This May, we’re celebrating 80 years since Five on a Treasure Island, the first of Enid Blyton’s 21 Famous Five books, was published.
 
This much-loved British children’s series, which featured in many of our childhoods, centres around a gang of four children – Georgina (aka George) and her cousins Julian, Dick and Anne – and, of course, Timmy the dog!
 
Their escapades, set during the ’40s and ’50s, saw the children having virtually adult-free outdoor summer Staycations where they solved mysteries while drinking lashings of ginger beer!
 
Now we’re not suggesting for one minute that you pack your plucky kids off for the summer ‘hols’ to fend for themselves! But how about getting outside and being more adventurous this summer, Famous-Five style?
 
We’ve taken inspiration from some of her books to create some perfectly ripping Famous Five-style Staycations – the closest you can get, this side of 1942 anyway!

Five on a Treasure Island (Book 1)

Looe has many a smuggling yarn to tell

‘Oh, what a secret island, all for their very own, to live on and play on’.
How many of you read Five on a Treasure Island, and envied George having her own island with a castle? St George’s Island, more commonly named Looe Island, just a mile out to sea in south east Cornwall, reminds me of this book and is a must-visit if you love Cornwall or the idea of buying an island yourself! Ok, so it’s beautifully unspoilt and one of my very favourite places to visit in Cornwall. But the best thing about this landmark is its story. The famous Atkins sisters bought the island for £20k having fallen in love with it, and actually lived the island life back in the 1960s. They also wrote two books about the experience. These days, the island is a nature sanctuary run by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. So take your valiant gang across on the ferry for your own mini adventure on this incredible island – relax on a bed of springy heather and keep a watch out for smugglers! Looe has many a smuggling yarn to tell, and the island played a vital role in the smuggling trade. It is here that tubs of contraband were deposited, awaiting collection on dark nights! And on the mainland, The Jolly Sailor Inn was a favourite haunt of pirates and smugglers.
Make a break of it: Take a look at our Cornwall holiday cottages and Yurts and visit St George's Island for yourself.

Five Go Adventuring Again (Book 2)

Set sail on a mission for treasure in Ullswater

We’re lucky to have plenty of cottages for active holidays in our portfolio. Spaces where kids can roam free and enjoy the simple pleasures of imaginative outdoor play – climbing trees, exploring the woods, and getting muddy with new found friends. And it’s not just kids who benefit from getting up close and personal with the great outdoors! The beautiful Lake District is one such place, famous for its stunning landscapes. Fells, lakes, woodland, fields and rivers aplenty make it the perfect playground to let kids be kids with heaps of potential adventures for Famous Five fans….
Make a break of it: Our Cumbria Holiday Cottages make ideal Staycations for imagination-fuelled minds, no matter your age. Run free along the beautiful Ullswater shore to skim stones; set sail on a mission for treasure; chase waterfalls; scramble ghylls; or picnic by the Eden (potted meat sandwiches and barley sugars optional).

Five Run Away Together (Book 3)

A vintage adventure in Dorset

Where better than Dorset to run away on a Famous Five style adventure? After all, the county’s rugged coves and dozing villages became the setting for many of the gang’s adventures. Five Run Away Together is one of my favourites because it is set on Kirrin Island. In the early 1940s Enid paid ghostly Corfe Castle a visit, rechristened it Kirrin Island, pushed it out to sea, and made it the epicentre of her books. Follow in her footsteps with some castle capers straight from the book’s pages, with ruined walls, secret places and tales of treachery and treason around every corner. Take a hamper and rug and find a grassy spot for a ‘Famous Five’ picnic and head on down to the village below for ‘pop ices’ and ginger beer! Complete your vintage adventure by hopping on the steam train at Corfe Castle station and chugging down to the coast at Swanage, just like the Famous Five started their ‘hols’. Alternatively, take the ferry from Poole Quay to Brownsea Island ‘in the great blue harbour’, recast as Blyton’s Whispering Island. It’s just as unspoiled as when Robert Baden-Powell held the first Scout jamboree there in 1907.
Make a break of it: Our Dorset and Somerset holiday cottages are perfect for planning your Famous Five-style adventure.

