15 January 2024

We all fancied a city break at Easter and Copenhagen was top of the list so off we went! Just a short 1h 50m fight later we arrived at CPH, nipped on the metro and 15 minutes later we arrived in the centre of Copenhagen and walked to our hotel. We stayed at the 4* Copenhagen Admiral Hotel which is a historic building with super-swish interiors by the quayside. The building has loads of character, friendly staff, gorgeous funs with fun tech like Bluetooth speakers built into the bathroom walls and a beautiful fine-dining restaurant called SALT where breakfast is served. We LOVED the breakfast here and a particular highlight was lots of individually bottled juices and smoothies. We had a fab time in our 3 nights in Copenhagen, it’s a super cool city with great food, shopping and architecture. There’s also lots of re-purposed industrial buildings being converted into galleries and bars, it’s super easy to get about on foot and using the brilliant water-bus system. Is it pricey? Well yes… like lots of places in Scandinavia eating out isn’t cheap but as long as you know that in advance it won’t come as a surprise and whilst food isn’t cheap, it is really, really good quality so you feel like you got what you paid for. All-in-all we all really liked Copenhagen, it’s bigger than you think and more of a ‘city’ then you expect from seeing photos of quaint cobbled streets and colourful houses but it feels like a vibrant, energetic and youthful city with a great energy about it. Here are some of our tips! 1. Two or three nights is enough to see the city with a bit of planning, public transport is really good here so you can get from A to B very quickly. We loved the water-buses and it was really easy to buy tickets on an app. 2. Visit the brilliant street food markets, Reffen was our favourite where we had gorgeous African stew from Baobab, HUGE chicken gyros from The Real Greek and scrumptious fish tacos from Tacos Pastor… all washed down with tasty, tasty pints of delicious Danish beer! 3. Do visit the hippy enclave ‘Christiania’ in the day-time which is worth seeing to experience this unique counter culture community but be respectful and keep your camera in your bag unless the signs say you can take pics. 4. We didn’t go to Tivoli Gardens which is the famous theme park in the centre of the city as we felt like it was too much money… go if you want to but make sure that its worth it for you and types of rides that you like. 5. Do visit ‘Nyhavn’ which is the famous street near the quay with coloured houses but don’t plan to eat there as it’s a bit of tourist trap and the staff in our hotel warned us to stay away! 6. Plan where to go for dinner and book ahead if you can as we found lots of restaurants were fully booked… we had gorgeous pizza at Frankies, a delicious veggie meal at Bistro Verde and pizza take-out from super-cool ‘Another Pizza’. 7. 7-Eleven stores are quick up-scale in Copenhagen with very good fresh food options, well-priced snacks and drinks. 8. Hot dogs are a thing in Copenhagen! Make sure you don’t miss out on this cheap and delicious snack… being a foodie city you’ll find them readily available all over the city with all sorts of exciting toppings.. Vegetarians don’t have to miss out either with the most popular carts like DØP selling veggie versions too.

14 January 2024

Everyone in the Banks family were really excited to go to Amsterdam at February half term. Molly and Charlie had both learnt about Anne Frank at school and Rich and I are a sucker for a gorgeous canal-side boutique hotel so we booked our flights and off we went! Amsterdam is a fantastic, super-walkable city with lots to see and do.. it’s incredibly beautiful too with insta-worthy shots on practically every corner. Of course when you think about Amsterdam you might assume that a certain type of café and the red-light district might detract from it suitability as a family destination but just isn’t the case.. it’s really easy to avoid any areas that you don’t wish to see and if you do make a wrong turn with kids in tow.. it’s a friendly place, keep on walking and you’ll be laughing it off whilst stuffing your face with gorgeous pancakes before you know it (this is just theoretically of course and NOT from personal experience). HOW WE GOT THERE - We flew from Luton but there are flights from pretty much everywhere to Amsterdam. If you’re lucky enough to live near London you can hop on the Eurostar too. If you’re flying in, just hop on the train at the airport and you’ll be in the centre of Amsterdam in about 15 minutes. WHERE WE STAYED - There are hundreds of hotels at all sorts of budgets in Amsterdam. Location is key because if you pick the right place, you’ll be able to walk to lots of places in this lovely city. We stayed at the wonderful canal side 4* Ambassade Hotel in a quad family room. The room set-up was perfect (double for us and 2 x singles around a corner the for teens) and the breakfast was out of this world. WHAT WE DID (1) One of our favourite things about Amsterdam was exploring on foot with lots of people watching, stopping for delicious snacks and mooching in interesting shops. (2) Visited Anne Frank’s house which was a fascinating and humbling experience (you must pre-book though otherwise you won’t get in). (3) Hired bikes for a few hours and cycled around in Vondelpark which is Amsterdam’s most famous park before stopping for a spot of lunch in a café we came across (4) We didn’t go to the Van Gogh Museum because it was sold out so make sure you book in advance! (5) Took a canal cruise one evening - this was lots of fun and we learnt lots of great facts about Amsterdam from the funny guides WHAT WE ATE (1) Gorgeous Italian meal on our first night at a bustling Italian called Casa di David (reservations essential) (2) AMAZING apple pie at the famous Winkel 43 (you’ll have to wait for a table but it’s worth it) (3) Yummy frites from Vlaams Friteshuis Vleminckx (4) Freshly-baked stroopwafels (delicious Dutch cookie that looks like a small waffle) from van Wonderen (5) Super-cheap delicious street-food at Albert Cuyp Market (6) Hot, tasty and cheap croquettes from famous automated fast food staple FEBO

