When I first arrived I wandered gingerly into the fort and found myself in a sand-covered courtyard. The place had the distinct vibe of a training ground. In one corner little sacks tied to ropes were hanging from a wooden pole. I couldn’t imagine what their use was but thought – ah, gladiator training equipment!

Laurence prepares for battle!

At that moment a man dressed like a senator wandered past me hurriedly, he greeted two ladies dressed in the evening dresses of ancient Rome, helping each other adjust their earrings. Not long after another character appeared - this time in full Centurion battle dress, chain mail included. I had arrived early and wondered what was taking place – it was full of Italians immaculately dressed in the various ranks of the ancient citizens of Rome.

They looked so ‘at home’ in their ancient dress that it became clear that this was more than just a fancy-dress party.

Sledge hammers in the name of mercy

Ancient Roman evening dress

A lady looking a bit rougher than the rest (with frightening black paint over her face - it turned out to she was a barbarian) came up to me. I explained I was early for my training and she apologised, explaining that it was a little chaotic that day as a whole group of them were preparing to attend some kind of political demonstration. She said there would be a small delay and offered to take me on a tour of the little museum at the back of the training ground.

What followed was a lively explanation of life and war as a Centurion, as half the museum is dedicated to life as a Roman soldier. Then we moved onto life as a gladiator. She explained that there were two levels of gladiator – the professionals and the slaves.

The fundamental difference between the two? As a professional you stopped after the first “blood wound”; as a slave you were destined to fight to the death, slave against slave.

Apparently dying takes some time. So once one of the slaves was bloodied and struggling, a special executioner was called to dispatch the defeated. He had a creepy leather hat and would crack the losers head open with a large sledge hammer (in the name of mercy, of course). There is a full-size model of the executioner and his hammer in the museum.

The gladiators assemble

Soon more trainee gladiators arrived, an American family and two retired ex-US Navy men, with their wives and friends as spectators. Each of us are handed a beautifully pressed red tunic and told to change. Our trainer is Alex, dressed in period costume including some great Roman sandals. From the beginning we are drilled with cool military precision. The first exercises involve warming up both physically and mentally to get our concentration up.

Soon enough we are onto the hanging sand bags. Alex gets them all swinging haphazardly and we have to try our best to run through them without getting hit, then we leap over a small log at the end. It’s more fun than it sounds. The smallest of our group – a little boy - tries to run through them in one go, but it ends in disaster as he tangles himself up in the ropes (don’t worry, he survives). If forward wasn’t hard enough then we have to dodge the swinging pendulums in reverse. This is the last exercise in the warm up.

Gladiators, to combat!

Gladiator gear, ready for the students

True combat training begins. We are issued with little wooden paddles roughly the same size and shape as real Roman swords. We are split into two sides – one side attacks and the other defends.

Thankfully it is not a free for all. With military-like discipline Alex, in his Roman sandals, drills us in four attack moves and four defensive moves. Under the hot Roman sun we repeat them sequentially over and over again. It’s fun – you start to feel like a genuine warrior as the sequence of attack and defence maneuvers becomes more complicated.

Each of thus then mounts a frenzied attack on large a wooden pole with a specific sequence of attack moves – it’s hilarious as peoples coordination fails them. The scene is more like something out of a Woody Allen movie than Russell Crowe in Gladiators.

Next up - real swords!?!?

Thoroughly drilled in the ways of the wooden sword, we are then issued with the real thing! Heavy steel swords and shields are handed out, plus a whole amazing collection of replica Gladiator helmets.

It’s time to concentrate and hope your sparring partner has a caring side (these swords can do real damage!). With the helmets on it’s hot and you can hardly see a thing – the spectacle of the other trainees with their helmets on is slightly surreal. We don’t look like tourists anymore, but strange ancient warriors with sneakers on.

Soon we are at it again – clunking our heavy steel swords against each other and banging our shields in a completely new move. It’s hot work but hugely enjoyable and you start to get an idea of what ancient combat must have been like. Alex then brings out la rete (the net) and a trident, and pits one of us against two attackers. I manage to completely cover the little-boy gladiator with the net and fend off the other attacker with my trident. Success!

We are now gladiators

We end with a highly competitive sword fight with foam swords. A little low on sheer aggression, I don’t fare so well but it’s fun nonetheless. As the winner is cheered we are provided with juices and water to hydrate. We all rest except for father and son who continue a frenzied private combat. Finally Alex the trainer hands us out our certificates declaring in Latin that we are now citizens of Rome and we all shake hands and pat each others backs.

Gladiators, ready for battle!

The training is roughly two hours. In full summer it must get pretty hot, especially once the helmets are on, but there are plenty of breaks with refreshments provided. It’s very hands-on and physical and not for those unable to take a bit of discipline (all in the interest of safety and historic accuracy).

I had a great time. The whole experience was fun and very competently put together. If you go in late summer I would recommend you bring some mosquito cream especially if you are wandering around the little museum or sitting in the audience seats.

-Laurence Belgrave

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s Rome tours & things to do in Rome, including the Roman Gladiator School. You can also read more reviews of the Roman Gladiator School and see more photos of the Roman Gladiator School over on the Viator website.

15 tips for staying sane, and having a blast, with kids

And of course I remember hundreds of long trips by car, plane, and train growing up with my family. I’ve managed to learn a few things along the way:

#1. Slow… down…

Young children operate on a time scale of their own. They like to explore, to linger, to tinker. Holidays are an excellent time to slow down your own pace—which, let’s face it, is probably a little dysfunctional anyway.

Even fast-moving older tweens and teens might want to take their time at certain stops. Give them some room to, say, flatiron their hair in a rest stop that happens to contain an electrical outlet, or pore over the Wii aisle when you stop to buy batteries. Instead of waiting in the car or standing there, tapping your foot, stretch out, walk around, and people-watch. Write in your journal, even if you’ve never kept a journal before. Slowing down is a gift to yourself, too.

#2. Make mixed itineraries

Approaching the decrepit age of 40, I realize that my travel style has changed over the years. A typical itinerary used to look something like this: “Ferry to Le Havre. Bring student pass; see where the trains go. Remember Rough Guide. Return in 2-3 weeks?” Or perhaps, “Dave coming to Dublin—hitchhike to County Donegal? Yeats?”

My haggard, middle-aged self gets a kick out of making itineraries and doing research, partly for my own amusement, and partly because even a loose itinerary can be fun and safe for family travel. I’m not sure I’d want a 7-year-old to sleep on the living room floor of a dodgy hostel-owner in Paris, like I did in my 20s. For specifics and destination suggestions, check out “Kids: Mixing Itineraries.”

#3. Plan ahead

Mom, the Boy Scouts, and Girl Scouts were right after all: “Be Prepared” is a fabulous motto for travel in general. With kids, it’s even more essential. They sniff out stress like dogs sniffing out fire hydrants. If you forgot Band-Aids or underwear, it’ll affect them along with annoying you.

Especially if you’re new to traveling with younger humans, make a list of everything you want to bring. Check off each item as you pack it. Show the child how you’re planning, or let them help (”Barry the stuffed-talking banana should be on the list!” “OK! Let’s write that down.”). It’s harder to go minimal when packing for kids; it can be done, though, if you plan ahead and make it clear to everyone that you’re not bringing the entire house with you.

Here’s one I learned from my own parents, the hard way: Don’t freak out at the last minute while packing the car or rushing through the airport. Your child will absorb the idea that going on trips means last-minute craziness and people snapping at each other. Take… your… time. Plan ahead. Breathe.

#4. Be flexible

Say your little one notices billboards for Dinosaur Adventure along the road and really, really wants to go. Listen to her request. “If you’re good and don’t whine or complain for the rest of the day, we’ll go to Dinosaur Adventure,” might be an apt reply. You’re giving her a choice in the matter. You may have to weather a meltdown if she doesn’t follow the rules; you can get through it, limits and rules intact.

