Our top family travel of 2018

There’s nothing like those quiet days between Christmas and New Year to look back over the past 12 months, take stock and plan for the future. Although comparing our top family travel of 2018 to the wishlist from last January, I’ve not quite managed to tick anything off very decisively.

But we did fit in 32 trips and days out, including one brand new country for me – although the list also included a few new areas for countries I’ve visited before, with a new slice of Greece, a new European capital and a couple of sunny islands.

So as I dither over where to go in 2019 – total number of confirmed trips: One. Total number of confirmed family trips: um. Zero – here are our 2018 highlights, a year of family travel.

January family travel

2018 got off to an impressively slow start with not a single trip! Admittedly we were moving house, so I had plenty of packing and unpacking to entertain me, but it’s the first time in years that I haven’t even managed a month with at least a day out (unless you count a few hours wandering around east London for work).

Perhaps I should start the #take12trips challenge again for 2019?!

February family travel

A trip to brighten the grey days of winter at last, with a short break in Porto – I love Portugal and Porto has been on my wishlist for a while. So after spotting some cheap flights, we headed out to explore the city.

With port tasting, picturesque streets and plenty for kids to do in Porto, it’s a fantastic family city break… although apart from a few hours of sunshine on the first day, we weren’t quite as lucky at brightening up winter as I’d hoped. The rain, it rained every day.

My daughter still judges any bad weather against quite how rainy it was in Porto.

March family travel

Two more city breaks for March – a taste of Italy for me, staying with a group of some of my favourite family travel bloggers in a huge villa in Tuscany, where we ate and drank like there was no tomorrow.

Fortunately we had plenty of walking around beautiful Siena and fascinating Florence to counteract it (apart from a spot of gelato eating on the way).

And if the intermittent rain there wasn’t quite as torrential as Porto, I was more than ready for blue skies which finally came courtesy of Bristol after the Beast from the East departed, snow and all.

It’s not just the weather which makes a lasting impression on my daughter as we travel either: We The Curious, Bristol’s fantastic science museum, is now firmly one of Minnie’s favourites and inspired the theme of our ‘curious’ short break.

April family travel

To say I was ready for some proper sun by April was an understatement – so after more dithering about what to do at Easter (resolution for 2019: dither less), I narrowly missed out on a great deal in Mexico… and found myself snapping up another discounted break to the Malaysian island of Langkawi.

Although I visited mainland Malaysia almost 20 years ago, I’ve never been to the islands before. I don’t think we could have done much better than Langkawi though, even if we accidentally timed our visit during the two-week period that the famous Skycab cable car and Skywalk bridge were closed for annual maintenance.

Despite that, there’s loads for kids to do in Langkawi, including some fascinating tours into the mangroves to spot eagles and the hugely fun 3D or ‘trick eye’ art museum where we entertained ourselves posing for photos against improbable backgrounds.

Given her way, I think my daughter would have spent the whole week by the amazing pool at our hotel, The Danna Langkawi.

And as we both needed a chance to chill out in the sun, I let her have her way quite a bit!

Back home again, we squeezed a day out at Windsor Castle in to the rest of the Easter holidays, before I headed off alone once more on the launch voyage of Norwegian Bliss.

The heatwave we got in compensation for the months of chill had started to kick in, so while Bremerhaven to Southampton isn’t the most scenic route, I had chance to kick back in the sun with a drink (and a cupcake) in between discovering all the reasons Norwegian Bliss is great for families. Not least the race track!

As I failed to fit in a family cruise for 2018, perhaps 2019 is the time to make that happen?

May family travel

Getting properly into our travel stride, we started the month with a mini road trip around East Anglia, including a stay by the seaside in Suffolk at lovely Aldeburgh – as it turned out, some of 2018’s most memorable trips were in the UK, and this was a perfect reminder of how much I still have to discover in my home country.

Then another visit to Windsor before the flag waving of the royal wedding to see us through to half-term and a twin city break. First, Estonia (and my first Ryanair flight in years) to see the beautiful capital Tallinn.

The Old Town is as picturesque as it looks and heaven for photographers – but it’s not the only reason to visit the Estonian capital.

From the historic city walls and towers to the beach, the museums and the parks, we needed longer than a few days to fit in all there is for kids to do in Tallinn, although I did find a couple of hours to sneak off and visit the grimly fascinating KGB museum too.

Then onto the ferry which sails from the Estonian capital to the Finnish one, with a few more days in Helsinki – our first of two trips to Finland in 2018. A city without the iconic must-see sights of most others in Europe, its low-key attractions are perfect for families.

Wandering around the fortress island of Suomenlinna was one of the highlights, although I won’t quickly forget the bracing waters of the Baltic sea pool at the harbour either.

Fortunately there are also heated pools, including one for children, among plenty of other things to do with kids in Helsinki. After the budget costs of Tallinn, Helsinki’s famously high prices did make a purse-wincing contrast, so if you visit, it’s worth considering the the Helsinki card which saved us more than a few Euros.

June family travel

While I couldn’t manage a full family cruise this year, my daughter did get to go back on board one herself with a day on Celebrity Silhouette to test out their Anturus Explorer Academy programme in the kids’ club, based around STEM subjects.

As she helped design a boat, I got a new experience too… eating a locust (top tip, take the wings off first and it could almost be a roasted peanut. Almost).