14 January 2024

It had been a few years in between visits to Universal Orlando and we all soooo excited to go back and try out the new amazing rides that had opened since our last family visit. Our visit was part of a jam-packed 3 week US grand tour so after 3 fun filled nights in Vegas, we boarded our early morning 4 ½ hour flight to Orlando and one quick Uber later, we were there! We wanted to stay in a couple of different hotels on this trip and our first stop was at Universal's Aventura Hotel which opened in 2018. This swish 3 star property is right next to Volcano Bay (Universals brilliant waterpark) and comes complete with a roof-top bar, pool and a very handy Starbucks in the lobby. Our room here was a huge Kids Suite which featured a separate twin room for the teens, a master double for Rich and I and Volcano Bay Views! Interestingly all the hotels at Universal are operated by luxury US hotel chain Loews but they don’t officially have any properties with the ‘Loews’ name attached to it below a 4 star… so whilst Aventura is technically a 3 star property, it’s got a 4 star sensibility in terms of service and amenities. We stayed at Aventura for 2 nights before moving to Hard Rock for another 3 nights. We stayed at the Italian themed Portofino on our last visit but we always wanted to stay at Hard Rock so we were excited to check-in! As you might expect, this is a really fun property with a huge resort pool, great restaurants and cool musical memorabilia everywhere. They also do this brilliant thing where you can borrow a guitar for free to have in your room so guitar-mad Charlie was delighted! There are 3 parks here; Universal Studios Florida, Universal's Islands of Adventure and the aforementioned Universal's Volcano Bay. All 3 parks are AMAZING and if you’ve only been to Alton Towers, you’ll be blown away when you come here because the level of theming and the sheer size and spectacle of everything is out of this world. As well as revisiting some old favourites such as The Incredible Hulk Coaster, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man and Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, we were SOOOOOOOOO excited about going on Jurassic World VelociCoaster and Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and they did not disappoint! VelociCoaster is quite probably the best coaster that I have ever been on… it’s a super-fast launch coaster with multiple inversions and a HUGE top-hat section where you feel like you’re going to fly out your seat. It’s also cleverly built with just a lap-bar restraint rather than should restraints which is more typical for coasters with inversions so this adds to the fun! And Hagrid.. what can I tell you?! This is a world-class family coaster with so many inventive elements to it such as surprise drop sections, multiple launches and going backwards when you don’t expect it! It also features a clever seating system where you sit on a motorbike or in a side-car next to it, just like Hagrid and Harry from the movies. I can write pages and pages about how brilliant Universal Orlando is so instead of that I’ll just give you our top tips to help you with your visit! 1. ** BIGGEST TIP KLAXON ** There are hotels to suit all budgets at Universal but if you can stay at one of the top three hotels (Hard Rock, Portofino or Royal Pacific) you get complimentary Unlimited Express Passes included FOR FREE which are both hundreds of dollars. 2. Where to eat? It won’t come as a surprise to you that food isn’t cheap here and this is particularly the case inside the park but if you come to the CityWalk area just by the gates you’ll find lots of restaurants to chose from and we find that you get more for your money. Portion sizes are typically quite large too so you can easily share some meals. Our favs are Cowfish (burger and sushi combo.. trust us.. it works!), Red Oven Pizza, Vivo Italian, Antojitos Mexican and super-cheap noodles Panda Express. 3. Think about bring snacks from home if you can fit them in your suitcase as having a box or two of cereal bars for a quick breakfast will save you time and money. Another idea is to jump in cab to go 1 mile down the road to a supermarket to stock up on bottled water, fresh fruit and snacks. 4. Universal Orlando is much smaller than Disney and you can walk from park to park, transport from the hotels is very easy to with a brilliant water-bus system for most hotels as well as bus-shuttles. You can also walk to the parks from many of the hotels too 5. When to go? Easter is very busy indeed, the summer is a little quieter if you don’t mind the daily flash showers but I think October is our favourite time as the weather is consistently nice without the humidity of the summer. 6. How to beat the queues? If you don’t have an express pass you can still have an amazing time and on our recent trip, we didn’t have the passes whilst staying at our first hotel. All Universal hotel guests can have access The Wizarding World of Harry Potter one-hour before the gates open, not only does this mean that you can enjoy the Harry Potter rides with less queue time, you can also be a bit tactical and make sure that you’re in the queue for your favourite ride before if officially opens.. this is perfect for new attractions like VelociCoaster. 7. Unlike the UK the water rides here are VERY wet so if you’re wearing socks you’ll be ringing them out afterwards!… the only good thing is that as it’s so hot, you’ll dry out in no time. 8. Many of the big rides (ie Hulk and VelociCoaster) don’t allow you to take ANYTHING on the ride in your pockets so no keys, wallet, phone, loose change… there are free lockers you can use at each ride where you can squeeze in a small rucksack and all your personal belongings. 9. If you do go in September or October you can also enjoy the amazing Halloween Horror Nights event which runs for around 45 nights. This is separate ticketed event with fun scary horror-houses, all sorts of walk-about street performers and themed food. 10. Get the Official Universal Orlando App! This is a really handy app where you can see live queues time, order food for collection (this will save LOADS of time) and find out all the practical info you might need like nearest toilets, heigh restrictions and parking opening and closing times.

