Where to Stay in Kyoto with Kids: How to Pick the Area
I’m not going to tell you I’ve slept in every family hotel in Kyoto. I’ve stayed in one, and I’ll tell you exactly what it cost and what it was like. What I can do…
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Giordano’s vs Lou Malnati’s vs Portillo’s: Which With Kids?
Three Chicago institutions, and people argue about them as if they’re the same question. They aren’t. Giordano’s and Lou Malnati’s are the deep dish argument — two pizzas that look similar in a photograph and…
Japan with Kids: What It Cost Us vs What It Costs Now
We spent 19 days in Japan as a family of four in July 2023 — Tokyo, Nikko, Osaka, Nara, Uji, Kyoto and Kurashiki. This is what we actually paid. It’s also, unintentionally, a before-and-after. We…
MNAC Barcelona: The €2 Ticket Most Visitors Miss
Quick answer MNAC is the enormous domed palace at the top of the steps above Plaça d’Espanya that everyone photographs and almost nobody goes into. But during pandemics, with everything closed, once we were allowed…
Picasso Museum Barcelona: Under-18s Go Free (2026 Guide)
Quick answer I went with our kids twice, once on the first Sunday of the month during pandemics, and the second time with kids and my parents who came to Barcelona. Both times we went…
Casa Vicens: The Gaudí House Without the Queue (2026)
Quick answer We visited this place during pandemics, when it was possible to move around Barcelona city. Here to mention, that the price was different then for us. On the other hand, this was our…
Tibidabo With Kids: Which Ticket to Buy, and the Real Cost
Quick answer The two tickets, and which one you want Ticket Over 120 cm 90–120 cm Over 60 Entrance (whole park) €39.00 €15.50 €11.70 Panoramic (emblematic rides + views) €21.50 €11.80 €9.10 Single ride, one…
Chocolate Museum Barcelona With Kids: Is It Worth €8?
Quick answer Where to stay in Barcelona — our three picks Budget · GràciaGenerator Barcelona – private family rooms at hostel prices, five minutes from Passeig de Gràcia and metro Diagonal (L3/L5). Rooms are small…
Park Güell With Kids: What’s Free, What’s Not (2026)
Quick answer Where to stay in Barcelona — our three picks Budget · GràciaGenerator Barcelona – private family rooms at hostel prices, five minutes from Passeig de Gràcia and metro Diagonal (L3/L5). Rooms are small…
Barcelona With Kids in Winter: 11 Things to Do (Local Guide)
Every winter we watch tourists walk down Passeig de Gràcia in t-shirts, and every winter I want to stop them. Barcelona in winter is mild compared to London, Oslo or Paris — it rarely drops…
La Molina With Kids: Sledding, Ski School & Real Costs
La Molina is where Barcelona families go when the children want snow. It’s about 145 km and two hours from the city, it has a sledding area as well as 71 km of pistes, and…
Skiing Near Barcelona With Kids: 5 Resorts Compared (2026/27)
Barcelona is one of the only major European cities where you can be on a beach in the morning and in real snow the same afternoon. La Molina, the closest proper ski resort, is about…
Barcelona Christmas Markets 2026: All 5, Ranked by a Local
Barcelona has five Christmas markets and most guides cover two of them. That’s how people end up queuing at the Cathedral on a Saturday afternoon in December when the market they actually wanted was twenty…
Three Kings Parade Barcelona 2027: Times, Route & Kids Tips
If you’re in Barcelona on 5 January with children, cancel whatever else you had planned. The Cavalcada de Reis is the biggest children’s event of the year here — bigger than Christmas Day, which in…
Barcelona With Kids: A Local’s Family Guide (2026)
We moved to Barcelona in 2010 and have raised two boys here. This is the guide I send people when they ask what to do, written from living here rather than visiting. It covers the…
Christmas in Barcelona With Kids: A Local Family’s Guide
We’ve done Christmas in Barcelona every year since 2010. Some of it is genuinely magical. Some of it is a crowded street with a €6 hot chocolate and a child who wants to go home.…
Is Chicago CityPASS Worth It? The Maths for a Family
We bought the C3 pass for our family of four and used it for Skydeck, the Shoreline architecture river cruise and 360 Chicago. It felt like the sensible choice at the time. Then I did…
Chicago With Kids: Our Complete Family Guide
Chicago With Kids: Everything We Learned We spent two weeks in Chicago and Wisconsin with two boys — three full days in the city, a week at a basketball camp near Milwaukee, and a final…
Best Time to Visit Chicago With Kids: Month by Month
The Best Time to Visit Chicago With Kids (And What We Learned Going in July) We went in July, which is the month most families can go and the month most guides quietly warn you…
Chicago Trip Cost for a Family of 4: Our Real Numbers
Most travel blogs will tell you Chicago is expensive. Ours cost €6,359.14 for four people over 13 days, and the expensive part wasn’t Chicago at all — it was getting there. Here is every euro,…