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This summer we spent 10 days on the Dalmatian island Vis, THE FARTHEST ISLAND from Croatia´s mainland. As the island was once a military zone and therefore inaccessible to all foreigners it has retained its CHARM and can truly be called “the Mediterranean as it once was”. We like Vis because of its uncrowded BEACHES, little stone house VILLAGES and the small islands around where you can amongst other swim in CAVES.
We saw quite A LOT OF FAMILIES TRAVELLING WITH KIDS of different age and we can understand why. It is EASY TO TRAVEL, your kids will be treated like celebrities, HYGIENE and SAFETY are not a problem, the DESSERT IS LIKE A HUGE SANDBOX, the FOOD is delicious and there are many nice BEACHES to choose from. So if you are searching for your next destination, Morocco might just be the one.
About a year ago we were boarding a plane, flying to Casablanca to start our Moroccan adventure. All together we made a little over 2000km in 14 days, going from Casablanca to Fes, through Midelt over the Atlas mountains to Merzouga, Todra and Dades gorges to Ouarzazate from where we drove back over the Atlas to Marrakech, Essaouira, Oualidia, El Jadida and ended our trip Casablanca. We were amazed by so many DIFFERENT LANDSCAPES, from snowy mountains to deserts, beaches, gorges, modern cities and old souqs, markets, medinas and kasbahs. Although there are many bus tour groups and other travellers you can still find many peaceful places where you have the nature all to yourself. The locals simply adore the children and that made travelling with a 2-year-old even nicer.
Sicily – one of those ideal destinations for a short AUTUMN VACATION, if you live somewhere in Europe, that is. Lu was just about to turn 2 and we thought we could use the last free plane ticket he was entitled to. So, we found flights from LEIPZIG (which is not that far from us) to TRAPANI and back, for a very good price. We had one week time and decided to rent a car and explore the west part of the island. Sicily is quite big and there is much to see, although it might not seem so on the first look. We went pretty lucky with the weather and were even swimming in the sea in the middle of October. The highlights of the week were definitely the friendly people who love children, excellent food and an amazing mix of architectural styles.
Sicily is perfect for travelling with your little ones. Why? First, if you (like us) live in Europe, the flights are not going to be too long and you can get them for a good price. And even if you come from far away you should definitely consider visiting Sicily if you are doing an Europe trip or just visiting Italy. Second, THE CLIMATE is mild in the winter months, making it a great place to visit all year around. There are BEACHES, mountains, historical places and lots of GOOD FOOD, so there is something for everybody. Third, The locals are extremely CHILDREN FRIENDLY and there is just so much to see and explore that nobody will feel bored.
In 2010 we visited BRELA on our DALMATIAN ROAD TRIP, but only stayed shortly. So when we were deciding on where to go this summer, we remembered the nice beaches around here and thought it would be great for Lu also – and we were off. Brela is surrounded by ADRIATIC SEA on one side and the mighty BIOKOVO MOUNTAINS on the other – a really spectacular combination.
Children are most welcome everywhere and the LOCAL PEOPLE will be more than happy to interact with them. There are PLAYGROUNDS in most of the places we visited and where there are none, there are enough stones or sand to play with. We found Oman to be a very suitable country for travelling with kids, CAR DRIVING was not a problem and the DISTANCES are not too big. The FLIGHT from Europe was not too long also and there is only 2 hours time difference. In 2 WEEKS YOU CAN SEE A LOT, without making the trip too tiring for the little ones. I would avoid going there in the HIGH SUMMER, because of the extremely high temperatures, but the rest of the year should not be a problem. I must say we did not meet any family travelling around, only quite a few expact families with small children living in Muscat.
Our FIRST BIG TRIP OUT OF EUROPE WITH LU. We were deciding on where to go for quite some time and after we excluded all the other destinations on the shortlist, Oman was our winner. Lu was a bit over 1 YEAR OLD and was getting more independent, so we thought nothing can really go wrong. In SPRING it´s still not too hot down there and it´s pretty easy to rent and DRIVE A CAR, gas is cheap, the landscape is awesome and there are almost no tourists. The flight wasn´t too long also and too expensive, plus there is only two hours TIME DIFFERENCE with Germany, which means – no jetlag. What more could you ask for? We did not know anybody who was already there so we got all the information from guidebooks and internet. It turned out to be a great holiday and the genuine FRIENDLINESS OF THE LOCALS made us feel more than welcome.
We decided to spent part of this year´s summer on the famous Dalmatian island Hvar, which has the reputation of being THE SUNNIEST ADRIATIC ISLAND and is even amongst the sunniest places in the whole Europe, considering the hours of sun in the whole year. And really, in 2 weeks we were there we had literately no clouds! In the last years Hvar has developed into ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TOURIST SPOTS in Croatia and one can directly see why. There are also many CELEBRITIES stopping here with their yachts every year, there are numerous very good restaurants, bars and clubs in Hvar town, but just a short car drive out of the town you can enjoy nature pure. We decided to stay in a smaller village called ZAVALA, which was much more peaceful. This was also our first family summer beach holiday with Lu, who was just 8 months old at that time.
I don´t even remember when was the last time I spent a night in a HOTEL in Croatia, since we always stayed either in camping places or private apartments or rented houses, but this time we got it as a gift – a week in Rabac in a very nice hotel. We chose this place because it is close to Slovenia (as we were just on a short visit in the area) and did not want to drive to far and also. We combined the holidays it with exploring OPATIJA and LABIN also, plus we went to an amazing JACK JOHNSON CONCERT in PULA.
