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The Best Ski Holiday Destinations For Families Who Want A Luxury Vacation

For a luxury family holiday, you’d struggle to find anything better than hitting the slopes for an adrenaline fuelled week away. European ski resorts are world renowned for having some of the most exhilarating slopes and truly breathtaking scenery, so we have compiled a list of some of the most popular destinations, which all have some truly awe-inspiring chalets to match the resort’s high standards.

Gstaad, Switzerland

Gstaad; think glamour and Swiss charm. In this celebrity hotspot, you can expect luxurious shops and Michelin star restaurants. Not only is it a great place to live your best boujee life, but its characteristic pedestrianised centre is a delight for families to experience the traditional Swiss lifestyle. There are plenty of ski schools in the area, perfect for inexperienced skiers to get involved or for those who want to refine their skills., For the adrenaline junkies in your family, mountain trains are available to take you to a range of black slopes for the ultimate octane fuelled adventure. After a hard day of skiing, there are many family-friendly ski areas with snow parks and toboggan runs on hand to round off your family’s day before heading back to your grand lodge.

If you’re looking for the most decadent home from home for your trip, take a look at ski .chalet rentals in Gstaad:

Kitzbuhel, Austria

Kitzbuehel is considered by many to be the skiing pedigree, a magical medieval town offering fresh powder slopes in abundance. Situated in the picturesque Austrian Alps, this ski resort is one to remember. It’s known for its ski resorts, which have drawn countless celebrities to the area for years, making it the perfect standard for your next lavish trip to the slopes.

One factor which makes this resort so popular with families is its accessibility. Skiers can ski in and out of town, offering HUGE relief for those who dread lugging their ski’s up and down mountains, especially with little ones in tow.

Les Gets, France

This charismatic town offers stunning views from the slopes, with Mont Blanc and Lake Geneva just some of the extraordinary landscapes on offer.

With some truly staggering chalets decorating its mountains, Les Gets ticks all the boxes for families wanting a taste of luxury on their skiing holiday. The world class skiing resort offers a range of slopes for families of experienced skiers to those beginning their passion. Not only this, but after a long day of skiing, there are plenty of restaurants available, ranging from family friendly establishments to Michelin starred escapes. For the extra special touch to adorn your visit, why not try paragliding or even hot air ballooning to make your trip memorable (and make your friends at home even more jealous!)

Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

Cortina d’Ampezzo is a popular destination for families, and for a good reason. The resort has a wide range of ski runs that cater to different levels of skiers, from beginners to experts. There are also numerous restaurants in Cortina d’Ampezzo, so if you’re hungry after skiing, you’ll be spoiled for choice!

There you have it! For luxury family ski vacation destinations, it would be hard to beat a trip to these European resorts, offering much more than your average ski holiday. With plenty of activities and entertainment options, you won’t have any trouble keeping everyone entertained while they’re away from home, and with some genuinely breathtaking chalets available at each, your taste of luxury is closer than you think.

5 Tips for Planning a Family Holiday to Disney World

For many families, a trip to Disney World would be the holiday of a lifetime. A chance to give your young children a magical experience they will remember for the rest of their lives. You will bond as a family, share each other’s excitement and joy, and make beautiful memories to take home with you.

But booking a Disney holiday takes a lot of money and planning to pull off. There are so many different elements to think about, that it is very easy to get it all wrong if you’re not careful. The last thing you want is to get your children’s hopes up only to realise you’ve made a crucial mistake that ruins the trip.

To help you get your Florida trip off to a great start, here are five tips for planning a family holiday to Disney World.

Choose your dates

One of the first things you need to consider is what time of year you want to visit Disney World. Chances are you will need to book your trip to coincide with the school holidays, but be warned that travelling to Olando and visiting Disney in peak season will always be more expensive. If you are on a tight budget, you might consider taking them out of school and going in a less popular month. The weather is another important consideration. Summer in Florida can be incredibly hot and sunny, so if you prefer more temperate weather it might be best to go in winter.

Book in advance

There are so many things you need to book, including flights, accommodation, transport, and entry to the parks. And you need to ensure all of these things are available on your chosen dates. To avoid disappointment, you should make reservations as early as possible. Being prepared will not only mean tickets are cheaper, but you will have a wider range of different options to choose from.