In general, allow kids to make at least one decision every day. When they say, “I want to see the giraffes!” or “Can we climb that tree?” or “Let’s go to Burgerville!”, go with it sometimes. Or offer them the choice: “We can have a campfire and marshmallows, if we get to the campground early enough, or we can stop at Burgerville right now.” Let them put on their own CD or playlist on the car stereo for a while, however much Rihanna might irritate you.

#5. Be in the moment

This classic piece of Buddhist and New Age advice happens to work. It goes hand-in-hand with slowing down, giving your child choices, and actually listening to her. It’s hard to do this fully in everyday life, which is part of why people take off on romantic getaways. Remind yourself why you’re on this trip: to be with your family or otherwise spend time with a special child. Turn off your cell phone. Be here now.

#6. Get into nature

Even if you’re an uncomfortable newbie at camping or hiking, bone up on how to do it, and give it a shot. You may want to start with group trips or guided tours into splendid nature parks. Kids, even video game addicts, have an innate ability to connect with sensory experience; joining them on that experience may open your own wonderment and sense of vision.

In everyday life, many of us don’t touch or smell anything non-manmade, except perhaps food. What does a handful of dirt and leaves smell like? What does the bark of a tree feel like? Go camping and find out. Learn from how your kid interacts with nature. If they’re shy or frightened, take the lead and be an example. Note: it’s OK to be ignorant. Little David doesn’t need to think you’re a professional botanist. If he asks the name of a flower and you don’t know it? Try “Huh, I don’t know,” as an answer.

#7. Use familiar home routines

Does Anya usually get a bedtime story? Does Ruby eat toast every morning? Bring some comforting everyday routines on the road with you, since so much of what you’re all experiencing is new and different. If you’re not the child’s parent or guardian, try to spend some time babysitting or visiting the family overnight to prepare yourself.

#8. Make expectations clear

Before you head out, establish guidelines with all your travel partners. Will stepdad want some time alone, wandering the city? Will mom want to go fishing by herself? Will any adults be not-present, to take work calls or bring their laptop to a café? Does David have to bring his homework? Try not to disappoint your children or yourselves.

If extended family or visiting friends join in your travels, mom and her girlfriend might sneak off for a day trip of short overnight hotel stay nearby—even just a nice dinner out while grandma hangs with the kids. Talk or email about this with the friends you’re staying with in Sydney, or the grandma who’s joining you in Rome, long before you head out the door.

#9. Develop traditions

These will probably evolve organically, but travel traditions can be pointed out to kids. Some examples: Normally, you can’t drink soda pop—except on an airplane. In everyday life, lights out at 9:00, but you can stay up reading with a flashlight while we’re camping. Normally, no fast food—but we’ll stop at Subway on our way to the train station.

#10. Document differently

Sometimes we’re so determined to document every adorable instant of our vacations and every kid’s cutely cavorting caper that we forget to actually experience those moments. Ask any media theorist or art critic: viewing life through a lens distances us from the living moment. So leave the cameras at the hotel for one day. Enjoy your time to the fullest; if you find yourself thinking, “Ohhh, I wish we had a camera,” keep the thought to yourself. Capture part of the trip (or the hike, or the Experience Music Project visit) on video, but not all of it. Kids are already accustomed to photographing and digitizing everything. Their lives are like one long performance. Let your vacation be a surprising break from endless, constant documentation. Be selective about when to bust out with the camera.

#11. Give a travel allowance

Even younger children who don’t normally get an allowance can benefit from a travel allowance. Start with a small daily allowance for postcards, gift shop goodies, vending machine gumballs, and any other amusing, useless stuff your kid is likely to clamor for on the trip. Older kids should get a larger sum to dole out over the course of a week.

This not only reduces the amount of time you’ll spend debating the merits of a Space Needle alarm clock or a Maui T-shirt, but teaches kids about the value of money, the necessity of prioritizing one purchase over another, and maybe even how to save money over periods of time. (Note: this method will cease to be educational if you loan money against future birthday gifts, or if the kids spend their dough immediately and you give into their whining for more knickknacks.)

#12. Play musical chairs

Do you always sit in the front seat, child in back, your partner driving? Mix it up a little. Squish in the back seat with your kids for an hour; have your partner do the same while you drive. Trade seats on the plane or train. Especially if you’re traveling solo with the child, plan time for extra stops during long car trips; have milkshakes and play a round of Uno at a diner, or play tag on a rest-stop lawn.

#13. Take care of yourself

You need a vacation, too. You need to sleep. You need to eat well. You may need to chill out and stare at a wall. Do these things. Arrange in advance for your partner or other adult travelers to help you do this. If it’s just you and the kids, plan in advance for at least one activity that the kids will do without you: horseback riding classes, a ski class, or a trustworthy day care at the hotel. As we know from Chevy Chase movies and “Little Miss Sunshine,” shoving a family into a small space 24 hours a day isn’t always entertaining or even tolerable.

#14. Work in individual quality time

QT with each parent or adult, separately from the others, makes for special memories. Take a look at any imbalances in parenting, if you are a parent: who spends the most time with Zoe? Who’s usually stuck in the role of disciplinarian? Use this opportunity to break up the routine.

Consider establishing some of this at the beginning of the trip. “So, David, you’re going to spend some time with your dad while I get some alone time,” lets him know what to expect. Whether you’re taking your nephew on an overnight hike or your stepson on a two-week family vacation, be especially sensitive around step-parenting, divorce, and blended families.

Even completely separate trips can be magical. I’ll never forget the week my dad and I spent rafting the Rogue River, just the two of us. Deepening family ties doesn’t mean you have to travel ensemble 100% of the time.

#15. Foster an adventurous spirit

Tired? Timid? Try to stretch your imagination—without making too much of a fuss over it. Your kids will learn by watching you eat strange foods, work with unforeseen circumstances, or stop the car for an unplanned hike to a waterfall.

Find one thing that no one in your family has done before, and do it. Nearly everything is new to kids; shouldn’t we get on their level and learn something, too? Hopefully your ideas will come from your kids’ latest obsession or impulse (”Hey! Can we build a Snow Mummy?”). Or you could:

• Flyfish or deep-sea fish with a guide
• Ride on the Zipper at a roadside carnival
• Fry an egg on the hood of your car in the desert
• Take a short factory tour of some weird local business (just follow the billboards)
• Forage for wild mushrooms with a class or guide
• Ski, snowboard, surf, skate, snowshoe, wind surf
• Pet the goats at a creamery and sample the chèvre
• Find a new swimming hole with a rope swing
• Make mud angels, instead of snow angels
• Take tombstone rubbings in a pioneer cemetery
• Go rafting, inner tubing, sledding, horseback riding

-Tiffany Lee Brown

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s things to do with kids, from New York City to Orlando to Los Angeles to San Franciso to London to Paris… and dozens of destinations in between.

Fortunately, we’re in Edinburgh. Now this is a city which has (it seems) more than its fair share of rogues and gruesome tales. So Simon and I take a deep breath and head up to the Royal Mile for the start of the Ghost Hunter tour (“A 5-Star Scare Factor”).

Edinburgh Castle At Night - Spooky!

The Royal Mile: Queensberry Rules

The Royal Mile is the heart of the Old Town, stretching from the Castle to Holyrood Park. Today it is home to the Law Courts, to shops and restaurants and (during August) to Festival venues. But back in 1707, it was the scene of the terrible tale of our first ghost.

The Royal Mile

On May 1st 1707, the Act of Union was signed, uniting the Parliaments of England and Scotland. In Scotland, the driving force behind the Act was James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry. Fêted in London, Queensberry was much less popular in Edinburgh.

But Queensberry had greater worries than unpopularity. Queensberry House, his mansion opposite Holyrood Park, held a dark secret. His heir, the young Marquess, was widely rumoured to be insane. He lived at Queensberry House under lock and key.

