Nice for Families

This year we’re changing Portugal to France and even though it almost feels like I’m cheating on my beloved Portugal, we’re all getting more and more excited about the holiday. Our trip this year will be a little bit more adventurous as we are travelling nearly the full length of the Côte d’Azur. We went to Nice for a week in April 2015 and said we will go back someday. That someday will be this July, but let’s revisit to find out what Nice was like three years ago…

“What was the best part of the holiday?”
“The big fish slide!!” (Mr Messer)
“Sniffing my wabbity!” (Missy Messer)

I had never been to France before our holiday in the French Riviera last week. I had my suspicions about its suitability as a family holiday destination, but I was proved wrong! We had a great time, the kids loved it and I would love to go back someday.

Harbour

We booked the holiday well in advance as we came across really cheap flights just before Christmas. We found what looked like a great apartment for our family through House Trip. The apartment is located in the Old Town, near Place Garibaldi with a short walking distance to the harbour and Promenade du Paillon with all the play areas for kids. The apartment is very well equipped, it has everything you would ever need! Kitchen has everything from utensils to pots and pans to blenders (!!), there are piles of towels in the wardrobe and rolls of toilet paper in the bathroom which is something you often need to buy first thing when you rent an apartment. Lots and lots of toys in the kids bedroom. A selection of DVDs and books, ok some of them in French but the kids didn’t seem to mind… The bunk bed was a massive hit, especially with our four-year old. He wanted to spend the first two days playing in his bed, it was near impossible to lure him out to see the new city we had landed in… The only way to get him out was a promise of a playground. Here is the link to the apartment: HouseTrip apartment.

The lovely seafront, great for jogging along, when it’s not too hot!

We spent most our days in Nice walking around the city, enjoying the nice, warm but not too hot weather and visited the playground in the Promenade du Paillon every single day. It’s fabulous for kids of all ages as there are six play areas along the promenade designed for varying ages all the way from threenagers to teenagers.

Promenade du Paillon

The Old Town with narrow streets and steps, lots of steps, is not ideal with a buggy but manageable if you have a small one. Our Baby Jogger City Mini was perfect as it’s fairly small but has proper size wheels so it was easy enough to get over the bumps and curbs… The French are very polite and friendly on the streets if you’re traveling with a buggy. They will give way to you and will help you getting on and off the trains and buses!

An afternoon stroll in the Old Town

Nice is an ideal location to explore the French Riviera with Monaco just a 20-minute train trip away and Cannes only 30-minutes away on the train. You don’t necessarily need a car as the cities are small enough to explore by foot (it’s the best way to get the most out of the place anyway!) and the train line covers most places even if you want to travel inland or go further towards Marseilles which is around 3 hours from Nice by train.

Nice and well, most of the French Riviera has a reputation of being overly expensive. We arrived with that in mind and were prepared to pay through the teeth for cups of coffee. We soon found out that a glass of wine is around the same price as your cappuccino, score! As we stayed in an apartment, we cooked some dinners rather than eating out every day. Groceries are around the same price as if you went shopping in Super Valu, not the most expensive but not quite as cheap as in Lidl or Aldi! A bag of cereal, milk, a bottle of wine, some croissants and pain au chocolats, pasta, pesto, cucumber, and bananas would cost around €25. Something to bear in mind though: the shop opening hours aren’t quite as relaxed as in UK or Ireland and shops are, generally, closed on Sundays!

The harbour with its yachts…

If you are traveling on a budget, a great way to save money is to do picnics. The best part is, you are certainly not the only one to take out your baguettes in the middle of a park or on the beach. Everyone seems to do just that! They even do it in Monaco so it must be the chic thing to do around here 🙂

Some of the fabulous buildings in Nice

There seemed to be a lot of people around, all day long. People who you’d imagine should be at work, or in school. Many of them are tourists like ourselves, naturally, but if they are all tourists and it’s only the end of April, I don’t even want to know how many people there are here in August! I would definitely recommend Nice for a family, but I think the best time to go is before the holiday madness starts!