Five Go To Smuggler’s Top (Book 4)

Explore the sea caves at Porthgwarra. Image by Jim Champion

At Smuggler’s Top, the Famous Five discover secret hiding places, underground tunnels, and one night they catch people signalling out to sea! If your children love old tales of wreckers and smugglers, you could take them on a trip to the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, no stranger to coastal crimes! The sheltered coastal coves and Helford river’s creeks reveal the region’s smuggling past and the site of famous shipwrecks when fires were lit on the beach to lure ships in against the rocks. At low tide, explore the sea caves and go rock pooling. For tunnels, take an underground tour of Poldark Mine, the tunnels at Porthgwarra beach or the network of fascinating tunnels at the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, used to protect top secret equipment during the World War II. Take a tour of Lizard lighthouse – the only lighthouse you can climb in Cornwall, with hands-on exhibits for children and stories about some of the wrecks offshore. Top it off with an ice cream at Roskilly’s, an organic farm which makes and sells its own ice cream.
Make a break of it: Our handpicked selection of West Cornwall holiday cottages will place you near these wonderful attractions and jaw-dropping coastlines with secret coves and stretches of golden sands and blue seas.

Five Go Down To The Sea (Book 12)

Fun & exploration on our beautiful coasts

When the four children and Timmy the dog are on vacation, they expect nothing more than good food, exploring the countryside and swimming in the sea. We’re lucky enough to have plenty of cottages near the sea where kids can make their own journeys of discovery, create the happiest of memories and even rekindle a few of your own! Places where peace, privacy, fun and exploration meet with a touch of Famous Five adventure. Explore our beautiful coastlines with cliffs and rock pools, long stretches of beach, old ruins, quaint country towns, and sunny countryside picnics! Plus fun on the water, crabbing, ices and all of the sorts of the things the Five like.
Make a break of it: Take a look at our wonderful holiday cottages near a beach. Pack up your buckets and your crabbing nets and turn your next holiday into a real Famous Five adventure!

Five On A Secret Trail (Book 15)

Fun Famous-Five-Style treasure trails ©Treasure Trails

Wherever you stay, make sure you explore the different towns across your region - a great way to enjoy this with your whole family (and pet pooch) is with one of the Treasure Trail self-guided themed walks. Solve fiendish clues on a Murder Mystery Trail and unravel ‘whodunnit?’ from a list of suspects. Or test your wits on a Treasure Hunt Trail to work out the location of buried treasure. Alternatively, make like James Bond on a Spy Mission Trail and work together to crack a code by entering numbers and letters into a grid. You can find more information on the Treasure Trails website here and experience the thrill of discovery, a sense of play and the fun of following ‘clues’ and looking for treasure, whatever your age, whatever the weather!.
Make a break of it: When you’re on a Staycation holiday, you can experience the thrill of discovery, a sense of play and the fun of following ‘clues’ and looking for treasure, whatever your age, whatever the weather!

Five Get Into A Fix (Book 17)

Get yourself into a Famous Five-style fix at an escape room!

The Famous Five are always getting into some sort of fix – whether it’s being kidnapped by circus folk or getting locked away in a sinister castle. So here’s a truly Famous Five experience in Norwich to transport you and yours to this golden age. Suitable for groups of between two and five people, all you need to do is volunteer to be locked in a room (it’s fun, we promise) with Cryptic Escape. You’ll have 60 minutes to solve all the puzzles, break the codes and find the hidden objects to ensure you can escape! There's bound to be a Famous Five-style escape room near your next Staycation holiday cottage - we can recommend Salisbury Escape Rooms in Wiltshire and City Mazes and Locked in a Room in Bristol for starters.
Make a break of it: If your family fancies an amazing live escape experience, check out your nearest escape room.

What else?

Explore Exeter Underground Passages Famous Five-style ©Exeter City Council

This is just a small compendium of favourite spots across England to embark on a Famous Five style adventure. Whichever Staycation Holiday you choose, you can be sure of finding a haven to escape the crowds, explore the wilds, indulge in great British nostalgia and claim that picture-perfect picnic spot – after all, food that you eat outdoors always tastes SO MUCH BETTER, don’t you think?