Family Friendly Travel Blog

Child friendly holiday travel - let the train take the strain!

Our marvellous mum on the ground in the Languedoc, Wendy J, has just filled us in on a fabulously child friendly French train service.

It's a bit of a well kept secret but well worth looking into if you don’t fancy the long drive from the ports but would prefer not to fly to the South of France... 

“On the TEOZ service trains (not TGV) they have child-friendly carriages, where seats have been taken out and carpet put down with bumper cushions to make a play area for little ones to pass the time on board. Each row of seats has a toddler seat with seat belts on it too - great for wriggly toddlers who can't sit still! There’s also a room to store buggies, a place to warm bottles and a changing table,” explains Wendy. 

“Use of the family coach is at no extra charge, you simply have to request it when you book. We use the service between Montpellier and Bordeaux frequently but no one seems to know about it as the carriage is usually empty! There are lots of services out of Paris, connecting with Eurostar for example, but also from Caen, Calais and Cherbourg to connect with the ferries. I’d highly recommend it as an alternative to flying or driving...but shh, don’t tell anyone then the carriages will stay quiet!!”

We've checked it out and you can connect from Eurostar (Gare du Nord) to the TEOZ train (Gare de Lyon) in just 2 stops on an SNCF train...so only a few minutes of luggage 'lugging' in an otherwise blissfully easy journey! If you have snapped up a cheap flight, there are TEOZ trains direct from CDG airport too. Simples!

Tots top tips for cool, calm car travel...

So you’ve chosen where you’re going on your hols this year and you've decided to drive. Now, it’s time to gear up for the journey. Here are our top tips for making the whole trip cool, calm and collected...

1. Plan ahead... it’s worth making a list of things to take well in advance. If you’re really organised, you can even put the list on the computer and simply print it off each time you go away. When your children are older you can give each one a copy and they can do their own packing.

2. Pile up... gradually put together a pile of things to take well in advance of your departure date (remember to buy fresh sunscreen too as it won’t last from year to year).

3. Pack some surprises... new colouring books, maybe a CD of rhymes or try packing a cheap toy camera - or even a disposable camera. Going on holiday is such an adventure so it is interesting to see it from your children’s perspective! Encourage them to take photos as you go along but be prepared for some interesting angles and lots of pics of the floor!

4. Meal time... plan where you’ll stop for regular meal and loo breaks in advance. With a little Googling, you’ll find plenty of places close to the motorway so you don’t have to spend £20 on a limp motorway sarnie!

5. Game on... remember the journeys you had as a child? 'I spy' is still just as much fun – using colours instead of letters works well for little ones. Adding a box of toys and books next to the car seat will help and plenty of parents swear by in-car DVD players so it may be worth investing...

6. Map monitor... get the kids involved in the excitement of the journey. My son loves maps so we often make a simplified one in advance so he can ‘follow’ the route we’ll be taking, with pictures of some of the things we’ll pass (is it a reflection on me that my kids instantly recognises the Costa logo?)

7. Timing is everything... consider driving late into the evening so the children will sleep or setting off early - having some miles under your belt by breakfast will give you a real boost. Remember too that most properties need you to check out by around 10am so plan for this the day before to avoid tears, tantrums or whispered rows about who packed the toothbrushes at the bottom of the suitcase at 7am!

8. Fun, fun, fun... most of all, try to treat the journey as part of the holiday and enjoy the time as a family, perhaps with an overnight stop or a few hours out at a theme park, farm or castle en route.

Bon voyage!

Winter wonderland or winter warmer?

Here are a few of our lovely properties with late Autumn and Winter weeks still available.

Winter wonderland…

Natural Retreats, North Yorkshire, UK
These luxuriously appointed ‘eco’ residences sit in a peaceful, unspoilt setting with woodland trails and wildlife ponds. Stylishly appointed and with an airy, open plan layout, the residences are perfect for family meals and playtime, whilst enjoying the views from the floor to ceiling windows. Situated only 1 mile from historic Richmond, with it’s castle, river, shops restaurants and play areas, there are local walk routes provided in each residence.

Our ‘Mum on the ground’ in the North of England, Claire, says ‘I can personally vouch for what a stunning ‘snowman friendly’ location this is in Winter, having stayed in one of the luxurious, cosy lodges in December. Keep an eye out for the odd passing deer!’

Oct half term, Christmas and New Year (min 5 night stay over festive season) still available – contact us for more details.

Winter warmers…

 

Abelia, Charente, France
A newly converted 3 bed gîte, in the grounds of a 200 year old Charentaise farm, Abelia has a log burner for cosy evenings, a pretty rural location with walks/cycling direct from property and a large enclosed garden with children’s play equipment. This property is a winner for a better chance of some good weather in the late Autumn season.

Various discounts available – please contact us for more details.

 

The Water Mill, Languedoc, France                                                                     

Aubriete and Massette are both 3 bed gites, at The Water Mill, situated on the Vidourle river and surrounded by uninterrupted countryside. With a stunning heated & enclosed infinity pool, home cooked meals, amenities within walking distance and a nearby playpark, this is a perfect Autumn/Winter warmer destination!

