Helen Flanagan shares holiday tips as she returns from family trip to Barbados

The 32-year-old mum of three, who attended school in Blackburn, has just gotten back from a week-long trip with her children Matilda, eight, Delilah, five and Charlie, two.

In a series of Instagram story posts, shared with her one million followers, Helen has offered some tips to those also considering a holiday in Barbados so take a look at what she suggests below:

1- Book all inclusive

Helen booked a stay at an all-inclusive holiday resort called Crystal Cove by Elegant Hotels and told her Instagram followers that she “loved” her choice.

Helen said: “It was great for my kids, honestly a good friend of mine was like ‘Helen book an all inclusive’ because Barbados is very expensive, so I'm really glad that I did because it was just great, you know like when the kids constantly want snacks all the time, there was a great cute little coffee shop, coffee was good which was great for moms, … there was like pastries and cakes and stuff and the kids could help themselves to ice cream.

"The food was great, so it was kind of like Blasian food, which was really really lovely, so yeah, that worked perfect[ly] having an all inclusive hotel, and the watersports as well were included and the the water spots were really really, really fun.”

2- Be prepared to spend a lot

Helen said: “When you go to Barbados, it's very much a tipping kind of thing. Even like taxes and stuff were really quite expensive, and even like going to the supermarket so I would say come prepared if you are going to Barbados.”

3- Have cash!

Linked to the above, Helen added: “Definitely make sure that you've got cash on you when you arrive because it's very much like a tipping thing over there.”

4- Come prepared with essentials

Helen said make sure you remember to pack everything you might need as the local shops did not have a great supply.

She elaborated: “I just kind of felt like the supermarket that was near us didn't have a big selection, like for example for Charlie they only had like little girly cat armbands so come prepared.”

5- Go for 10 days if you can

When asked by a follower if Barbados was worth it for just a week, Helen replied: “I could have said 10 days that would have been ideal, but still enjoyed a week”

6- Have a lymphatic draining massage on your return

The mum of three booked a lymphatic draining massage for her first evening back on home soil and recommends it for those that suffer from water retention post flying.

A lymphatic drainage massage is a form of gentle massage that encourages the drainage of lymph nodes and movement of lymph fluids around the body.

Helen explained: “I get really bad water retention especially after flying. I get awful retention around my knees… I'm really slim I just hold so much water around my knees [laughing emoji] it's really weird… also it's definitely hormonal.”