Category: museum

cathedral, city trip, culture, family travel, historical site, museum, portugal

Evora – highlights for families

Jonny Orr

Contents / quick links:

Exploring Evora with kids

Evora is an ancient, sun-kissed city rising handsomely out of the cork oak forests and parched ground of the Alentejo, southern Portugal. Less than two hours from Lisbon, its compact size and wealth of sights makes it a perfect destination for a short break or, as we did it, a culture-packed and rewarding day trip.

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belgium, city trip, culture, family travel, museum

Concertgebouw – Culture for families in Bruges

Jonny Orr

Ah Bruges! Cute cobbled streets, picturesque canals, a fascinating history, cosy restaurants, gargantuan churches, chic chocolate shops and, well, basically, staggering beauty everywhere you look.

The problem is… absolutely none of this matters to kids.

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Bruges – very pretty, but what to DO with kids there? (p.s. possibly my worst-framed family photo ever. Sorry about that…)

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city trip, culture, england, family travel, historical site, museum, tips and advice

London – Smart choices with kids

Jonny Orr

We need to talk about “optimal resource management”.

That’s admittedly an unusual way to begin a family travel blog article, but making the most of what you have and taking smart decisions about you do are the keys to a successful family visit to London.

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city trip, culture, family travel, museum, park, portugal, tips and advice

Non-touristy Lisbon with kids

Jonny Orr

Lisbon with kids. It’s all about that oceanarium, the castle, and trundling up and down the narrow city streets on cutesy yellow trams, right? Well, no, not at all. There are many, many other kid-friendly highlights in Lisbon, most of which are much more relaxed than the more famous attractions. Here are some of our personal favourites:

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castle, culture, family travel, germany, hiddeneuropa, hiking, historical site, museum, nature

Lohr am Main – The Snow White town

Jonny Orr

This is going to sound familiar…

Once upon a time, a kind and beautiful princess lived in a handsome castle in Germany. Her mother died when she was still a girl, and her father remarried shortly afterwards. But the stepmother was a vain and manipulative woman, favouring her own children over her adopted stepdaughter. Inevitably, the relationship snapped; the princess fled away from her family, over great hills and through deep forests. Eventually she settled and lived in exile in a community of dwarfs working in the local mines.

The princess (well, Baroness, technically…) was Maria Sophia Margaretha Catherina von Erthal. Quite a mouthful, isn’t it? But you have almost certainly recognised her already as “Schneewittchen” from the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale: or, in English…

Snow White.

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coast, family travel, historical site, museum, norway, seaside

Karmøy – the birthplace of Norway

Jonny Orr

The generous living room windows of our home exchange look out over a narrow channel towards the island of Karmøy. From our cosy vantage point, we watch the weather fronts rolling in from the wild North Sea and the rain-battered ships taking refuge in the calm waters. The vessels may be new, but boats have been making their way through this passage for thousands of years already. For as long as time itself, this route has been known as the safe way north, the “Northern Way”…

“Norway“.

Merely a kilometre across the channel – but just obscured from our view by a neighbouring house – lies the ancient church of Olav in the village of Asvaldsnes. There – right there – is the birthplace of Norway, the main stronghold of King Harald Fairhair who controlled this “Northern Way” and first unified this nation.

All in all, it feels like a rather apt place to start exploring.

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canoeing, city trip, denmark, family travel, museum

Floating Art in Vejle

Jonny Orr

Contemporary art and water sports are not exactly two subjects which immediately spring to mind as being mutually complementary. However, in the wonderful setting of Vejle harbour in Jutland (Denmark), large-scale works of art have been thoughtfully placed out in the fjord… and the only way to appreciate them fully is by kayak or canoe.

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