Rebecca Currie 5/13/24 Rebecca Currie 5/13/24

Split short break guide

Most people know Split for its incredible local islands, the famous Diocletian’s Palace and the stunning old town. Now I have been to Split a couple of times and locals will tell you that in Summer this place is absolutely heaving with tourists. Perhaps due to the many famous festivals held in the region and on nearby islands, it could be the incredible Adriatic coastline and it really has got something for everyone so its totally understandable that its a booming destination. Now most of you may know I am not into popular or crowded destinations but I still loved Split a lot (I didn’t love the prices mind you) I would just recommend visiting in shoulder season. It is fairly well known that most things close off season so May and September make the perfect months to see the best of Split without the crowds and the intense heat. Okay so lets dive into my city guide, perfect for a long weekend or a 4 day break. Firstly get your flights, I always recommend Skyscanner. When looking at accommodation there is a huge range of options. Personally I would stay in a local apartment in the old town as this will save you money, you will be in the heart of the action and the sea swimming is so good you don’t really need a pool. I always book my accommodation via Booking.com.

What to do in Split

The best thing to do in my opinion in this picturesque town is to soak up the atmosphere. I know that seems like a cop-out but hear me out. The cobbled tiny streets have the most amazing little cafes, bakeries, bars and restaurant and one of the most lovely things to do is sit out, enjoy the architecture and grab a coffee (or something stronger if that’s your vibe). There are endless options for food and drink and usually I like my eateries a bit more rustic and cheaper but you will eat well here there is no doubt.

Enjoy the local beaches. My personal favourites are Bene and Kasjuni. Kasjuni is a stunning beach located near the Marjan Forest park. It has a funky beach club which is great for a drink or snack and the water is shallow, calm and crystal clear. Bene is also near the Marjan forest park and can only be reached on foot, bike, number 12 bus or by the little tourist train that operates druring the summer. Generally the water is amazing on this coast but be sure to watch out for sea urchins.

Get out of the city. One of my favourite trips in Croatia was visiting Krka National Park. I have been both here and Plitvice and whilst I think Plitvice is more impressive and has better hikes I think as a day trip that suits everyone Krka is a better option. Most tours will take you from Split on an air-conditioned coach to the National Park, you can look around the mills and wander through the park. Then you get on a boat and take a short ride through the national park and get a couple of hours to wander through the small local town, or take a swim in the crystal clear lake. Some tours end in a local wine tasting before heading back to Split. You can also book busses beyond Split here Omio

Where to eat and drink in Split

I have many many places I would recommend to eat and drink. Many of you know I spend a lot of my time eating and drinking so I dutifully tested out many restaurants. Here are my top 5:

Pizzeria Bokamorra Split

One of the best pizzas I’ve had. I know it’s pizza but bear with me….I’ve visited 3 of the “top ten pizzerias in the world” and for me this was up there.

Corto Maltese Freestyle Food

A super-popular restaurant in the centre of the old town this is a funky but delicious menu. It is on the pricier side but it is very much worth a trip.

To Je Tako

Visit this little hole-in-the-wall for the most amazing tacos and margaritas (I spent a month in Mexico back in 2022 so I have eaten a lot of tacos). The prices are a bit on the expensive side but it’s super authentic.

Kantun Paulina

When visiting the Balkans you will definitely come across Cevapi. It is a staple dish of spiced ground meat (usually beef) shaped into sausages and stuffed into pillowy soft bread with Ajvar (red pepper paste) and raw onions. Cheap, filling and delicious if you aren’t vegetarian it’s a must try in this region. Kantun Paulina is a local institution and one of the best Cevapi’s I’ve had.

Ćiri Biri Bela

Ciri Biri Bela is a delicious little hangout that has the most amazing brunch menu. You can choose a sharing plate or one of the many egg dishes along with some dreamy sweet treats (fried croissant crème brûlée anyone?!). It has the cutest little shop too as the restaurant is inspired by the worldly travels of the owners. If you are a group of 7+ you can reserve a table, otherwise just walk in and they will find a space for you.

Notable mentions

Brooklyn Bagel co for a great on-the-go breakfast or lunch. I love their egg, bacon and cheese on everything bagel and at €5.90 not a bad price. There’s no seating so it’s takeout only.

Krka Waterfalls tour from Split

Skyscanner

Book your hotels here

Boat tour Polignano

Rebecca Currie 9/9/20 Rebecca Currie 9/9/20

Travel post lockdown-a weekend in Tuscany

So as the world is still gripped by the awful pandemic of 2020 things are (very) tentatively and slowly opening up in the travel industry and I am penning a few of my thoughts and experiences here.

I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’ve missed flying and missed views like this

Is it ethical?

I am not here to judge, I am not here to say what is safe…….I feel since COVID-19 took over everyone’s lives early this year there seem to has been so many people that have struggled to make decisions on what to do, how to behave-this is not helped by the British (and worldwide) media whipping up constant fear and doom just adding to anxiety, the governments around the world posting conflicting rules and advice and generally we are fighting an invisible enemy which makes it a scary time. I think the main thing is to do what’s right for you and do what you feel is safest.

The thing we weighed up when looking to travel was mainly about weighing up the personal risk and considering our impact on the destination we would be visiting. Living close to London and having been into the city and working in retail, therefore seeing 1000’s of people each week (albeit at a distance) my nerves about travelling on a plane felt similar to that of visiting London and going on a tube. In terms of our destination my thoughts on travel and tourism is this; 10% of the worlds population gains revenue from tourism, this is a huge dent to not only livelihoods in the west but can be the difference of putting food on the table for many communities. That is not a justification for me deciding to travel, I won’t be coming from a country with a larger number of cases and visiting a vunerable community with already stretched healthcare systems for the locals any time soon.

Italy however felt the right choice for us. I know the area well, we would hire a car therefore not taking public transport and mixing with locals, their cases are relatively under control and therefore currently their healthcare systems are coping well and they are very much wanting tourism to return it seems.

Was travelling different?

We travelled from Stansted to Pisa Friday to Monday, I have to admit (and if Stansted is your local airport you will feel me) A Friday morning flight did make me a little nervous. It was slightly different there was an extra security area installed to try and elleviate overcrowding. Security was fast and pain-free, everyone was wearing masks and nobody got particularly close.

Masks are mandatory throughout the airport and on the plane.

The airport was generally quiet but not empty, I would say typical of a day out of season at a non busy time but definately wasn’t the usual Stansted Friday morning chaos. We had some breakfast as always and that was fairly normal, duty free seemed odd as most counters had nothing on but most stores were open. It was almost comforting to see people working as usual, I feel as a person in retail the last thing you want to see is more retailers struggling but that may be me.

Flying

The Queue for the flight was normal to be honest so this is where you may feel a bit nervous, for us we knew it wouldn’t be great flying with Ryanair, equally there were barely any free seats, aside from being told to wear masks at all times on the flight (this was enforced on the way out) and having to ring the bell to stand/use the toilet it was pretty much as if there was no pandemic. I did luck out and got a window seat with nobody next to me but I was definately in the minority. Once landed they made everyone leave row by row which is definately something I feel should be enforced pandemic or not. Overall it wasn’t a horrendous experience I felt as safe as I did getting the tube a couple of weeks ago, some things made me twitchy (sitting between two guys I didn’t know on a full flight coming home ughhhh) but overall it was fine. I imagine certain airlines feel a little more careful than ryanair so if you are really anxious I would maybe go with someone else. I had a

Italy

I had read you couldn’t travel on public transport in italy which in hindsight it is clearly not true. I am glad we hired a car but equally would of felt safe on public transport. I guess everything the Italians have been through means their compliance rate for masks/sanitising and distancing is really high and I honestly felt very safe throughout. Florence was pretty busy on the streets-it was the weekend and no busier than my hometown (Nottingham) but just something to be aware of. I reckon on a weekday it would be much quieter.