14 January 2024

Rich and I did a California road-trip from San Francisco to Vegas for our honeymoon so we were excited to retrace our steps with the teens after one or two years! We started out epic trip with 3 nights in beautiful San Francisco staying at the swish boutique Galleria Park Hotel. We had an amazing time exploring this fun and vibrant city, riding the famous street cable cars (queueing for one hour to be in the very front is DEFINITELY worth it!), eating yummy seafood and of course.. visiting Alcatraz. (TOP TIP 1) Make sure you pre-book Alcatraz as it always sells out. Next we picked up our hire car and after just managing to squeeze our cases in the boot, we set off for a 3 hour drive to Yosemite. I’ll be honest we were a little nervous about driving in a big city like San Francisco again but to be honest it was completely fine.. the traffic moves slowly anyway and pretty soon we were on the open road! The 3 hour drive to Yosemite becomes gradually more and more spectacular as you get nearer and nearer, culminating in a dramatic ascent around fun curvy roads as you approach Groveland to the west and before you know it, you’re there! We chose to stay at Rush Creek Lodge & Spa Resort which is a stone’s throw from the west entrance to Yosemite National Park. This is a lovely hotel with a country lodge vibe… there was a gorgeous pool, free s’mores around the fire, a cosy bar and restaurant plus a divine spa too if you fancy a massage! We all loved exploring Yosemite and as a parent it was really satisfying to see how speechless the teens were when coming face to face with sights like El Capitan and Half Dome. If you’ve never to Yosemite it’s hard to really comprehend what it’s like but if you think about beauty spots in the UK like the Lake District or the Peak District, it’s a bit like that but on steroids! (TOP TIP 2) Make sure you pre-reserve Yosemite entrance from April to October. After Yosemite we drove through the Tioga Pass which cuts through Yosemite, this is the highest road in California and it’s another incredibly spectacular drive... was it scary? Maybe just a little but we all loved it. On our journey we also stopped at the beautiful Tenaya Lake for a well needed rest stop and a paddle… stopping here wasn’t part of the plan but we so pleased we did as it was stunning! (TOP TIP 3) Our journey through Yosemite ended with a planned stop for a late lunch at the wonderful Whoa Nellie Deli which is a gas station where Highway 120 meets Highway 395. This place is a total must-stop location to fill up on gas and food – they specialise in beautiful home-made pizzas and authentic Mexican food.. this is NOT your average service station!! Rich and I stopped here on our honeymoon too and on that occasion, we were lucky enough to time our visit with a full-band playing country songs outside so we enjoyed our pizza that time sat on a picnic table with live entertainment. After Yosemite we stopped for a night in the tiny town of Bishop just on the edge of Death Valley. This was another stop on our honeymoon and we really enjoyed it.. Bishop is a typical American town with a long street with shops and local bars and restaurants dotted along it.. there’s a tiny family owned cinema, bowling alley and kooky shops. After some tasty burgers we planned to get an early night before our long drive through Death Valley the next day to Vegas… BUT THEN THIS HAPPENED… there was a super-rare downpour in Death Valley which caused flash flooding and they closed the park! We found this out about 9pm night before and some hasty re-routing later, we had a new route going ‘around’ Death Valley instead of through it which was a bit like driving from London to Reading via Manchester. I was a little apprehensive about spending 7 or 8 hours driving but to be honest it was actually a fun day - there was little to no traffic, the roads were HUGE, the music was on LOUD and we had some fun stops in tiny little towns where we just wouldn’t have visited otherwise and before we knew it, we were driving down the stop in Vegas on our way to drop the hire car back at AVIS! SEE THE NEXT BLOG INSTALMENT TO FIND OUT WHAT WE ALL GOT UP TO IN VEGAS!

