The central point of Kotor is the Old Town - built inside the walls of a medieval fortress which surrounds the town and stretches behind it up in to the mountain. The Kotor fortress walls up in the mountain behind the town form the shape of a lion on the hillside, which is visible at night when the walls are…
We woke on this morning to a rare sight in summertime Montenegro - a layer of cloud hiding the previously relentless sun. It was still hot (by UK standards) but thunderstorms were on the weather forecast, so we decided to visit Porto Montenegro, a new marina that's being heavily advertised in the region at the moment. We had no idea…
Before we left for Montenegro we'd been researching things to do and rafting in the Tara Canyon had come up several times. Travelling to do Tara River rafting from Kotor was something we really wanted to do - Montenegro's Tara Canyon is the world's second-deepest canyon and it looked amazing, but we were staying in Kotor, which is about 3-hours'…
We'd heard that of all the beaches along the Budva Riviera, Jaz Beach is the best beach near Kotor and Budva - the one favoured by Montenegro residents as it's more picturesque and quieter than the other beaches closer to Budva or Kotor. So we had to check it out and are pleased to report that it's absolutely true -…
The apartment we booked for our week in Kotor, Montenegro was located in 'Muo', the opposite side of the bay from Kotor Old Town. We found the Kotor Muo apartments on Homeaway.co.uk, the main appeals for us being the reasonable price and the location, with clear and brilliant views across the Bay of Kotor right from the balcony. [caption id=""…
We ate out at different restaurants in Kotor every day of our stay here - here's a run-down of our favourite places to eat in and around Kotor Bay and town... Kotor is absolutely full of restaurants so there's no shortage of places to choose from for visitors to eat. Inside the walls of the Old Town are numerous pavement-side…
Sveti Jakov beach is a favourite choice with visitors to Dubrovnik looking for a quieter and more natural beach. Sveti Jakov is hidden away and not particularly easy to find - but it's well worth tracking down. We spent the day here and here's what we found... With the day-time temperatures pushing the 40-degree mark and a tiring few days…
I had read various comments and forum posts before travelling to Montenegro that suggested driving in Montenegro is a challenge. Stories of maniac local drivers, treacherous roads, crooked car hire firms and over-zealous officials and police were making me a bit nervous about driving with a car full of the family. Having spent the week driving around many of the…
We arrived early for our first day in Croatia having driven from neighbouring Montenegro and had a large part of the day to kill before we could check in to our apartment in Mlini, near Dubrovnik. So we headed to the first beach we could find that was close to the apartment at Srebreno. Srebreno beach gave us a great…
Our apartment in Mlini was closer to the town of Cavtat (pronounced "savtat") than Dubrovnik itself, which was extremely convenient because Cavtat was much easier to visit, particularly for evening meals, than battling the crowds in Dubrovnik Old Town. Cavtat is a smaller, quieter town with a harbour, a small beach, a town centre and tons of restaurants all around…
Visitors to Croatia often look to drive to Montenegro. It's do-able within a day trip and adds a stunning new dimension to your holiday. But Driving from Croatia to Montenegro isn't without its difficulties. Here's our advice on driving across the border from Croatia to Montenegro... For our two week holiday to Montenegro and Croatia, we chose to fly from…
We decided on Lake Garda for the second week of our summer holiday because it appeared to tick all the boxes we want from a holiday. We love mountains, stunning scenery, hot weather and beaches and Lake Garda has them all! It's an incredibly popular tourist destination, particularly for families, and it's a stunning region to visit with a huge…
Staying near Verona with our own car, we realised it was possible to drive from Verona to Venice. The opportunity of ticking off such a popular 'bucket list' destination was too good to miss, so we got in the car and made the just over an hour journey to one of the world's most famous locations. Needless to say, you…
We were originally looking for a holiday villa or apartment near or on Lake Garda for the second week of our summer holiday in Switzerland and Italy. [caption id="attachment_290" align="alignnone" width="800"] View of the main house from the pool area[/caption] We'd left booking quite late and we were really struggling to find somewhere that fitted all our criteria. Ideally we…
We chose Lauterbrunnen as our base for our family holiday to Switzerland, spending a week exploring the beautiful mountains of the 'Bernese Oberland' region before heading down to Italy the next week for a slightly more relaxing stay near Lake Garda. Here's details of our Switzerland holiday itinerary... There is so much to see and do in Switzerland; it's one…
We picked Lauterbrunnen for the first half of our two-week summer road trip to Switzerland and Italy. It's a small town in the middle of the 'Bernese Oberland' region, close to the famous Swiss ski resorts of Wengen and Grindlewald. Bev had been here camping as a child and remembered its reputation as one of the most beautiful towns in…
The highlight of our week in Switzerland was our trip to the Jungfraujoch. We were here with our four children and had an amazing day. Here's our advice on visiting the Jungfraujoch with children... During our stay in Lauterbrunnen, the one excursion that stood out amongst them all as the big one to do was the trip up to the…
We decided to visit Mallorca in early Spring, when the UK weather was still cold and wet and we were starting to get desperate for some warmth and sun after a long British winter. We found a last-minute deal for a week half-board in Port d'Andratx, which was too good to miss. It was cheap because it was in the off-season…
One day of our week in Lauterbrunnen was very rainy so we decided on visiting Trummelbach Falls, which is at the end of the Lauterbrunnen valley. It’s an enormous waterfall of melting glacier ice which cascades down inside the cliff face, through caves and crevices. There is a walkway that takes you up and down right next to the waterfall…
Another beautiful sunny and warm day for exploring the Lauterbrunnen region. This time we headed in to Lauterbrunnen centre, parked the car by the railway station and got on the 'Grutschalp' lift, which takes you up to a train which runs from there to Winteregg and then on to Murren. Murren is a classic Swiss postcard town, dotted with chalets…