In restaurants you are required to wear facemasks when standing, visiting the toilet or going outside, tables were distanced everywhere we ate at and waiting staff wore masks everywhere we went, even when screens were used and takeaways only. We stayed in a BnB and an Aparthotel, the BnB were great, we communicated via whatsapp to meet the guy on reception, everything was super clean, sanitised and we were served at a distance. With the aparthotel it was also great, we visited the pool/spa and had to book a slot to ensure there are only a certain amount of people. The pool area was thoroughly cleaned every two hours and there was clearly a lot of chlorine (eyes were burning) but again felt super safe.

Travelling next…..

So in summary I would 100% reccomend going to Italy if that works for you, I know right now we are bound by mandatory quarantines/countries not opening borders/having to quarantine on arrival etc. I had booked to go to Lithuania with my Sister first weekend in October….very low case rates, very cheap etc was our thinking. Since then they have introduced a mandatory 2 week quarantine for UK citezens so that obviously squashed our plans a little. We therefore looked at where was not likely to go on the UK quarantine list/where would let us in and we have now booked to go to Gdansk so fingers crossed that will go ahead. Again all things considered I feel it is a safe and well considered option for us. I think if you are thinking of travelling to an area with low case numbers and your home country is ok with it/you aren’t high risk I would say go for it.

Sorry if this has been a bit of a boring read but would give you an idea of what post lockdown travel from London to Italy looks like. I have some brief city guides coming your way soon!

Rebecca Currie 4/8/20 Rebecca Currie 4/8/20

36 hours in Zagreb

Pic taken by Paddy in front of the iconic st Marks

Next in our mini city series is Zagreb! We sandwiched it between Zadar and Ljubljana on our little backpacking adventure. So 36 hours in Zagreb, what do you do? Here’s what we got up to, how much we spent and where we stayed.

Our digs were at Chillout Hostel and Cost a glorious £9 per bed, per night. We were fortunate enough To be a group of 8 plus a baby so had a dorm to ourselves which was lavvvvley. It’s a nice hostel, fun and lively but I wouldn’t say it’s a luxury one. Beds aren’t the comfiest and our private bathroom was a bit like a caravan toilet but it was still an enjoyable stay. Location was perfect too. You can get tonnes of cheap Airbnb’s too, so many options.

Gorgeous views on the bus from Zadar to Zagreb

Day 1 arrival 2pm via bus from Zadar (bus takes 3 hours, 30 mins) we headed straight to our hostel which is off the Main Street Ilica. From there you are right next to the Art park Zagreb which is essentially a park with lots of street Art and you are also at the bottom of the Funicular. The Funicular is the shortest in the world and a steal at 5 kunas (around 70p) and takes you straight to the upper town and St Marks Church. Plenty to explore but we jumped on a tram in the main square (number 11 or 12) and went over to Maksimir Park as I’d seen some of the landscapes over on the gram and it looked amazing in its burnt, Autumn glow.

Beautiful Maksimir Park pic from Becky @wishesandwellies

Dinner was at the nearby Batak grill Cvjetni. It was weird In a small mall so even though reviews were good my expectations weren’t High but it was delicious and great value. We had the mixed plate and it had potato wedges, grilled Croatian kebab, a grilled patty and pork stuffed with cheese and wrapped in ham, for that, a salad, this fluffy, pillowy pancake bread 2 drinks and the biggest portion of kids chicken and chips I’ve ever seen it came to 270 Kuna which at time of writing was about £30. It was a really nice setting too.

For our second day we managed to cram in most of the things we wanted to see in Zagreb……There are two parts of town, upper and lower. The upper town has the Famous St Marks Church and St Marks Square, the stone gate and the government buildings. Our plan was to use the funicular to go up but ended up walking as it was closed for maintenance. All of the kids including sprout managed it, there are a lot of steps but totally manageable. The views from the upper town are incredible and I would really recommend. We had a little wander and settled for brunch at Otto & Frank. I opted for coffee, homemade iced tea with mint, lemon and elderflower then the traditonal Zagreb breakfast which was really interesting. It was toast with sour cream, cottage cheese (Croatia loves cottage cheese) horseradish (opted out cause yuck) radish, bacon and crispy poached egg which is this runny poached egg that’s then coated in breadcrumbs and like fried. Totally weird but super yum! The kids had french toast, also delicious and porridge looked awesome too. It was such a lovely area to wander too.

Once we had walked the whole upper town we popped into the museum of illusions as it was only £5 each and our kids were free (under 5s, over 5s are £3) so thought it would be a nice little activity for them. Don’t get me wrong it’s not life changing but fun for pictures and not pricey so if you have time to kill worth a go. I’ve also heard the museum of broken relationships is really fun too but probably less age appropriate for our family.

After a few more hours exploring we opted to see Zagreb on bikes which was an awesome decision and our guide Robert from bike tours Zagreb was amazing. The tour was so reasonable, big boy Flynn had his own bike so we had to pay but the three tiddlers were free on the back of ours. It was about £25 pp which was such good value for our nearly 3 hour tour. You can find them at Bike tours Zagreb (Instagram handle is @biketourszagreb ) and I definately recommend dropping them a message.

That evening we visited a really rustic local place as recommended by our guide Robert, I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the place but I loved it. Very similar to the local restaurants I’ve visited in Romania but the food is heavy and not for everyone (definately not great for vegetarians). The kids fell asleep so Ben and I snook back to Tkalčićeva ulica for a drink as this street is fab for bars and cafes. Even with music playing the boys stayed asleep as they were shattered from all the fun. I would definitely visit here in the evening (and daytime) for drinks, food and cafe culture.

Spend breakdown

Transport-Uber from bus station to hostel £3.50, trams £3, bus to Ljubljana £40 (2 adults, kids were free) total £46.50

Food-2 x evening meals night one £30 for a family of four, 2 Gin’s, 1 beer, 1 wine and 2 juices. Night two £20 for four, one cider, one beer and one juice. Brunch around £20 for Zagreb Breakfast, iced tea, 2 lattes, French toast, oatmeal, 2 x juice. Snacks inc pizza, doughnuts, chocolate and lots of croissants for kids £11. Drinks on second night £10 for two rounds. Total £91

Accommodation- £36 per night for 4 people total £72

Activities-Bike tour £25 pp (kids free) £50 and £10 for museum of illusion. Total £60

So total for family of four was £269.50 I want to stress that we in no way scrimped on anything, we saved for our backpacking adventure by putting any spare cash we had in a box for a few months so we were comfortable buying extras.

I would definately say you could do 2 nights and 3 days for around £240 for a couple, kids can be cheap but things do add up. If you are looking for a lovely, scenic alternative city break filled with beautiful walks, amazing cafe culture without needing a big bucket list of sights then Zagreb is for you. I would liken it a little to Bratislava in that sense (not necessarily culturally) but a wonderful visit if you want to have a chilled lovely time. Also it’s SO accessible as I’ve mentioned with busses etc.
Have you been? Did you enjoy? I would love to hear in the comments.

A few of our gang, including Freya taking her pet Raff for a walk, confused husbands and pals holding hands.

Rebecca Currie 10/7/19 Rebecca Currie 10/7/19

Budget Helsinki with kids

A budget guide to Helsinki with kids

24 hours in Helsinki…..Ok I lie, we had closer to 48 but what I can fit in in 48 hours on my own is more like 24 with Littles. I really really loved Helsinki, I mean we only scratched the surface but it’s so easy to get to from Stockholm or Tallinn I thought a day guide is good. A lot of this is based around kids but I’ve thrown a few bits in for regular people 😉 Again a fairly budget guide but Helsinki was surprisingly not overpriced in my opinion.