Legend has it that on the day that the Act was signed, the Marquess broke free from his rooms. He escaped into the kitchens and killed a young lad who worked there. Some Scottish critics described this act as “judgement on the Duke for his odious share in the Union”. The young boy’s ghost haunted Queensberry House and the buildings that replaced it.

What, even up to the 21st Century? Well, if any ghost haunts the site today, it may well be Queensberry himself turning in his grave. 300 years after the Union, in a neat twist of fate, the site is now occupied by the Scottish Parliament.

Wynding Down

Edinburgh Old Town isn’t just grand houses, royalty and aristocracy. Middle and working-class families lived here too, in the lanes and alleys (wynds) that lead off the Royal Mile. By the 18th Century, this was one of Europe’s most densely populated areas. The back streets were so narrow that the only way to build was up – as much as 14 storeys. People lived in very close quarters, and more than a few ghost stories emerged from these back streets.

Edinburgh Old Town

We are taken to Borthwick Close (because neighbouring Bell’s Wynd is “too haunted”). We hear a story of middle-class folk: a pair of lovers murdered in their bed by a jealous husband. The house was haunted by a pair of burning red eyes, but it was a decade before a curious neighbour discovered the bodies.

Borthwick Close is now restored and the buildings are clean and tidy. But the close is steep and narrow. In a space this small, there can still be few secrets. Even on a summer’s night, with sounds of street performers coming from the Royal Mile, the wynds are dark, damp and not a little spooky.

What Lies Beneath

We carry on down the cobbled streets towards the South Bridge, passing the über-hip Missoni Hotel on the way. The guide bravely leads us down a dark flight of steps into the Edinburgh Vaults. This is a cold, damp network of rooms, 4 storeys below ground level.

Once inside the vaults, there is no noise apart from the sound of our group and no light apart from that afforded by flickering candles. I’m a stalwart realist and even I think that this place is creepy!

Edinburgh Castle

The Vaults have an odd history. Dug out in the late 18th Century to support the new shopping centres on the South Bridge, they provided storage and workshops for the businesses above. But they flooded regularly and were abandoned by their legitimate occupants. It wasn’t long before they were occupied by a new set of people: the homeless, the destitute and the downright illegal. For nearly 100 years, the Vaults were a byword for horror. By the end of the 19th Century, they were sealed up and not rediscovered until the 1980s.

It isn’t too hard to imagine ghosts in these vaults. Our lady guide tells us tales of a few benign spirits: a young boy who appears to latch onto blonde women, a crouching figure by the entrance to one of the rooms.

The less benign ghouls are here too: the Hellfire Club, who used the Vaults as a location for gambling, drinking and other nefarious activities. Then there’s Mr Boots who follows groups around and has told many visitors to “GET OUT!”.

Oddly, for such a dark venue, photography is encouraged. As she explains:

“Unexpected things sometimes turn up in photographs”.

Tonight, I’m relieved to say that we have no appearances. Or so I think. When we leave the Vaults at the end of the tour, Simon turns to me and says:

“I’m sure I felt somebody blowing on the back of my neck when we were down there”.

Yikes.

Princes Street Gardens: Good and Evil

The next morning, we take a stroll through the neatly trimmed lawns and well-kept flower beds of the Princes Street Gardens. Princes Street is on one side, with shops and road works (soon to be a tram network, but don’t ask an Edinburgh resident about THAT unless you’ve got a spare hour). On the other side, cliffs rise straight up to the castle and the Old Town.

Firth of Forth and Fife

So are the gardens all that they seem? Well, not quite. They used to be home to the Nor’ Loch, a “filthy and offensive bog” which was a repository for rubbish, detritus and much, much worse.

17th Century Europe had something of a witch obsession. Witches were hunted down, tried and then burned at the stake. Edinburgh took its part in this witch hunt: potential candidates were subjected to trial by ducking in the Nor’ Loch and, if they floated, were found guilty and sentenced to death. If they drowned, they were found not guilty (but, obviously, were also dead).

A century passed, and the Nor’ Loch was drained as the area was converted to gardens. Hundreds of human bones were found –those poor unfortunate non-witches. By the 19th Century, Robert Louis Stephenson described the gardens as “full of girls and idle men, steeping themselves in sunshine”.

We stroll idly through the gardens ourselves, enjoying the sunshine. Then we walk up to St Andrew Square to the twin temples of the Royal Bank of Scotland (finance) and Harvey Nichols (retail). We carry on down towards Queen Street, admiring the views up to the Firth of Forth and the Kingdom of Fife. Now we’re walking amongst the neat Georgian terraces of Edinburgh New Town. Nothing untoward could possibly happen behind these tall front doors.

Could it?

-Louise Heal

Planning a trip to Edinburgh? Browse Viator’s Edinburgh Tours, Sightseeing & Things to do, from walking & biking tours to Loch Ness and Stirling Castle day trips from Edinburgh and more, or enjoy multi-day trips to the Scottish Highlands and Isle of Skye to further discover the beautiful countryside. Want more scary tours? Check our Edinburgh Dungeon and our Murder and Mystery Walking Tour of Edinburgh for further thrills. If you are a Dan Brown’s fan, our Da Vinci Code and Scottish Borders tour is for you!

Let’s just say I have new respect for the Beatles’ skills since they could score a double or triple fab every time, and we are still trying to get a couple per song consistently. Still my brother’s rock band guitar gently weeps.

A Fab Four of Viator Travelers on Abbey Road

Try to see it my way

But I digress. My burgeoning obsession got me thinking about why I like the Beatles so much and one reason, I think, is that they were great ambassadors of travel. Try to see it my way, only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong.

One reason people travel is that they find it renewing, even inspiring. Think about the White Album, many argue the greatest Beatles album, largely composed while the Beatles took their famous spiritual journey to India, and possibly kicking off a whole travel trend of hippie kids journeying to India to find themselves. You don’t need me to show the way, love.

Or let’s go back even further, we can work it out. Remember when they hopped the pond to the USA? The Beatlemania screaming girl glamor of them stepping off the plane to greet a whole new nation of fans. And then the famous touring years - Tokyo, Shea Stadium in New York, Australia. I’d also be remiss not to point out the movies from around this period, Help! is a mishmash of sequences shot all over England, Salzburg / the Austrian Alps and the Bahamas.

Come together, right now

Beatles Story Museum

Let’s get back to where they once belonged. Who’d heard of, or cared about Liverpool before the Beatles? They’re synonymous with the city. As long as people love the Beatles, people will visit the Cavern Club, Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, and gawk at George’s house. Seriously, Viator sells an awful lot of the Beatles and Liverpool Day Trip from London. Or the curious case of Abbey Road. Without the Beatles why would anyone take a special trip to the Abbey Road crosswalk?

Still not with me? Come together right now. There’s evidence of the Beatles’ lovely travel (sometimes as allegory) songs: I”ll Follow the Sun, Magical Mystery Tour, Back in the U.S.S.R, Day Tripper, Ticket to Ride, Ballad of John and Yoko and Yellow Submarine to name a few of my favorites.

All these places have their moments, with lovers and friends I still can recall. Some are dead and some are living, in my life I’ve loved them all.

-Kelly G

PS: Feeling like you got to get the Fab Four into your life? Check out all the Beatles tours on Viator. I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello.

And what had me baffled even more, why did anyone build such a thing?

In search of answers to these pressing questions (admittedly also in need of a good steam and swim in the sauna / pool next door), I set out into the wilds of the Belgian capital to experience this European voyage in miniature for myself.

Europe big and small. Note the human for scale!

Europe is a wee little thing

There is something intriguing about the attempt to capture the highlights of an entire continent (plus extras - hello UK! hello Scandinavia!) in model form. And the park itself takes up far less space than you might imagine. The exhibits are dwarfed by the world’s largest molecule, the glistening silver atom that dominates the skyline, looming over the fence from next door. It’s a remnant of the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair, sometimes called Belgium’s answer to the Eiffel Tower; you can ascend the Atomium for a panoramic view over Brussels in full-scale (ticket available as an extra with the entrance to Mini-Europe).

