre so we used the bus as the bus stop was conveniently located right in front of our hotel. The cheapest ticket for a family is the Dayrider Group ticket which can be purchased on the bus costing £7/€7.88 for unlimited use across all bus routes. It’s valid for 2 adults and up to 3 children, under 5’s travel free, it expires at 4pm the following day so it suited us perfectly.

Anywhere in particular we’d recommend in Manchester?

Absolutely, if you’re looking for somewhere for breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea I highly recommend a visit to the Sculpture Hall Café in Manchester Town Hall. The Victorian Neo-gothic architecture makes you feel like you’re walking onto a set for a Harry Potter movie. The setting is stunning, leather seats with crisp white linen and sculptures all around, nestled in the middle of a historic building that was completed in 1877. Do you want to know the best bit? The prices are amazing. It cost us just under £30/€33.79 for drinks, fancy cakes for all and a glass of wine for me! I just wish we’d gone there for breakfast; they had my favourite breakfast Eggs Benedict on the menu priced at just £3.95/€4.45. It’s located just across the road from the Art Gallery a stone’s throw from our hotel.

Is there anywhere we wouldn’t recommend?

Unfortunately yes, when we were in the Trafford Centre we decided to go to Mardi Gras (Wetherspoons) for lunch. Let’s just say save your money and go somewhere cleaner with better service.


Cillian had a blast, he was thrilled when they announced it was his birthday on the flight over and he got to see the cockpit when we landed. I let him wear his birthday badge for the weekend so lots of people wished him a happy birthday which he said made him feel famous! Check back next week when I’ll tell you all about Legoland Discovery Centre and Manchester Sea Life.

Have you been to Manchester? Is there anywhere you’d recommend?

~Santa Flights from Shannon Airport~

Shannon Airport in conjunction with Ryanair will be operating Santa Flights again this year on the 3rd & 4th of December. Tickets are allotted via a lottery system, and online applications are open NOW.


While tickets are free, there is a booking fee of €10 per ticket - and a portion of this is donated to charity. Our application was picked last year after applying for the previous two years without any luck, as they say third time lucky!

It’s a fantastic experience from start to finish and the whole airport gets involved. Due to severe floods around the region last year we were late getting to the airport as most of the roads were closed; but from the moment we arrived it was full on Christmas spirit as we were whisked over to check-in by the duty manager who was waiting for us at the door.


The mischievous elves were hilarious grabbing my children’s hands for a dance to the festive music that was piped into the check-in area as our seats were promptly allocated and ID’s checked.

As you are taking a flight you will need to go through the normal security checks. We were running late so I left everything in the car including all coats, bags and the baby’s buggy so it took less than a minute to dash through security. Once we got airside it was announced that there would be a slight delay to our flight due to the weather, which we didn’t mind at all as there was plenty of entertainment for the children, with DJ was pumping out Christmas tunes and characters such as Anna and Olaf were there to dance and play with the children.

Every member of staff was fantastic and so jolly, at one stage a flight had landed full of US Army soldiers and my daughter who is army barmy was thrilled - even more so when they joined in the fun and games with the children and got a conga line going that weaved its way through the waiting area! And of course, the husband kept an eye on the children while I had a moment to have a look in Duty Free and made a few purchases!

Flight time is 40 minutes and it goes really fast; the excitement throughout the plane was palpable as we were taking off. Shortly after the Captain turned off seatbelt sign the elves asked some children to keep an eye out their windows for Santa and to let her know as soon as they spotted him. 

A kerfuffle down the back of the plane drew everyone’s attention and all of a sudden Santa(!!!) was there on the plane with us! He had landed his sleigh on the roof safely at 15,000ft above sea level and had just enough time to go up & down the plane to greet every child on board.

After we landed back at Shannon the airport fire department were waiting to let the children sit in the fire engine for a photo, which was a lovely thing to do my sons were delighted! Once back inside every child is given a selection box and there is a photographer there ready to take a family portrait priced at €10.

Our allotted flight was the first flight of the day, and living in Kildare it would have been madness driving down at silly o’clock in the morning so I decided to try and find a deal for somewhere to stay in the region. I found the bargain of the century on hotelclub.com which joined with hotels.com in February 2016 - I booked a 2 bedroom house in East Clare Golf Village for €28 for the 7 of us, that’s including all taxes & charges. Even our Elf on the shelf came with us!

But the icing on the cake for myself was getting to drop into the wonderful Durty Nelly’s beside Bunratty Castle for an early dinner on the way home!

If you’d like tickets you should apply as soon as you can, applications close on 9th November, and I'll post another link to the form below!

Aforementioned Link