Discount at Aubriete for 3 Oct and 29 Oct 2009 and at Massette for 3 Oct and 24 Oct 2009 – enquire for details.

Winter wonderful!

 

Chateau des Etoiles, Dordogne, France
At this stunning 18th century château in beautiful enclosed grounds, you can leave behind the chores and the cooking to create all the relaxing, family time you want. Live-in staff take care of all the housekeeping and gourmet meals are available, with children's food prepared free of charge by the chef. With daily morning delivery of croissants, chocolatines and fresh bread if required, a champagne reception and first night's dinner included, playroom and pool with toys, babysitting service and stacks of child friendly equipment, this is a truly exceptional property for a family friendly holiday in total luxury!

For more information about these properties or any of our other Autumn/Winter specials, contact us anytime on 0845 26 941 26 or enquiries@totstotravel.co.uk.

Tots loves Ella's Kitchen organic baby food!

This week, we were delighted to have been asked to try out the wonderful organic baby foods from Ella’s Kitchen.

Ella’s Kitchen was set up by Ella’s dad Paul, to produce fab baby and toddler foods that are healthy and fun and that taste delicious. We at Tots particularly love Ella’s fab pouch packaging as it’s perfect for travel bags – the pouch fits neatly in a small pocket, the lid reseals and the recipes were all winners with my little ones. If you travel with British Airways, look out for Ella’s Kitchen fruit smoothies with the kids’ breakfast meals too!

There are 8 different recipes in the stage 1 range, using sweet and tasty vegetables such as sweet potato and butternut squash (I admit I’d never eaten one of these until I had babies but they’re delicious and a huge hit for weaning, for their sweet taste and fab bright orange colour!) as well as staple weaning flavours like apple, banana and carrot. Unusual blends such as spinach, apple and swede or sweet potato, pumpkin, apple and blueberries introduce babies to a variety of different flavours and colours in delicious combinations. With only organic ingredients and no added nasties, these super little pouches are as nutritious and natural as you could make at home and are perfect for taking out and about, whether on holiday or at home.

As well as the stage 1 range, Ella’s Kitchen also produces yummy stage 2 baby foods, stage 3 toddler foods, baby brekkie and fruit smoothies – though the fruit pouches in the stage 1 range that Ella’s kindly sent us to do this review were snatched by my 2 pre-schoolers within minutes of arriving as they made perfect afternoon snacks too!

These lovely products are available from most supermarkets. Find out more from the Ella’s Kitchen website.

Grab some goodies for your little one!!! We’ve got one full set of Ella’s Kitchen stage 1 baby foods to give away to this first reader whose name we draw out. To enter, just email your details to claire@totstotravel.co.uk by Friday 25 September 2009. The winner will be drawn on Monday 28 September 2009.

 

Fancy a 27 hour train journey with 3 kids? Me neither!

Did any of you catch 'It's not easy being green' last night on BBC2?  As a rule I am probably what my mother would term a 'greeny' which means that I am greener than she is, have an interest in green issues and have, among other things turned down our thermostat and donned another jumper.  I did however watch with sheer pity as we watched a poor mum of 3 (children aged somewhere between about 7 and 10 years old) schelp from London's St Pancras to Malaga by train.

The experience began to look dismal from pretty much the point where they had 6 hours to 'have fun' in Paris before crushing into a couchette for the Paris to Madrid leg of the journey.  Can you imagine being cramped up by yourself with your 3 irritable and tired children, all of whom are unable to sleep properly?  The tale worsens as this sensible mum talks of being unwilling to leave the children unattended so that she could go to the loo down the corridor.  The solution was for the family to use the basin instead.  Utter misery.

To add insult to injury, a perky (evidently childless and fresh faced from a full night's sleep), young reporter popped his head into the couchette to catch up with the family claiming, in a nausiating manner that the journey should be considered part of the holiday!  I took one look at mum and wondered what was going through her mind? 

Mum continued to look more and more bedraggled as she hauled her brood, complete with bags across Malaga train station in preparation for the final leg of their journey.  Meanwhile I watched with empathy and a high degree of pity, hoping beyond hope that she had plane tickets booked for the return journey.

By the time they arrived in a (rainy - argh!) Malaga the whole family staggered to their beds and collapsed in a heap.   What a great start to their precious holiday!  It then took them two days to recover. 

To my mind, family holidays are such a precious time and spending 27 hours in misery in the name of the environment is simply not a good trade off.  What's more, the cost of taking the train was THREE TIMES more expensive than flying (although 6x better from an environmental perspective). 

Now I am somebody who buys organic carrots so spending more in the name of saving the planet is not a foreign concept, but really?  Are we honestly expected to enjure a marathon train journey, wreck the first two days of our holiday and pay 3x times more money for the pleasure?  If train travel is the way forward, to my mind it's gotta get easier and cheaper!  At least my expensive organic carrots taste better!