The band Contact rocks mini Europe

Every country in the European Union has its own model setting in this strangely intriguing folly. Being an Australian; I am often astounded by the sense of distances in Europe, where a city two hours away can be perceived as a long journey (back home we routinely spend 12 hours on the road to get around the countryside).

Greetings from the space station, wish you were here

There was also something that tickled me about being able to visit all the great European sights in one day – and it appears that many people shared my enthusiasm. The main occupation of visitors to the park is taking snapshots of themselves in front of the monuments: the mini-Eiffel tower; the mini-Big Ben, a North Sea oil rig, the Sacre-Coeur, Brussels’ Grand Place, various picturesque town squares, Mount Vesuvius, even the Ariane space station!

Take a photo in front of the Eiffel Tower

The information about each country also contains a recording of their national anthem; which is activated by pressing a giant blue button. My favourite thing was setting off as many of the national anthems as I could get to play together. I found one particular corner of the park where I could hear a surround-sound medley from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Latvia all playing at once!! Beautiful, joyous diversion for a sound artist who happened to stray into this strange terrain!

I was also impressed by the detail and humour displayed in the exhibits - tiny little people sunbathing on the decks of the boats in Copenhagen; the village square bustling with a market place; a rock band set up in the corner of the Grand Place for a concert. The mini bull ring was complete with blood-thirsty audience and tiny toreadors, while the relaxed cafe lifestyle is well-represented in Vilnius’ model setting.

The only thing missing was a taste of the food from each country – I think the restaurant section of generic Belgian fast-food could happily be replaced with a stand from every one of the countries represented; offering an authentic flavour from their gourmet dishes.

Ceci n’est pas European culture

The park brochure, which contains useful information and anecdotes about each of the countries and the specific models (at a scale of 1:25), opens with a quote from Robert Schuman, President of the European Movement (1955-1961): “This concept, Europe, will make the common foundation of our civilisation clear to all of us and create little by little a link similar to the one with which the nations were forged in the past. ”

The idea of a ‘European Culture’ is one that has particular resonance at this moment; with lively debate on the transnational and transcultural practices between the countries in an expanded European Union taking place in various forums.

Ship life, detail

Yet while the spirit of the endeavour is one of celebration of the diverse cultures in the countries comprising the European Union, the overall feeling I had in the park was something of a nostalgic melancholy. It reminded me of visiting somewhere that you had been as a child, and being saddened at how much smaller everything seemed than your memories of the place.

It felt to me that condensing all these vibrant and exciting locations into a bite-sized afternoon stroll only highlighted my desire to visit the real thing, and experience the full richness of life in all of these places.

Europe in miniature, a case of curiosities

If you’re so inclined you can pick up the photo of yourself with the giant orange EU ambassador/mascot, taken on the way in; or collect souvenirs from all the exhibits.

A perfect bullring, in miniature

I made the most of the photo opportunities; taking snaps of visitors in front of the models. The tiny train line is fascinating, weaving through the city scapes. And the airport is also a wonderful diversion, the planes trundling solemnly along their pre-defined routes, one poised for flight yet never leaving the ground. The oil rig and harbour provide another element, with an ocean liner also ready to leave for the next cruise, tooting the horn and circling endlessly around the small body of water. These icons of transportation certainly offer the inspiration to take a real trip on the next train, plane or boat you can find!

Next door is the Oceania swimming centre, which you can have included as an extra option in the ticket – here the kids can splash about in the wave pool, there is a pirate ship and restaurant, some outdoor pools and the mecca for which I was heading – the sauna.

Brussels' Grand Place

It’s been too long since I got good and steamy in Finland, so this was a much-needed indulgence. Alternating between the dry wood sauna and the steam room, dipping into the freezing cold plunge pool, and finally lounging for a few hours on the reclining chair, I whiled away the afternoon looking out at the garden.

-Jodi Rose

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s Brussels tours & things to do in Belgium, from Ghent and Bruges day trips to the Mini Europe Theme Park.

Since the completion of the national ring road in 1974 Icelanders have collectively set out to explore every inhabitable corner of their dramatic country. The 1,339km (832 mile) spin around Route 1 really is the ultimate road trip. With active volcanoes, accessible glaciers, river deltas, black beaches, imposing mountains and lava plains all within easy reach, it seemed the perfect way to show a friend visiting us for a few days some of Iceland’s natural wonders.

Southern Iceland in a Day

We only had a couple of days and so decided to keep it simple. Traveling east out of Reykjavik, the plan was to trace a path along the southern coast towards the vast hunk of ice that is Vatnajökull. Given the choices on offer we thought it best to pick our stop-off points and overnight accommodation as we went along. After all, we had an esky full of food, a car packed with begged and borrowed camping equipment and the open road ahead of us. What could possibly go wrong?

Some of you might remember my blog about a road trip to Aldrei fór ég Suður, a music festival located in Isafjörður, an impossibly remote north western fishing village. The moral learned after that hairy excursion was be prepared for the worst, expect anything, especially from the weather, and never assume that there will be gas, food, or lodging when and where you need it most. Because there usually isn’t.

As much as Route 1 has opened up Iceland up to be explored, it is still little more than a country road connecting a series of sparsely populated villages. It’s cowboy country out here and nothing should be taken for granted. But, buoyed by the morning sun and excited to get going, all these hard-learning lessons deserted us in our hour of departure.

Southern Iceland: East of Reykjavik

Leaving Reykjavik we passed a smattering of N1 petrol stations and suburban malls, then sprawling lava fields and jagged outcrops emitting gentle shots of volcanic steam. Hveragerði, (the Greenhouse Village) is a pretty town boasting gardens year-round due to the heated ground, and a nice place to stop for lunch. But a mere 50km out of town, we pressed on. Much like the Sigur Rós soundtrack playing on the stereo, the weather was moody. Beaming with sunshine one minute, sulking through blackened clouds the next, and then flashing us with rainbows, it was a reminder of the capriciousness of the Icelandic conditions. But we were too busy enjoying the scenery to heed the subtle warning.

Warming hut & charming farmhouses

A little further along, we pulled over at a little stone and turf shelter shed at Sauðhúsvöller to enjoy a picnic lunch. Given the sheer winds, we considered taking our victuals in the little elfin structure, which was build to protect both school children and milk pails from inclement weather while they waited to be picked up. But it was a little squeezy for three adults and so we picnicked in the car instead.

Just as we were pulling back out onto the road, fate intervened in the form of a phone call from a couple of our friends who were at the tail end of a two-week camping holiday with their one-year old. Both natives, they were as experienced and as well-versed on Icelandic travel as you could find. I’m not sure what made them call us at that precise moment but I’d like to imagine it was some kind of Spidey Sense divining our unpreparedness. They reported that from where we were currently, all the way east to Höfn, every guesthouse was booked up. The weather was deteriorating and unless we were prepared to set up camp in a downpour, we should backtrack without delay.

Not what we wanted to hear. To retreat meant no Vatnajökull, no boat trip on the glacial lake, and no sense of accomplishment that we could traverse southern Iceland in a day. Besides, at that stage the rainbows still far outnumbered the clouds. Surely our friends, with the inherent prudence of new parenthood, were merely being over-cautious? We were three Aussies on the loose in a 4WD. We could hack a few rain showers and no doubt exercise our antipodean charm to secure appropriate lodgings in time. Thanking our friends for their advice and promising to wave hello to them as they passed, we pushed onwards.

Southern Iceland: Farmhouses, Icelandic Horses & Sheer Cliffs

Cocooned by the warmth of the car, the highway stretched before us, hugging coastlines and skirting mountains, disarmingly straight for spells before twisting at the last moment to reveal various stunning features in the landscape. Such as the Mýrdalsjökull glacier casually creeping down from between the rocky mountain ridges of Katla, an active volcano long overdue for an eruption. It was almost laughingly offhand.

