articles|interviewsination: England | Suitcases & Strollers

Blackpool Holidays For Families

5 Things To Do In Blackpool With Kids A family favourite for many years, Blackpool is the perfect place for a weekend trip or a longer stay. Blackpool has plenty of attractions with activities suited to various ages and abilities, making it the perfect family-friendly spot for your next trip and a favoured British family beach getaway. Whether there’s rain or shine, there is always something new to discover in Blackpool – and with fun-filled attractions and award-winning beaches, you’ll never be stuck for something to do. Here are 5 family friendly attractions in Blackpool for kids.

Little Globetrotter: Emily Steele

Which family holidays do kids like the best? Emily Steele has been to 9 countries around the world including visiting the Neuschwanstein castle that inspired Walt Disney in Germany and climbing Mount Fuji in Japan. At 8 years old she is eager to learn about the world around her and she and her brother Matthew (10) are already planning their next trip with their parents to Uganda. She tells suitcases&strollers about the value kids see in family vacations and why you should travel with your kids.

Why Travel By Train With Kids

The Man in Seat 61 tells suitcases&strollers his favourite train journeys with kids. Mark Smith is a career railwayman who has travelled all over the globe including from London to Tokyo via Moscow’s Trans-Siberian Railway, to Turkey, Syria and Jordan and around Hong Kong, Mongolia and Beijing. His kids Nathanel (9) and Katelijn (6) have followed him and his wife Nicolette on train journeys from the UK to Italty, Switzerland, Spain, Morocco and right across the USA from New York to Los Angeles. Wherever he goes, he always tries to sit in Seat 61 and documents his travels plus lots of other useful information for train enthusiasts on his website. Here are his really thoughtful insights into why travel by train with kids is so much more rewarding than any other form of transport.

Family Friendly Festival: Camp Bestival With Kids

Kid friendly festivals don’t get much better than family festival Camp Bestival. From 30 July to 2 August 2015 the fields around Lulworth Castle in Dorset, England will be filled with family festival fun. While you get into live acts like Kaiser Chiefs, Bob Geldof and DJ Rob Da Bank, the kids can watch Cat In The Hat or forage in the forest, meet new friends and have an awesome weekend. Here’s everything you need to get ready for Camp Bestival 2015.

Europe Holidays: York With Kids

Europe holidays are about castles, heritage building and giving kids a sense of time and history. Amongst the most impressive of the historical English cities is York. The entire township feels like a magical movie set of old buildings, historical ruins and cobbled streets all surrounded by the historical walls that encase the city. If your children love to play knights and princesses or want to really immerse themselves in living history, York with kids is a must.

Europe With Kids: London Insider

Double decker buses, red phone boxes, amazing museums for kids and a vibrant street culture: London with kids is awesome, says Juliet Kinsman, editor-in-chief of Mr & Mrs Smith and Smith & Family. (Don’t forget to enter the competition we are running with Smith & Family to WIN a family holiday in Port Douglas here.) As mother of Kitty (7), Juliet knows all the ins and outs of the United Kingdom’s famed city – from the best free things to do in London with kids to where to go when it’s raining (and that happens a lot, so there’s lots of fun places to go). She gives suitcases&strollers her insider’s scoop to everything to do in London with kids.

Little Globetrotter: Jed Cole

Which places make the best family holiday destinations according to the kids? Five-year-old Jed Cole lives in London with his mum, dad and big brothers Ezra (8) and Isaac (18). Jed is very much an urban babe, who enjoys playing football in the park and looking cool on his scooter. As well as being well traveled around London, he’s also been to Nice, Corsica, Antibes and is looking forward to spending Christmas in Nigeria. One day he hopes to visit New Zealand where his Nana is from originally. He tells suitcases&strollers his travel tips for how to make travel with kids fun for the entire family.

Having a Harry Potter Experience in London

If your children go mad for all things Hogwarts, heading to London with kids is the ultimate way to have a hands-on Harry Potter experience. Here you will find the official studio tour, you can sleep in a wizard’s chamber, you can participate in unofficial trivia walks of London with kids and you can even set foot on Platform 9¾. Here is the suitcases&strollers travel guide to London with kids, Harry Potter style.

10 Ways To Do Christmas In London With Kids

London is wonderful for families at any time of year but it’s simply magical at Christmas: carol singers on Burlington Avenue, a giant tree in Trafalgar Square and the scent of roasted chestnuts filling the air. If you’re visiting London with kids over the silly season, here are the suitcases&strollers travel tips for family holiday activities to do with kids from where to visit Santa in London to how to find a flying snowman.