Where to eat

Lets start with the good stuff. Green hippo cafe. We loved it so much we ate here twice. The Avocado pasta seems to be super popular there and is delicious, it’s only about €10 and we also had breakfast there, both pancakes and scrambled eggs come in around €6 (delicious) and they do smoothie bowls, Oats and a few other options. Coffee is great and reasonable, it’s clearly a bit hipster but attracts a varied crowd-I had a lovely conversation with the sweetest Finnish lady about her grandkids.

Kauppahalli market-This place is a really cool foodie market, you need to catch the tram there or you can walk from the main shopping street. Plenty of options weighing in under €10 I had ramen and it was SO good. I paid €10 (I won’t mention the extra bao buns).

We also had on our list but didn’t manage to get round to: Nepalilainen Ravintola Mountain for cheap Nepalese food that I’ve heard is delicious, BLINt Russian restaurant for the usual russian classics, Lie Mi for Vietnamese and Levant for Lebanese.

For Coffe and Cake I would 100% reccomend the Moomin Cafe. It’s only a short walk from the ferry port and travelling with the Moomin-mad Christensens the first stop on our arrival. Disclaimer* I love Moomins, I have been a bit obsessed since I was a teen but find the TV show creepy…..haha. It isn’t the cheapest but I think a must do in Helsinki. It is so well themed and so good for kids (equally good for adults). Prices aren’t rediculous, about £3.50 for coffee/hot chocolate and £3-£4 for cakes/pastries.

Shopping

I loved Helsinki for so many reasons but one of the big things was just wandering around, visiting the lovely scandi-style shops and the kids shops where unreal. We spent a whole morning doing our favourite thing……lusting over the most beautiful kids things. We stayed in the creative design district and its rare I say a city break is just easy and fun with four kids under six but this just was. Beautiful lifestyle, jewelery, interiors, beauty and clothing shops were just dreamy and you can just grab a coffee and have a wander, such a lovely way to spend a day. Standout kids stores were LumoKids, Zicco and our absolute favourite was Tingeling. The kids spent ages just playing in these treasure troves and we bought a couple of treats but the owners were just lovely and so great with the kids.

Things to do

Ok so you could easily spend a week exploring Helsinki and the surrounds but here’s a round up of a couple of the cool things to do…..Sea Fortress Suomenlinna. Take the 15 minute ferry to this little island and explore the grounds of the fort. Temppeliaukio Church is stunning-known as Church in the Rock, I love exploring churches and religious buildings and this is one of the most unique I have seen. Its only a couple of euros entry and carved into rock with an amazing copper roof. Allas sea pool was so high up on my list, we didn’t make it and I was pretty gutted but it was best for the kids that we didn’t push them to do too much…..they have an amazing looking sauna and a heated kids pool and again it’s really reasonable so its top of my list for when we next visit.

Where to stay

We stayed in the most incredible Airbnb. Our host was a wonderful lady called Johanna and I mean I am amazed she allowed us in her frankly stunning apartment with our crazy, dirty, wildlings. She has even wrote a cookbook on Finnish and in particular Helsinki food. You could leave £10 in the box and just take one which is just lovely. It was in the best area too to explore Helsinki’s design district. You can find the link here https://abnb.me/Tlrw5Uqkr0 and it was really reasonable at £150 per night for 6 of us.

Flynn practising his climbing in a beautiful park

Getting here

We arrived via boat from Stockholm with viking ferries (which was awesome, an overnight ferry) and left to Tallinn with Tallink silja line which took 2 hours 30 mins and cost us about £18. Helsinki is totally doable in a day trip from Tallinn but it definately deserves more than that if you can allow the time.

So there you have it. I absolutely loved Helsinki and definately can’t wait to head back to Finland and explore more. As always if you have any questions please comment below and I will do my best to help. If you aren’t sure wether to visit Helsinki you should, I would definately reccomend spring, I imagine winter is beautiful but I think for first-timers it has so much to offer in summer.

Rebecca Currie 10/2/19 Rebecca Currie 10/2/19

Iceland on a budget

That dream trip to Iceland…..Does it need to cost the earth? Absolutely not. If you’ve always fancied it but thought it was out of reach read on for my tips on how it can be affordable. Sure it’s not Eastern Europe, it’s never going to be a steal but you can definately save by using some really easy hacks.

Where to start? Ok so this is a beginners guide. Its not a 3 weeks driving in Iceland kinda comprehensive bible. It’s a how to fly into Reykyavik, spend a couple of days, do the Golden circle-kinda-guide. (Excellent English there Bex) So here’s a little spends breakdown of what I think you would need….

Flights

I’m basing this on a random cheap week in Jan. Mon 20th to Friday 24th will set you back as little as £36 pp with easyJet from Luton. Now we managed on hand luggage last time but if you need a case you can pay extra. We had thermal layers which roll pretty small and wore our coats and boots on the flight but that’s your call.

Car Hire

It’s rare I hire or use a car abroad but Iceland is my exception. My reasons are; getting to/from the airport is around €28 each way pp, you could then visit the blue lagoon on your own which will save the same again and rather than doing a golden circle tour which would set you back around €80 you can do it at your own pace and just pay parking. So as an example a Suzuki jimny with the full insurance (I would recommend the full cover) would cost you around £265 for the 4 days. When we went with our besties, split 4 ways was so reasonable even with petrol.

Where to stay

There are a tonne of cool places to stay in Reykjavík, hostels offer value and there’s plenty of beautiful Airbnb’s. Here’s a good shout for the dates I’ve mentioned and I think again offering decent value at £96.25 each for 3 nights. https://abnb.me/AXcgiVc0s0

What to do

I am assuming you have 3 days and there’s so much to do and see in Iceland but if you only have three days I would try and get an early flight on the first day and do this:

Day one-Pick up your car, pick your jaw off the floor (The landscapes remind of fraggle rock-come-the scenes in frozen where the trolls live) wander round the City, the shops are lovely the seafront is cool, bars and cafes are fab and you must see the epic Hallgrimskirkja church. Download the appy hour app to work out which bars to visit at certain times for cheap/reasonable drinks and grab lunch at Icelandic street food. For about £12 you get a loaf of bread filled with lamb or seafood soup, free refills and free cakes and it’s so filling and delicious. You can takeaway or eat in the bar next door. I would also recommend the public pool in Reykjavik to get your first slice of geothermal goodness.

Day two-golden circle day! Grab breakfast from Braud & Co and get on the road to drive the golden circle. First stop Thingvellir national park. You can walk between the North American and European tectonic plates, see the some of the clearest water in the world (100m visibility) and even dive there at the Silfra fissure. Diving was high on my wish list but as this was a budget trip the £120 (totally worth it) wasn’t to be for this one.

Next onto Laugarvatn for lunch. There’s a fab hostel called Heradsskolinn you can get a double for 87 euros a night or dorm for 39 and they do a really reasonable lunch, pizza comes in at around £10 and it’s so cozy. Lindin bistro is also nice, a bit pricier but not so bad for a burger (think UK Gastropub prices). If you had time it would be cool to stay here a night and there’s also the Laugarvatn Fontana, it’s a beautiful lake side hot spring spa, kids go free under 12 and adults are about £24, nowhere near as big as the blue lagoon but this is on my list for next time as it looks amazing.

Next stop Geysir. The place to see geothermal uprisings…. Such a strange and awesome experience-you can feel the heat and everyone’s waiting and anticipating that blow of water, you know it’s coming but it still makes you jump. Again there’s a cool cafe serving soup, looked delicious but we didn’t get chance to try and the slickest looking spa hotel so may be worth looking at although I bet it’s spendy.

