Five Offbeat Family-Friendly Destinations in Europe

The major metropolises of Western Europe are family-friendly, but they’re also everyone-friendly. Chances are, if you’re well traveled, you (and maybe your children) have already seen Paris, London, and Rome. So, if you’re looking for something different, or if you’re not interested in chasing your kids through urban hustle and bustle, consider taking your next family vacation to one of these more offbeat European destinations.

Devil's Bridge, Kassel, Germany
Photo by Matthias Stump

Fairy Tale Road, Germany:  Northeast of Frankfurt, between the towns of Hanau and Bremen, is a land of castles, cobblestone, wizards, and witches. Crossing through the home of the Brothers Grimm, Germany’s Fairy-Tale Road is thick with images that arouse whimsical imagination in the most unbelieving of mortals. Wind your way through the towns of half-timbered houses and the imposing forests that inspired the settings for your children’s favorite fables, including Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood. Towns along the road embrace their storied history with puppet-shows, open-air plays, and medieval feasts. 

Lapland, Finland:  Your children will happily brave the elements for the opportunity to meet the “real” Santa Claus. Rovaniemi is home to Kris Kringle, and the city has embraced the honor with a kitschy homage that kids will love and adults will tolerate. You can visit the Santa Claus Village year round, but it’s most festive during the holiday season when there’s that unmistakable Christmas cheer in the air. Highlights include the North Pole’s post office, an exhibition on Christmas celebrations from around the world, and Santa Park, an underground theme park chock-full of holiday spirit. A bonus for parents: Lapland has stunning unspoiled landscapes and good vantage points for viewing the spectacular northern lights.   

Transylvania, Romania
Photo by Eugen

Transylvania, Romania:  Transylvania is not the unearthly land portrayed by Bram Stoker, though it can evoke a slight feeling of eeriness that visitors may find hard to shake. The region holds fast to its Dracula connection; there’s Castle Bran, which is said to be the home of the Count, a number of other Saxon fortresses, and vampire-themed hotels and cafes. Really, Transylvania is more of a pastoral region with charming, old architecture. Still, you won’t have much trouble convincing your children of its place in mythical history. And parents will love the price--Transylvania is relatively inexpensive compared to similar destinations in neighboring Western Europe.

Loire Valley, France:  This ostentatious French region is home to some of the world’s most opulent chateaux. Adults and kids alike will enjoy promenades through perfectly manicured gardens and waltzes through the grand hallways of the country’s Renaissance. Don’t miss  Chambord, the second largest palace in France (next to Versailles), or Chenonceau, with its enchanting bridge arching over the River Cher. The castles’ delightful neighboring towns will give your children the urge to sing in the streets, Beauty-and-the-Beast style.



Chenonceau Castle, Loire Valley, France

 Odense, Denmark:  Birthplace of Hans Christian Anderson, author of famous fairytales such as The Little Mermaid and Thumbelina, Odense celebrates the storywriter with statues, parades, and a museum. Perhaps influenced by its most famous citizen, the town has evolved into a child’s wonderland. There’s a railway museum, one of Europe’s best-preserved water castles, and an impressive zoo. Nearby Billund is home to Legoland, another family-friendly Danish destination.  The kids will be especially happy if you stay at Lalandia, a resort complex with an indoor waterpark.

Transylvania 2008

I am so happy to retrieve some of my photos that my son managed to save from my old, broken laptop... Here is the first few I got last night, enjoy!
Olyan boldog vagyok, hogy sikerült visszaszerezni néhány fotómat, amit a fiam mentett meg a régi, tönkrement laptopomról... Itt az első pár, amit tegnap este kaptam, szeressétek!

The pictures were shot from the car window, as you can see it, on the way to the 6th Magyarfalu Days, a local festival in a Hungarian village in Moldva, the Eastern part of Romania.
More pics and videos from Moldva
Songs and culture from Moldva
A képeket az autó ablakán keresztül készítettem, ahogyan az látszik is rajtuk; útban a VI. Magyarfalusi Napokra. Ez egy kis helyi fesztivál a legkeletebbre lévő csángómagyar településen.
Még több moldvai kép és videó
Dalok és moldvai csángó kultúra

Transylvania... Well, you all know about the Dracula thing, and the Transylvania movie by Tony Gatlif (where my friend and colleague Beata Palya's singing is featured). But many of you might not know that Transylvania is also a very dear area for Hungarians, for it used to be our territory from the beginnings of the Hungarian state, till 1918, the Trianon Treaty after World War I (when 2/3 of Hungary was taken away which is still a bleeding scar for many fellows of my nation, but these days the situation is better: since a short while, Hungarians living in those areas can apply for citizenship in the mother country)
More about Transylvania on Wikipedia
A few songs and other, music and tradition related stuff from Transylvania
Erdély... Sok külföldi tud Drakuláról és Tony Gatlif Transylvania című filmjéről (amiben Palya Bea kolléganőm énekel). Sokan viszont nem tudják - mi, magyarok, igen -, hogy Erdély igen kedves terület a magyarok számára, hiszen a magyar állam alapítása óta a mi területünk volt. Egészen 1918-ig, az I. világháborút lezáró Trianoni Békéig, amelyben Magyarország 2/3-át elvették tőlünk, ami sokak számára még mindig fájó seb - bár mostanában jobb a helyzet: rövid ideje az érintett területeken lakó magyarok is kaphatnak állampolgárságot az anyaországban).

