Travel gifts

Christmas gift ideas for travellers

With Christmas only five weeks away (how did that happen?), we thought we’d take a look at some of our favourite gifts for travellers. Whether it’s products that are useful when we’re on our travels to things we love to have at home. We all want to capture those memories and inspire future adventurers, don’t we?

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City breaks, Europe, Family, Italy

Burano: A photographer’s paradise

If you’re heading to Venice, depending on how much time you have, it’s worthwhile building in a trip to see some of the islands. With it being 7 year old POD’s first time in Venice, we opted for a half day tour to Murano, Burano and Torcello. Burano is around 40 minutes from the capital of northern Italy’s Veneto region, famed for its lacemaking and colourful houses.

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Europe, Family, France, Theme park

Le Bal des Oiseaux Fantômes, Puy du Fou

We had a feeling as soon as we arrived our time at Puy du Fou was going to be special. Situated just an hour’s drive from Nantes airport, it’s ranked one of the best parks in the world with over 2 million visitors a year. You might not have heard of Puy du Fou before but believe me, when I tell you, it’s extraordinary. This theme park had no rides, instead, there are spectacular daytime and evening performances themed around French history, period villages and authentic onsite accommodation.

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Family, Travel bloggers

10 family travel bloggers to follow on Instagram

The way we travel changed significantly when we became parents, particularly when POD started school. Of course, we didn’t stop exploring, we just went about our adventures in a different way. We even wrote a post on why it’s important for kids to travel on our parent & lifestyle blog. My fellow family travel bloggers feel exactly the same with their adventures both near and far reflected in their Instagram feeds. Here are just a few of the family travel bloggers I’d recommend you check out on Instagram, make sure you give them a follow and do have a read of their blogs too.

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City breaks, Europe, Family, Italy

Verona…beyond Romeo and Juliet

Famed for being the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, couples flock to Verona’s Casa di Giulietta in the hope of finding everlasting love. There they can rub the right breast of the Juliet stature to be lucky in love, have a photograph taken on the stone balcony and visit the museum with its costumes from the Renaissance era.

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City breaks, Europe, Family, Italy

Sunrise at Piazza San Marco, Venice

We’ve just returned from Venice, the capital of Italy’s Veneto region. While we’ve visited this magnificent city before, it was a first for our seven-year-old daughter POD. You might not think of Venice as being child-friendly but there’s an abundance of things to do both in and out of the city. We’ll be sharing where we went in another post but for now, here are some photographs from Piazza San Marco taken at sunrise.

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Adventure, Europe, Family, Off the beaten track, Spain

7 brilliant things to do in Northern Spain

If you’re a regular visitor here, you’ll know we’ve spent a fair amount of time in Northern Spain. In fact, over the last couple of years, we’ve taken road trips around Cantabria and Asturias, not to mention exploring the Huesca, Zaragoza and Teruel provinces. In a stark contrast to its southern counterpart, Northern Spain remains largely untouched by tourism. I’m sure I could write a list of many things to do in Northern Spain but for now, let’s stick with seven. If you’ve not been before, here’s just a taste of what you can expect.

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Europe, Family, France, Theme park

The period villages at the World’s Best Park

Puy du Fou, France’s second largest theme park, treats its 2.3 million visitors a year to the most spectacular daytime and evening shows. These remarkable spectacles are inspired by French history providing a fully immersive experience with mind-boggling special effects, incredible scenery and sensational performances. The shows are astonishing and just when you think Puy du Fou can’t top the special effects, they do. We’ve already written about the shows at this extraordinary theme park and where you can stay while you’re there. This post covers off the period villages at Puy du Fou and what you can do in-between the performances at the park.

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City breaks, Europe, Family, Italy

The irresistible charm of Tuscany

Whether it’s those gastronomic delights savoured just that bit longer, the lush rolling hills that seem to go on forever or the deep-rooted heritage, Tuscany is simply irresistible. Frequently viewed as one of the most beautiful regions in Italy, its Renaissance is reflected in its architecture, sculptures, paintings and museums. We take a look at some of the highlights from our visits to Siena and Florence with Bookings For You.

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