Family Travel Concierge: July 2013

Monday, July 22, 2013

Weekend trip to Boston

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Here is two and a half day itinerary I put together for my clients who went to Boston a month ago.

Suggested Hotel: Hotel Wyndham Boston Beacon Hill

Quick guide on what to do in Boston.

Download HopStop App. It will help you to navigate through Boston easier + Google Maps + TripAdvisor Boston

Friday

Arrive to hotel

Walk to Boston Commons and then go to Prudential (go to the top to see the city)

From Prudential take Green Line (subway) towards Park St. , change train to Red Line, go to Harvard Sq

Subway map here

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSzM_W0zFOmSmjx1v8o-ukQ-W5HwqAFPQwvL-A6x8NDJjXVyrHLUHJSmEUOhkpDtnzGj_YhnPH3WT3H1A7Ird0TRQ0SM3GLcdRY920K2WQnyaDVajmen1CxxpxqF1prsLrd3_At9qidQ8t/s1600/boston_subway.png&imgrefurl=http://newstourismworld.blogspot.com/2011/04/boston-subway-map-mbta.html&h=1540&w=1600&sz=445&tbnid=WiPs32uV4u4-hM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=89&zoom=1&usg=__LU6SnkjJLNe3Io8QkUVdUT6ZgbM=&docid=aaVY_ah4e_Hj0M&sa=X&ei=RavDUaGcBOTk4AOn9oHABw&ved=0CGAQ9QEwCw&dur=59

Go to Harvard Sq. - you might see street performances and very great atmosphere

Eat in Fire and Ice

http://www.harvardsquare.com/Home/Restaurants/FiRE---iCE.aspx

Return to Hotel

Red Line to Asmont, get off at Charles

Saturday

Start with

Freedom trail - nice 2.5 hour walk around historical places. There is a line on the road to follow.

http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/maps/pdfs/boston-nps-map.pdf

http://www.thefreedomtrail.org

AND/OR

Trolley tour around Boston

http://www.partner.viator.com/en/11761/tours/Boston/Boston-Hop-on-Hop-off-Trolley-Tour/d678-5046BOS_OTT

Will give you glance into Boston's history (you can see USS Constitution if you don't drive there)

AND/OR

Duck tour - one that I told you (starts next to Prudential)

http://www.partner.viator.com/en/11761/tours/Boston/Boston-Duck-Tour/d678-3037DUCK

Visit Old State House

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_State_House_%28Boston%29

Visit Quincy Market

You can have lunch or snack in its food court or outside

Go to Holocaust memorial, next to Quincy market

Go to Charlstown to see USS Constitution. The best way is to drive your car there ( if you don't take trolley tour)

http://www.ussconstitutionmuseum.org/

In the evening go to Newbury Street in Back Bay (restaurants, cafes, boutique shops).

There are bunch of restaurants there.

Sunday

Options:

1. Science Museum - very good for kids

http://www.mos.org/

2. Boston Commons - nice park

3. Tour around Harvard - free of charge

http://www.harvard.edu/visitors/calendar#/?i=1

4. Unique glass collection in Harvard Museum of Natural History

http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/on_exhibit/the_glass_flowers.html

5. Museum of Fine Arts

If you want to eat good Italian Food go to North End. There are good Italian restaurants on each corner.

Good Spanish food is in restaurant Dali

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Castel Sant'Angelo (Rome)

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Castel Sant'Angelo (in Rome) started a special summer program with late night excursions. Not only tourists can explore this attraction, but also they can get to concerts.

Night tours are held from July 2 to September 8 in English, Italian, French and Spanish. Tourists can visit those parts of the Citadel, that are not accessible to visitors usually. So, they enjoy the Passetto - 800 m long corridor, linking Castel Sant'Angelo and Vatican palaces, will see the Dungeon where Pope Paul III, Italian humanist Pomponio Leto, the sculptor Benvenuto Cellini, Mystic and adventurer Giuseppe Balsamo, count Cagliostro, and many other interesting people were held.

Tours are offered Tuesday through Sunday from 20:30 to 01:00. Ticket price for adults is 10 euro, children up to 10 years old can enjoy them for free.

The courtyard of the Cortile della Balestra is the place of classical and jazz music performances on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (from July 15)

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castel_Sant'Angelo

Monday, July 1, 2013

Switzerland with kids

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Here is the itinerary I put together for my clients with two kids, boy and girl. They rented a car in Germany and traveled to Switzerland.