 

Family Holiday in Portugal – Cascais

I’m one of those (annoying, you might say) people who start planning their next summer holiday while still on holidays… Which means we usually have our holiday booked by the end of January! It’s a long time waiting from there on, but I suppose that’s part of the fun right?! Until it comes to a month or so before that said holiday and you realise you’re in desperate need of it too. So what better way of getting yourself in the mood than looking back to old holiday pictures and posts!

Street Art in Cascais

We’ve been to Portugal on a family holiday twice now, both times to a little coastal village called Cascais, only a 40-minute train journey from Lisbon. I think it’s a perfect spot for families as it’s small so you can walk around to places, but it’s big enough so you won’t get bored. It has that lazy rhythm of life, you’re not rushing anywhere and it’s so easy to forget about the stress of your daily life and just relax. And that’s what holidays are about for me. The time to sit down and listen to the kids, have a play with them, ask what they want to do and if it’s spending the day on the beach, then do just that.

Our day to day routine got pretty much perfected over the two holidays to include a morning stroll to a park with a coffee shop and playground, then lunch and siesta at the apartment followed by an afternoon at the beach. Evenings were late as you’d often come back late from the beach and by the time you’ve showered and got everyone ready for dinner, it would be well past normal bedtime! When you’re travelling with kids, I find routine and predictability is something that works. At least for my two. Whenever we did something outside the routine, like day trips to Sintra or Lisbon, it was all questions and concern around “will we go to the beach later then?“.

So what to do in Cascais? Here are our top picks.

Parks and beaches

Parque Marechal Carmona (number 1. in the map above) in the centre of Cascais has a lovely playground with swings, slides, climbing frames… There is a separate area for younger kids and during the summer months, you will find the park itself and the playground busy with kids camps. It can get busy and noisy in the morning before lunchtime, but we always found the Portuguese kids very friendly and polite! Marechal Carmona also hosts a mini-zoo with peacocks and chickens and there is a lovely coffee shop near the playground with loads of grass area for the kids to run around in! The only thing to note is you might want to keep an eye out for the pigeons if you’re sitting outside, they love toast…

Exploring the park

Parque Urbano da Ribeira dos Mochos (number 2. on the map) located about a 15-20 minute walk outside the town centre was another favourite of ours. It’s quieter than Marechal Carmona, has a nice coffee shop as well and while the playground was slightly smaller, it has better climbing opportunities for kids who are past the toddler phase and need a bit more of a challenge.

We all loved climbing here!

Beaches – there are three beaches right in the town centre (the yellow dots on the map): Praia da Ribeira de Cascais at the end of the main road going through the town, Praia da Rainha at the end of one of the shopping streets is a small sandy cove with a restaurant at the top, and Praia da Conceição near the train station which was our favourite as it is the biggest of the three and there were lots of water activities from this beach. You can also hire a deck chair with parasols, but there is enough space to go with your own blankets as well.

Our favourite beach

Another beach worth mentioning, especially if you are or have aspiring surfers, is Praia Grande do Guincho (not marked on the map!). It’s a surfers’ paradise with great looking waves, lots of surf schools operate here and it has lovely sand dunes at the back of the beach with a boardwalk for those who are not surfing. It’s worth noting though that while the other beaches weren’t overly windy, this one will get you a new hairdo in seconds…! It’s a good bit outside Cascais town centre so you will either need a car/taxi or you could cycle there too.

 

Guincho – a surfers’ paradise!

