48 Hours on the Suffolk Coast with Kids

August 24, 20203 Comments

Our holidays this summer are a little different to usual seeing as we can’t go abroad, but going on a UK staycation and exploring more of our own country has been a really wonderful adventure. Our roadtrip took us from Kent all the way up the coast through Suffolk and onto Norfolk. I don’t like being stuck in the car for too long when it’s just me and Evie (there’s only so much playing eye spy and listening to the Frozen soundtrack I can handle), so Suffolk was added into our itinerary as a brief stopover on our way up to Norfolk. But we ended up having so many fun adventures here that I hadn’t even anticipated for that I even changed some of our plans to stay in this part of the UK for a bit longer.

The coastline has some stunning child friendly beaches and traditional seaside towns as quintessentially English as can be. There is also the countryside to explore with its many farms, wildlife, nature walks and fields of gold to frolic in, as well as plenty of entertaining attractions for the whole family.

So here are my recommendations on what to do on the Suffolk coast with kids if you only have a couple of days:

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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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10 of the Best Foodie Spots in Lisbon

August 22, 20197 Comments

Scoping out the best restaurants and local delicacies used to be one of the highest priorities on my list when travelling. But due to the exciteable toddler who now accompanies me on all my adventures, I don’t often get the luxury of eating out at nice places as much anymore. My main criteria now seems to be restaurants that cater to small children, where no one would blink an eye at a bit of noise or a toddler going for a wander around the tables or crayons being thrown all over the floor. And bonus points if the restaurant has a play area! Ah the joys of travelling with children.

It wasn’t until we returned home from Lisbon that I realised just how many amazing places we’d eaten at in the few days we were there. So many in fact that the food needed a whole post of its own! All of these places come highly recommended by a local (which was the only reason we ate so well because I did absolutely no research myself), some of which are family favourites. So they have been tried and tested by both locals and tourists (aka me) too. None of these are specifically child friendly but they all catered very well to children, so whether you’re travelling with kids or without, these are some of the best places to eat in Lisbon.

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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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Falling For Lisbon at The Explorer’s Home

May 29, 2019May 29, 201914 Comments

My first trip to Lisbon two years ago was not a great one. We only had a day in the city on a cruise and during our brief visit my grandad almost had his wallet stolen and I found it extremely difficult to get around all the hills and cobblestone streets with a baby in a pram. I was so disappointed that we came away with a negative view of this city that so many people, especially family travellers, talk so highly of.

But I knew we had not been able to experience the city fully in just our one short day so I wrote it off as a bad experience that could have happened anywhere and kept it on my very long travel wish list to visit again at some point in the future.

So when we were invited back by Duarte, the host of The Explorer’s Home Airbnb, after he saw a comment about our bad experience on Instagram (ah the powers of social media), with a promise to show us a better side to Lisbon and change our views on the city, I couldn’t resist giving it another chance.

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Glamping along the Garden Route with Africamps

May 7, 20192 Comments

I’d road tripped along the Garden Route several years ago and fell in love with its rugged natural beauty back then, so I couldn’t resist seeing it again on our recent visit. This stretch of wilderness along the South African coastline east of Cape Town is full of wildlife, lush green national parks and pristine beaches. Here, you can get away from the noisy city, towering buildings and the plush hotels of Cape Town. We would be getting out into nature so it only seemed fitting that we should stay in a more rural style of accommodation to match our surroundings.

Africamps offer glamping in several working farms in South Africa, providing guests with a completely natural setting but with the benefits of a boutique style of camping. As we were road tripping along the Garden Route over several days, we stayed at two of Africamps locations during our trip – Plettenberg Bay and Wilderness – both wonderfully peaceful retreats that gave us a true feel of wild Africa. The accommodations are down winding gravel tracks, far away from the road and civilisation with no chance of traffic noise – or noise of any sort for that matter except the tweeting of birds and the chirping of crickets.

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Family Friendly Luxury at The President Hotel Cape Town

April 17, 20198 Comments

We may have stayed here on our very last night in Cape Town but I’m writing about it first because it is such a fantastic hotel that I couldn’t keep it quiet any longer.

When planning our trip which would involve lots of moving around, sightseeing and road tripping, staying in Airbnbs, guest houses, and all different types of accommodations, I wanted to find somewhere to stay on our last night that was a bit more luxurious and also somewhere that I knew would be a child friendly hotel in Cape Town. Somewhere with plush comfy beds, good food and cocktails, a pool; somewhere we could relax and rejuvenate for the last couple of days on what would have been an extremely adventurous trip.

Located in Bantry Bay, a beautiful beachy area between Sea Point and Camps Bay within a short driving distance to some of Cape Town’s main attractions, The President Hotel provided just that.

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Child Friendly Wine Estates in the Cape Winelands

April 1, 20192 Comments

Yes, you read that title right! There are a huge amount of wine estates in Cape Town and the surrounding Winelands, and clearly they know that parents ~~want~~ need the occasional glass of wine as the majority of them cater so well to children and families. So of course we had to include several in our itinerary and our road trip through the Winelands became one of the best parts of our trip.

South Africa’s Winelands are just beautiful, all with spectacular mountain backdrops and lush green vineyards that fade off into the distance. Even if you’re not a wine drinker I would still highly recommend visiting at least a couple – for the picture perfect views as well as the variety of other attractions that can often be found on the estates aside from the wine tasting. I didn’t used to be much of a wine drinker but then I had a baby who turned into a toddler so now I am very fond of a glass (or two)! Travelling with an almost two year old I did wonder how well she would fare while us girls were all enjoying our wine but everywhere was so completely child friendly that actually the wine was just one of many reasons to visit. Each wine estate we stopped at had so much more to offer providing copious amounts of fun and activities for children, from playgrounds to animal parks and even non-alcoholic tastings for the little ones and those who don’t drink

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A New Year of Adventures

January 4, 20197 Comments

2018 was a bit of a mix for me. On the one hand it was a really tough year learning how to be a single mama, raising an extremely demanding (but also incredibly cute) toddler mostly alone, and being the most exhausted I have ever been in my entire life. I also learnt that mums can in fact function on only a few hours’ sleep every night and that coffee is a very loyal friend.

But despite the low moments it was also an amazing year full of travel explorations and exciting adventures. We travelled 8 times during 2018 visiting Cape Verde, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Ibiza, Sardinia, a road trip in Kent, and the Edinburgh Christmas markets. That’s 4 new countries for me and 6 new countries for Evie – making Evie’s total number of countries visited 13 before she’s even 2 years old.

But it’s not the country count that matters, it’s what we actually did and the memories we created that made the year so special. There are so many highlights but here are a few of my main ones:

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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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