“Oh hi. I’m a glacier. Hanging out by the highway. With my mate the volcano. No big deal.”

And the rainbows continued to frame and embellish the whole thing like a tiara of a small town beauty queen. It was all so unassuming and yet gorgeously ostentatious at the same time. Spiky rock silhouettes. Blue skies determinedly pushing past the black clouds. Solitary farmhouses contented in their loneliness and undaunted by the sheer cliff backdrops. Icelandic horses tossing their flaxen manes just as the wind tossed the tawny grasses at their feet. I couldn’t help but wonder who had switched southern Iceland for a Disney movie set when we weren’t looking.

Iceland Ice & Fire: Mýrdalsjökull Glacier & Katla Volcano

Then the pouting clouds, threatening tears for so many hours, finally opened the floodgates. As if making up for their earlier restraint, they invited the wind to the party. Together the duo was a sudden and unexpected force to be reckoned with on the unsheltered stretch of road we were on. When Vík came into view, we welcomed the opportunity for a pitstop.

Vík, Iceland’s southernmost village, is well known for it’s arresting black beach, decorated by carved columns of black basalt – the myth says they are former trolls who were caught outside at dawn. It’s also a great place to stop for woollen products or to sup on an exceptional bowl of Kjötsúpa (lamb soup) at the roadhouse. We did both of these things and then, valiantly, recklessly, continued eastward.

Contacting our friends again, we arranged a confab in Kirkjubærklaustur, a village of 120 permanent inhabitants and many hundreds more tourists who use it as a base from which to explore the sights of the Skaftárhreppur district. Refuelling on hot dogs and even hotter tea, our friends gave us the lowdown: deciding the weather was too wild for camping with a baby, they had secured a nearby cabin, the last available in the region. Concerned for us, they had made a tentative booking for us at the accommodation in Hella, some 150km back in the direction from which we’d just come. Our only choices were to turn back now or press on and risk camping in the wild weather.

Southern Iceland: Glacial Lake & Icebergs

Having heard all about the glacial lake Jökulsarlón which was another 120km down Route 1 and the main purpose of our trip, we were loathe to miss it because of a bit of rain. The largest glacial lake in Iceland it was created by the run-off from Breiðamerkurjökull and the Jökulsá river which until 1948 flowed under the glacier directly out to sea. Today the lake sits neatly between the glacier and the sea mouth, a thin isthmus keeping it in like a pasted on smile. It’s an icy punchbowl filled with floating hunks of ice and bobbing seals venturing in from the North Atlantic. Scenes from countless movies had been filmed there, including Die Another Day and View To A Kill and we’d been told that you could take a boat ride amongst the icebergs. We figured we owed it to ourselves and all six Bonds to get there. Onward ho!

Iceland largest glacial lake - lake Jökulsarlón

Racing against the clock we arrived just in time for the last boat ride of the day. The rain, chilled icy cold by the driving wind, was really coming down now. Assuming waterproofs would be provided, we jumped aboard and paid our fare. Alas, our assumptions were founded on nought but the blind optimism we’d packed in the back alongside other people’s tents. We got utterly soaked. But it’s not every day you go boating in a glacial lake so we shut up and put up and enjoyed the ride.

The seals usually seen kicking back on icebergs were today out in the bay romancing each other for the summer breeding season. The icebergs themselves were scenery enough though, prettily tinted blue thanks to the overcast weather. The boat ride was annotated by an informative local guide who managed to do his entire twenty-minute presentation clutching a chunk of glacial ice the size of a football without feeling the cold. They breed them tough out here.

Southern Iceland: A True Camping Experience

Numbed from the stunning experience as much as the weather, we got back in the car and retreated to Kirkjubærklaustur. Given that we were all now soaked to the skin, and sans change of dry clothes, the prospect of camping was less than thrilling. Needless to say, we were regretting our earlier arrogance. Waving our friends goodbye as they headed for the warmth of their cabin, we crawled sheepishly through the town in our 4WD looking for room at the inn.

People were sympathetic, but unable to help. And so we headed for the local campground, our only alternative to sleeping in the car. One very soggy hour later we had erected our two tents. We braced ourselves for a wild old night, comforted only by the fact that Icelandic campgrounds are as well appointed as many hotels, with hot showers, drying rooms and internet connection all part of the measly 2000ISK fee. While my two companions found sleeping in the howling weather difficult, it lulled me straight to sleep. I awoke at 9am to find my other half proferring a steaming cup of truckstop tea through the zipper door. A hot shower and a muesli bar later, we hit the road.

The skies were all rained out and it was nothing but rainbows from Kirkjubærklaustur to Seljavellalaug, my favourite hidden hot pool (see blog on Getting Soaked in Iceland) where we stopped for a reviving dip. Pressing on to Hvolsvöllur, we stopped at Eldstó Café for another warming Kjötsúpa then happily headed for home. Stumbling through the door by dinner time we had just enough energy left for a bite to eat and an early night. I confess at this point that some of our earlier smugness had returned.

Who says you can’t traverse a country in a day with little more than an esky full of snacks and a tank full of petrol.

-Maggie Rays

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s Iceland tours and things to do in Iceland, including Day trips & Excursions from Reykjavik, as well as Blue Lagoon tours and hot springs trips to Reykjavik Geysirs.

Elephants at Bioparco, Rome

Perhaps you’ve heard that Rome isn’t the most hospitable place for children and families, but don’t be fooled! Families with children of all ages will find no shortage of interesting family-friendly activities around nearly every corner in Rome.

The trick to having a successful family vacation in Rome and keeping your sanity along the way is all in the pre-planning. If your children are old enough, get them involved by sharing ideas for places to visit and setting up a rough itinerary for your visit before you go.

If your children are younger, think about the various ‘equipment’ you’ll need to make for a comfortable stay, whether that means a portable crib, an umbrella stroller, or special layering clothes to adapt to the hot and humid summer temperatures or rainy winters. Keep in mind that Rome means a lot of walking, so plan your itinerary accordingly with various stops along the way, and don’t forget comfortable shoes for the whole family.

Of course, you won’t want to miss some of the ‘biggies’ like the Colosseum and the Pantheon, but the following suggestions are a few crowd-pleasing favorites for children of various ages that you may not have heard about before. Categorized by age groups, you may find you can even mix and match some activities regardless of age, depending on your children’s interests, maturity and energy level.

Rome for young children (ages 3-7)

At the top of the list of things for kids to do in Rome is Explora, the Rome Children’s Museum (Via Flaminia 82). As the name indicates, this is a hands-on exploratory experience for kids, and is divided into four sections - Me, Society, Environment, and Communication - to help them discover their world. Kids can stage a mock TV broadcast or wander around a transparent, environmentally-friendly house, and the typical ‘do not touch’ signs are nowhere to be found.

The Colosseum in Rome

Villa Borghese is a definite must, with something for everyone. Visit the Cinema dei Piccoli, (Viale della Pineta 15) classified in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s smallest cinema. Take a peek at the San Carlino Puppet Theater on Viale dei Bambini (Children’s Way) on the Pincio Hill. There’s a trenino or ‘little train’ that chugs around the park and takes off from Viale Goethe.

Also part of Villa Borghese and a fun stop for families is the Rome Zoo, called the Bioparco, with lots of special areas and exhibits just for children throughout the park.

For the cat lovers in your family, the famous Largo Argentina Cat Shelter is well worth a visit. Here, you’ll find friendly volunteers who run this no-kill shelter for abandoned cats on donations alone, in the marvelous setting of the Largo Argentina ruins. Tell your children the story of how Julius Caesar was assassinated here, and take them downstairs to visit the cat shop and see some of the shelter’s residents. Volunteers give English-language guided tours for free.

