Blog - Page 3 of 26 - places and notes

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TOURISTANBUL | free guided tour from the airport to Istanbul city

Katja May 23, 2023CITY BREAKS, TURKEY 2 Comments

Have you heard of Touristanbul? Such a great option for everyone who travels via Istanbul Airport and has a longer layover between two flights. Exactly one week ago, we were returning home from Doha, Qatar via Istanbul, and since we were flying with Turkish Airlines and had a longer stopover before our flight to Ljubljana, we happily joined this free guided tour of the city. We initially wanted a morning connection to Ljubljana, but the flight was already fully booked, so we had no choice but to book an evening flight. Read more about who is entitled to these Touristanbul trips, how to book them, which one to chose and what our experience was like in this post.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates | what to see and do in 7 days with kids

Katja May 7, 2023CITY BREAKS, FAMILY CITY TRIPS, FAMILY HOLIDAYS, FAMILY TRAVELS, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, WITH KIDS Leave a Comment

Dubai. A city that has been created practically from nothing in the last couple of decades. Where there was once a desert, modern high buildings stand today, among them currently the tallest in the world. A city that somehow never attracted me, a city that always seemed too artificial, too instant, too modern, too impersonal, not enough cute or somehow without a soul. A city I successfully avoided visiting all these years because its story or concept simply did not convince me. Until now. This March I decided to finally fly to Dubai for our first mother & daughter trip with now 1 year old Mila. Because it is safe, developed, not too far away, the temperatures are pleasant in March, we can swim in the sea as well as in the pool, there is loads of interesting things for children as well as for parents. This very same place I was avoiding for so many years ended up surprising me in the best possible way! My expectations were low I admit, but still. Today I can only say, I’m sorry Dubai, I did you wrong. In fact, I find Dubai one of the best or at least one of the most special places in the world and I am really grateful for this week in which we quite successfully combined lazing on the beach and exploring the city. Quite unexpectedly, in the best possible company, as my friend decided to join us with her little girl, who is only four months older than Mila. Read all about why and how to go to Dubai (with children), what to see in a week, where to choose a hotel, how expensive it is, what we liked the most (and what we didn’t like) and more in this post.

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DUBAI | free and cheap things to do and see

Katja March 27, 2023UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Leave a Comment

Dubai. A city of some of the tallest buildings in the world, home to some of the most expensive hotels, craziest cars, prestigious shops and a tax haven in the middle of the desert, which has been successfully attracting some of the richest earthlings for the past decades. Dubai might have a reputation of being a posh travel destination, but is spending a week in this city really that expensive? Well, you can definitely spend hundreds of euros a day here, but you can also experience the city in a completely different, much cheaper, way. We did not spend a fortune in Dubai but ended up having a lovely time and got to see so many interesting sights and do many awesome things. If you are one of the bunch who thinks this is impossible to pull of in Dubai, read this post to the end and you might change your mind.

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ORRIDO DELLO SLIZZA, Italy | beautiful gorge near Tarvisio

Katja March 20, 2023HIKING, ITALY | SICILY Leave a Comment

Ever heard of the gorgeous Orrido dello Slizza gorge in Italy? Most probably not, but that’s okay, you can read more about it in this post. We’ve also just discovered it last summer and are big fans ever since. Ziljica in Slovenian, Slizza in Italian or Gailitz in German is an alpine river that originates under the Sella Nevea pass in the Julian Alps. There, it is initially called Rio del Lago, later it also flows through the Lago di Predil lake, it is joined by numerous streams in Tarvisio, and ends a little after the Austrian town of Arnoldstein, when it flows into the larger Gail river. On one section near Tarvisio, which is only a 20-minute drive from Kranjska Gora in Slovenia, you can visit this place by hiking a circular 2 kilometres long path that takes you to the heart of this unique gorge along the crystal clear turquoise Ziljica. If you have been to Bled, Slovenia, and visited the Vintgar gorge over there, this place is fairly similar, but much less visited. It is a wonderful half-day trip from Kranjska Gora or anywhere else in Slovenia. In this post you can check out more photos and information about this beautiful easy hike.

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HAUSER KAIBLING, Austria | 1 week skiing at 4 Berge Skischaukel Schladming

Katja March 6, 2023AUSTRIA, WINTER SPORTS, WITH KIDS Leave a Comment

According to some statistics, January is the most depressing month of the year for many. Well, definitely not for us. Family visits and the festive atmosphere drags on into the first week of January every year, then it’s my birthday, (also my mother-in-law’s just a day before mine), we usually get some snowfall and landscapes get their charming winter look, we are full of new energy while starting a fresh calendar year and the month basically flies by very quick. We usually manage to go skiing in January. Especially the last two seasons, we treated ourselves to a whole week of skiing abroad for a couple of times. This year we chose excellent ski resorts in the Schladming area in Austria, and together with our friends from Germany booked a house for 10 people with a pool and sauna in the Bergresort Hauser Kaibling by Alps resorts. Lu enjoyed ski school during together with the older two children, while our youngest two had fun on the special children’s areas and playgrounds at the foot of the ski slope. More about the ski resort and accommodation below.