Gullfoss is up next aka the golden falls. I’ve not visited Niagra, Victoria or Iguazu falls but this place took my breath away. You park and walk about 10 minutes down some steps and it just hits you (not just talking about the spray).

Kerid Crater is next up for mars-like landscapes. A quick stop and a couple of euros but I reckon worth it. After this we headed over to the blue lagoon for an evening session. I did question wether it was worth it on booking but I was 100% glad we did. Yes it’s touristy, yes it’s commercial but for me it was so special. To top it off we were treated to a dazzling display from the Northern lights whilst in the blue lagoon. Double bucket list checked off for me! Blue lagoon will set you back around £50 depending on the day and time and from there you are looking at about 45 minutes back to Reykjavík.

Day 3-Totally short and underwhelming after the epic itinerary from day 2 but my personal tip If you are in season is to do a whale watching trip. You can get a decent one for around £50 and it’s the biggest regret I have from our trip, we only had a morning left and we were worried about timings but I have a big whale shaped void that I’m desperate to fill. There’s some nice coffee shops on the front and good breakfast places to visit. In the evenings I would 100% eating the fish and chips. About £15 a pop but THE best I’ve ever had. Incredible.

So there you have a little budget itinerary, price breakdown is as follows based on 4 adults sharing. Obviously these prices are correct at the time of writing and can fluctuate but hopefully may make you think Iceland’s more affordable than you originally thought.

Airbnb £96.25 Car £66 Flights £36 Petrol £15 Blue lagoon £50 Food & Coffee £50 (assuming you have 2 cheap dinners out as mentioned and make your own lunch) Whale watching £50 Total PP £363.25

I would honestly say it’s the most unique country I’ve ever visited and in my top 5 which is saying a lot. If you aren’t sure please give it a go. Any questions? As always pop me a comment 👇🏼

All the models at blue lagoon….I’m just channeling Trunchball.

Rebecca Currie 8/20/19 Rebecca Currie 8/20/19

Disneyland Paris on a budget

Best tips for planning a Euro Disney trip

So I think how to survive Disneyland and not lose your shit was a less appealing title. I posted on Instagram this week about the fact that sometimes its okay to not enjoy every second of taking kids away and that sometimes you feel like you are partaking in an endurance boot-camp…..anyone else feel me? Anyway this is a bit of a bigger overview on DLP you can find some good on-the-day tips in my last post here. I will break it down into sections so you can decide whether you’d like to book a package or DIY it but as I do the latter you will find most info geared towards that. This a long and non-glamorous read so best to do when you aren’t time short.

Ok so you want to go to Disney and don’t want a package. My first piece of advice is to not go in summer holidays. I hear you, your kid is at school and you want a summer holiday but there are a few reasons I would stay clear; Disney Paris has an awful lot of european tourists and this seems to be the busiest time by far, you will find Qs get really hefty, the heat is pretty intense if you are in Q or waiting for parades in the full sun. I just personally find its my least favourite time, these factors make it quite exhausting for all and I think you get the keast out of it. My favourite time is obviously Christmas and you can have a great time in a weekend but there’s also a few other half term holidays you can go where you won’t have the issue of the heat.

So moving on from that if you want to DIY you need a Eurostar/Flight/Eurotunnel. My preference is always Eurostar, I’m based near London and hate flying (I know, I do it a lot-but I still don’t like it). I’m breaking each option down below:

Eurostar-If you have younger children they travel on your lap for free if they are under 4. Having said this I have managed to grab a seat for Pads everytime. You can change your seat for free after you book and if you check the day before you can see where there are free seats so I switch to where there isn’t anyone next to me. I never pay more than £60 return to Paris, you need to look at least 3 months in advance or when they are having a “sale” I find Eurostar only ever goes up in price they won’t drop so don’t hang about. I also tend to go via Paris as 1. It’s much cheaper, you go one stop on the tube to Chatelet Les Halles and then get the RER A all the way to Marne La Vallee Chessy which you walk out and Disney is right there. You can get a eurostar to Marne La Vallee but you have to change in Lille and I find this is a lot more costly and time consuming but it depends whether you want to cut out the Paris metro system.
Euro tunnel-I think this way is more cost effective if 1. you live in the South East 2. If you are paying full price for 4 or more people. I normally find it to be around £140 per car, obviously you need to factor in petrol too but could work out better for you if you want flexibility in France with your car, have as I said more people or wanted to do DLP as part of a bigger trip. It takes about 35 minutes on the tunnel then you are looking at about 3 hours from Calais to DLP so could be time effective if you are in the South East.
Flying-If you are in the far North this may be your best option. I can only seem to find flights for about £100 return each at the cheapest From Leeds/EMA/Birmingham but you can probably get cheaper. I think if you are within 2 hours of London via train and you can get cheap advance tickets its worth looking at Eurostar still. Our Auntie came with us on our recent trip and she got advance singles from Birmingham on the train for £6 each way so it was still a much better option.

Eurostar is much better when you can bag a seat for these two

So, transport sorted I will move onto accommodation. You have quite a few options, I have varying opinions on this. Firstly this is not (unless you have a lot of time and money to throw at it) a pampering, relaxing trip so I don’t tend to bother with the top end hotels and that includes the Disney ones. I would love to stay in the main Disney but you are looking at about £1600 for a family of 4 for 3 nights its not worth that amount-for me personally. I’m also desperate to stay at nature villages which is the centre parcs at DLP but I’m saving it for next year when we can go for a whole week.

So here are my favourite options (In my opinion in order of luxury):

Explorers, this is by no means a luxury hotel, for me its the butlins of DLP……Stay with me people! It has large rooms big enough to house up to 8 people, you get a free (but basic) breakfast, it has a soft play in the bar/restaurant area and also a big pirate ship for the kids to play on, a 4d cinema and a really cool but freezing cold pool. As I said its not luxury at all but nice and clean and the kids love it. The free shuttles to Disney are really frequent and take about 10-15 minutes. Oh and its pirate themed :)
Vienna House Magic circus-slightly more dated than the dream castle with circus themed rooms, again plenty for kids, good theming and the rooms comfortably cater for larger families.
Vienna house Dream Castle-This is a cute, mid-range castle themed hotel within the Disney area. It’s a little nicer than Explorers but probably has less for the kids but still a fair bit and the theme is lovely.
Radisson Blu-Definately a more ‘high end’ option, its good if you are a family of 4 and you have a bit of time to enjoy the facilities (sauna, steam, pool etc) on our most recent trip we actually got the Raddison cheaper than the other options so went for that and it was lovely.

All of these are a quick and free shuttle to the actual park (taking around 10-15 minutes) and you can expect to pay an average of £90-£130 a night for a family of four depending on time of year which isn’t bad I think and you get free cots, some of these also fit up to 6. Obviously there are plenty of others I’ve just put some of them here.

Three other options….

Nature Villages Paris-As mentioned before, it’s the Centre Parcs of Disney (my two favourite holidays). I think you need to be able to have 2 free days to enjoy the facilities personally but if you do this is a really good option. We looked for our November trip and for £700 you can get a 3 bed chalet which again I thought wasn’t bad for a weekend.
Newport bay-One of the main Disney hotels and for me the only one thats worth a mention here. You will pay about £900 for 3 nights (again family of 4) It’s about 5 minutes from the parks and I’ve only been in for a look and it was nice but personally I wouldn’t justify the extra price tag.
Disneyland hotel-Literally at the park entrance. This is one for a special occasion as you are looking at £1500-£1700 for the 3 nights but I would love to stay here.

You can also look at Airbnb if you are on a real budget as these can come up really cheap £40-50 a night but then you have less facilities and no shuttle to the park so in the long run you can rack up a fair bit in taxis (€20-€25 is average).

