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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Starting a Holiday off right at Bloc Hotel London Gatwick

July 18, 2018July 18, 20182 Comments

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of airport hotels especially before an early morning flight. I’ve stayed at (and written about) a few over my travels because they really do make the start of a journey so much easier.

My first ever airport hotel experience was at Bloc Hotel at Gatwick Airport a few years ago, and because of the convenience, the friendly staff and the seriously amazing rooms, this is a hotel I go back to time and time again. So when I planned mine and Evie’s trip to Germany and Bloc offered us a stay the night before our flight, it seemed like the perfect way to start off our girly getaway and to make travelling with a toddler a whole lot less stressful. And as I was travelling alone with a toddler I needed it to be as stress-free as possible!

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4 Fairytale Day Trips from Munich

June 28, 2018June 28, 20188 Comments

Apart from being a wonderful city in itself, one of the things I liked most about Munich is that there are so many other incredible locations close by that make easy day trips if you want to get out of the city and explore the region a bit more.

Bavaria is a beautiful part of Germany – so beautiful it makes me wonder why it took me so long to visit! The south eastern part of the country is full of traditional pretty little towns, picturesque mountain landscapes, lush green countryside and magical castles. Every place we visited just made me fall in love with this part of the country more and more so here are some of the best day trips from Munich that will have you feeling like you stepped straight into the pages of a fairytale.

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A Charming Stay in the Heart of Zurich at Hotel Adler

June 21, 20184 Comments

Our third and final hotel stay during our trip to Switzerland was right in the centre of Zurich’s Old Town, my favourite part of the city with its gorgeous old style architecture, cobblestone streets, small cute chocolate shops and intimate restaurants.

Hotel Adler is right in the heart of it all, surrounded by all the main sights of the Old Town, just a few steps from the river and a short walk to the famous shopping street. The balcony in our room looked out directly onto a little square with colourful buildings and pretty rooftops where we sat outside watching the street below come to life early in the morning with locals setting up their market stalls and tourists beginning their day of exploring.

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The Chocolate, Cheese and Coffee Lover’s Guide to Zurich

June 5, 201811 Comments

You don’t have to be crazy about all three things in the title to read this post. There’s something for everyone here but I’m not going to lie, the majority of this list does feature them all pretty highly. Because when you’re in Switzerland it’s only fair and right that you eat a tonne of Swiss chocolate. And cheese. Because chocolate and cheese are two of the best things in life, and coffee is just a given, so of course there were going to be a fabulous range of places to sample them.

The fact that so many chocolate treats are called “Schoggi” which is a ‘cute Swiss word for chocolate’ (I googled it and that is literally the meaning!) just made it all so much more tempting and had me wanting to eat it all.

Most of these places are ideal for children too as Zurich seems to be an extremely child friendly city, but whether you have kids with you or not they are all still some of the best places to eat and drink in Zurich.

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The Hotel That Has It All: 25hours Hotel Langstrasse Zurich

May 4, 20187 Comments

I’ve stayed in some pretty cool and quirky hotels in all my travels, from the fabulously over the top Venetian in Las Vegas to a tiny vintage shepherd’s hut in the Kent countryside. But none have been quite as cool as the 25hours Hotel Langstrasse in Zurich where we had the opportunity to stay for a night during our trip to Switzerland.

From the second we walked through the door I knew I was going to love it here. Colourful trinkets filled the shelves in the reception area, the staff looked trendy as hell, and travel paraphernalia was dotted about everywhere with giant globes hanging over the entry way to travel related signs and quotes adorning the walls, which of course had me totally hooked and feeling like I belonged.

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A Winter Wonderland Adventure to the Top of Mount Pilatus, Switzerland

April 26, 20188 Comments

I’m not going to lie, our trip up to Mount Pilatus, one of Lucerne’s most popular and highest mountain peaks, did not go quite as we had hoped. We only had two days in Lucerne and being able to see the very top of the snow-capped mountain from our hotel room at Hotel Continental Park had made us super excited, but of course we had to pick the day with the worst weather (cloudy, rainy, couldn’t see further than a few metres in front of you, etc.) which did not bode well for an adventure to the top of a mountain.

I’m fully aware that people do go up snowy mountains in the depths of winter to ski but we are not skiers and I don’t ever intend to be one thank you very much. I’m more likely to roll head first down the side of a mountain than I am to successfully ski down one so we did the wise thing and stuck to the mountain for the non-skiers.

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A Room with a Mountain View at Hotel Continental Park Lucerne

April 10, 20185 Comments

I was a little bit apprehensive about our journey to Switzerland. We’d been up since 3am and even though the flight from London to Zurich was a short one, we still had an hour’s train ride at the other end to get to Lucerne, the beautiful mountain and lakeside city that would be mine, my sister’s and Evie’s first stop on this trip. It turns out I didn’t need to worry at all as, even with a baby, the journey couldn’t have been any easier, and we were walking through the doors of our accommodation in Lucerne before it was even midday.

Just a few minutes walk from the train station and a few minutes more to Lucerne’s Old Town, Hotel Continental Park couldn’t be in a better location and our arrival couldn’t have been any friendlier as we were greeted with refreshing fruit tea while we checked in, which was much needed after our travels, and our room was ready nice and early for us.

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13 Inspiring Travel Mamas

March 12, 201812 Comments

Due to it being Mother’s Day yesterday and International Women’s Day last week, I am feeling like celebrating all the strong and brave women right now. So I thought it only fitting that I share some of my favourite travelling, blogging and Instagramming mamas with you.

Mamahood isn’t always easy and travelling with a little one (or little ones in some cases) can be stressful but these ladies prove that it is possible. They all fill me with so much inspiration and wanderlust and they make me want to jet off with Evie on a new adventure every single day.

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Travel Wish Lists and a New Year of Adventures

January 3, 2018January 3, 201835 Comments

A new year calls for a new travel wish list because what is the start of year but a chance to daydream and think up some awesome travel goals!

Looking back on my wish list from last year I was so happy to see that, apart from one place, we actually visited everywhere I had hoped to in 2017 – plus more! Becoming a mother made it a wonderful rollercoaster of a year (a rollercoaster that included an awful lot of coffee) but we still managed to have some amazing adventures and Evie became the perfect little explorer.

We visited 6 different countries across two continents; went on planes, trains, boats and road trips; sunk our toes in the sand and dipped them in the sea; swung in hammocks and played in the snow; climbed mountains and visited one of the biggest mosques in the world; wandered through small local villages and explored big twinkling cities. I’m not sure 2018 can top last year but we’re going to give it one hell of a try!

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