August is never the best time to travel because let’s be honest it feels like the entire world is visiting the same beach as you. If you’re like me and live in denial until the last possible second that your childcare will close for the summer and a month at your parents might wear a little thin then don’t panic. They always say “like attracts like” and my friends are no exception they love to travel. Here are a few of the best travel recommendations I got over the last few weeks that didn’t include, Italy, Spain or other usual European suspects.

SAMEERA HASSAN – LAST MINUTE FAMILY HOLIDAY INSPIRATION WITH

ADVENTURE AND SUN FILLED HOLIDAY FOR 4 IN SOUTH AFRICA AND BOTSWANA

Sameera and her husband Michael live in London with there two children Isaac (15 months) and Lola (8 years old). Sameera describes their traveling style as non-traditional, picking experiences and culture over classic destinations.

“We did a big African adventure over Christmas. We’d just had our second child, and wanted sun and a sense of adventure. Africa seemed to fit the bill. We ended up staying in both Cape Town then nipping across to Botswana as we wanted to try and experience two different African vibes. Both were incredible.

HOW TO GET THERE

We flew BA from London on an overnight flight – which with a small baby made the most sense. He was amazing and pretty much slept through – although in my arms for 11 hours as he was too big for the baby crib. Annoyingly the other option of a baby seat, you had to wake them and take them out each time you hit turbulence. In the end, it was easier to just hold him.

CAPE TOWN

Once in Cape Town – we immediately felt at home… it was modern, hot and everyone was kind and upbeat – clearly, the sun does this to people. It’s a compact city – the beaches are easy to get to – we didn’t hire a care,  instead, we just used UBER which was super easy and affordable. For longer trips we used a driver that was recommended to us for day’s out – this worked better as he would wait and hang around for us whilst we pottered around – no searching for a taxi back to the city etc

ACCOMMODATION

One thing that’s essential for us when we travel now that we have kids is our own kitchen so we can shop – we don’t like the restrictions of hotel food times. This is where we stayed in Cape Town – a gorgeous B&B – we took the 2 bedroom cottage and had a full working kitchen.

TOP TRAVEL TIP

One thing we did which was major was to send our bags to Heathrow Airport using a bag pick up service Airportr.com They come to the house – weigh your bags, check passports and then take them to the airport – we then jumped on the tube without heavy luggage – it was super cheap around £30. 4 people, 4 large cases – no issue with lugging them around – a eureka moment

TOP KIDS EXPERIENCE

The safari its unbelievable for them 100000% better than a yucky zoo. In particular, the 5 am wake up when we got to see a Lion do a successful kill, she could have never imagined seeing that first hand as an 8 year old.”

STEPHANIE VON BEHR – LAST MINUTE FAMILY HOLIDAY INSPIRATION

A WEST HAMPTONS FAMILY GETAWAY

Stephanie, her husband Daniel and 4-year-old daughter Valentina live in Berlin. Like myself, Steph is an expat spending at least one holiday a year in her native USA at her family beach home in West Hampton, New York. With having children we often have to change our travel style but one thing Steph hasn’t changed is her love of good food and great travel tips. Side note which I will talk more about in another post Steph is developing Rave about Travel, an incredible app where you can share travel destinations, tips and even playgrounds with your trusted network aka your friends. GET EARLY ACCESS HERE…

As your traveling long distance, did you come across any cool new accessories for the journey for your daughter?

Our kids are very lucky to have grandparents in The Netherlands and Finland. They get to go camping and get the whole back to nature experience with them during the school holidays.

The flights to Helsinki tend to be pricey as it is a hub between Asia. An elderly nun (from my kid’ Catholic school) always recounts the story. She drove with her dad all the way to Lapland in a Fiat 500. It was the most memorable trip of her life. So it can be done.

HELSINKI TIPS

Helsinki is a bit more cutting-edge I’d say…think East London or Berlin kind of way. There is the ‘design district’ that is a must for art and design lovers…lots of cute kids boutiques too! And my partner loves to go ‘treasure hunting’ on the second-hand markets for vintage glass etc

Another thing I would recommend in Helsinki is the beautiful boat trips that you can make in the archipelago. An absolute must with kids is a ferry trip to Suomenlinna. The old fortress just outside Helsinki there is lots to see. Its a great place for a picnic and kids will be fast asleep on the way back! Of course, escaping the city for the ‘summer cottage’ experience with sauna and silence is still the ultimate relaxation for me.

BEYOND THE CITY

You kind of need a car if you’ll go remote and everything is pretty remote in Finland! Visit some of the old towns on the west coast or take ferries in the archipelago. Finns tend to love their own country during summer even if its short and the weather is unreliable. Then they visit hot countries during the dark cold winter.

Dont miss the famous Moomins have a whole Moomin world in Naantali so this is a really fun day out with kids.

If you want a taste of Pauliinas life in Florence make sure you check out this beautiful apartment she rents HERE.

Photo Tauno Vintola ©vintola.fi © Moomin Characters™ Theme Park created By Dennis Livson.