CYPRUS | 1 week of family holidays in the NW part of the island

Katja March 5, 2023CYPRUS, FAMILY HOLIDAYS, FAMILY TRAVELS, WITH KIDS Leave a Comment

Best destinations for an autumn break in Europe? Cyprus is rightfully on the list, and last October we finally visited it for the first time. Since Lu always has 2 weeks of school holidays at that time, we booked really cheap plane tickets from Zagreb to Paphos, but instead of intensive exploration of the island and daily movements to new locations, we chose a one-week vacation in a private villa with a pool near the beach for a change. Despite the fact that we primarily wanted just to enjoy the sun, the sea, good food and rest, we also ended up renting a car for the whole time of our stay. Having a car enabled us independent transportation to and from the airport as well as day trips to different parts of the island’s western part. For our next visit to this diverse Mediterranean island, we still have a lot of interesting places in the east of the Greek part of Cyprus, as well as the entire Turkish part left to explore. Read more about the places we’ve seen during our let’s call it a relaxing active-passive vacation.

BRITTANY, France | road trip with a LR Defender camper and a baby

Katja February 17, 2023DEFENDER TRIPS, FAMILY TRAVELS, FRANCE, WITH KIDS Leave a Comment

Last year’s road trip through France started in the north of Germany, from where we crossed Netherlands and the Belgian-French border in just one day. After a long day of driving we arrived to Normandy and spent the next days discovering its beautiful coastline, slowly moving west. At Mont-Saint-Michel, we crossed the virtual border into Brittany, which was actually our main destination. Dramatic cliffs, luxurious villas, medieval fishing villages, dreamy beaches and islands, interesting architecture, cider, galettes, and much more. And those magical shades of blue and green! We were definitely not disappointed. On the contrary, we were quite impressed! We drove almost the entire coast from east to west and further south before continuing all the way to the Ile de Re island near La Rochelle. In this super comprehensive post you can read about the most beautiful and interesting places in Brittany, including those that we have saved for our next visit. Read More

NORMANDY, France | short Defender road trip on the way to Brittany

Katja July 14, 2022DEFENDER TRIPS, FRANCE, WITH KIDS Leave a Comment

We chose France for our first real family road trip with Mila, who was 3 months old at the time. Afterall she is half French and it seemed like a good idea. Our final goal was to reach Ile de Re island, where we ended up staying a month while visiting Charlie´s family and friends, but instead of just rushing on highways we decided to take it slow this time. So we took our time while driving along the northern coastline of the country exploring places I´ve never been to before. The route led us from northern Germany through the Netherlands and Belgium to the French coast, where we spent the first night near the city of Calais, before continuing westward in the following days. We actually focused more on Brittany, wehere we also spent more time, but Normandy pleasantly surprised us with its dramatic cliffs and sandy bays, charming villages, picturesque fishing towns, rich agricultural estates, historically important places, interesting culinary delicacies and much more. To save some time we had to leave out some of the attractions I marked on the map while planning this trip, especially those located further inland, but I will shortly mention those in this post as well, for everyone with a bit more time heading this way.

ALBANIA | wild camping road trip with a LR Defender camper and a baby

Katja July 4, 2022ALBANIA, DEFENDER TRIPS, WITH KIDS 2 Comments

Often after returning home from trips, people ask which place we liked the most. And usually I never don’t have the answer to that question. But this time it´s different, because this time we can both give a clear answer, Albania. There were many moments when we felt like at home. Also, I have been wanting to go to Albania for such a long time now, but there was always something that we couldn´t go. Therefore it was even sweeter now, when we finally took the time to do a 3-week long road trip through the Balkan countries out of which we spent the longest in Albania. We could have easily stayed longer and not get bored too and we have many reasons to go back some day. It was another great destination for our LR Defender camper, especially since wild camping is allowed and there are many possibilities for off the beaten track explorations. From the hills to the sea, sleepy villages and modern cities, great roads and super off road options, mountain passes with dizzying views, mysterious bunkers, beaches with a Caribbean touch, turquoise rivers and lakes, friendly locals, animals and more and more. There is a little bit of everything in Albania. In this post, I write about our journey, from north to south and back to the north, including lots of photos for those who either don´t have the time to read or prefer the visual posts. Here we go!

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BALKAN ROAD TRIP | from Slovenia to Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, N. Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina with our LR Defender camper

Katja June 12, 2022ALBANIA, BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA, CAMPING, CROATIA, DEFENDER TRIPS, MONTENEGRO, N. MACEDONIA Leave a Comment

We finally made it! After cancelling it back in 2019 due to health issues, postponing it in 2020 due to the pandemics and postponing it again due to pregnancy and baby in 2021, we finally did it in 2022. An epic Balkan road trip with our Defender that is. It was well deserved I believe, and we really had a wonderful time. Although a little bit different than originally planned, since we had Mila on board, but travelling around these countries with an 11 month old baby turned out to be a great idea actually. I´ve lived in Slovenia for the first 27 years of my life so it might sounds strange, but I have never ever been to most of the countries we visited this time, even though they are really close to my home country, geographically speaking. But isn´t it often like this that we are mostly attracted to faraway places and not the ones closer to home? Anyhow, the time was just right now and we´ve enjoyed driving through so many different landscapes, were swimming in the Mediterranean sea, walked on snow in the mountains, sweated a little bit during a couple of easy hikes, ate a whole lot of amazing local food, met some of the friendliest people and so much more. And yes, we were also a little bit appalled about the amount of trash in some places, but we were prepared for it and it wasn´t a big shock for us. The possibilities for a road trip route in the Balkans are of course endless, in this post I am presenting you how we did it. I think it turned out just awesome and we would actually do it again the same way. At the end of this post I also added logistical advice and some statistics regarding prices, mileage, accommodation and more. More posts about what to see and do in individual countries are coming up later on the blog.

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