14 January 2024

Whilst staying in gorgeous Elounda in eastern Crete, Rich and I were very lucky to be able to visit two of the islands most wonderful 5 star properties which are 5* Minos Beach Art Hotel and 5* Daios Cove. Minos Beach is a chic retreat an easy 10 minute stroll from the port town of Agios Nikolaos. We fell in love with this hotel… it’s super calming, very luxurious with boho interiors and refined charm. It’s set in a beautiful long bay with a couple of small beaches and a lovely stone walkway where you can step right into the sea… and I should add that the water is crystal clear! We had a site tour from the manager to see all the different room types which range from gorgeous sea-view doubles through to bungalows and villas by the waters edge with private pools, after that we had a gorgeous lunch with fresh fish a bottle of crisp rosé blush before whiling away the rest of the day swimming in the sea and lounging by the pool. Bliss.. Next we have Daios Cove.. this hotel is out of this world and is set in its own private bay which is simply stunning, we were completely speechless when we first arrived and took in the view. This property is truly amazing - the rooms and suites are beautiful, the staff are incredibly friendly and attentive without being stuffy, the food is sublime… the amenities include an infinity pool, 6 restaurants, watersports, gym, tennis, kids club and spa. This is one of those hotels that is truly faultless and we can’t wait to go back.

14 January 2024

Rich and I LOVE NYC and it’s our favourite city in the world - we were lucky enough to visit in May 2019 on a 3 night child free escape! The main reasons for going were to see a noisy punk band that we love playing a gig in Brooklyn and in slight contrast to see a musical version of the movie Tootsie which is my favourite film. The gig was brilliant fun and we loved Tootsie too! So what else did we get up to? We always make a point of having a walk in Central Park when we get our New York fix, we can never resist hopping on the cable car to Roosevelt Island if you’re in that part of town and we loved mooching round fun shops like Fishs Eddy homewares near the Flatiron Building (check out the funny pet portraits!). One of best things about NYC is eating out and a lovely local couple on the plane recommended a delicious Italian in the West Village called Malatesta Trattoria that we really loved, other foodie highlights included a veggie brunch at The Butchers Daughter in the Lower East and gorgeous fish tacos at Smorgasburg open air food market in Brooklyn. As well as all of this we also squeezed in one or two lovely bars including the secret Campbell Apartment at Grand Central Station (as us how to find it!) and Employees Only speakeasy in the West Village which is also hidden behind a nondescript shop-front. Here are some top tips for first time visitors to wet your New York taste buds! 1. Don’t be scared of the subway! It’s cheap and super speedy. $33 will buy you a 7 day pass that will pay for itself in no time. 2. You don’t have to stay in midtown and you’ll get much more for your money if you stay in other areas of Manhattan. For example Louise and I stayed at the 4* Club Quarters near the World trade Centre which was under $200 per night which is great for Manhattan. 3. It’s definitely worth getting a Go City Explorer Pass for your first visit which will save you lots of money for the most popular attractions and quite often, you’ll be able to skip the lines. 4. Make sure you walk over the Brooklyn Bridge - we recommend getting the subway to Brooklyn to explore and then walking back over towards Manhattan for the iconic skyscraper views. 5. This is a personal favourite of ours but when you’re in Brooklyn pay a visit to the gorgeous beautifully restored Janes Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park. 6. Eat some pizza! There’s of choice here but the famous pizzerias’ include Grimaldi’s and Joes. 7. Wear comfy shoes and just enjoy getting lost! One of the best things about NYC is exploring all the different neighbourhoods and when you get tired, there is always a cool looking bar or café to stop and recharge your batteries. 8. It’s super fun to cycle around Central Park and there are lots of companies very close by where you can hire a bike for a few hours… highly recommended! 9. Grab a burger and beer al fresco at the original Shake Shack in Madison Park which is covered in fairy lights at night. 10. If you actually want to see the Empire State building consider going to the Top of the Rock observation deck instead - you can actually see the Empire State from here and your ticket will be timed entry so no long queues!

