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| A great find in Vernazza |
Where you stay on a holiday really can make a difference. Whether it be a hotel, 5 star Resort, in the city or in the country, do your research. Before committing to any I always check the reviews on trip advisor or the site itself.
Most of the time we find our family in holiday homes. My favorite sites in Europe are HomeAway, VRBO, and Venere. Many travel books claim you can get a better deal just showing up and asking around. This may be the way for single travelers but when you are looking for a triple or quad, you won’t have much luck. We learned this the hard way. We rolled in late to France, on our way to Spain and thought we’d just pick a place. Long story short, we ended up at a Formule1 hotel. (only hotel with a baby cot) Worst.Hotel.Ever. The only time we have had luck with this scenario was off season in the Cinque Terre a few years back. A last minute trip, we ended up in a bar asking the locals and found a great place and have since returned. I would only recommend no reservations if it’s last minute or in the off season, other than that try to plan ahead.
As far as holiday homes, we find these the most relaxing and best priced type of accommodation. Some people enjoy the services hotels offer but if you find yourself more of an independent traveler, I’d recommend renting a holiday home over a hotel.
Some of my top picks for homes we have stayed in:
In the city center :
London
Berlin
Paris
Prague
Outside city center, car is nice to have:
Amsterdam
Tuscany
Portugal
Costa del Sol
SWITZERLAND 
This is a great blog, please keep doing it!