Rome with older kids (ages 8-12)

A trip back in time might be just the ticket for this age group, and the Time Elevator (Via dei SS. Apostoli 20) provides exactly this: a sort of interactive movie attraction with special effects that make it seem more like a ride, taking you back through 3,000 years of Roman history.

If you have time for an out-of-town excursion, the Monster Park at Bomarzo is about an hour’s drive north of Rome and is always a favorite with kids. This Renaissance garden has larger-than-life stone sculptures of various animals and ‘monsters’ that your children can climb on and, in the case of the leaning house, in!

No visit to Rome would be complete without two ‘traditions’ that you can teach your children about: the Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth) and the Trevi Fountain. Watch the film Roman Holiday before you leave for your trip, then re-enact the scene at the Mouth of Truth, having each of your children put their hand in the ‘mouth,’ which is most likely an ancient Roman drain cover. If they still have their hands after this experiment, you can be sure they’re telling you the truth - or can you? Then take them over to the Trevi Fountain to throw in some coins, ensuring your return to Rome someday.

Rome with teenagers (ages 13-18)

Ferris wheel at LunEUR

A perennial favorite with Roman teenagers is LunEUR (Via delle Tre Fontane). This is Rome’s only amusement park (known in Italian as a ‘luna park’) and is one of the largest and oldest in Italy. Built in 1953 as part of an agricultural show, it took on its current form in 1962 and now houses over 130 attractions on more than 750,000 square feet.

What teenager doesn’t love shopping? Stroll Rome’s own ‘Rodeo Drive’, Via dei Condotti, then climb the Spanish Steps where Roman teenagers often hang out, mixing with the endless crowds of tourists. For shopping on a more realistic budget, steer your teenagers towards Via del Corso.

For teenagers who aren’t easily scared, venture down into the bone crypt and catacombs at the Santa Maria della Concezione Church (Via Veneto 27). Not for the faint of heart, this church has a permanent basement exhibit of bone sculptures made from - you guessed it - bones. Thousands of them, in fact, collected between 1528 and 1870 from nearly 4,000 Cappuchin friars who were buried here. Creepy enough to surprise even the most ‘know-it-all’ teenagers.

Family dining in Rome

Most places in Rome are fine for families, but a few places are worth a special mention. Taverna de’ Mercanti (Piazza de’ Mercanti) is probably the most authentic place to dine in old Rome. Housed in what was probably a stable from the 1400s, you pass through the medieval square and torch-lit entrance to climb a dark staircase that leads to a spacious, wood-filled, bustling dining room filled with old-fashioned atmosphere. Children of all ages can find something on the menu, from pizza to pasta and meat dishes, with a poster-sized paper menu you can take home.

Della Palma gelateria

Being a kid and eating ice cream go hand in hand, but only the lucky ones get to experience Roman gelato. Take them to Della Palma, just past the Pantheon at Via della Maddalena 20/23, where you’ll find 125 different flavors in the winter and 135 in the summer. Even your pickiest eater will find something to love.

Kid-sized shopping in Rome

Can’t go home without a stop at the toy store? Don’t miss Città del Sole (Via della Scrofa 65), an Italian chain that features a range of educational toys disguised as just plain fun.

You’ll probably see lots of people carrying shopping bags with a wooden Pinocchio on them—that’s because they’ve discovered Bartolucci (Via dei Pastini 98). Crammed full of hand-crafted pine wood toys and clocks with pendulums swinging every which way, the pure sensory overload of this shop makes it hard to keep your wallet in check—you’ll probably end up walking out with a bag of goodies just like everyone else.

Soccer fans in the family? Indulge their adoration of ‘La Roma’ at the AS Roma Store in Piazza Colonna. For fans of local rival team Lazio, the official team shop, Original Fans, is near the Termini train station on Via Farini 34.

-Shelley Ruelle

So get your family packed and ready… Italy is waiting! For more ideas see Viator’s complete list of things to do in Rome, tours in Venice, what to do in Florence, and tours & attractions in Italy. If you need a place to stay, check out Rome Hotels on Planetware.com.

Cruising through a tunnel on the Paris canal tour

Exploring the canals of Paris (yes Paris has canals)

I joined the canal boat at La Villette, the enormous science park and centre at the end of the Canal St Martin. (This is also worth a visit, especially for travellers with children, who will be enthralled by the fantastic exhibits at the science museum, with a huge park and playground outside.) Taking the tour in this direction means you can spend the morning exploring and then head back into the centre of the city; while starting in the morning at Musee d’Orsay will give you the afternoon at la Villette.

We drifted happily along the relics of a post-industrial waterway, chimney stacks rising from the factories along the shore; under the marvellous black smoky iron railway bridge; and then to one of my favourite tiny bridges in Paris, which rises up above the canal to let the boats fit underneath.

Culture via canal

The multi-coloured lights of the Holiday Inn are next door, and the endless summer party along the canal takes place every warm night; you can find friends here dancing til dawn to the beat of their bongo drums. The basin de la Villette widens out to the rotunda at the end – another nice cafe there – and the dramatic contrasts in the life of this vibrant city are highlighted by the homeless people living in cardboard leaning up against the stone walls across the water.

Two of the major cinemas are located on either side of the canal here, and if you buy the tickets from one you can take a free boat across to the other – a short trip worth the price of admission. Mainstream new release movies are shown in their original version. Here you can also find out about which metro stations changed from originally German names – did you know there used to be a Paris metro stop called ‘Berlin’? You may also hear about the crazy city taxes and the effect this had on the citizens, which also explains why inside Paris is so much more expensive than outside Paris.

Snapping pics along the Paris canal tour

The locks of Canal St Martin

This brings us to the first lock; a small but pretty one with the water flowing over the wooden gate and trees stretching above you, arched with a small delicate iron footbridge. The lock is in two parts; the second part brings you under the railway bridge; where people line up along the stone wall to watch the boat slowly lower as the water level drops beneath it. The first small tunnel is a surprise; but wait until you get to the end of the canal where the tunnel stretches for 2 kilometres!

This part of the canal has a spooky history; you will hear about the ‘lock of the dead’, and find out why the macabre butchers of the past may have served up more than animal meat to customers.

The long tunnel under the Bastille

Next you pass Point Ephemere, one of the most popular bar and performance venues along the canal, next door to the fire station where we timed our trip perfectly to watch an emergency rescue practice drill being performed (with a dramatic escape on the fire ladder!).

Boboo Paris from the water

The prettiest part of the canal is to follow; it’s the centre of bobo (bourgeois bohemian) Paris, resplendent with brightly coloured gift and clothes shops and overflowing bars. The tiny Bar Jemmapes is still my favourite - although a French friend loves the Hotel du Nord , which provides one of the cultural anecdotes for the tour guide. The movie of the same name is reason for the most famous movie quote in all of French cinema; apparently equivalent to Casablanca’s “Play it again, Sam”. I won’t spoil it, though. You will have to take the tour to discover the French equivalent

Drifting merrily along through the numerous locks, you can sit back and relax; enjoy watching the people along the sides of the water as they play in the parks or drink in the bars. Finally; you will discover why the canal was buried; and the ever-present social unrest of earlier political times… maybe still relevant in these turbulent days. And if you’re lucky; the ghostly clarinet may sound in the canal tunnel while you pass through, illuminated by eerie green light from the vents into the park above.

Meeting with the Seine

Gargoyles on the Pont Neuf

Passing beneath the Place de la Bastille, the canal boat floats out onto the Seine River, where the open water is a welcome change after the dark confined tunnel. Here you pass the many architectural wonders of the city, from the Cite and the Cathedral Notre-Dame on to my favourite bridge, the Pont Neuf (home of the lovers in the famous film, which is stunning to see from underneath).

The nearby Pont des Arts is always packed with tourists and sightseers who stop to enjoy a picnic on the bridge, and provides an easy passage between the Left Bank and the pyramid and treasures of the Louvre. (Remember, as with most of the major museums there is free entrance the first Sunday of every month.)