The Ultimate Barbie Experiences

If your little girls can’t get enough of the blonde bombshell that is Barbie, perhaps it’s time to embrace their love of hot pink and seek out these fantasy-like experiences. Whether it’s just an afternoon in a mall to dedicating an entire island holiday to Barbie, here are some of the most memorable kids holiday ideas for Barbie fans.

Little Globetrotter: Mia Cole

At the tender age of ten-years-old Mia Cole has travelled the world; she and her siblings Angus (7) and Annabel (3) currently live in Sydney, Australia, but the family has been all over Europe from England to Spain, France to Poland as well as Singapore and Hong Kong. Mia would love to go to the USA, she tells suitcases&strollers, if only those pesky customs queues weren’t so long. Here are her tips for how to travel with kids and have the perfect family holiday, from a child’s perspective.

Little Globetrotter: Oliver Brown

Ollie Brown (6) is a British expatriate living in Singapore with his parents and little sister, Lottie (5). As well as being a keen rugby player and very good at LEGO, he has done quite a bit of travel around Europe and Asia and the family usually vacay internationally three to four times a year. For him, the greatest travel tip for successfully traveling with kids is for the family to spend time together, simple as that. He tells suitcases&strollers about his favourite family holiday memories (with a little help from his mother).

Profile: Mrs Smith

Boutique hotel website Mr & Mrs Smith has long been the go-to resource for trendy getaways. But no longer is the brand just about couples’ retreats. This year they are going global with their new website Smith & Family providing choice child-friendly accommodations for family holidays. Founder Tamara Lohan and mother to Tom (6) and Alexandra (4) gives suitcases&strollers her personal recommendations for the best places to stay and travel with kids all over the world.

Family Friendly Accommodation: London Hotels

Surprisingly, many of London’s most esteemed hotels welcome children for family holidays. Just ask Mr & Mrs Smith who have recently launched Smith and Family, their website dedicated to luxurious, chic and family-friendly accommodations. Here are their picks for stylish hotels providing family friendly accommodation in their hometown of London for those traveling with kids.

Designer Disney Princess

Disney Princess gowns might conjure up images of unwillingly purchased dress-ups made of cheap polyester, but no more. High fashion and kids franchises have met in a creative collaboration with some of fashion's biggest names and only for public viewing until November 13 2013. Whether you're a fashionista or have a budding one in your family, this is a fun way for little (and big) girls to see a grown-up version of their princess fashion fantasies.

Exercise While Travelling: Fun Runs with Kids

Marathons, triathlons, ironman competitions – these might not seem like events around which to build a family holiday. But they can actually make for a different, fun and educational way to travel with kids says Mike Pizel, dad to Alex (9), Sean (7) and Joshua (4). Mike has competed in multiple competitive races with his wife, Jo, all over the world and they’ve taken their kids to many of them. He tells suitcases&strollers how to get ready, set, go! and exercise while travelling by doing fun runs with kids.

Guidebooks & Maps (For Kids)

Free maps might work well for adult tourist attractions, but how do you know which museums, parks and other excursions are suitable for kids? These little guidebooks and maps are perfect for a family travelling with children as a pocket-sized source of ideas for how to keep teeny tots to pre-teens occupied from Paris to Hong Kong, Berlin to Singapore. (Like what you see? To win a Little Luxe Linen Box set of Little Luxe City Guides go to the bottom of this story for details. *THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED*)

Family Friendly Accommodation Booking Websites

Most villa and hotel booking websites are great pre-kids, but after that they somehow fail to deliver all those little details you need to know as a parent travelling with children. “Kid-friendly” can mean anything from a mere tolerance of children to step stools in the bathroom and a fully accredited kids club. So the best way to find the type of accommodation that works for your family – no matter the kids’ ages – is to go to the sites that specialise in helping parents find the right fit in accommodation when planning family holidays. Here are some of the best accommodation websites for families for vacations primarily in Europe.

Holiday Nannies

Traveling with kids is exciting, but once you’ve been on your first family holiday, you quickly realise that – no matter where you are – it isn't really restful at all for parents, especially if you are the primary caregiver. That’s why Nicky Grant set up Holiday Nanny, a website that links jet-setting families up with nannies specifically suited to their kids’ needs. Grant tells suitcases&strollers about how hiring a nanny while on family vacations can make all the difference to parents getting a holiday too.

The World’s Most Travelled Toddler?

Noah Davies just might be the most travelled toddler we’ve met so far. After being born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, at the age of 2 he has already been to 29 cities from Miami to Melbourne, Koh Samui to St Juan. (His father works in the tourism industry.) The longest he has ever stayed in one destination is 2 months (Germany and Orlando, Florida, USA). His mother, Yolade, tells us the story of this frequent flier. (And we want to meet your little frequent fliers too. To win a Gooie backpack go to the bottom of this story for details. *THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED*)

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