Travel with Kids: The Definitive Guide to Family Holidays Worldwide

Travel with Kids shows you how to get family holidays right - before it's too late and your children want to go on their own. The first definitive worldwide guide to family travel, it is packed with 400 pages of inspiration, advice and ideas for taking your children anywhere from Cornwall to Cambodia, Alaska to Zambia. Travel with Kids provides all the expert advice you need to start planning unforgettable family holidays, from picking the perfect Caribbean Island or Apline ski resort, to planning a malaria-free safari, from trekking safely in the Himalayas to finding the best fossil beaches in Dorset....and literally thousands of other tips and suggestions.

William Gray is a 37 year-old, award-winning travel writer, TV presenter and father of twins. Last year, he was invited by the BBC to present family travel pieces for the 2006 series of its flagship Holiday programme (attracting over five million viewers). William is also the family travel columnist for Wanderlust magazine and regularly contributes travel features to The Sunday Times and numerous other national and international publications.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Great info, shallow categorization of kids' interests
By Gringo Ric
This book has extensive information for travel with kids in almost every corner of every continent. Full of pictures, it is written in a bright, accessible style. Disappointingly, emphasis is on places they are likely to have heard of (Orlando, Italy, Australia), rather than places their parents might simply wish to take them, and on beaches and adenaline-charged activities rather than on museums and quiet activities. There is really nothing wrong with this focus, except that, to a large extent, it explains the obvious. This book also has a presumption of dysfunction about the dynamics of traveling families, and is particularly ugly in its references to teenagers. Perhaps the author is just being funny, but my wife and I read several of the descriptions and just sort of looked at each other disgustedly (i.e., we didn't laugh). The author apparently feels that the depth of a teenager's travel-savvy extends no farther than recreational shopping or finding an adrenaline-rush. Quote from the section on France: "Fashion-conscious teenage girls will enjoy browsing the shops [of Paris], and might even tolerate mum and dad tagging along-- as long as they bring their credit cards." Also, on Berlin and Amsterdam: "Of course, you probably won't get teenagers within a hundred miles of either Amsterdam or Berlin unless you tempt them with... the promise of retail heaven." On Asia: "If your teenagers are more into retail therapy than adrenaline abuse, take them to Dubai..." etc., etc., etc. The pitch of this one-note song only makes me wish for a different book geared toward families with tots/children/teens who DON'T view a family trip as an occasion to incubate brattiness. The author clearly expects much less from his readers' children than he does from his own, who are "fantastic little travelers, always happy to confront new challenges."

On a side note, it is curious how many places are simply excluded from the book, presumably because they are not as interesting to children. But isn't the purpose of the book to help parents travel with children to places where child-focused activities are more elusive? For example, there is nothing about the American Midwest -- never mind Chicago with its Sears Tower and world-famous aquarium and science museum. While several countries (such as France, Italy, Greece, and Turkey) get detailed chapters to themselves, many countries, such as Japan and Russia, are altogether excluded.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Pretty But Very Generic
By Greg Scowen
I bought this book based on all of the very positive reviews (at Amazon.co.uk). Unfortunately I leave the purchase a little disappointed. The book is pretty, with lot's of lovely pictures to inspire you, but also very generic. A very quick scan of a Google search result for family friendly holidays will bring up all the content in here and then some.

To make matters worse, there are blindingly obvious mistakes throughout the book, but even in the opening top 10 lists. I don't know whether this is bad editing or if the author simply browsed a few websites and slapped together some lists.
Examples: pg. 22-23 list the Explora en Atacama hotel as a top 10 for pampering parents. Sure, I have to agree, it looks great and is located in the driest desert on earth, a harsh yet exciting environment. But the picture on page 23 shows a photo of the Explora en Patagonia, more than 3100km away in sub-Antarctic Chile. If I booked based on the photos I would be pretty bummed out when I turned up in a desert and not in the glorious mountains I expected.
Another example is found on the Switzerland page, where a top ten recommendation is to meet Peter the Goatherd in Savognin, a link to the Savognin Tourism website is included. There is no information on this excursion to be found on the website. Perhaps because the Peter and Heidi stories are based well north of here.
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ADDED NOTE: When information about excursions such as this are given, a direct link to a permanent URL where the actual excursion information is provided would be much more helpful. Merely giving a website address (to the home page) and leaving the reader to search for the content can lead to disappointment.
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Again, it just gives off the impression that the rest of the book is littered with the same sort of low-quality research.

As I said, it is pretty and will still make a nice coffee-table item to keep visitors amused. But I will not be relying on the content of this book to inspire my next holiday. A quick search online will yield a lot more, fresher information.