Choose your accommodation

Where are you going to stay while you’re in Florida? You have the option of staying inside the park at a Disney hotel, or finding other accommodation and travelling to the sites each day. If you go for the former option, it will probably be more expensive, but it will give your children a more immersive, magical Disney experience. There may also be additional perks included, such as after-hours entertainment and free park transport services.

Staying offsite will mean you have to factor in getting to and from the parks each day, but you will enjoy more freedom to explore the area outside of Disney, enjoying a wider variety of restaurants and shopping.

Create an itinerary

With four different theme parks, two water parks, and loads more attractions, there is a lot to cram into a two-week holiday. You want to make sure that you and family get a chance to see and do as much as possible. But with so many different reservations and locations to visit, it can all get a little confusing. Make sure you create a detailed itinerary for your Disney holiday, detailing the activities for each day with timings and transport information included. This will enable you to stay organised and enjoy your holiday without unnecessary stress.

Plan additional activities

A Disney holiday is really for the kids, and your enjoyment will primarily come from seeing the wonder on their faces as they meet their favourite characters and ride all the attractions. But this is your holiday too, so there is no reason you can’t plan something for the adults too. Florida is a big place, with loads of great sights and activities that aren’t Disney-related. Visit the beautiful coastline, explore the swamps, or learn about the history of space travel at Kennedy Space Centre. To save money and stress, consider booking with a tour operator that runs twin or multi-centre trips for families. Read more here.

Save up

A family trip to Disney World is never going to be cheap. You can make a big difference by finding online discounts and staying in less expensive accommodation, but you are still looking at several thousand pounds for a two week holiday. You will need to save up to ensure you’re not counting pennies while you’re enjoying your time in America. You may need to tighten up your budget for at least a year before you fly. Create a holiday pot to hold your savings and put as much disposable income as you can afford into it.

By following these five tips you will be sure to make the most out of your Disney holiday and have an unforgettable time. Enjoy your trip!

Summer Holiday – Visiting Crete as a Family

It’s not that often I talk about my family on here but we have just come home from two weeks in Crete and I wanted to share our trip with you all. As we have been so busy for the last few months doing the house up, we really needed a relaxing holiday, rather than a action packed one.

My mother in law has a little villa in out there in a small village near Alymrida in the Apokoronas region. We didn’t actually stay in her villa, we stayed in a bigger one a couple of doors up. She stayed in hers with her hubby and one of my brother in laws. We stayed in with the kids and then my other brother and sister in law. We had a week all together before the brother and sister in laws flew home. Leaving us for a week with the in laws.

Anyway, Crete is such a beautiful island, it’s about a four hour flight from East Midlands. We flew with Ryan Air, I would like to say the flights were cheap but they weren’t really. We flew into Chania airport, which has changed a lot in the two years since out last visit, there are now shops and a large duty free area.

Believe it or not we only took cabin bags with us not my best luggage set, so we didn’t have the long wait for our luggage. Straight out of departures to meet with the car hire company. We used Auto Club, its who the in laws use each time they travel to Crete, so I just went along with it. Although I think you can find cheaper, just look around for deals.

From the Airport we headed straight to Almyrida to a Dimitris taverna that we have eaten at before. We choose it because the food there is good and they are happy to accommodate the children’s likes and dislikes. Before heading to the villa to start our holiday.

The Villa

Crete has some truly amazing villa’s, they are dotted all over the island. We stayed about a 15 minute drive from Alymrida in a small village called Drapanos. Our villa was located on a small complex with parking and a pool. During our first week it was only our family there so we made the most of having the pool to ourselves. The children’s swimming ability has come on leaps and bounds during our stay, they are both driving to the bottom of the pool and loving being in the water.

The villa had two bedrooms and a sofa bed in the living room, a balcony, bathroom and downstairs toilet. It was basic but had everything we needed for our two week holiday. What I did love is, although it was on a little complex it didn’t feel like you were surrounded by lots of people and it felt private, which is what we look for when on holiday. My hubby is not a fan of large hotels with hundreds of people, although I’m trying to persuade him to go on a cruise, not sure if that will happen tho.

Eating

Eating out in Crete can be really cheap, we were self-catering with staying in a villa. We had said we would do a mix of eating in and eating out. During the week all of the in-laws were with us, we ate in twice but the rest of the time we ate out. Lunches and breakfasts were had at the villa, generally or we would pop to the bakery if on a beach day.

