Three things to do in Madeira, when you’re a toddler

October 21, 2013

Madeira with a toddler1) Go up in the cable car and be absolutely fascinated by the view and the tiny people, goats and cars below

2) At the top of the mountain, watch the people sledging, take a brief look at the gardens, but most enjoy happily running up and down the steps, over and over again

3) Be so exhausted (see 2) that you fall asleep at just the right moment, so your parents can have a blissfully peaceful beer overlooking the beautiful harbour

I realised I’ve written all about things we did on the ship on our cruise (read my tips for children and parents), but not a lot about when we got off it. We stopped in Spain and the Canary Islands, and out of all the places Madeira was definitely our favourite. It was incredibly pretty, with lots of unexpected buildings, and seemed fresh and clean and just really lovely (top Madeira fact – apart from cake and wine, the most famous export is Cristian Ronaldo).

Did you go travelling when you were younger, or even when you were older? I had took a pretty indulgent two gap years in total and went to India and Asia with friends, and then went on a round-the-world trip by myself post-uni. Alex and I were in our late 20’s when we got together so our holidays were less of the grotty backpacker hostels and more long-haul and nice hotel affairs. My lovely friend Nina is writing a blog of her travels on her way back from Australia and it’s really making me want to get my rucksack out of storage. Although I can’t imagine doing it with very young children so we might have to wait a long time now.

Last holiday-related post, I promise! It’s all Autumnal mud and misery from here on in (kind of).

3 Comments

  • Kiran Chug

    October 22, 2013 at 7:59 pm

    Tony and I had both done lots of travel before we met, and we continued to do quite a bit afterwards. He’s from New Zealand, I’m from London – we were always going to be on the road a bit getting to and from each place. Now we’ve got two kids under 2, that life feels like a world away. We hope to be able to travel with the kids when they are older, but it will be shorter trips than the long stints abroad we used to indulge in. We do want to open their eyes to the world though from a young age – we think that’s really important. x

  • Nina

    November 30, 2013 at 5:01 am

    Gill I just saw this! You’re too sweet.

    We’ve actually met a few people travelling with children before they reach school age and they’re having the best time! They’ve all said you just have to be a bit more organised and stay in one place a bit longer, but that it hasn’t been hard…

    Maybe you should come and join us!

    1. gillian

      December 1, 2013 at 12:53 pm

      Can you imagine? It would be too brilliant. Glad you’re having such a good time, loving your blog work lady x

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