|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
TOP TRAVEL TIPS
|
|||||||||
Young Hearts, Run Free |
|||||||||
More than a few of you wonderful readers have asked us the question - ‘Where can I travel with young kids?’ So ask no more, travel-hungry parents. We’re rolling up our sleeves and giving you our top tips on where you (and your little ones) can have the most marvellous travels in the whole wide world… #1: Tokyo, Japan We know, we know, Japan isn’t yet open to foreign nationals, but we might just see travel restrictions begin to loosen from the end of February, so now is the time to start thinking ahead. And don’t be put off by the thought of Tokyo’s hustle and bustle, either - as one of the world’s safest cities, it’s the perfect place to take kids for their first real big-city adventure (before setting out into Japan to see the country’s stunning sights). 0-4 years old There are a ton of parent-and-child cafés across Tokyo (check out Savvy Tokyo’s round-up of venues in the city centre), all of them equipped with changing rooms, play-spaces, and areas for strollers or prams. If your child is entering the terrible twos and you both feel like having a howl, you’ll also want to pay a visit to Pasela, the popular Tokyo karaoke chain, which offers kid-friendly karaoke experiences, private rooms for dining, and bouncy castle spaces. The city also prides itself on its ridiculously creative play-parks. Our personal favourite? Shinagawa Kumin Park, which is home to an aquarium and has an epic suite of sea-themed climbing, jumping, and bouncing activities. And if you want a night off to explore the city for yourselves, you might also be interested to hear that a sizeable number of Japanese hotels offer an in-house babysitting service… 5+ years old This is where it gets really fun in Tokyo for parents and their little ones. Your kid’s a nature-lover? There’s more than just the famous animal cafés (Tokyo Cheapo has all the recs for ethically-managed locations, including Neco Republic, which shelters cats in need of a forever home). Several of the city’s parks feature petting zoos - like Yoyogi Park and its ponies. Or perhaps they have a lot of energy to burn off? Take them to one of the massive adventure parks outside the city centre. Tokyo has a real thing for theme parks dedicated to Scandinavian kid’s writers, for some reason (Hans Christian Andersen and the Moomins both have their own resorts). But the most impressive is the confusingly-named but thankfully kid-friendly Sagamiko Pleasure Forest, with a colossal obstacle course and a host of amusements for toddlers. If your child is an anime obsessive, there’s plenty to choose from - the neon lights of Akihabara’s electric town would be the obvious choice. But we’d prioritise the much-praised Studio Ghibli Museum out in the suburbs of Mitaka, which narrowly avoided closure during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to a crowdfunding campaign from legions of Totoro and Spirited Away fans. Tickets are released in monthly batches on the museum’s website, so make sure you plan well ahead. Other useful stuff to know
#2: The Canary Islands Look, we’re all about the undiscovered locations and the little-known treats here at JFC. But we’re going to have to drop our snobbery and just admit it - well-travelled though they are, the Canaries are simply perfect for a sun-kissed stop-over with children. Part of that comes down to the easy accommodation options: the islands offer a frankly ludicrous variety of resort-style hotels with colossal swimming pools and water-parks, but there are plenty of rural self-catering apartments and villas away from the crowds, too. We’d personally recommend Finca de Arrieta on Lanzarote - it’s an awesomely eccentric eco-farm with yurts, cottages, a solar-powered pool, an honesty shop, and chickens on site, all hidden away in a grove of gorgeous mango trees. You can also hop on a car-ferry from island to island, making it relatively stress-free for you to rent transportation (Autoreisen is active in all the airports on the Canaries and offers free car seats for kids) and set out on a family adventure away from the tourist hordes. 0-4 years old Maybe use your judgement on the cute/creepy factor of this one - but if your kid loves their teddy bears, they might enjoy a trip to Artlandya, a rather unique museum on Tenerife that looks into the craft of teddies and dolls. But let’s be honest, if you’re heading to the Canaries with a toddler, you’re probably going to want to find a safe place to enjoy the sun, the beach and the water, where they can play and you can take a breath. Here are Culture Trip’s recommendations on that front, but you should also familiarise yourself with the colour flags that will be visible on every beach. (Red flags indicate strong currents, but purple flags mean there could be jellyfish in the water). And cute though they are, you might want to avoid the colourful mini-trains that run tours through the towns of Tenerife - some travellers have complained that they can go as fast as 30 miles an hour through busy roads. 5+ years old Anaga Rural Park The Canaries have their fair share of theme parks - Siam Park is regularly voted the best water park in the world by TripAdvisor travellers - but there are plenty of less noisy and splashy options, too. You’re definitely going to want to pay a visit to Cocodrilo Park on Gran Canaria. It’s the only animal rescue centre on the Canaries, and your ticket price goes towards the care of tigers saved from zoos, chimpanzees rescued from smugglers, and a starring cast of crocodiles. There’s even a free shuttle bus to make things easy! We’d also take an expedition into the wooded depths of the stunning 14,500-hectare Anaga Rural Park on Tenerife for a bit of quiet time away from it all. Other useful stuff to know
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
PROMO CORNER
|
|||||||||
The JFC Winter Sale is on!
|
|||||||||
You might have already spotted that our JFC Winter Sale is now on - and we’re offering a Premium upgrade to all of our free members for the ridiculously-low price of £29 for your first year of service (or £10 off the usual price). What does that get you?
Grab it while you can! The sale ends on 10th February. |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
IN OTHER NEWS...
|
|||||||||
Our Pick of the Clicks |
|||||||||
All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across the web this week.
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
GLOBAL GRUB
|
|||||||||
Hard Luck, Hamburglar |
|||||||||
One Detour reader intriguingly requested a regular column that covers ‘one interesting, but obscure or hardly known, fact about a country. Any country.’ Your wish is our command, anonymous reader - so here you go, courtesy of the Random Country Generator, which threw up The Ivory Coast... The Ivory Coast actually plays host to some truly fascinating, world-class architecture - including the world’s biggest church. But its most unique building might just be the truly awesome Crocodile House, built in Abidjan by architect Moussa Kalo, who tragically died shortly before the works were finished. The house’s current resident sleeps in the crocodile’s stomach, although sadly you don’t enter through the mouth. (If hanging out in a terrifying, colossal hollowed-out animal is your thing, you might also like the Crab Building in the Philippines. It’s…exactly what it sounds like.) |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
AND FINALLY...
|
|||||||||
“I would like to use it when I am very angry, like when I have taken a day off work and a tradesman does not appear.” In a rediscovered article from 2001, BBC readers argue about whether these new-fangled ‘camera-phones’ will ever catch on. |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
Thanks for reading! |
|||||||||
|
||||
You can now receive instant flight alerts on our mobile app: With your help we've planted 620,810 Trees so far. Login to our website to manage your email settings, deal preferences and account |