A Magical Christmas in Stockholm with Kids

December 12, 20195 Comments

My inner child and belief in magic has never really disappeared so Christmas has always been my very favourite time of year. But, since having Evie, it has become even more magical. I adore watching her wake up with excitement every morning during December to see what the elves have left in her advent calendar tree; she shouts out in delight whenever she see twinkly lights; and the thought of Santa brings a huge smile to her face.

Which is why I love visiting a different European Christmas market every year – for the adventure together as well as sharing the magic of Christmas with her.

For this year’s destination we decided on Stockholm, somewhere which I had already heard was extremely family friendly, looked incredibly festive, and a country that neither Evie nor I have ever visited. It’s no surprise that visiting a city in Sweden is going to be a fairly expensive trip so getting a Stockholm Pass, which provides entry to most of the city’s main attractions, is a fantastic way to save some money while seeing all the sights.

These are my top tips for what to do in Stockholm with kids at Christmas time and during winter. Wrap up warm and get out to explore this ridiculously pretty city!

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Exploring Lisbon with Kids

July 4, 2019August 22, 20194 Comments

If you read my previous post on falling for Lisbon you will know that our first experience of this city was a very brief one. This time around we had several days to explore at a more leisurely pace as well as a local to guide us around, showing us all the best attractions and local spots, which gave us the chance to fully appreciate this beautiful city.

Many parts of Lisbon are made up of a maze of steep hills and narrow cobblestone streets – particularly the old district of Alfama with its historic colourful houses and superb viewpoints. Pretty to look at but not so ideal to visit with a baby in a pram! I found this out the hard way on our first visit (I’m surprised the wheels didn’t fall off), so I would recommend taking a baby carrier for these areas to save yourself the workout of pushing a pram uphill that you most definitely did not sign up for on a city break. Other easy ways of getting around are Uber or tram. Most of the Uber drivers we used had a baby seat in the back and the tram is always fun for little ones to take a ride on.

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A Peaceful Retreat at the Hilton Munich Airport

November 20, 2018November 21, 20184 Comments

Having experienced several airport hotels in London, I already knew how easy and stress-free they make overseas travels. Being in a different country, having to navigate public transport from the city centre for an early morning flight was even more daunting than an early wake up alarm at home, especially when you factor in a toddler plus all the baggage I had to handle alone. So when I came across the Hilton Munich Airport Hotel I immediately knew how convenient a stay it would be, making our last night in Germany a much more relaxed one before we headed back home.

With plenty of public transport options from the city centre – or even an easy train ride from Salzburg, Austria, which is where we came from! – we had no problem finding our way through the airport terminal to the hotel in just a short walk. In fact I wondered at first if I had got us lost as the Hilton’s lobby is so tall and expansive with glass walls in every direction and palm trees towering over a cocktail bar in the centre.

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24 Hours in Magical Salzburg with Kids

September 20, 20184 Comments

Just a thirty minute taxi ride from Bavaria and we had arrived in Salzburg. But I hadn’t prepared myself for quite how quickly this city would capture my heart, make me feel like we were in a land straight out of the pages of a fairytale, and have me dreaming up another visit before we’d even left.

We only had one night and a far to brief 24 hours here but even so it very quickly became one of my favourite European cities – for its beautiful architecture, the prettiest of gardens, the exceedingly delicious cake, and the huge amounts of enjoyment for the whole family.

The Visit Salzburg tourist office had kindly left a map and guide book waiting for us at our hotel, along with a Leo the Lion colouring and sightseeing book that Evie delved straight into, and a Salzburg card for me which gave us free use of public transport around the city as well as free admission to all tourist attractions and museums. Not wanting to waste any time we headed straight out to start exploring. Continue reading →

A Long Weekend in Picture Perfect Munich

August 8, 2018August 8, 20187 Comments

During the majority of our trip to Germany we were based in Munich, the capital of Bavaria and a perfectly located central spot for road tripping to several fairytale locations around this part of the country. Basing ourselves here meant that we had plenty of time for some chilled days in between the sightseeing and day trips when we could explore the city at our own leisurely pace. Down days and a slower pace are crucial when travelling with a little one – especially when travelling alone with a little one as we both needed a bit of a break at times!

I am lucky enough to have the lovely Allane from Packing My Suitcase as a friend and as she lives in Munich it meant that I had my own personal tour guide around the city, plus her baby girl was a great little travel companion for Evie. She also ended up being our photographer (Allane not her daughter!) which meant that I was in lots of photos – always a bit tricky getting photos with yourself in when you travel alone with a toddler!