 

Duna da Cresmina

 

Restaurants – there are so many restaurants in Cascais and they are very reasonable in terms of pricing. Dinner for two adults and two kids never cost us more than €50 and that would include a couple of beers or a few glasses of wine, as well as the food. Obviously. As you would imagine, the restaurants right in the town centre are generally slightly more expensive (still reasonable though), but it’s also well worth it venturing a little bit further afield on the tiny side streets where you will find some hidden gems. Our favourites were:
Os Bordallos – this Portuguese burger restaurant is very popular so you might want to get in early or book a table… they had the colouring out for the kids straight away and the burgers were honestly the best I’ve had anywhere in the world. I would go back to Cascais just to eat here again.
South Africa Restaurante – this South African restaurant is located a little bit outside the town centre and we used to walk past it every day, peeping in and saying, we should definitely go there one of the evenings. Well I’m glad we finally did, my Zulu steak was amazing! They don’t have a specific kids menu (at least not last summer when we were there!), but you can pick anything from them menu and they will make it kid-friendly.
Caffé Italia – for when the kids inevitably want pizza. Good location near the harbour with a lovely terrace, pizzas were yummy and they served lovely wine too! This is a popular restaurant as well so arrive early or otherwise booking is recommended.

More pictures and recommendations can be found in my previous post on Cascais here. It also covers our day trips to Sintra and Lisbon.

 

Camping

Well, when I say camping let’s just put that into context and get those pictures of cold and wet tents (we are in Ireland after all!) out of our minds and replace them with something a little more… well, comfortable?! You see, the parents of the Messer House would usually be looking at the 5-star hotels rather than campsites, but for some reason I had this notion that the kids were missing out on something (whatever that something is!) if I didn’t bring them camping. Or at least “glamping”. Surely that is close enough to the “real deal”.

So last Friday the day finally arrived for us to pack the car and head out for our adventure. I had booked a two night stay at the River Valley Holiday Park in Redcross, Co. Wicklow. The car was full to the brim with all our bedclothes and the extra layers of fleeces and tracksuit bottoms.. Because you never know! On our way down, we stopped at Greystones for some dinner at The Beach House which was delicious. At least we all had our bellies full when we arrived and didn’t have to go looking for dinner supplies. I also wasn’t quite sure how well equipped the Maxilodge I had booked for us was.

On our arrival, the first thing the Little Messer’s noticed was the playground. They barely looked at the lodge as they were keen to go and test the playground equipment! The lodge itself is (obviously) quite basic, but it was surprisingly warm. I didn’t need all the layers for bed either as it was indeed quite toasty in there with the four of us snoring… The next morning started with nothing less than three trips to the loo by 7am. How did I forget that I would actually have to get up and go with them?! Or that there’s no TV to entertain them until I feel like waking up… In fairness though, they did read their books and did some colouring until it was time to get up and go find some breakfast.

Just what I needed!

We found a lovely little cafè in Brittas Bay called Bay Cafè only about a 10 minute drive from the campsite. The breakfast was delicious! Once the hanger had subsided, we made our way to the beach for a walk. The Little Messers love going to the beach, even if it’s just for throwing stones or collecting seashells.

Hours and hours of fun throwing stones

The shoes, pockets and, subsequently, the car were full of sand after this giant sand slide…

Millions of flattened seashells and perfectly smooth round stones

In the afternoon we did the “Flanagan’s Walk” which is about a 1.5km walk on site at the holiday park with donkeys, alpacas and sheep to greet on the way. Missy Messer made friends with the donkeys as she was hee-hawing most of the way around…

Crepes for lunch, yum!

Views from the top of the hill

Shortly after this pic we got caught in the rain

By the time we got back from the walk, it was only 2pm. It’s a loooong day when you start before 7am. It was way too early to go for dinner, because then what do you eat later in the evening?!

Avoca Weaving Mill

So we hopped in the car and decided to visit the oldest weaving mill in Ireland, Avoca (in Avoca!) which was only a 15-minute drive from the campsite. I also learned that the company Avoca is the oldest running business in Ireland, it was founded in 1723.

We were lucky with the weather as we only got a couple of short showers on Saturday, otherwise it was lovely and sunny! On our way back Sunday morning we stopped in Delgany at The Pigeon House Cafè for some brunch and just as we sat down, it started lashing rain. There we were sitting in the lovely restaurant with our best sunday camping gear on, the kids looking quite happy with their weekend away and the adults  waiting for the coffee thinking it was quite a successful camping adventure after all!

