Our Big Family Road Trip: Mount Vesuvius and Herculaneum

      As we were staying only an hour or so away, one of the main places we had hoped to visit during our stay in Caserta was the ancient Roman town of Herculaneum. Herculaneum, or Ercolano as the modern locals call it, is situated southeast of Naples at the foot of Mount Vesuvius.… Read More

Our Big Family Road Trip: Orvieto

      From Padua we travelled down to a tiny area called Sermugnano in the Umbria region of central Italy. The property we rented was set within the owner’s private estate and was close to the small town of Orvieto, which is set high on vertical cliffs upon a mass of tufa rock.  The… Read More

Our Big Family Road Trip: Lake Garda… in the fog

    We have had plenty of opportunities to practise the finer art of patience during this trip.  We have also had to deal with disappointment of plans going awry for one reason or another, most usually through poor weather, or parking or accessibility issues with Jalopy. This was one of them. We decided to… Read More

Our Big Family Road Trip: My Favourite Place

    I knew we would be seeing several places during our time away.  Of course I knew it, I booked it all!  And I knew that I would probably prefer some places to others.  What I hadn’t expected was falling completely and utterly in love with somewhere, and for it to happen so early… Read More

Our Big Family Road Trip: What a welcome!

      During our trip we have had the pleasure of staying in some pretty great places and meeting some fabulous owners.  For the most part we have been welcomed with open arms and made to feel at ease immediately.  We feel very lucky to have come across such wonderful people during the last… Read More

Long-Term Travel with Kids? What About the Children’s Educations?

      A few people have wondered what happens to the children’s educations during our two month trip around Italy and France. ‘I’m not allowed to take my child out of school for two months!  Why can you?’ Home education doesn’t mean that you need to be at home in order to educate, or… Read More