Family Holidays: Beijing, China

China is a mysterious country... I once had a chance to go to Beijing on a business trip while working with a Chinese bank. Unfortunately, most of the trip was spent working and I didn’t have much time for sightseeing, but I promised myself that I would definitely return to China and bring my whole family on vacation next time. I think a trip to China will be particularly interesting for my six year old daughter. 

Family Holidays: Austria, Lutzmannsburg, hotel Sonnenpark

I love kid's hotels! Of course, it was only after my daughter was born (she’s now six) that I first started to really appreciate them. When you travel with small kids you quickly find that you have different priorities and that you begin to pay attention to seemingly small things that can be adapted to make things more convenient for kids and families.

So, today’s blog post is about the wonderful kids’ hotel - Sonnenpark (4 stars), where you can relax all year round in any weather (especially the cold!) and with children of any age (even tiny ones!).

Some of our friends invited us to accompany them on a trip - it’s always fun traveling in a group and, indeed, it was great!

Family Holidays: The Netherlands, Amsterdam

I won’t bother to ask what springs to mind when you think of Amsterdan, let’s skip over those images shall we? :). Especially because the topic of today’s post is holidays with kids in Amsterdam. I have a friend who lives in Amsterdam with his family and so I asked what advice he could give for family holidays in the city. His reply was that they prefer to leave the city on weekends or holidays... so I guess I’ll have to explore the possibilities on my own. I'm sure that Amsterdam has a lot to entertain the kids :)

 

Family Holidays: France, Paris

Today I would like to tell you about Paris, a city which I feel passionate about, despite the mixed reviews of my friends! All of our trips here, and there have been many, were unforgettable!

Paris is big and diverse, with lots of things to entertain both kids and adults! In this review I will tell you all about what you can do with little ones in Paris.

Family Holidays: Montenegro, Dobrota, Kotor (August 2013)

Author: Katherine Shalaeva (Latvia)

Over the years I’ve heard many things about Montenegro. It had become such a precious stone in my ‘dream collection’, a country I absolutely had to visit at least once in my lifetime. Now, I have captured forever the images of the beautiful rocks and the azure sea.

Montenegro fully met my dreams and expectations. Moreover, this is the first place which has me wanting not only to visit again but to stay in the same apartment in the same town, and once again to immerse myself in the amazing beauty and quietness of the bay of Kotor. 

While planning our trip I came across to a quotation by George Gordon Byron: "When the pearls of nature were sown, on this soil an overflowing handful was gathered. The most beautiful contact between the earth and sea took place at the Montenegrin littoral".

That really captures it perfectly... Pearls of Nature…
Mountains - sea – mountains! – a village - history - sweet figs - mussels in clear water... 

Family Holidays: Florida, the Bahamas, Disney Cruise

Let me just start by saying that I am not a fan of cruises; I do not feel safe in the sea, and figure that I probably drowned in at least one past life :).

However, for this cruise I would make an exception because of our beloved daughter! She is now six years old and absolutely adores everything Disney. We had already been to Disneyland in Paris so it was time to explore what the US had to offer for Disney fans! I started to plan our trip by looking at the theme park, of course, but then I thought it would be preferable to go on a Disney cruise first. 

Family Holidays: Belgian vacation (August 2013)

In August we decided to spend a long weekend with our daughter in Belgium. Our daughter was then five years old and this was the first time we would be taking her with us on an ‘adult’ trip to see Brussels, Bruges and other Belgian towns.
 

We agreed to compromise - we would include in our itinerary a range of activities to keep both us adults and our daughter entertained. While we planned, our daughter became more excited about the idea that we were going to the country of chocolate (this is how we referred to Belgium :).

Family Holidays: Ukraine, hotel "Karpatski Polonyny" (summer 2010 and 2011)

This time on the blog I’m taking a look at another exotic family vacation destination: Ukraine. Why exotic, you may ask… well, a nice family hotel in Russia and Ukraine is now a very rare thing indeed! It’s not so difficult to find a great family hotel in Turkey, Mauritius or Croatia, but in Ukraine or Russia it is a real challenge! We live in Austria but our daughter has Ukrainian heritage and so we wanted to show her the beauty of the Ukraine, but we also wanted to be comfortable while we visited...

I spent a long time looking for a suitable hotel; on the internet reading all the reviews I could find, and calling and talking to hotel staff before booking anything for our vacation. My daughter was three years old when she first visited the Ukraine with my grandmother, and we became repeat visitors going again the next year and planning on visiting again soon.

Family Holidays: Vienna, Austria

The idea has long been in my mind to write about holidays with children in Vienna, Austria, but there is so much to say! I’ve had to spend a while structuring my thoughts as I am so overwhelmed by emotion… I am in love with this city!

Family Holidays: Austria - Finest Familyhotel in REITERS RESERVE SUEDBURGENLAND (July 2012)

Another blog post about holidays with kids in Austria! This time, though, I’m writing about a hotel that is great to visit at any time of the year, whether it’s warm and sunny, or rainy and cold.

