Good location for food and drink. The menu while on the face of it looks like a typical bar menu is inventive. You'll find things like rabbit burgers and pheasant on the menu that you wouldn't normally find in a bar. The food is very much moving towards 'gastropub' territory.
On Saturday nights the bar is packed as they have live music. Even when it is quieter it is nice to sit down with a nice pint.
Family friendly.

www.noblesbarleith.co.uk/
44a Constitution street, Edinburgh EH6 6RS
+44(0)131 629 7215
Google map: bit.ly/z8TeR1

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It might just be me, but I felt like Kings Canyon was the best place for me to get in shape. It's away from the crowds of Yosemite and empty enough that no one will watch you sweating and panting as you hike through the beautiful redwoods. It's a beautiful place, and the weather in the summer is always fantastic. I'd combine a trip here with a tour around northern California. I spent three weeks hiking, shopping and relaxing and I lost two dress sizes without altering my diet! Finally, the best point about the national parks is that they're very family orientated so there will be something for everyone.

www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm
83918 Grant Grove Dr, Kings Cyn Nat Pk, CA, United States
+1 559-335-2856
Google map: bit.ly/sk8E7C

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Far North Queensland has the tropical luxury of Port Douglas with lazy ceiling fans, cocktails and fantastic food but also back to basics four-wheel driving beyond Cape York with hidden pristine beaches. Even the main road from Cairns is a World Heritage area. The Coral sea is the most eye-catching aquamarine but take heed of the signs warning of salt-water crocodiles (salties.) The realisation that you're no longer top of the food chain gives you a whole new perspective on life. Still wanting to feel small in the marine world but much safer? Take a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef from Port Douglas. Much quieter than the backpacker chaos of Cairns, no "salties" out this far, choose a boat with a marine biologist on-board and swap watching on BBC 2 for a snorkel and flippers. See it soon - global climate change might mean its all gone in thirty years time. Even that fact on its own has been life-changing for us.

We visited the reef with Wavelength www.wavelength.com.au/ - oldest in operation, set up by a marine biologist
Shop 20, Meridien Marina Mirage, Wharf Street Port Douglas
+61(0)7 4099 5031

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This family run four-star hotel offers a three-day Christmas package which is just magical! Kandersteg is the archetypal Swiss village set in a deep valley and blanketed with snow in winter. We stayed in the Ruedihus, a 300-year-old chalet (think Heidi, but bigger and more comfortable) with beautiful antique Swiss furniture and home-made Bircher muesli for breakfast, but had full use of the facilities of the main hotel 10 minutes walk away, including a luxury fitness centre with gym, sauna and heated indoor and outdoor pool. Tea and cake were served every afternoon in the country house-style lounge with open log fire and luxurious sofas. During the seven-course gala dinner on Christmas Eve, hosted by the owner and his family, there was an interlude where we all sang Christmas carols and every guest received a gift from under the Christmas tree. Later, the hotel mini bus transported everyone who wished to the candlelit Christmas Eve service in the tiny village church. On Christmas Day the 'Pelzmartiga' (local men dressed in furs and medieval costumes) roamed the streets, rattling chains and ringing bells to chase away evil spirits. Another gala dinner on Christmas evening rounded off a perfect Swiss Christmas - unforgettable!

www.doldenhorn-ruedihus.ch
CH-3718 Kandersteg
+00 41 33 675 81 81

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The Royal Ontario Museum has millions of items on display in over 30 galleries and one of my favourites is the “Teck Suite of Galleries: Earth’s Treasures.” It is composed of the Gallery of Minerals, the Gallery of Gems and Gold and the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Gallery.
The mining industry in Canada is extremely important, and it’s only fitting that a large part of the second floor is devoted to such exquisite treasures. The exhibits showcase wonderful specimens of minerals in a variety of colours and shapes, including fluorescent green. There are several cases filled with gold, diamonds, garnets, opals, and jade, as well as exquisite pieces of jewellery. Throughout the exhibits, there are about 40 interactive touch stations that provide in-depth information on several specimens. I can spend hours browsing here, admiring the beauty of so many pieces, all while learning so much about geology.

www.rom.on.ca/
100 Queens Park Toronto, ON M5S 2C6, Canada
+1 (416) 586 8000
Google map: bit.ly/sYw4d0

* Giulia is our Been there local for Toronto. You can see her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/places/canada/toronto/index.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/GiuliaFalsetti