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A Weekend in Copenhagen

August 30, 2016September 20, 201626 Comments

Less than two hours away from London, Copenhagen is a city that I had never really considered visiting before. But on one of my general browsing sessions on Skyscanner (don’t lie, I know you do it too), I found some ridiculously cheap return flights over our anniversary weekend so it only made sense to book them up right?

At this point I hadn’t quite taken into consideration that the flights would be the only remotely inexpensive thing about this trip. Clearly I didn’t have my traveller head fixed on properly as I failed to realise that Denmark is in fact one of the most expensive countries in the world. But, as it was only a short break, we decided to say to hell with the cost and just enjoyed ourselves discovering this new destination (although I can’t say that our bank account enjoyed itself quite so much though!).

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Exploring San Francisco with CityPASS

June 30, 2016July 8, 201614 Comments

A great day in San Francisco always begins with brunch because, well, who needs an excuse for brunch, especially when you’re in a city that does it so incredibly well. If you don’t believe me read my post on Brunching in San Francisco – I guarantee you’ll be drooling in 2 minutes!

After the much important business of filling our bellies was out of the way, we got down to the next thing on the agenda…exploring San Francisco. We only had three days in the city and while this leaves enough time to soak up San Fran’s relaxed hip vibe and see most of the main sights, we still wanted to fit in as much as we could. So a San Francisco CityPASS was the perfect way to make the most of our time here and ours were waiting for us at our hotel as soon as we arrived. The CityPASS booklet provides access to some of the best museums and tourist attractions in the city as well as public transport options to get you there, saving you a whole load of money if you want to see as much as possible like we did.

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A Weekend Guide to Amsterdam

June 9, 2016June 9, 201636 Comments

A breezy one hour flight and we were in Amsterdam, somewhere that had seemed to evade our travel radar so far. With such cheap and easy flights from the UK, it was the perfect destination for a short weekend break over the May bank holiday and I always welcome the chance for us to explore a new part of Europe.

There isn’t actually a huge amount of sightseeing to do in Amsterdam which made for a wonderfully chilled weekend break. We spent most of it simply wandering around, taking in the enchanting canals bursting with colourful flowers, and satisfying our bellies with as much food as possible. We decided to stay on our feet to explore rather than hop on a bike as the city is so full of cyclists – there are more bikes than there are people in Amsterdam (true story) – and the speed they flew past over the narrow cobblestone roads had me fearing for my life when I was on the pavement let alone actually being on one of the bikes myself! Instead, we picked up our I amsterdam card which includes tram, bus and metro rides, as well as a host of free and discounted sights and tours, and worked our way around the city with a combination of public transport and the simple wearing out of our feet.

If you’re planning a weekend in Amsterdam and want to know exactly what you should see and do then look no further as I’ve highlighted all the best bits here including the tastiest foods and the quirkiest activities!

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48 Hours in Dublin

July 9, 2015November 15, 201530 Comments

After a flight from London that was so quick I hardly had time for a power nap, we arrived in Dublin, somewhere we have lived so close to our whole lives but were only just getting around to visiting. Knowing we only had 48 hours in this small but fascinating city we headed straight out to the main strip of Temple Bar to see what all the fuss was about.

As it was late evening by the time we set out, crowds of people already lined the street, spilling out the doors of every pub and restaurant, drinking and chatting away, listening to the street music that was being played on each corner. For fear of being crushed in the stampede of whiskey induced tourists, we headed to Bad Bobs which was slightly less packed but still had a lively atmosphere. We just about managed to find a seat, ordered some drinks and a huge plate of spicy chicken wings, sang along to the entertaining live band and giggled at the drunken groups of friends (and a policeman who looked suspiciously like a stripper) enjoying the weekend.

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The Best of Florence with Walks of Italy

April 23, 2015October 8, 201522 Comments

The smaller and cuter version of me used to be a bit of a history and art buff, always eager to visit museums and learn as much as I could, devotedly listening to my nan’s history lessons whenever we explored anywhere new. Now, when I explore somewhere new, I prefer getting to know the place I’m in by trying the local food and meeting people, sitting and watching the city come to life and getting lost off the beaten track. Museums don’t interest me as much and there’s a limit to the amount of history, facts and figures my brain can take before my eyes start to droop with boredom.

But our trip to Florence threw us headfirst into a city bursting with a rich history, some of the world’s greatest art, more churches and cathedrals than we could possibly visit in 2 days, and all at the centre of the Italian Renaissance. Even though simply eating our way around Florence would have sufficed for the whole trip (seriously, the food is amazing), I didn’t want to leave without learning more about this beautiful city.

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