The hotel is the Finest Familyhotel (Reiters RESERVE SUEDBURGENLAND, 4 star, formerly known as ‘Reiters Avance Hotel’).

An important note to start: This is not a ski-lodge or suitable for a skiing holiday!

Family Vacations: Singapore (February 2013)

The subject of today’s blog post is the exotic and beautiful city-state, Singapore.

 

Singapore is usually used for a stop-over, a short stay during a long journey to Asia, and we visited on our way to Bali (which I reviewed here). 

Family Holidays: Austria – Hotel Seitenalm (December 2012-January 2013.)

In anticipation of winter I'd like to tell you about one of my favourite kids' hotels in Austria, Seitenalm. We celebrated the 2013 New Year at this beautiful 4 star location.
 

To give you an overview of Austria, this is a beautiful country, and is especially good for holidays for families with children. In the summer there is ample opportunity to enjoy the mountains and the lakes, and in the winter the mountains become a skiing paradise. The only thing missing is the sea, otherwise Austria is, in my opinion at least, an ideal country :).

Although there is plenty to say about Austria, I'm going to focus on winter ski vacations for this review.

Family Holidays: Italy, Venice

Venice might not at first seem to be an obvious choice for a blog about holidays with children. While a lot has been written about the beauty and attraction of Venice for honeymooners and romantic vacations, almost nothing has been written about family holidays in Venice. I like a challenge, however, and so in this blog post I am going to cover Venice, Italy, with kids.

Family Holidays: Bali, Indonesia - part 2

See the first part by following the link
 What to do with kids in Bali?

As a general recommendation, I would say that it makes most sense to go to Bali with older kids (school age) as little ones won't really be able to appreciate what Bali can offer. Moreover, the flight could be too tiresome and long for small children, and it may be difficult for them to adjust to the change in climate.

Family Holidays: Legoland, Germany (May 2013)

In this blog post I am happy to share with you my experience at ‘Legoland’ the theme park in Günzburg (Guenzburg), Germany.

We had been planning this trip for a long time as our daughter, who is 5 years old, loves Lego (who doesn’t :)?) Finally, we had the chance to visit!

Family Holidays: Bali, Indonesia - Part 1

It's time for another Asian review! This time, I'm talking about Bali, where we arrived after a (planned!) two-day stop-over in Singapore.
 

Family Vacations: Antalya, Turkey - Delphin Diva (September 2011)

In my pre-parenthood life I traveled a lot but, somehow, I never visited Turkey. Friends would ask why I'd never been and my answer was always that I would go when I had a child.

Turkey seemed, to me, to be a place where there were lots of loud kids running around, lot of Russian-speaking tourists (famous for their 'politeness'), and huge overcrowded hotels. Terrible! Clearly my image of Turkey was not the best.

Then, after starting a family, I thought – why not go to Turkey to celebrate my daughter's birthday? Maybe now, with family in tow, was the right time to visit.

Family Holidays: Fuerteventura - Sheraton Fuerteventura (August 2012).

Every summer I ask myself 'Where should I take the family on holiday this year?” Somewhere warm, but not too hot? Somewhere at the seaside, in August? Where should we go...?

This year, after looking for a long time, I decided our family vacation would be to Fuerteventura, in the Canary Islands. A friend had told us that Fuerteventura has the most beautiful, long beaches with white sand as far as the eye can see. I do love white sandy beaches...

In English, Fuerteventura translates to 'the strong wind', from the Spanish 'fuerte' meaning strong and 'el viento' meaning the wind. If it's that windy then, I thought, it can't be too hot there... and having been to the Canary Islands already, but not Fuerteventura, I was looking forward to exploring somewhere new.

We are expanding!

Dear readers,  

First of all, thank you very much for your interest and support!
 
I've just started, but already received a lot of positive feedback on my first postings.
I'm glad that this topic is very important for you as well.

I have a good news: my endeavors have inspired my friends Katherine and Mila. They decided to make their inputs to my blog - from time to time they will share their publications re: the family vacation with us.
Katerina and Mila are experienced moms, they also love children and traveling.
We are looking forward to their first postings!
Our team becomes international: Katerina is from Latvia. Mila is from the Ukraine, she lived in Florida for a long time, and now she moved to Austria.

I'm sure they will have a lot to share with us...

In the future we plan not only to write reviews about the family hotels but also to give our ideas where to travel with kids in different countries and cities.
We will be very happy to get your feedback, in particular we would like to know which topics could be of a special interest to you.
Do communicate with us!

Thank you again for your support!

Have a nice trip!

Family Holidays: Holidays in Menorca - Royal Son Bou Family Club (July-August 2013)

I would like to tell you about our wonderful vacation in a small, but beautiful Spanish island - Menorca (Balearic Islands, Mediterranean Sea).  

 

We were there this past summer at the end of July/beginning of August 2013. The worst time to plan a vacation at the sea side: the best option might be Turkey, but it is too hot there, too crowded, too many children and their “crazy” parents ... Where should we go to the sea side with our child?

Fortunately, I managed to find a kids hotel Royal Son Bou Family Club (4 stars).