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Nathan Phillips Square, located at the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, hosts numerous events throughout the year, and starting November 26 until the middle of March, the famous outdoor skating rink will be open to the public.
Visitors can rent skates, get them sharpened, and have access to the indoor changing rooms.
This is the perfect way to end a winter day in the city. Skate rental includes 2 hours of skating. Adults = $10.00, and children = $5.00.
If you’re in town on November 26, be sure to attend the Cavalcade of Lights, beginning at 7pm in the Square. The event features the official lighting of the city’s Christmas tree, fireworks at 8pm, live musical performances by award-winning Canadian artists, and a skating party on the rink.

www.cityskaterentals.com
100 Queen Street West, Toronto, Canada
+1 416 304 1400
Google map: bit.ly/vcZFli

* Giulia is our Been there local for Toronto. You can see her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/places/canada/toronto/index.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/GiuliaFalsetti

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Since its opening in 1969, this science museum has been attracting families, teens and adults.
The Centre has several hundred interactive exhibits, featuring everything in science and nature, including geology, astronomy, human anatomy, communication, Toronto’s only planetarium, and KidSpark, a play area designed specifically for kids aged eight and under.
Until November 30, there is a special exhibit of Leonardo da Vinci’s workshop, with 20 scale physical models of his inventions, including a mechanical lion, a robot soldier and the self- propelling cart. Visitors can also interact with his famous paintings by zooming into details on the Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. There are also interactive touch-screens to help you turn the pages of his notebooks, with sketches and 3D models leaping from the page.
The IMAX has some great screenings, too. Catch “Rocky Mountain Express”, where you take a steam train through the Canadian Rockies, learning about train travel while seeing spectacular mountain scenery and gorges along the way. Also on IMAX, “Under the Sea” where spectators visit the beautiful underground world of the Great Barrier Reef.
Finally, there are various food options, from snacks to beverages to full meals, ranging from fast food to healthy options.

www.ontariosciencecentre.ca
770 Don Mills Road, Toronto, Canada
+1 416 696 1000
Google map: bit.ly/tHQkNT

* Giulia is our Been there local for Toronto. You can see her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/places/canada/toronto/index.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/GiuliaFalsetti

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I did a food tour of East Los Angeles that is hosted by a group called Melting Pot Tours - it's their Latin Spice Tour. My guess is very few tourists go anywhere near this part of town so if you're looking for something different, and off the beaten path, check out this LA tour. The food was great, the guide was a hoot and I got to see a cultural side of Los Angeles (East, Latino, authentic) that most of us usually only get to drive by. It was wonderful, just loved it.

www.meltingpottours.com
8484 Wilshire Blvd, Ste. 220, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
+1 (424) 247-9666
Google map: bit.ly/tnuGmg

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An amazing place, a real gem just across the border from Finland North of the Arctic Circle - the owner Sven is a real pro, 11 time winner of Europe's longest sled dog race, and he built and designed all the wood huts himself, with lovely attention to detail. The dog sled trips with Sven and the huskies are legendary and truly challenging - every trip is a great adventure! On one of our trips my glasses froze and I had to steer blind - Sven jumped onto my sled and managed to stop the dogs. Unbelievable!

There is also a great hot tub and the food is a real treat.

www.engholm.no/
Engholm Husky
Gnr 11 Bnr 24, 9730 Karasjok, Norway
(+47)91586625
Google map: bit.ly/uhtBhg

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Pushing open the door of this rickety townhouse you have become a child in a book, sneaking inside a mysterious attic. Your gaze fixes on piles of cardboard boxes, two enormous stuffed tigers and heaving wooden display cabinets as old as their contents.
There is a logic to the displays, but you notice that this is not applied rigidly. There are train sets, dolls, cowboys and Indians and piggy banks competing with model kitchens, tin soldiers and wind-up ladybirds. There’s wood and metal, but not so much plastic. Teddy bears can be found everywhere, along with wooden toys to climb on and plenty of corners to play hide and seek. Through a window you glimpse a workshop where dolls’ limbs and broken rocking horses hang, just waiting to be nursed back to life. Other children laugh and chatter away as they clamber on the exhibits, and the adults seek out their own childhood toys and rarer items such as a Noah’s ark, paper theatre or dolls houses behind glass. They’d say the only thing that’s missing is a coffee shop.
Then I stumble across André, the curator of the museum tucked in a room downstairs, working with a young apprentice. He says that as a father of six children, he found he was always packing and unpacking toys. The idea for a museum came automatically thirty years ago, and it has now been in its current location for 22 years. “It’s dusty, noisy and full of bric-a-brac”, he smiles. “But people still really like it.” The children will tell him that he has understood the interactivity part all right, unlike many other stuffier museums. “A toy has to be played with”, André says. Luckily it is easier to acquire toys that are a little worn, and that explains the 35,000 objects, the 700 or so teddy bears, the vaults underground and the crammed attic above. “It’s a lot of work”, says André of the constant tidying, unpacking and restoration, “but really it’s a pleasure.”
He’s even written a book about working at the museum, with a name strikingly similar to that of a famous film. Thinking about it, this place is the perfect setting for a film, if only the toys came alive after dark …