So travel and accommodation sorted last up is tickets…..I would recommend buying in advance to save yourself some ££££. It’s worth mentioning the annual pass options as I have one and love it and I believe it’s worth doing if you go for 2 days or more. You pay for kids once they reach 3. I tend to use www.attraction-tickets-direct.co.uk they will cost you around £43 for a 1 park, 1 day ticket or £60 for a 1 day 2 park ticket (current price, subject to change). Direct with Disney it will cost you a little more depending on dates (roughly £6 pp). It’s worth noting that if you stay in one the main Disney hotels you get extra magic time for your ticket which is the best as you can get in there before anyone else. On the gate the tickets are much more expensive (€80-€100) so I would definately buy in advance.

Annual passes-I’m covering this here as I think it’s definately worth looking at. There are 4 types and I have the infinity as the perks are so good but next time we go I think I will get Paddy the magic plus. I’m going to break them down below briefly….

• Discovery-the most basic. You pretty much only get park entry for 150 days a year. If this is within your travel time it’s worth you getting if you are going for 3 days or more because if you park hop this works out cheaper. €179 upfront or initial payment of €60 and €11 a month.

• Magic Flex-300 days entry per year, 10% off in the Disney shops, 20% off gate tickets for friends and Disney hotels from €130 per room. €259 or €19 per month with an upfront of €60. I don’t feel like this ones worth a great deal to be honest.

• Magic Plus-350 days a year entry, 10% off in the shops, €130 hotel rooms, 20% 1 day entry tickets, 10% off in the restaurants, 20% off buffalo bills Wild West dinner show, 10% golf Disney, reserved separate entrance to parks (no Q yay!) extra magic time (early exclusive access to parks, then one of the best is you can get 1-day/2 park tickets for friends for €45 so that’s so good if you go with others, and they can use your extra magic time. €299 or €22 a month…..does anyone ever pay upfront?!

• Finally Infinity. You get all of the above plus 20% of Disney shops, €108 hotel rooms, a free PhotoPass, 15% off restaurants, 15% off breakfast with characters, €39 a day for family and friends, free guest wheelchair/pushchair, free access to swimming pools, vip seatingbfor yhe shows and 365 days a year entry. It’s €499 upfront or €36 per month.

The hardest thing with the annual pass is obtaining one….haha literally you have to buy a ticket on the gate, go in and go to the pass annual bureau to the right as you face the castle. You give them your ticket which they redeem against the price of your pass and then just set up a direct debit and take a picture of you. You need to take your passport for some reason…..we opted for the infinity as at the time we didn’t pay for either child and I use my family and friends tickets for Ben/Mum in law/Bestie and now we are paying for Pads we will weigh up wether it’s worth him having one or not. I’m pretty sure on our first visit last Christmas we saved enough in shops and restaurants (we were a big group) to make the money back and I will have done 7 days in the park with it but saving a lot on the day tickets for our family so for me totally worth it-but that’s your call.

I’m just going to briefly mention restaurants which I will go into detail in another post. Everyone says it and it’s true. Sorry. Eating at DLP is not a gourmet affair. My tip is take some croissants or a breakfast bag into the park, if you have time leave the park and go five guys or Vapiano which you walk out of the main park towards Disney village and hang a right before the big Disney shop on the corner. You have to leave security but it’s not far at all. Five guys of course is fast food but a decent burger and Vapiano is a cool self service Italian chain popular through Europe. They make the pasta in front of you and the pasta is made in house so makes a nice, much calmer lunch spot. Having said that there are plenty of counter service restaurants in the park, you can get a meal for around €15 including drink but I would try and eat 11-11.30 as again queuing gets hefty.

My only final tip is that if you are doing it this way I would recommend going the day before, letting the kids settle (if you have them) you can wander round Disney village, sort your annual pass if you want to get one or head to your hotel for a swim. When you reach the station hang a left and you will see the bus station with all your free hotel shuttles. Two days is enough but I would take three if you can. Then travel back the day after your last park day as otherwise it’s just exhausting. Fireworks are at about 8pm in winter and 11pm in summer so I would definitely do that one of the evenings.

So there you have it. Not my most glamorous post but some hopefully useful info on how to grab the best deal. Let me know if there’s anything I’ve missed and you can find my guide to the parks and rides on my other post ✨

2nd ride of the day, no queues in extra magic time!

How to plan your day at Disney

Rebecca Currie 6/25/19 Rebecca Currie 6/25/19

Backpacking in Scandinavia and the Baltics

A beautiful lake beach in Karlstad, Sweden

Hi folks 👋🏼 Ok so I know for some parents the thought of backpacking with toddlers is……well fresh hell?! Or that’s how husband describes it. I don’t find this is true, tiring yes, at times a bit stressful, weighty on your back-absolutely but incredibly rewarding. Also I’m aware some of you may not have small ones or extra humans at all so here’s a little guide on how to get around/see the delights of Northern Europe without selling an organ or something.

First up you need to plan your route (no brainer) and also I think it makes a difference which season you go. The visits I’ve made in winter have been incredible but I do think you spend more as you need to be inside more and some of the places we visited on our recent trip probably wouldn’t be suitable if it was really cold but you can find some quirky alternatives. One of my starting points is always where can I get a cheap flight.

Great starting hubs for me are Oslo and Copenhagen, you can pretty much always get flights under £30 even in high season and from Copenhagen you can get the train to Malmo (Sweden) over the bridge that connects the two countries which is cool in itself, (last time I did it was about £10) or from Oslo you have tonnes of train routes.

So a breakdown of our recent trip: Oslo-2 nights >Train to Karlstad (Sweden) 2 nights >Train to Stockholm (Sweden) 1 night/2 days >Overnight ferry to Helsinki >Helsinki 2 nights >Ferry to Tallinn (Estonia) 2 hour day ferry >Bus to Loksa, 2 nights at projekt kodu in Lahema National Park Estonia >Bus back to Tallinn and one night in Tallinn >Flight home from Tallinn to Gatwick

So we had a pretty packed itinerary and we had 4 kids between us aged 1, 3, 3, and 5. I really fancied adding Russia into our itinerary as from Helsinki you can visit St Petersburg and get a free 72 hour visa if you go via ferry. It was quite complicated and we decided not to as our trip was packed enough. It was amazing to spend so much time in forests and surrouded by nature. Even when we were in cities it didn’t feel that we were in a city.

So largely I prefer to travel via train but if you have older kids/no kids you can certainly travel via bus-it’s incredibly cheap and they are of a great standard particularly in the Baltic’s. For my ferries I tend to always book via Direct Ferries. I find they give you all the options and compare providers which is really useful. You can find their website here…

https://www.directferries.co.uk/

Stockholm to Riga (Latvia) will cost you about £130 for a 4 berth inside cabin and Stockholm to Helsinki for a 4 berth inside cabin will set you back about £160. If you wanted to visit St Petersburg I would definately go from Helsinki or Tallinn as from Stockholm it’s 38 hours and for me that’s a bit long. We were a bit worried on the ferry we wouldn’t have a great deal to do but the kids absolutely loved it. We travelled with Viking, they had an amazing soft play and kids club onboard and we paid for the buffet, it was €32 with unlimited food and wine and the kids went free so for us it was great value and the food was so impressive. Honestly it was such a fun part of our trip I would really recommend it.

You get some amazing views on the ferry out of Stockholm

Aside from our ferry we used trains in Oslo/Sweden, (our decision to stay in Karlstad was based purely on the fact it’s roughly halfway between Oslo and Stockholm) which you can find on the SJ website, it’s easy to navigate-all in English and the key is advance booking. In late August you can get a high speed train from Gotenberg to Stockholm for £15 one way (a steal-I think) you don’t pay for infants on laps and we bought tickets for the three year olds cause we didn’t want them on knees but they were much cheaper than adult tickets and I think (but don’t quote me) they can go without a ticket.