Waiting for dinner at Mickey Finn’s Pub on Saturday evening

Day Trip in Helsinki

Last Friday seemed like a nice enough day (it wasn’t raining!) so we decided to do a day trip to Suomenlinna, a sea fortress built across six islands just outside Helsinki city centre. The construction started during the Swedish era in 1748 and it’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We got married there six years ago and we try to visit every time we come to Finland. So Friday morning we packed our picnic blanket along with some coffee and snacks and made our way to the ferry on the Market Square (Kauppatori).

Us in 2016

Us in 2010

My Little Messers

After visiting the church and some strolling around, we found a nice place for our picnic.

Fart gun!!

That’s me, enjoying myself. Hello!

We did a lot of walking and exploring on the islands and even visited an old submarine! There are plenty of tunnels to get lost in as well, the Little Messers were very excited.

On our way back, heading towards the Market Square, Kauppatori

After hours and hours of exploring and generally just running around, it was time to head back. We had seen the SkyWheel Helsinki over on the other side of the Market Square and the kids were asking if we can go on it as the ferry was docking. We promised to go and see if we can get on it and how much it costs. Well, once you’re there you can’t really turn back and we thought the €38 for the family ticket might just be worth it. And it was, if not only for the views but again, the kiddies excitement was contagious. The only thing I was wondering was why on earth had they used blue tinted glass?!

Up over Helsinki – Katajanokka behind Mr Messer

The Excitement!

Kauppatori, Rooftops of Helsinki, and Helsinki Cathedral to the right

After all of that we were all starving and didn’t really fancy cooking. It was Friday night after all so we decided to find a place to eat and have a sneaky glass of wine (for me!).

Did not know they are family friendly in these places!

We found a perfect spot at a courtyard between Aleksanterinkatu and Mikonkatu. The whole courtyard is reserved for the three restaurants located around it and you can order from any of the restaurants, you can even mix your orders between the restaurants, but if you do that the food might arrive at different times. They also had colouring for the kids! The last time I was there, probably around 10 years ago, the experience was vastly different…

I must say this day is one of the best memories from this summer!

 

Day Trip to Tallinn

It’s Friday morning, the Little Messers are playing with water in the bathroom and I’m enjoying a (fairly) peaceful cup of coffee after a much needed long sleep last night. You see, yesterday we took the ferry across to Tallinn and it was a loooong day for all of us with over 24,000 steps taken and bucket-loads of excitement…

We took an early morning ferry (8am departure, it felt like I had to get up in the middle of the night!) and the kids were obviously beyond excitement. I would have needed a cup of coffee. We took the tram to the harbour and by 7.30 we boarded Silja Europa. We had booked ourselves a cabin, even though it’s not necessarily needed, but I felt with the two kids in tow it might come in handy and it did. It was well worth the extra €20 as we were able to leave our belongings there and also sit down and rest for a little while between food and play areas! I must say the facilities on the ship are fantastic when travelling with kids. There are so many play areas and so much entertainment that the 3.5hrs flew by.

We arrived in Tallinn at 11.30 and headed to town. It was overcast and we didn’t see the sun all day, but it was warm and didn’t rain so I’m happy with that! It was also quite a nice day for walking around, had it been over 25 degrees, the step count would have been far less… We spent the whole day strolling around the Old Town. Almost as soon as we hit the Old Town of Tallinn, the kids were starting to look like they will need a snack sooner rather than later. We walked down Uus and found a lovely little coffee shop serving delicious Italian ice cream near The Broken Line monument.

From there we continued to explore the Old Town along Pikk and saw many wonderfully old and magnificent buildings and churches. I do love old towns and I must say Tallinn’s Old Town is right up there competing with Nice and Lisbon or Cascais!

We finished our visit at a restaurant called Lounge Deja Vu on Vana-Viru with some pasta and wine before we strolled back to the ferry with our bellies full and happy to have made some lovely memories with Vaari.

For more pictures, please visit my Flick album here.