www.museedujouet.eu
Rue de l'Association/Verenigingstraat 24
1000 Brussels, Belgium
+32 (0)2 219 61 68
Metro: Madou or Botanique
Google map: bit.ly/vAouzO

* Bec is our Been there local for Brussels. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/brussels-local-rebecca.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/Becinbrussels

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All I can say is just go there. You may be cold but will not be disappointed. Yllas, in Finnish Lapland, far into the Arctic Circle, is the place I love.
Temperatures plummet to minus 25 degrees C – and that’s in the day, but don’t be put off by this. Dress for the weather and you will fall in love with the place. The lack of daylight hours in winter, with daytime sunrise and sunset, just adds to the beauty.
If its fun you are after, you have a choice. Downhill ski, cross country ski, husky dog sledding, ice fishing, reindeer sleighs, snowmobiles – you need a week here to do it all. Meet the local Sami people, who will invite you into their huts and make tea over an open fire in a blackened kettle.You cannot possibly get bored.
The choice of pristine snow and the silence that comes with it is another option, with miles of walking trails that cannot be beaten for peace and solitude.
There is of course the option to be a big kid and travel to Santa’s post office in Rovaniemi, Santa’s official home, where you can meet him any day of the year. Here you can arrange for the ‘real’ Santa’s letters to be delivered to the kids!
Add to this the wide range of first class hotels, romantic log cabins, blazing log fires and you have it all – well nearly. I stayed at the Hotel Akas, a very friendly and atmospheric hotel in the traditional unspoilt Lappish community of Akaslompolo, near Yllas.
The Aurora Borealis (or Northern Lights) are a spectacle not to be missed. Normally appearing in the night, my hotel agreed to give me a wakeup call when they appeared. Believe me; it’s worth missing some sleep for.
To me Lapland conjures up many memories – the beauty of the sky, the sparkle of the snow, and the magic of the silence. I will return.

www.yllas.fi/
Google map: bit.ly/u6KxEC

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A great example of a city farm, Gorgie Farm has been open since 1982 and is just a bus ride out of the city centre. Take the family - it really is the perfect way to spend an hour or two away from the hustle and bustle of Edinburgh. There are a number of animals to see in fields, stables and sheep houses and smaller animals and reptiles can be found in 'The Pet Lodge'.
The Farm operates solely on donations, so although admission is free, see if you can spare a few pounds to keep this great community project going.

www.gorgiecityfarm.org.uk/home/
51 Gorgie Road, Edinburgh, EH11 2LA
+44(0)131 337 4202
Google map: bit.ly/njy7eS

* Rachel is our Been there local for Edinburgh. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/edinburgh-local-rachel-brown.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/RachelBrown

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I've been to Les Gets a number of times now and it's brilliant for families. The snowboarding and skiing is great with a really good selection of runs, from nursery slopes for little ones learning to black runs for Dads wanting to test their limits. It's part of the large Portes du Soleil ski area and lives up to that name - we've had some wonderfully sunny (and very snowy) holidays there. Les Gets itself is a pretty Savoyard village and has some good restaurants, the ones we've visited have all welcomed children.

www.lesgets.com/
Google map: bit.ly/p6s9c3

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Superb museum tracing the history of Lyon from the pre Roman era to the 7th century, primarily focusing on the Roman era. Contains numerous statues, Roman memorials, mosaics and pottery to name some of the exhibits.
The thing that really caught my eye was a death mask of a 10-year-old girl from nearly 2,000 years ago.
From the street outside, the building very much reflects its mid 1970s construction with the stark concrete. However inside the museum you slowly descend through five floors which makes it ideal for wheelchairs or those with difficulty with steps. [Lifts are on all 'floors'].
The museum is located next to two well preserved (and restored) Roman theatres dating back nearly 2,000 years. These host concerts in summer.