On the way from Darmstadt, Germany you can stop in Basel

Ideas for Basel

1) Doll House Museum

http://www.spielzeug-welten-museum-basel.ch/en/

2) Basel Zoo

http://www.zoobasel.ch/en/index.php

3) Animal Park

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http://www.erlen-verein.ch/&act=url

Ideas for Lucerne

4) Transportation museum (Lucerne)

http://www.verkehrshaus.ch/en

5) Cog train from Brienz

http://www.swisspasses.com/classicrail/packages/brienz/index.htm

You can get to Brienz from Luzerne

by car (37 km)

by train

by steam boat

http://www.bls.ch/e/schifffahrt/fahrplan.php

6) Glacier Garden - museum, maze, garden - can be a good place for kids

7) The Picasso Gallery

http://www.rosengart.ch/picasso_en.php5

8) Pilatus Railway - the steepest cogwheel railway

http://www.pilatus.ch/en/railway-cableways/cogwheel-railway/

Day trip to Zurich

9) Zurich Zoo

http://www.zoo.ch/xml_1/internet/en/intro.cfm

10) Toy Museum

http://www.zuercher-spielzeugmuseum.ch/index_en.html

11) Zoological Museum

http://www.zm.uzh.ch/index_en.html

12) Museum of Modern Arts

http://www.kunsthaus.ch/en/

Day Trip to Montreux - super expensive resort town where a tiny ice cream can cost you $10 (it is what I remember the most), but it can be fun

128 km from Lucerne; 95 km from Geneva

You can go to Montreux on your way from Luzerne to Geneva

13) Swiss Museum of Games - can be fun for kids

http://www.museedujeu.com/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80&Itemid=201&lang=en

14) Chateau Chillon - Swiss most famous castles where Lord Bayron was imprisoned

http://www.chillon.ch/en/index.cfm

15) Food museum - can be fun, shows where food comes from

http://www.montreuxriviera.com/en/culture_leisure/museums_culture/Alimentarium

16) Swiss Vapeur Parc - Miniature wonderland. Because your son loves trains. It can be great place to spend time

http://www.swissvapeur.ch/en/

Ideas for Geneva

17) Musée d'Historie Naturelle

18) Animal park

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ville-geneve.ch%2Fthemes%2Fenvironnement-urbain-espaces-verts%2Fparc-animaux-bois-batie%2F

19) Barbier-Mueller Museum - Masks museum

20) City parks - 1/4 of the city is in parks

21) Trains and trolley tours

http://www.trains-tours.ch/en/trains-trolleys-tours.html

22) Forestland park & playground

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forestland.fr%2F

23) Boat trip on a lake

24) Ride the train

a red and black solar powered train that runs from along the lake’s left bank from Jardin Anglais to Parc Eaux-Vives.

25) Chocolate factory tour

http://www.chocosuisse.ch/web/chocosuisse/en/other_services/visitations.html

Interesting links about Geneva

http://www.newlyswissed.com/?p=10310

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/travel/05kids.html?_r=0

More about Geneva

Geneva

Activities

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g188057-s401/Geneva:Switzerland:Family.Travel.html

Sunny Day:

- Jardin Botanique http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/

-In the summer, go the the Place de Nations to play in the water fountains. Dont forget the bathing suits.

Rainy Day:

- Museum of Natural History. http://www.ville-ge.ch/mhng/

- Get onto the yellow public transport boats and cross from shore to shore until they get tired.

Restaurants:

Chez Ma Cousine, Rue Lissgnol 5, where you get delicious roast chicken with potatoes and salad (under CHF 15). Two other Chez Ma Cousine restaurants exist in Geneva, one in the Old Town and one in Petit-Saconex. http://www.chezmacousine.ch/ for more details.

Sushi Boky - South East Asian. Walk out the front of the railway station and turn left (Rue de Lausanne). Walk about 50m and it's on the right hand side, tucked into the tall building next to Mc D's.

Luigia - somewhat expensive, but kid-friendly pizza place

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g188057-d1938459-r126484301-Luigia-Geneva.html

Good website for family restaurants, but not sure if they are all in Geneva

http://geneva.angloinfo.com/af/474/geneva-family-restaurants.html

Top 10 restaurants for different budgets

http://www.resto-rang.ch/index.cfm?lang=EN

Accommodations considered

Accommodation options

Luzerne
Great apartment to rent
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1122784

Holiday Inn Express Luzern - Neuenkirch - $150

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/906365

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/947330