Cinnamon buns providing us a quiet train journey

Bus travel in the baltics is really cheap, the train networks aren’t great but if your kids are good travellers or older or you are on a solo trip it’s definitely worth looking at. You can go between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for around €10 a trip with an average of 4 hours per journey. I’d take the 3 year old but wouldn’t risk the baby yet as he’s a high energy boy.

Accomodation. We stayed in some really exciting places. Obviously budget was on our mind and this is where Scandinavia can cost you. Budget was generally £30-£50 a night, sometimes it was cheaper but this was per family so I don’t think rediculous-if you were travelling with a friend you’d split the cost and when we go next I will check out more hostels etc. Here’s a little breakdown of our digs….

Oslo-Traditional Wood cabin Airbnb

Karlstad-wooden cabin at Campsite

Stockholm-Boat Hostel/Hotel

Overnight Ferry

Helsinki-we had an incredible apartment found on Airbnb

Estonia-Projekt kodu eco retreat and hostel

Tallinn-Apartment near the old town (found on Airbnb)

Highlights for each place for me we’re: Oslo-the waterfronts, lovely neighbourhoods and incredible forests.

Karlstad-the campsite, again being in the most incredible forest and the playground in the city, I can’t explain how awesome it is!

Stockholm-I have too many here, I’ve written a blog on Stockholm which you can find here…. https://www.bexytravels.com/europe/Stockholm

Helsinki-The shopping!!! Kids shops were INSANE…..if you love toys (like me) Moomins, good food and ethereal, stylish humans you will enjoy helsinki.

Loksa/Laheema National Park-Projekt kodu was a particular highlight, biking through the forest was wonderful and also the food.

Tallinn-again I could say a lot as it’s one of my favourite cities but I would definately say Telleskivi the creative quarter and eating at Rakatsaevu 16 and pizza kana klook (voted 16th best pizza worldwide).

My staples when looking for accommodation are www.booking.com and Airbnb but when you’ve found somewhere it’s always worth checking directly with the property as their rates may be better. Our pals Becky, Flynn and Freya can be found over at http://www.wishesandwellies.com

Is there anything else you’d like me to cover? You can always drop me a comment below or contact me via Instagram.

The wonderful showers and Sauna at projekt Kodu

Have been to any of these countries? Ever fancied it? I’d love to hear about it if you have!

Rebecca Currie 6/10/19 Rebecca Currie 6/10/19

Why you should book that £30 flight to Stockholm…

Stockholm.

Anyone else looked at those Ryanair £30 return flights and just thought there’s probably nothing to do/it’s cold/too expensive when you are there? Yeah me too. I was so wrong. From our 12 day Scandi adventure it was probably my favourite place and I can’t wait to return.

Here’s 8 reasons to go:

1. It is such a cultural hybrid. Parts of Paris, cute Italian style cobbled streets, Eastern European style old buildings, Scandi design

2. It has the most beautiful old town (Gamla Stan) which is on its own island.

3. It has the most wonderful cafe culture, the city has the best coffee shops and cinnamon buns! 4. It has the coolest Scandi shops. If you are shopping for kids clothes or homewares or grown up clothes you will be in heaven!

5. There’s a whole island filled with museums and there’s something for everyone! ABBA, junibacken (kids story museum), Viking ship museum, Skansen Swedish open air museum and then a fab fairground. 6. Swedish meatballs. (That’s a reason right?)

7. There’s nature everywhere. Take a boat, there’s so many cool islands to explore. 8. Ferry links are awesome. You can get to Helsinki, Tallinn, St Petersburg and Riga for really good prices-making it a great option for a twin centre.

A cute square in Gamla Stan, really reminded me of Paris!

Martzen trotzigs-the 3rd most narrow alley in Europe.

The low-down. How can I bag a bargain break to Stockholm? Ok so my top tips would be to grab yourself a cheap flight, Ryanair are offering £30 returns in September from various London airports. Take a small backpack to avoid paying for your luggage, get an early morning flight and a later one back and stay for 2 nights, that should give you 48 hours. I’d stay for a week but you’d still get a great taster of it. I’d reccomend a stay at STF Rygerfjord hotel and Hostel. It’s actually a boat and for £96 you can get two nights for 2 people. That would be a shared bathroom and bunk beds but for £114 you can get a private bathroom and a double. So if you are a travelling duo you can comfortably get two nights in Stockholm for £100 each. If you head over to https://booking.com/s/bef5cf2a With this link you will get £15 for your first booking and so will I.

You can rack up the ££ when you are there (although I don’t think it’s as pricey as folk say) but you totally don’t have to. Try Greasy Spoon for American diner style food in a massively insta worthy setting and Kaffebar for fuss free and delicious brunch (For those interested, this was a favorite spot of Stieg Larsson as he wrote The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.) There’s some great value lunch options too, try Herman’s for a veggie/vegan buffet or meatballs for the people if you are more of a carnivore.

Use public transport, download the free app SL and buy your tickets on there as I don’t think you can buy on the bus/tram. If you like museums and touristy things I would buy a Stockholm pass (around £55) and hit the big things on one day to utilise it. I’m not a museum person at all but I will make an exception here as there were so many I wanted to try and most are included with the pass, as is the bus tour. You can purchase here… https://www.stockholmpass.com/mobile-prices/

So there you have a mini budget guide, I’d love to visit in winter too but a friend from Stockholm once said you have to go in summer and I’m really glad we did, it was beautiful.

For our Scandi adventure we teamed up with our Friends Becky, Flynn and Freya over at http://www.wishesandwellies.com check Becky out for incredible pictures and kids fashion!

Rebecca Currie 5/15/19 Rebecca Currie 5/15/19

Pisa and southern Tuscany

Anyone ever seen the rolling hills of Tuscany and thought you need to make it your next trip? I’m going to guess most of you are saying hell yes…..I think Italy and particularly Tuscany has a rep of being all the £££ but it’s not actually the case, you can totally do it on a budget and I will do a little overview of how and what to see/do.

You can pretty much always fly to Pisa for £70…. I have actually found flights to Pisa in August for £54 so even if you are after a summer holiday break you can find really reasonable flights. They are ryanair jobby’s so you would need to add luggage but you still can’t grumble for that.

Accommodation. Here’s where Airbnb is your best friend. You can get some beautiful places to stay for a really good price if you are in a group, if you want something family friendly I love Park Albatross so much. It’s technically a euro camp but don’t let that put you off, the new mobile homes are amazing and the facilities are literally incredible. For August you can get a family of 5 for £600 but in early Sept you can get it for much cheaper, around £216 for a week for a family of 5.

One of the amazing pools at Park Albatross

I have also visited Florence a few times (which I will cover in a different post) and there is so much more to Tuscany and this is just a small part of it but a really good way to start. I am assuming you can hire a car/are happy to but we did this all with an amazing taxi service because there was 11 of us and it was just easiest.

We have just come back from a 3 day hen trip and this is how our itinerary shaped up.

Sunday-Flight into Pisa, when you arrive jump on the ‘Pisa Mover’ from the airport into the city, its 2.70 euro for a single and it only takes 10 minutes. Once you get to Pisa you only need a day really to see the sights….this doesn’t mean you should skip it, far from it. As with always in Italy the architecture is stunning and obviously the food is incredible. For lunch I would definitely reccomend grabbing a sandwich at I Porci Comodi-the porchetta is incredible (and you must try the green sauce) you can get Vegan and Veggie options too and a huge sandwich will only set you back around 5 Euro.