We visited the Synca to do a food shop and it really was pricey compared to the UK. We bought ham, cheese, crisps, breakfast cereals, biscuits, pasta and other bits for a meal for 7 people. Bottles of pop, water, beer and not €90 for it all. Which I thought was quite a lot for the little bits we bought.

The restaurants varied so much in price, we found a little place just around the corner from where we stayed that was so cheap. The food was good, the service was fabulous and the family run place was so friendly and they were great with the children. We decided that we couldn’t buy the food in the super markets for as cheap as what a meal cost there. It wasn’t la a cart food but for what we paid it was great and we ended up eating there 4/5 times during our two weeks.

In Almyrida there is a much bigger selection of places to eat from high end to the smaller café. We eat in various places, all with a good selection of food. We didn’t eat at the high end restaurant, although the food looked good and the views were fabulous, we decided it wasn’t the place for the children. The little café is the perfect place for break, lunch and even dinner. There was even a very Americanised placed that you could get burgers, ribs, pizza’s, we didn’t eat there because we can get that kind of thing at home. My hubby is always keen to try new foods, me not so much but I do enjoy most Greek food.

One evening we ate in Psaros where between 5 of us we ordered the meat and fish platters. Well they were amazing, so much food on then and at €28 each between 5 it was reasonably priced. It also meant that I got to try a collection of seafood items that I wouldn’t order just for me encase I didn’t like it. I tried cuttlefish, octopus, neither or which I had before. It was also great because the kids tied mussels, squid, octopus and various other bits on the platter. I have to say I wouldn’t have cuttlefish again but I am pleased I tried it.

Beaches

The beach we visited a couple of times in Alymrida was lovely, not very wide but does stretch around the cove. We went down early each morning to get the sun loungers at the front so we could keep an eye on the children playing in the sand and also see the rest of the family swimming.

We loved that it is nice and shallow, I was able to go reach the bottom for meters and meters out, before hitting a drop then it shallows off again. It also meant that the kids were able to reach the bottom for a lot of the way out. We did have our swim shoes with us because about 10 meters out there is a rocky patch and it just protects your feet.

Along the beach front there is also a water sports hut, where you can higher kayaks, surf board, wind sailing, paddle boards, peddlelows and even catamarans. The brothers hired kayaks for an hour and all really enjoyed it.

It was easy to spend the day on the beach, enjoying the sand (although I hate sand). In and out of the sea, which was lovely and warm. The restaurants along the beach front have sun loungers that they rent out, we paid 3.5 each although I’m not sure what the other ones cost. However the restaurants came down and took food and drinks orders, which was nice and no more in cost than it would be going into the restaurant.

Out and About

As we have visited Crete before we knew there was a couple of places we wanted to revisit. Chania and Rethymno were top of my list, both towns with venetian harbours. I really wanted to eat on the Rethymno harbour, I had remembered it to be bigger and a lot more fresh fish. Even so it was nice to wonder around the city and eat lunch on the harbour, although it was premium prices there.

Although I stayed at the villa with the children, the rest of the family went to Octopus bay for snorkelling. Which wasn’t suitable for the kids as they had to walk over a lot of rocks to get down to the sea, although apparently it was great when they got into the water and swam out a bit. My Hubby went twice while we were away, next time we visit we hope the children will be able to enjoy it as well.

They family also visited a Nazi war bunker, which they said was amazing to see. We also visited a war museum based in Askifou that my Hubby and in laws loved. They were amazed to see so many items in his private collection that had been collected from around the island in their civil war.

My brother in laws are bother in the graphic design industry, they both teach in a college and one has his own business. Anyway we visited a typography museum that they loved. It was amazing to see the way things have come to life on paper over the years. The kids and them were able to produce an inked news paper using a printing press, which was a fabulous experience. It was only 4 each for adults with the children going in for free and we spent a good couple of hours there. It’s based in Souda and was well worth a visit.

Crete really is an amazing island, it has something to offer for everyone. If you haven’t been I would highly recommend going. We will visit again in a couple of years time, I have other plans for next year. I am hoping that we can go the Lapland again early next year.

Next on our bucket list is visiting European Cities, Eva at Captain Bobcat has written about the top Family Friendly European Cities. I cannot wait to book somewhere.