And some magic to balance the science, with a night at the Harry Potter studio tours, along with My Travel Monkey to see the launch of some new items from the Goblet of Fire.

One of my top days out for Harry Potter fans, it’s the first time I’ve been back since the launch of the Hogwarts Express – although I’m sure it won’t be the last.

Then time for some more beach – a weekend with friends in Kent, including a day in Broadstairs to check the ice cream at Morelli’s is as good as our first visit in 2013 (it is).

And another weekend on my own, discovering the rather more grown-up side to family-friendly Menorca. Because while the island is a great place for a summer holiday, it’s also just as good for an adults-only escape, with short flights, vineyards, cliffside bars, food galore and pretty Mahon to explore.

July family travel

We’d chosen a good summer to stay in the UK, determined to go to a few places I’d been intending for years to visit with my daughter.

Starting with Mayfield Lavender farm, with the bees buzzing among the blooms, then a day in the Oxfordshire countryside with friends and their new baby – reminiscing about Minnie’s own first ‘big day out’ in Oxford and taking a walk along the river.

Followed by another first for her, with a visit to the West End to celebrate the start of the annual Kids’ Week theatre discounts (which now last for a month) and a taste of some of London’s top family shows.

Plus some celeb-spotting in Bristol, where we searched for Wallace and Gromit (and Feathers McGraw) and found them in spades on the Gromit Unleashed 2 trail with statues across the city.

Our first stop? We The Curious, naturally (and a chance to make our own clay Gromit) plus a lot of walking to discover more of the city.

August family travel

My plan for the summer holidays had been to fit in a string of mini breaks away, rather than one big summer holiday – plus some exploring around London.

In the end, we managed so many mini breaks, that London had to take something of a back seat, with just time for a trip to the National Gallery and the Museum of London, and a day at Black Park in nearby Buckinghamshire.

Between that, we found Romans in Chester and Victorians at Blists Hill in Ironbridge, Shropshire, along with bears on the Isle of Wight (to go with the dinosaurs we spotted on our previous visit).

And some more beach, of course. What’s a holiday without a bit of paddling?

September family travel

Not that you can ever have too much beach, I decided, with one last-minute mini escape to West Sussex just before term started again. The sun was still shining and I got to add to my list of my favourite sandy beaches in Sussex.

As ever, there wasn’t quite enough time and a visit to Arundel Castle (castles coming a close second to beaches for me and Minnie) has been postponed to the future…

Then two more trips without my daughter – something of a record year for me since she was born! An overnight escape to Essex with my husband for our wedding anniversary, where I managed to get out of organising the trip (even rarer than a child-free escape) and a short break for work in Corsica.

It’s part of France which has always fascinated me, and somewhere I’d love to explore more with Minnie, although the chance to soak in the scenery on our train journey between Bastia and Calvi without a bored six-year-old demanding entertainment was a novelty!

More to come on that trip… my other 2019 resolution is to make more time to fit everything into the day. Hmmm.

October family travel

A final taste of sun, sand and sea with a half-term escape to Corfu – our only October trip, apart from a day out at Bocketts Farm in Surrey for my niece’s birthday. I’m sure I start to hibernate as the hour changes…

I’m a big fan of the Greek islands, and as our mini island hop in 2017 proved, Greece is fantastic with kids (if you ever doubted it).

And Corfu had plenty of its own attractions, including the Venetian history of its capital, picturesque villages in the mountains, flamingos by a lake and a beach that featured in a Bond film. More to come on that trip too…

November family travel

Coming back after half-term always signals the start of winter proper for me… and that means Christmas. Our big trip this month was to Stoke-on-Trent, the place where I grew up, but somewhere that’s usually overlooked for a UK city break.

With plenty of hands-on activities, including the chance to make pots and Christmas tree decorations, as well as winter walks to blow the cobwebs away, it was also a great way to start getting into the festive mood.

And one more London day out for my list – although somehow we still haven’t managed to get to the Tower of London (or quite a few of my other planned London days out for 2018) – with a visit to the renovated Gunnersbury Park Museum, in Gunnersbury House, once owned by the Rothschilds.

December family travel

But to truly get into the Christmas mood, we couldn’t have done better than our final trip of the year – and perhaps the most memorable of all: a Santa break in Lapland including snowmobiling, husky sledding and a reindeer sleigh ride.

Some of my favourite memories are being up on the snowy hill outside our hotel, Levi Panorama, playing around in the snowy woods and on the drifts, pretending the fairytale landscape really was Narnia (and accidentally dropping both my phone and a handwarmer into one of the drifts.

Next time, my tips include packing more handwarmers as we never did find ours!).

But if our last family travel of 2018 was one of our best holidays, it’s been another great year to look back on. We might not have ventured as far as 2017, with just one trip outside Europe, and we had one entirely travel-free month – but we fitted in more trips, even if they were shorter.

The constant when it comes to our family travel experiences? Firstly the variety, with long-haul and staycations, city breaks and the peaceful Malaysian mangroves, sand and snow.

And secondly, the fact that our actual travel list looks very little like the wishlist I drew up in January. Perhaps I should keep dithering, and simply see where the wind takes us in 2019 – or let you decide? What would you put on a 2019 family travel wishlist?

Images copyright MummyTravels

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