The tour ends – if you take the afternoon boat in this direction – at the Musée d’Orsay, where you will probably have time to catch the highlights of the exhibition before strolling down one of the pretty side streets of the Left Bank to find yourself something for dinner.

I like exploring the area between Rue de Seine and rue Dauphine, there are so many hidden gastronmic delights tucked away on these narrow streets, especially wander along rue de Buci, and Rue Mazarine, for the seafood restaurant with beautiful mosaics, and a beguilingly authentic-looking French bistro tucked in amongst the plethora of options along the main drag. Go out into the side streets and see what tastes you can discover!

-Jodi Rose

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s Paris tours & things to do in Paris, from cruises along the Seine river to the Paris St Martin canal tour Jodi writes about above.

Until a month ago, we didn’t have a beach towel to our names.

No ocean? No problem.

On the Oaxacan Coast a few years ago, we avoided the beach. The bay we stayed near was the terminus of a trash-clogged stream that had been flushed by a recent storm. We found accommodation in a humble hillside cabana in a dramatic jungle setting crawling with lizards and snakes. We did our bathing in an oversized swimming pool.

Our city kids become natural-born swimmers on Maui

On our first trip to Hawaii, long ago, we went to Honolulu to visit my wife’s sister, whose baby boy was being treated in a military hospital there. We took a day trip to Waimea Bay to watch the surfers, and we did a little snorkeling on Hanauma Bay, where the beach scenes of Elvis’ Blue Hawaii were shot. There were days when we visited the Bishop Museum or strolled through Chinatown, and didn’t dip a toe into the ocean (though it always seemed to be within view).

We have kids now, and our kids are city kids. They are hardy walkers and can hike up and down hills on weekend excursions, but to them wildlife primarily consists of squirrels, raccoons, and the mourning doves that roost in the eves of the apartment building next door. At about the age of five each developed the habit of informing me that killer whales are really orcas, but none could differentiate between a parrot fish and a saddleback wrasse. I have long suspected they are more comfortable in winter coats than in swim suits.

Yes, I have misgivings

When we began entertaining thoughts of a trip to Hawaii the idea was a little daunting to me. In old family vacation photos, my Irish aunts and uncles sit on beaches in coats and scarves, their smiles faintly visible in the deep shadows of floppy hats. They obviously knew, or at least feared, what harm the sun was capable of inflicting.

It is possible that the only point of the photos was to warn future generations of the family. If so, I failed to get the message. At about the age of 17 I fell asleep one afternoon next to a swimming pool. After an hour I awoke badly burned, and within a day’s time I was driven about as near to insanity as I have ever been. My skin was overcome with a sizzling, universal itch and my brain began to ring with a searing panic. I felt like a dog being attacked by thousands of fleas. A good friend warned me not to scratch. It would only make it worse. I asked him to kill me.

My misgivings about the sun unleashed deeper fears founded purely on themselves. What we were considering here wasn’t just a break from work, or the daily grind. It was a departure from reality. All that time, so little to do, apart from sip Mai Tais and shift my towel periodically to keep up with the moving shadow of a palm tree. It may sound like heaven to you, but it sounded like limbo to me. In my darker moments, which admittedly come a little too often, I worried that a week of mindless relaxation on a beach might be like inserting a vacuum cleaner into my skull – or, worse, into the mysterious, hard-to-find cavity in which my soul resides.

Singing the virtues of island paradise

Maui seemed suspiciously easy. It could be reached in five hours via a non-stop flight from San Francisco, on the airline that awards me bonus miles for my travel. There would be no issues with language, immigration, food, water, weather, currency, or driving on the wrong side of the road. Prices for everything would be a tad high, but just about everything would be available. What wasn’t there to like, other than the possibility that the inviting stream we had waded into would soon gather speed and carry us over a lovely waterfall and into oblivion.

Sunset over Molokai, Maui

Gradually my paranoia waned. Flights to Europe weren’t getting any cheaper, and an attractive flight + car rental package to Maui presented itself. I did the math, and the car essentially came out to be free. We flipped through a few guidebooks and began to extend discrete queries to friends who know Maui well. The friends, who rarely mentioned their Hawaii trips before, now opened up with the measured enthusiasm of cultists well trained in the art of fly-fishing for future converts. They handled me expertly.

Maui was perhaps the most touristy of the Hawaiian Islands, but it sounded like a safe bet for keeping parents and kids equally happy. Trusted advisors sang the virtues of Hana and its verdant surrounds. My ear was similarly soothed with the siren song of sunsets on Napili Bay, on the island’s dry side.

Napili won out when my cousin told me about her visits to the down-to-earth Mauian Hotel, which stood “no higher than the top of a palm tree,” in accordance with a local ordinance. The rooms overlooked a grassy courtyard – reportedly hopping with frogs at night – that opened directly to the azure bay with its gentle summer surf and accessible snorkeling, all of which sounded very much acceptable to me, Fawn, and our kids.

Fawn and I looked at each other and I said, “What the hell.” I booked the flight and she called the hotel.

Aloha from Maui

Napili Bay was developed in the late 1950s and early ’60s, before the building booms that yielded mega resorts such as Ka’anapali and Kapalua. The Napili Kai, the only resort, presides over the bay’s northern lip, and while it is impeccably groomed and pricey, it is modest in stature. Two-level hotels occupy the rest of the beachfront.

At a casual glance, the Mauian looks like a simple roadside motel, of mid-century vintage, with utilitarian architectural features and kitchenettes. Across the street from the Mauian, goats and chickens nibble and peck at the lawn in front of a single-family home. The Mauian is being spruced up, and recently began describing its rooms as “boutique beach studios,” but it will never be a resort. Comfort and a prevailing lack of pretense are a significant part of the hotel’s appeal. And its rooms go for one-third the price of the Napili Kai’s.

Settling into island life

Our first two days progressed very slowly as we adjusted to the pace of life on a beach. We walked the length of the bay and at one end peered into tide pools formed in lava flows. We swam in the ocean, we swam in the pool. We beat our own path between the two, breaking only for lunch. My five year old son, Liam, had been struggling at the YMCA aquatic program’s eel level for several months, but now he was scooting through the water like a natural born frog.

Enjoying the shaved ice stand in Honokohau

We ate in. A friend recommended stopping first at the Costco in Kahului, just outside the airport. I resigned myself to the idea begrudgingly, and now we were enjoying home-cooked fish every day. (Costcos are almost the same everywhere, but the Maui one had a fish selection that included mahi mahi, ono, and wild opah fillets.) We sat in the hotel’s beach chairs and watched the sun go down, which it did very slowly, the sky’s colors intensifying until the wispy swirl of clouds over Molokai looked like a molten lava ice cream topping. The redness eventually spread over the entire sky, magnificently, and reflected off the ocean. We watched it dim gradually like a dying campfire.

We spent almost all of our time together, the five of us. We had no TV, no computer, no internet. No one complained or dragged their heels. My teenage daughter, Mai, read a book a day, including a few I had recommended. (Very flattering to me.) We played blackjack and rummy 500, and Liam invented a card game in which some of the cards were good guys and some were bad guys. While Fawn and I lost ourselves in sunsets the kids poked their fingers into holes in the sand, looking for the small crabs that came ashore every night. One gave Mai a hard pinch on her hand, but didn’t draw blood.

Exploring Maui: Things to do & see

After a few days of beach limbo, we began to explore the island. One afternoon we drove up the rugged west coast to the little seaside hamlet of Honokohau. There were no hotels or restaurants or golf courses here. The tourist industry abruptly dies at Kapalua and the highway becomes two lanes, then one, and along a steep cliff edge I had to stop and back up when our car met another car going in the opposite direction. In the village we had shaved ice at a pink shack called Ululani’s. The we walked up the road to a lime green shack, called Julie’s, for banana bread still warm from the oven. I was never a big fan of banana bread, and now I knew why. I had never had Julie’s banana bread.