After a wander (and mooch in Sephora) we got the train down to San Vincenzo which took 1 hour (it’s the Roma Centrale train). It costs €7 for a single and as with all Italian trains is super comfy. We arrived to our lovely taxi drivers from Taxi SAN Vincenzo, they were incredible and took us everywhere, were so accommodating when we changed everything around and just really lovely. If you are in the area you should definitely use them :)

Elba Island When I looked into Tuscan beaches I stumbled upon Elba……I was so surprised it is the 3rd largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia of course. The beaches and snorkelling looked stunning and we were only 20 minutes from the ferry port of Piombino so it was a no-brainer. The ferry took an hour, was £28 PP return, I imagine more cost effective if you take a car and Portoferraio was stunning. We climbed the town hills, chilled on the beach, ate delicious pizza, had drinks in the harbour it was the perfect day. If you visit the area and have time I would seriously reccomend it and I’d love to go back for an overnight stay as there’s some other beautiful beaches and towns I’d love to see.

The wife outside  a beautiful little cafe — The wife outside a beautiful little cafe

Another must do in Tuscany is visit the hot springs. Again I hadn’t realised how many towns there were with hot springs but the Saturnia came on my radar….(Damn you instagram) It’s stunning but anyway we didn’t go there HA we did go to Venturina Terme to Calidario estruche which was also lovely! It’s €32 for entry to the hot springs and the Spa (which is essentially a sauna, steam room, indoor pool with massage jets and rain shower) or €19 if you just want to use the outdoor springs. You get around 4 hours which is just a wonderful relaxed way to spend the afternoon.

The beautiful hot springs at Venturina Terme

For our evening we went to an amazing little find near the town of Campiglia Marritima. Il goccetto is a wine bar that serves the most amazing local food, “cutting boards” of meats, cheeses, breads, veg and local dishes. The service is incredible and the wine delicious, we paid a set price and the food just kept coming.

Pisa-the day we flew home we had until 1.30 so headed back to Pisa on the train, there’s luggage storage at the station for €5 for the day which for me makes Pisa the perfect place to stay for a day on route to your next destination. We grabbed our all important Tower pic (it’s brilliant fun and fun to watch, you have leave your pride behind) and the cathedral is stunning and not to be overloooked. We had a really great brunch and coffee, I would definitely reccomend Filter coffee-only a few minutes from the tower and does get crowded as it’s clearly super popular with locals.

Other places to try in Pisa: Vicolo Divino- wine tasting Il Ristoro della pe-cheap pasta dishes Trattoria la ghiotteria

Have you been to Tuscany? I’d love to hear any other tips!

Rebecca Currie 4/23/19 Rebecca Currie 4/23/19

Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris

Ok pals so here’s a little breakdown of how to fit as much in at Disneyland In two days as poss without spending forever queuing, cause let’s face it nobody needs to spend the day queuing at the most magical place on earth….

Disneyland Paris…..where do we start?

I’ve broken it down so this one is how to make the most of your visit and get as much in as possible. I’m assuming you have one day but if you don’t I would say go to Disney studios on the second day, use the lineberty app to meet and greet characters (you can’t just queue) which is fab as you can “get in line” on your phone to save you so much time and waiting around. I would do this and then go to the parade at the main park/redo any rides in the main park on your second day, then anything you’ve missed you can go back to. The Studios park isn’t worth a trip on its own but 100% worth a visit….if that makes sense? I will do a separate post on studios.

So, back to the main park……I would strongly recommend a couple of things;

•Download the Disneyland Paris app. It’s definately not perfect but gives decent info, opening times, parade times, character meets and also tells you ride wait times which is wonderful.

•Get there as early as you can, buy tickets online and get in the Queue, you need to be through the gates when it opens.

•If you are staying in a Disney hotel get your extra magic time in!

•Be prepared to eat early. Nobody wants to spend their day queuing for food, get an early start, early breakfast and have lunch around 11-11.30. You won’t have to wait and will pretty much get a table.

So I’m going to be assuming you have adults and kids/are as a group and can go on any ride. You get 2 fast passes per day, per entry ticket and this guide assumes you are there off peak.

8.30-9.30 is extra magic time (if you stay at the Disney hotels/are an annual pass holder) so if you can get in at this time I would head to the castle and grab yourself a picture before it gets too busy and straight into Fantasyland to Peter pans flight. I would then do the following:

Dumbo It’s a small world Mad hatters teacups The carousel-if you fancy it, it’s not spectacular but you would probably have time. If you have a princess obsessed little one I would get inline for a meet and greet prior to 10am (opening time) as you will wait for 90 minutes any other point in the day. You will still have to wait but it will be much better.

Asssuming it’s about 9.30 head over to Frontierland and straight to the Q for big thunder mountain. I wouldn’t use a Fastpass here as if you arrive around opening time you won’t have to wait long. If you haven’t got extra magic time you have two options, if you are mainly there for the kids do fantasyland as above or if you like the grown up rides go over to Indiana Jones, again the wait hopefully won’t be too long but you might want to use a fast pass if it is. Then head to pirates of the carribbean, I find it’s never too busy normally a half an hour wait and you can’t get a Fastpass.

After this you have a couple of options, I’m assuming it’s around 10.30 you could head to Discoveryland and get your Hyperspace mountain, theres also buzz Lightyear space blast you can get a Fastpass for but if you do have one left I’d probably go for startours as you still have to wait for about 15 minutes even if you have a Fastpass. This is my least favourite area, not because I don’t love toy story, the rides are just not my favourite. Orbitron and Nautilus are worth checking out if the wait isn’t too long. My hubby really likes the rides in Discoveryland so he got there first last visit and went on hyperspace mountain without using a Fastpass so it does depend on what you enjoy.

My preference is to eat before Discoveryland (send somebody to get a space mountain Fastpass) I like to eat in Frontierland-the Mexican fuente del Oro…..it’s definately not fancy but fills you up and if you get in when it opens (I think 11am) you won’t Q and get a table.

After Discoveryland I like to check any character greets on the app and also any shows/the daytime parade. If nothings on I like to check a couple of shops and then head back to fantasyland to go for:

•Blanche Neiges et les sept Nains (Snow White) which is an underrated ride that generally has a smaller Q •Alice’s curious Labrynth which is a cool maze but no need to do early as you don’t have to wait •The land of fairytales there’s a sweet boat ride and runaway train suitable for infants, just past small world and there’s often a character appear near the gate. •Sleeping beauty’s castle and the famous dragon-allow plenty of time for a wander here. All of these are perfect for any age and nice for the smalls to burn off steam and explore.

Head back to Frontierland/Adventureland and go for •Adventure Isle •Les Cabane des Robinson •Thunder Mesa riverboat landing Again all small person friendly. If you cut through back towards the castle you can check out Aladdin’s enchanted passage which is cool and underrated. I would then use this time to pass through Main Street USA, check out the shops and then go on the Disney Railroad (one of my favourite things).

We love a genie pic! You can usually find him near Aladdin’s passage.

During winter the main Parade is on at 17.30 and I would recommend to get a spot early (45 mins) on Main Street so this is your time to pull the snacks out with the smalls. After this you have until closing time for the illuminations so you can go back to anything you have missed (I’ve obviously left out a few bits like phantom manor) or anything you really like….most people watch the parade so if you are quick afterwards you may squeeze back on a popular one.

For me the parade is the best bit but I would reccomend 3 days if you can so you may not need to watch it twice. If you have the time/money I would have 2-3 days/2-3 nights and do day one as above, day two start in studios and finish in the main park again so you could always catch the parade on the second day. I have also assumed that like me you have travelled as part of a group but if you are in a duo with a little one you can use the single rider lanes and also my 3 year old has done a lot of these rides, obviously not space mountain, big thunder, Indiana Jones but quite a few.