24 October 2018

Yippee! I was so excited to discover I had a last-minute place on a trip to Jamaica hosted by the Jamaican Tourist Board. I’ll be honest – I was a little unsure of what to expect. I had heard rumours of it not being safe to visit, and that it was somewhere you would stay but in your resort without exploring. I couldn’t have been more wrong! Our five-night stay was nothing short of amazing. We experienced 5* hospitality in stunning hotels, beautiful landscapes and scenery, the most delicious jerk chicken and pork I have ever tasted, exciting activities and one of the most beautiful beaches with powder soft white sand and crystal-clear blue waters that nearly made me cry when I had to leave. Perhaps most important of all though, the warm welcome we received from the locals was genuine and heartfelt – and left me planning to return soon for sure. Location wise, I had always assumed that each area of Jamaica would be similar – wrong again! Our lovely host Shenika from the Jamaican Tourist Board guided us through a fantastic varied itinerary – we were based in Montego Bay (hard times) and visited Ochos Rios and Negril, with various stops along the way. These three main areas are all very different, and I left with a clear idea of which type of customer would be most suited to each, as follows: Montego Bay – only 20 minutes or so transfer from M Bay airport and a range of hotels to suit every budget. Mobay (to use the local lingo) is in on the north coast and perfect as a base if you intend to explore during your stay. We stayed at 5* adults only Secrets Montego Bay in an awesome ocean view room. Your ‘Unlimited Luxury’ all-inclusive stay includes amazing food including 24hr room service, mini bar, activities, a world class spa and nightly entertainment. We visited neighbouring Breathless resort (uber cool with a clubby vibe where we experienced the foam party), Sunscape (budget conscious families) and Zoetry (zen wellness resort for a calm retreat) – there really is somewhere to suit everyone. Ochos Rios – around 100km east of Montego Bay, Ochos is perfect for thrill seekers! Here you will find Dunns River Falls – a must for any first-time visitor and I’m proud to say I climbed to the top! I can also highly recommend Mystic Mountain. First you board the chairlift, taking you through the rainforest on a 20-minute trip to 700 feet above sea level at the top of mountain. From the top you can either zipline down through the trees or board the bobsled, inspired by the Olympic team and twist down the mountainside! After all this excitement head to Martha Brae for a peaceful rafting experience gliding down the river followed by stopping for amazing jerk chicken with the locals at Scotchies. Negril has beaches to die for! The most amazing powder white sand, and crystal-clear blue waters I have seen – to rival Half Moon Bay in Antigua! Negril has a chilled, laid back feel and a range of smaller hotels – perfect if you plan to kick back and do nothing at all expect gaze at the beautiful sea. We had the best evening ever at Rick’s Café, Negril – this place is world famous for its cliff jumping and amazing sunsets. Set high on the cliff we spent a very happy couple of hours watching the daredevils jump from the cliffs before dancing to the live reggae band with a cocktail whilst the sun set, just magic and the perfect way to end our trip. Jamaica – they call you the ‘home of all right’ and with good reason! I left smiling with happy memories of your stunning scenery, blissful beaches, amazing food, lust for live and the warmest welcome ever! I shall be back for sure.