We drove up to the cone of Haleakala, the massive volcano that birthed East Maui. We reached the top in the early afternoon, just as the morning haze was lifting. The light wasn’t magical, as it is said to be during a cloudless sunrise, but the sight was spectacular nonetheless. Haleakala’s barren crater is invariably described as a moonscape, and that pretty much captures it. We took a short hike along a trail that follows the rim, and I snapped a few pictures of my kids standing around on the moon.

Haleakala Crater, Maui

We attempted a trip to Hana one day on the Hana Highway, but my daughter Lana’s carsickness compelled me to stop halfway, not far from the Ke’ananae Peninsula. A few cars were parked near a bridge, which often means there’s a swimming hole below. A man was getting out of his car with a baby and a dog, so I asked him if this was a good spot for a swim and he showed us the way down a slippery trail, where a waterfall dropped into a cool pool shaded by trees and surrounded by smooth rock. With our goggles on, we swam deep down into the dark pool and Liam pretended to be the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

We alternated days of driving with lazy days on the beach-pool circuit. We met our neighbors at the Mauian, including an elderly couple celebrating their 50th anniversary and a Filippino family that has spent a week a year at the hotel for the past decade. I got sunburned, but not to the point of madness. I wore a wetsuit top as a precaution.

I find peace among the fish

We rented snorkle gear at Snorkle Bob’s and over the last several days became well acquainted with the bay’s population of green sea turtles, puffer fish, trumpet fish, and countless varieties of butterfly fish. I was obviously a foreign intruder in this environment, awkward as Steve Zissou in my flippers. Once I had learned to snorkel underwater without gagging I found myself entering a world that was entirely new to me, with cultural pockets, patterns of activity, and coral architecture that I didn’t wholly understand but found endlessly interesting and beautiful.

The fish did not seem to mind me as they went about their business. The turtles, each about large enough to fill a large washtub, are like underwater dirigibles, silently stirring up clouds of algae as they feed off the coral. You don’t always see them coming. They have a way of turning up at your side. I drifted far out into the bay, losing myself in densely populated corridors, until I bobbed up above the surface and found that the sandy beach was a mere sliver of bronze beyond the waves. It looked miles away.

In the end, the days had flown by and we were sad to leave. Will we do it again? Probably, though we have a dozen other spots we’d like to check out first. And next time we head for the islands, maybe we’ll check out one of the other ones. Some friends have been telling us about the Big Island and Kauai.

-Tom Downs

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s Maui tours and things to do on Maui, from Maui luaus to Maui snorkeling and inter-island trips from Maui.

Happy Kids - Happy Holidays!

Sydney, Australia

Sydney has an outdoor culture that children, by and large, adore. The beaches are an obvious starting point – those on the harbour itself are safer swimming spots for the younger ones, while the surf beaches along the coast are brilliant for the more adventurous tykes. It’s even possible to do learn-to-surf courses at Bondi Beach. But the outdoor ethos stretches beyond the beaches. Centennial Park is another fantastic place to hang out, whether it’s for playing park football or cricket, having a picnic or barbecue or going to the open air cinema in the summer. There’s also the chance to hire rollerblades or go horse-riding around the park.
And once you throw in boat rides on the harbour and the street entertainers at Circular Quay and Darling Harbour, Sydney is obviously something of a family tourism heaven.

Feeding the Kangaroos at Taronga Zoo, Sydney

But then comes the trump card – Australian wildlife. Sydney is crammed with excellent animal experiences where kids (and big kids) can get close to koalas, kangaroos and other Australian fauna. The best two are arguably Taronga Zoo and the Featherdale Wildlife Park. The former is arguably the best located zoo in the world, with superb harbour views. It also has some excellent keeper-guided behind-the-scenes tours. Featherdale is a little more rough and ready, but is brilliant for getting photos with koalas and being able to hand-feed kangaroos.

Singapore

Another city with awesome animal attractions is Singapore. Singapore Zoo pioneered the “open” concept, where animals are in full view rather than cages, and kept away from visitors by well concealed moats that are below eye level. Next to it is the Night Safari, a rather novel zoo concept. Essentially it offers the opportunity to stroll (or be driven) around a jungle at night, while the nocturnal creatures are at their most active. They’re all subtly lit up and animals from various different areas of the world are represented.

Singapore is also surprisingly green – there are some massive parks and nature reserves for children to explore. Apparently, Rio De Janeiro is the only other city in the world to have rainforest within the city boundaries. For indoor activities, the Science Centre is an excellent bet. It’s full of entrancing technology, has plenty of buttons for inquisitive little ones to press and goes for a very hands-on approach.

Copenhagen, Denmark

The Danish capital has long been billed as a fairytale city – mainly due to its links with Hans Christian Andersen – and it’s unsurprising that kids seem to love it so much. For lovers of Andersen’s stories, there’s the famous Little Mermaid statue, Hans-themed walking trails and a dedicated museum. But there’s more to Copenhagen than ugly ducklings and the Emperor’s New Clothes. For a start it’s home to the two oldest theme parks in the world.

Amusement park in Bakken, Copenhagen

They’re not Disneyfied affairs, and still have buckets of charm. The oldest is just to the north of the city and is part of an enormous park – Dyrebakken. Dyrebakken was formerly a royal hunting ground, but it has now been turned into one of the world’s greatest parks – families swarm to it when the sun comes out.

Part of the great swathe of green is Bakken, which has plenty of quaintly old-fashioned rides amongst lots of restaurants and cafés. The second oldest amusement park is right in Copenhagen city centre. Tivoli is pretty much opposite the main train station and is an action-packed funland mixed in with beautiful gardens. The rides are generally a bit more up-to-date (and scarier) than those at Bakken, and it’s quite easy to while away the day in Tivoli’s grounds.

Los Angeles

Unsurprisingly, the movie capital of the world has plenty to keep the little ones entertained. An obligatory first stop has to be Hollywood, where the youngsters can hunt down the stars of their heroes on the Walk of Fame and watch the fancy dress circus outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. The Hollywood Museum and celebrity homes tours are generally winners as well.

Then there are the movie studios. Films are still made at the likes of Warner Brothers and Universal Studios, but most of the visitors aren’t part of movie crews any more. The big studio complexes have morphed over the years to become theme parks in all but name – and even for theme park cynics, they are genuinely superb. Universal Studios, for example, has plenty of film-themed rides and shows, but the highlight is the backlot tour. This takes guests around where the movie magic is made and is educational as well as entertaining. It’s interspersed with some big action movie set pieces, such as a village flooding or a helicopter crashing.

LA also has beaches and plenty of odd attractions such as the La Brea tar pits, where fossils of mammoths and more have been trapped for thousands of years.

London

There’s so much to do in London that it’s virtually impossible to be bored. Many of the standard kiddy favourites are present and correct – London Zoo is one of the best in the world, boat trips down the River Thames are regular and affordable, and there are some fabulous open spaces such as Hyde Park and Regent Park.

London Natural History Museum

If you have to pick one area, then South Kensington is a sure fire winner. It’s home to two of the world’s most child-friendly museums. The Science Museum has lots of interactive exhibits about how our world works, and many displays with a wow factor. Even better is the Natural History Museum, which is like a zoo but with stuffed animals. The massive whale and dinosaur skeletons are always popular, while the hands-on creepy crawly exhibits should delight the sort of young boy that revels in pulling the legs off spiders.

These kids will also enjoy the gruesome tales on offer at the Tower of London and London Dungeon. There are some rather interesting tours too – such as one of Harry Potter filming locations by black taxi, or a land-and-water trip in an amphibious ‘duck’ vehicle.

-David Whitley

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s Sydney tours & things to do in Sydney for tips and itineraries in Australia, and check Singapore tours & sightseeing in Singapore for local trips. Going to Europe? Our Copenhagen activities and our London tours & attractions will help you out choosing the best tours. Or be the star of the day with one of Viator’s Los Angeles trips & activities.