If you did do the three days you can definately break this into two and target one section on one morning and a different one another. So If you had a 3 day pass you could take your time, my 3 day itinerary would look like this:

Day 1-Main Disney park, Fantasyland 1st thing and explore it properly, head for Peter Pan, then Dumbo then Small world then the rest of it (send somebody to get big thunder mountain fast passes and do that next then get Indiana Jones Fastpass while you do pirates.

Day 2-head to studios park (will do a separate post)

Day 3-Disney Park again, start in Discoveryland, buzz’s spaceblast (no Fastpass) then hyperspace mountain, Orbitron and nautilus then head back to anything you missed/want to repeat from day one.

This above would give you plenty of time to see everything/shop and explore the Disney village outside the park. You could go home on the final day in the evening as you will have already seen the parade and illuminations on the first day.

I will do a separate guide on practical tips/booking and a separate post on the studios park. Please let me know if you want to know anything else and if you have any other useful tips for DLP.

Rebecca Currie 4/23/19 Rebecca Currie 4/23/19

Tallinn in winter

Fairytale buildings, snowy landscapes, saunas and british stags……Tallinn seems to be known for pretty specific reasons but I’ve been desperate to go for a while and it didn’t disappoint.

I’m not going to lie, this is largely an account of how much food I ate in 3 days. As we were child free, we were seeking some relaxation, food drinks and pretty streets to wander and it certainly delivered on those fronts. I think one of my favourite things about Tallinn is there isn’t a tick list of sights, you can just go and soak in the pretty town, eat glorious food, enjoy the sauna culture and enjoy the snow.

The low-down:

Flights-Ryanair cheap job £73 each return from Stansted (that included 2 bags between 4 of us)

Hotel-Raddisson Blu Olumpia fab hotel with small (but lovely pool and sauna on top floor). Easy walk to the old town, around 15 minutes and rooms were clean and comfortable. It was £269 for 2 for 3 nights. We wanted a nice hotel but you get some amazing airbnbs which are great value!

Spends- £150 for 3 nights (Friday to Monday)

Activities- 2 hour spa visit at Tallink spa and hotel which came in at 20 euros. Everything else we did was free (exploring) or involved eating.

Logistics-5-10 euros to get from the airport and only a 10 minute drive, you can get a local cab or an uber (not much price difference). We also got a taxi to Kalamaja as the snow was pretty heavy but we walked back, the city is very walkable but when the taxis are cheap and the weather is really cold we succumbed. You can head to the port to get a ferry to Riga, Helsinki, St Peters and Stockholm. (Around 20 euros for a day return to helsinki and 2 hours each way).

How we spent our 3 days

Friday- Lunch at Lido. So apparently Lido is a bit of an institution in Tallinn, it’s a buffet restaurant in the Solaris shopping mall (about 5 minutes from our hotel and about the same from the old town). You go in and its a buffet, some self serve and some you ask the folk behind the counter. The selection is amazing and its really hard not to eat everything, you are best looking around first to scope out what you’d like. The fried potatoes are a must and there os tonnes of meat, fish, vegetable dishes, desserts, pancake bar, salad bar, soups, bread-basically everything. The food is delicious, my only criticism is can be a bit cold-maybe because we visited during a quieter time. Its super cheap (you pay per item) a huge plate of potatoes is about 1 euro 50 and meats and fish tend to be 2-4 euros…….for 2 big plates of food and a salad plate and mulled wine I paid 13 euro but you could seriously spend less, I’m just greedy! After a quick walk round the old town I made the team trek to Rost for coffee and cardamom buns and also a little stop off at the iconic Kalev chocolate shop. On the way back I dragged everyone to Babulja for THE most incredible giant blinis (the soured cream type with apple and the cheese and ham……YOU ARE WELCOME) and some pretty awesome cocktails.

Saturday- We chose not to have breakfast at our hotel as it was on the pricey side and well thats my favourite meal of the day. We headed in an uber to Telliskivi creative quarter which is a magical little community in the old fishing town of Kalamaja. Think east london/brick lane meets a cool european food market. As we were out a bit late we missed breakfast at the super popular Fhoone (I would recommend booking) and ended up having lunch which was pretty awesome. We also wandered round the indie, arty shops which is absolutely my bag and if you are a keen photographer and enjoy street art this is the area for you! I would 100% take a trip to the Balti Jaama food market as its like a estonian version of the mercado de la boqueria in barcelona you can get so much, the usual fresh stuff but also hot street food and there’s a vintage and flea market upstairs-try the bao buns there too. From here it’s an easy walk to the old town and we walked round the walls, saw some pretty impressive look-outs, the stunning Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and explored the cute alley-ways. In the square look out for the town hall, there’s the coolest little pub called III Draakon, everyone’s dressed in medieval clothing and it’s super dark inside, you can get beer, cider and possibly wine, they have pies for snacking (Apple alllllll day) for about a euro and elk soup for about 1.50. It’s criticised a fair bit as being a novelty and the staff being quite rude but we loved it and found the staff lovely so I would put it on the list!

Pegasus-Ok I’m going to talk about Pegasus. I was told to go to Rataskaevu 16 which is voted the best restaurant in the city. We couldn’t get in so booked at their sister restaurant Pegasus. It was incredible. The service, the food, cocktails, the best bread and butter I’ve ever eaten (I’ve eaten a lot) all those little details. For the quality it was so reasonably priced and I can’t wait to return. I had the beef tail confit and then the Roe deer striploin and they were unreal…..they were also so good at catering for my sisters dairy allergy and even though they tweaked her dish really put loads of thought into her alternative. When I go back to Tallinn in june I am definitely going to book Rataskaevu as they even have a children’s play area which is pretty much the dream for a food-loving mama.

Sunday-Sunday was our chill day started off with pancakes at the famous Kompressor. It’s apparently the only restaurant in the old town locals will actually eat as its so authentic and the portions are huge. For about 10 euros I got a coffee, a coke (I was hanging-don’t judge) a huge pancake, garlic bread side and potato balls. The garlic bread is weird like deep fried rye bread with a garlicky dip-still delish though, you can get sweet and savoury pancakes, both yum and you order at the counter. Again service is very eastern europe, direct but for me friendly and I would again say you need to book but you need to go. In the afternoon we headed to the Tallink spa and conference centre for a relaxation sesh….weekdays are cheaper at 14 euros for 3 hours but as it was the weekend it was 20 euros. It’s not that fancy but we had a fab time, there’s lots of different sauna rooms which is expected in the land of saunas and some cool pools and my favourite part, a swim up bar. Kids are welcome too and you can stay there. We were tempted by this hotel but they are renovating which put me off slightly. We had a super fun and relaxing afternoon.

That evening we wanted to head to Kaja pizza Kook but gutted to find they had shut (our mistake as they close when they run out of dough, as we were back near Telleskivi we thought we would check out Lendav Taldrik which is a quirky indian restaurant with high ceilings and old fashioned tables. The food was good (similar to uk prices) but portions were huge. I think they do a lunch deal too. There are conflicting reviews for this place about horrible service but again we enjoyed our food and service was good for us.

Our flight home was fairly early Monday and I would of happily spent a week there 3 days is enough to do plenty. I am returning in June as part of my Scandinavia and Baltics tour with the smalls and there’s a few things I will check out that I didn’t do this time:

Kadriorg palace and gardens
Lahemaa national park
Seaplane harbour maritime museum
The beach
The edgewalk at TV Tower
BIking tour

I also have more restaurants I want to visit but if anyone has anymore tips for Tallinn or Estonia in general please drop them in the comments.