The POD Father, as he’s known on POD Travels and our parent blog, and I have travelled much of our lives. From Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Pacific to the Caribbean, North and South America. Not forgetting of course sun, ski and city breaks across Europe. We relish the kind of holidays that enable you to immerse yourself in a country’s culture and lose yourself a bit. Adventure holidays are certainly the most favoured and they often lead to the most spectacular experiences. That’s what we relish and to us it’s what makes a holiday truly memorable.
The Doves travelled far and wide before POD came along, some 35 countries at the last count. We told ourselves nothing would change when she arrived – well not as far as travel was concerned anyway! Some five years on, it really is the best travelling as a family and seeing more of the world through POD’s eyes. Her excitement is so infectious and I just love that. Looking back, there’s so much more flexibility when children are smaller. Picking a family holiday is easy enough but it can be a challenge finding baby friendly accommodation that really does tick all the boxes.
There are some magnificent caves in the world, like the Vatnajokull Glacier in Iceland, Batu in Malaysia and the Marble Caves in Patagonia. For us white water rafting in the Waitomo Glowworm Caves in North Island, New Zealand was certainly a memorable experience. Right up there too however has to be the spectacular El Soplao Caves in Cantabria.
We had the best time aboard the Cap Finistère and Pont-Aven cruise ships with Brittany Ferries. One of the highlights was certainly dolphin spotting while in the Bay of Biscay. A pretty special experience especially for five year old POD who screamed so loudly, some might have thought there was a man overboard!
It’s that time of year when we can’t help but think about Glühwein, bratwurst in crusty rolls and the smell of cinnamon. I don’t know about you but we love Christmas markets. In London there’s the Southbank Christmas market with Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland also a favourite. Outside the capital, Christmas markets can be found in the likes of Bath, Belfast, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Lincoln, Manchester, York and Winchester among other places. While each are wonderful in their own right, we have a penchant for Europe. There are some incredible Christmas markets to visit if you fancy a weekend away.
The scenery in the Liébana region of Northern Spain is spectacular. The route along the CA-185 from Potes to Fuente Dé engulfed by huge mountains with the pretty Rio Deva river running adjacent. With not even a cloud in the sky, our excitement was at fever pitch as we drove along the beautiful winding roads.
An Englishman’s home is his castle, so the phrase goes. As a nation we spend countless hours and millions of pounds creating the spaces we live in. So why would we settle for a generic experience from our holiday accommodation?
Pais Vasco is well recognised for its unique flavours, tapas and wine with cities such as Bilbao and San Sebastian boasting Michelin star chefs. While the Basque Country is largely commercialised, it’s a land surrounded by lush countryside, mountains and coastline – with much of the Urkiola National Park, Valderejo National Park and Urdaibai Biosphere Reservation untouched.
35 minutes by Eurotunnel and 60km down the French coast south of Calais lies Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, widely known as Le Touquet.
It’s said “Glamping is likely to satisfy any city slicker seeking a little refuge in nature – without foregoing any of life’s luxuries”. This was very much at the forefront of our minds when we reviewed the glamping experience at Chessington World of Adventures for our parent blog. They have a fantastic set up and while there was little we needed to take with us, that’s not always the case.