Erdély a Wikipédián

Néhány dal, és más egyéb Erdélyről

And now: photos!
És most: fotók!


You can see these huge, newly built villas all over the place - as I found out, it is by Gypsy families.
Ezeket a hatalmas, új villákat mindenhol lehet látni - ahogy megtudtam, cigány családoké.







And with a little twist:
Egy kicsit megbolonditva:

The stop, a photo by AndreaGerak on Flickr.

(This you can buy on prints, post cards, posters etc: 

Ezt képeslapon, poszteren, stb-n meg lehet venni):

       

Orthodox churches are built en masse, everywhere in Romania
Ortodox templomok épülnek egész Romániában

















LOTS more pictures of this trip to come, I am myself excited to see them :-)
RENGETEG új kép jön még erről az útról; én magam is izgatottan várom, hogy lássam őket :-)

Let me mention here that in July, I will be performing and one of the hostesses for a huge gathering of Transylvanian Hungarians from all over the world; it will be a 3-day festival in Verőce (Hungary), details in my Calendar.
Hadd említsem meg itt, hogy júliusban fellépek és az egyik háziasszony leszek a háromnapos Erdélyország az én hazám fesztiválon, Verőcén (részletek a Naptáramban). 

*****

Beside being a singer and going wherever my performances take me, these are the top resources which make it possible for me to live one of my dreams and travel - they can help you as well to live as you would like to, have a look here





www.andreagerak.com

What building is this?

Two pics, randomly chosen from my Flickr photo stream

Két kép, véletlenszerűen kiválasztva a Flickr fotóimból

I saw this building last February, on a short trip to Oradea
Ezt az épületet tavaly februárban láttam, egy  rövid nagyváradi kiruccanáson.

Can you tell what building is this? An office building? A shopping center?

Meg tudod mondani, milyen épület? Irodaház? Pláza?

...

...

...

No, wrong guess.

Nem, nem talált.

Do you like to travel? Would you love to?
 
www.andreagerak.com

VI. Magyarfalusi Napok (6th Magyarfalu Days) 2008

You might like my songs as well, have a listen
Hátha szeretni fogod a dalaimat is, hallgass bele!

Moldavia trip with music - Zenés moldvai utazás

I thought the pictures of my wonderful trip to Moldva (Moldavia) last summer disappeared, but when I found them, got so happy that I couldn't help but arranged some of them to a song from that area.
Azt hittem, hogy a tavaly nyári, csodálatos moldvai utazásom képei eltűntek, de amikor ma megtaláltam őket, nem bírtam ki, és egy párat elrendezgettem egy odavalósi dallal.

House in Oradea - Ház Nagyváradon

Another trip to Transylvania.
Egy másik erdélyi kiruccanás.

I went to Oradea (Nagyvárad) for a quick visit in February this year, for a Csango conference.
Idén februárban gyors látogatást tettem Nagyváradra, egy csángó konferenciára.

The city is close to the Hungarian border, Debrecen not too far away on the other side.
Ez a város közel van a magyar határhoz, a másik oldalon Debrecen nincs tőle túl messze.

And for you foreigner readers: it is also a historical Hungarian city, with great cultural background and is one of the most prosperous towns in Romania.
A külföldi olvasók kedvéért: ez szintén egy történelmi magyar város, nagyszerű kulturális háttérrel, és Románia egyik legvirágzóbb városa.

It was a nice, clear, sunny winter day and my first impression about the city (having been there twice, looong time ago) was this: it has a lot of extremely beautiful buildings, many of them are art nouveau, but they are not maintained and rather in a poor condition. Like this one:
Szép tiszta, napsütéses téli nap volt. Első benyomásom a városról (miután nagyon régen jártam csak arra, kétszer), hogy rengeteg igen gyönyörű épülete van, közülük sok a szecessziós, de nincsenek karbantartva, eléggé rozogák. Mint ez:

The stop

A bus stop, somewhere in Transylvania, July 2008.
Buszmegálló, valahol Erdélyben, 2008 júliusában.

View of Magyarfalu (Arini)

Just came back from a wonderful trip, I was invited to Moldva. That is NOT Moldova the country, but a region in Romania, East from the Carpathian Mountains, with several villages where Hungarian minorities live, called csango.
Most jöttem egy csodálatos útról; Moldvába hívtak meg. Nem Moldovába, az országba, hanem Románia egyik részébe, a Kárpátoktól keletre, ahol számos faluban laknak magyarok, azaz csángók.
Magyarfalu (meaning "Hungarian village", Romanian name is Arini) is one of them, that's where I stayed for a few days.
Magyarfalu az egyik (román neve Arini); itt töltöttem néhány napot.



There will come a lot more pictures of this trip, now simply wanted to say hello from back in Budapest.
Lesz még jó sok kép erről az utazásról, most csak köszönni akartam Budapestről.

*****

Beside being a singer and going wherever my performances take me, these are the top resources which make it possible for me to live one of my dreams and travel - they can help you as well to live as you would like to, have a look here