IELTS Listening Parte 1: Family Visit Planning Advice

Sandra, I seem to remember you had some family visitors staying with you recently.

Yeah, that's right.

My brother and his family were here a couple of months ago.

Okay, good.

Well, I wanted to ask for your advice.

I've got my cousin and her family visiting next month

and as I don't have kids, I've no idea where to take them.

Right.

What about accommodation?

Are they going to stay with you in your flat?

No, thankfully, there wouldn't be room.

My cousin wants me to recommend a hotel.

Do you know anywhere?

Yes, I do actually.

I always recommend people stay at the King's Hotel.

Where's that near?

It's about five minutes walk from Murray Station, so nice and central.

It's actually on George Street.

Oh yes, I know.

I think they're on quite a tight budget,

so how much roughly is it to stay there?

If you book a family room, it's about £125 per night.

My brother paid for two double rooms in the end,

and I think that was around £95 for each room.

Oh, that's not too bad.

Hmm... so how old are your cousins' kids?

Twelve and nine.

So I want to organise some trips while they're here.

I was thinking of doing a bus tour of the city centre,

as none of them have been here before.

Those bus tours are quite expensive.

I think it's better to do a walking tour.

It gives you a much better feel for the city.

There's one that starts from Colton Square.

It takes a couple of hours and doesn't cost that much.

Sounds good, I'll look that up, thanks.

If the weather's nice, one thing you could do is visit the old fort.

You could get there by boat.

The whole trip takes half a day.

That's a really good idea.

I'd like to do that myself.

And if the weather's bad, I was thinking they could go to the science museum.

But maybe they could do that when I'm at work.

Yeah, don't forget it's closed on Mondays.

They're here from Saturday for four nights, so Tuesday would be best, I think.

Hmm... and it won't be so crowded then.

Saturdays are terrible.

I took my kids to the exhibition on old computers there and it was far too crowded.

I wanted to go back but it's finished now.

That's a shame.

My cousin's kids would have enjoyed that.

There's another one starting soon on space, which looks really good too.

Okay, well, I'll mention that to my cousin.

Have you thought about where to take them to eat?

Well, I really like all the food stalls at Clacton Market.

My cousin's vegetarian.

I know it's one of the best places for that kind of food.

Definitely, and there'll be loads of choice for the kids too.

You need to get there quite early, though.

At the weekend, most of the stores stop serving lunch at 2.30.

Good point.

It's all going to need careful planning.

My cousin said she'd love to take the kids to a show at the theatre,

but tickets are so expensive.

I know.

But you can get some good deals if you book online with bargainedtickets.com for the following day.

On some seats, there's a 75% discount.

Really?

I must try and get some.

Yeah, there are lots of things you can do for free as well.

No need to spend a fortune.

Like what?

They're coming next month, right?

Well, check and see if it's the same weekend as the Roots Music Festival in Blakewell Gardens.

ROOTS?

Yeah, check it out online.

It's always a family-friendly event and there's no entry charge.

That sounds perfect.

And if you're in Blakewell Gardens, climb Telegraph Hill.

You'll be able to look right down on the port.

Everyone's always really impressed because it's so huge.

Oh yeah, I've been meaning to do that for ages.

I've heard the view's amazing.

Yeah, it's really worth the effort.

Well, that's given me loads of ideas, thanks so much!