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Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook: Worldwide Route & Planning Guide (Trailblazer)

'...the definitive guide to how, where, why and what to do on a cycle expedition...' Adventure Travel Magazine (UK)

Every cyclist dreams of making the Big Trip, the Grand Cycle Tour abroad. Whether that's a two-week trip or a year-long journey, the Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook is the comprehensive manual that will make that dream a reality. Riding across Asia, cycling in Africa or pedaling from Patagonia to Alaska, whether you're planning your own Big Trip or just enjoy reading about other people's adventures, the Handbook is guaranteed to illuminate, entertain and above all, inspire.
This fully revised 3rd edition includes:

❏ PART 1 – Practical information

• How to prepare for a long-distance trip
• What to look for in a new bike with reviews of some of the world's best touring- and trekking-bikes
• Adapting a standard bike for the Big Ride
• Choosing components, equipment for the road and reviews of camping gear
• Health precautions, inoculations, visas, money and safety

❏ PART 2 – Worldwide route outlines
Across Europe, Asia, Australasia, North and South America and Africa; recommended routes within countries and overland. Everything from popular routes eg India's Leh-Manali Highway to lesser-known cycle-touring areas such as Mongolia.

❏ PART 3 – Tales from the Saddle
Ten first-hand accounts of spoke-bending biking adventures worldwide.

Introduction
Why are so many people going bike touring these days? A minority pastime during the heyday of the car, cycling has once again become a popular choice for travelling―especially for long overseas trips.

The first cycle-touring craze began in the 1870s. Then, as now, the bicycle offered a revolutionary way of touring: you go exactly where you want, when you want, and all under your own steam. This was before the age of the car and walking or riding a horse were the only other options until the bicycle. In 1885 the Rover Safety Bicycle came along, and for all the innovation since then, most modern touring bicycles would be recognizable to a Victorian, as would their derailleur gears.

Bike touring is undergoing a boom at the moment but it is really one of many periodic rediscoveries. Bicycle design, components and gear are evolving to suit the changing needs and tastes of people. It's a combination of experimentation and using tried and tested designs, such as the 'diamond' frame of the Rover Safety Bicycle. The Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook is all about looking at what people are choosing and using: what kind of bikes, what gear and what destinations are being chosen by today's bike tourers.

There are many reasons for taking a bike on your next long trip. My own guess as to why bike touring is back in fashion is that many travellers get burned out by backpacking, which really amounts to travelling by bus and train for most of the time. Buses are certainly fast but they go from one noisy town to another, leaving little possibility of exploring the spaces in between, the places where the bus doesn't stop.

Others use bikes to go even further off the beaten track: they want to go where buses don't go at all and perhaps where other vehicles cannot get to either. Paul Woloshansky built his own racks to carry extra gear after being told all too often: 'There's a prettier way to go but there's nothing out there at all.' Other adventurers, such as Sweden's Janne Corax (see p122), have said the same thing: there were times when there was no other way of getting to where they wanted to go. You couldn't get there on foot and you couldn't get there in a truck. It was possible only on a bicycle.

Half the adventure, though, is in the riding itself. Being out in the fresh air and seeing much more than is possible from a bus or train window is always a good feeling, whether you are wandering around France or riding across India. A lot of today's cycle tourists are interested in the riding but not that interested in bikes. It's a means of transport and a way to carry bags comfortably, while sitting down and enjoying the view. Not everyone is drawn to the high passes of the Andes or the Himalaya but they are all enjoying that same sense of freedom and all that comes with it―unexpected discoveries, off-route detours or an impromptu day off when you find a great place to stay. Trips like these are not as arduous as some expeditions but they are every bit as satisfying―and they are still adventures, for they allow for spontaneity. And if you are carrying a tent and camping gear, you're prepared for just about any eventuality because you've always got a place to spend the night.

This book looks at the possibilities out there, the different styles of travelling and the basic gear and know-how that you need. We also look at some of the more exciting cycling destinations around the world, complete with suggestions as to which routes to take and what you need to plan a trip in that region. The Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook does not set out to tell you exactly where to go: it's your adventure, after all. But it's good to have a general idea of a destination and what you're likely to find when you're there and this is what this book aims to do.

In the final part of this book we include stories from all around the world, not just about the biking but also about the adventures cyclists had on their journeys. It's the old idea that a bike ride isn't just about the riding but also about the places you were able to get to and the people you got to meet―and all because you decided to travel by bicycle.

Review for previous edition: 'the definitive guide to how, where, why and what to do on a cycle expedition...' Adventure Travel Magazine.

Neil & Harriet Pike have cycled extensively in Europe, Asia and South America.

They began their travels by buying bikes in Istanbul, Turkey, and cycling home to Oxford. An 18-month bike tour through the Andes followed, igniting a passion for cycling high roads which led to a traverse of the Himalaya and other parts of Asia.

They blog at pikesonbikes.com and run the website andesbybike.com. They are the authors of another Trailblazer title: Peru's Cordilleras Blanca and Huayhuash – The Hiking & Biking Guide.

When not travelling they live in Bristol, England.

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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Not only for beginners, but will take cyclist to the next level...
By Jeffrey Fritts
In my journey from competitive cyclist to a more sensible approach and use for the bicycle, at least for me, I have researched and read many treatises about the enjoyable past time of touring by bicycle. The third edition of Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook has been a Goldilocks experience for me. The guide not only provides easy soft beginning information for the novice, but also ascends to the mountain pass level of story about the real world hard experiences of many different travelers and adventurers. The list of contributors reads like a who’s who of touring cyclist many I have already read and enjoyed. If I were to only suggest one guide for a touring cyclist the Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook would be it.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Five Stars
By Henry Jackson
The book for adventures by bike.

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