www.musee-gallo-romain.com/fourviere/accueil/index.html
17 rue Cléberg, 69005 Lyon
+33(0)4 72 38 49 30
Google map: bit.ly/o8TKtx

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The World of the Ice Giants, some 20 km south of Salzburg, is a natural ice cave inside a mountain in the Alps, the largest one in the world. David Attenborough included this spectacular cave in his series Wonders of Nature.
It's absolutely breathtaking. You are guided through the first kilometer of the cave 400 meters underground, walking around huge ice formations shaped like fairytale castles, vast cathedrals, and sparkling palaces. There are huge stalagmites and stalactites - everywhere you look is a spectacular natural wonder. It is permanently frozen inside so very cold even in the summer - you need to wrap up well for this unique journey through an icy Neverland.

www.eisriesenwelt.at
Eishoehlenstrasse 30, A - 5450 Werfen
+43(0)64685248

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Just a short bus ride from Mayrhofen followed by a chairlift leads you onto the Hintertux Glacier. Once up there you will find the Spannagelhaus which is at the entrance to the underground Spannagel cave – the largest and most important cave in the Tyrol. There is a charge of around 10Euro for the tour and you are kitted out with hard hats and waterproofs and you’ll need them for the adventure to follow!
There are wonderful rock formations, stalactites and stalagmites, ribbon marble and crystals to be discovered as you feel like a real caver (there’s even a couple of places you have to squeeze through the rock!) exploring this secret underground world. While there it is of course worthwhile exploring the glacier, admiring the views and having a coffee at the excellent mountain huts that Austrians seem so good at providing in even the remotest of settings.

www.spannagelhaus.at
Familie Anfang, Spannagel 779, 6293 TUX
+43 5287 87251
Google map: bit.ly/pIEACD

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Astrid Lindgren’s World in Vimmerby (about 225 km SW of Stockholm) consists of “a theatre and theme park where visitors can experience characters from Astrid Lindgren’s books in their true settings. Everyone can meet the characters, they perform scenes from the books and improvise situations involving the children in the park”. Pippi remains a childhood favourite and who could resist seeing her come to life? While nearby you can also visit Astrid Lindgren’s childhood home, Näs, also in Vimmerby.

www.alv.se/en
www.astridlindgrensnas.se/1153/Engelska.html
Prästgårdsgatan 24, 598 36 Vimmerby, Kalmar Län, Sweden
+46(0)492 76 95 82
Google map: bit.ly/qtVqJF
More details (and other children's literature destinations in Sweden) here: www.playingbythebook.net/2011/01/21/kidlit-destinations-in-sweden/

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The Moomin Valley of the Tampere Art Museum is a museum devoted to original works by writer and artist Tove Jansson and can be found in the centre of the city of Tampere. A heaven for those who love Moomins!

inter9.tampere.fi/muumilaakso/index.php?lang=en
Hämeenpuisto 20
P. O. Box 487FIN-33101 Tampere
+358 3 56566578
Google map: bit.ly/oND9Sa

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With it being Children's Book Week I can only encourage all families to get out and visit some of the amazing places here in the UK that have links to brilliant children's books. In Scotland you could visit the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh, JM Barie's birthplace in Kirriemuir. Crossing the border Harry Potter fans should visit Alnwick Castle before hitting Seven Stories in Newcastle, currently the only exhibition space in the UK dedicated to the celebration of British children’s literature. Crossing the Pennines you'll find the World of Beatrix Potter at Bowness-on-Windermere with the National Trust owned former home of Beatrix Potter nearby. Moving further south there are two delights for Dahl lovers - the Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery in Buckinghamshire County Museum, Aylesbury and The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Great Missenden. London is home to a wealth of children's literature attractions: Discover – The story making centre in Stratford is a good place to start and a visit to the Illustration Cupboard (just of Regent Street), an art gallery representing contemporary book illustrators from around the world is a must. If you're looking for locations which feature in children's literature (although they may not have actual visitor attractions there) the website Storybook England is brilliant (www.storybookengland.com/). Pack a picnic, a good book or two to read together and visit a location from a favourite book of your childhood!

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This little unpretentious bar which also serves good simple seafood is run by a one-time bullfighter. Most of the seating is outside on the street. We paid €29 for starters/mains and two drinks.
Located in the old fishermen's quarter Barrio de La Vina where many of the streets are populated with bars and restaurants.
Not surprisingly considering the previous occupation of the owner, the bar is full of bull fighting memorabilia.

Calle San Félix, 2 Barrio La Viña, Cadiz, Spain
+34 956 220 838

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