Did you know there are big box retailers that offer FREE fun? Check this out to learn about some of the companies I’m aware of and feel free to share additional ideas in the comments!
As a family, we aim to reduce consumerism and shy away from name brands and big box retail stores, BUT, I do make one exception and that’s when those big name stores offer FREE fun! Even I can’t resist! The other thing I love is we’ve been able to participate in these free events while traveling!
First up is Michaels, the arts and crafts store. On select Sunday afternoons (often 2-4 pm), they offer a window of time for kids to come in and do a make-and-take craft. When we visited Spartanburg, South Carolina, we tried this out for the first time and both my daughter (4 at the time) and I made tie-dye shirts. (See our experience on Instagram.) We got to pick out our shirt style and size from the t-shirt aisle in the store, the Michaels employee requisitioned it (aka made it free) and then provided the aprons, instructions and supplies for us to add the colors. Then she provided bags for us to take them home and told us how to finish them up three days later. This is still one of my favorite shirts and was such a fun experience for my daughter and I to do together.
Craft at Michael’s | TeamTravelsBabyTie-dye shirt making for free | TeamTravelsBaby
Tip: Call the store you plan to go to and verify that they indeed are doing the craft, as advertised online. (Trust me, I’ve learned from experience. For example, the downtown Silver Spring, Maryland location still does not offer in-person events.) Then reserve your spot online at the store you plan to go to.
Next up is Home Depot, the home improvement store. They offer a free kids workshop, typically on the first Saturday morning of each month between 9 am – 12 pm. I reserved her spot (to guarantee her a kit) online and my parents took her to the one in Spartanburg, South Carolina. This one was hosted outdoors. She was given an apron, a pin, and the necessary supplies to assemble, paint and decorate a bean bag toss (a mini cornhole). I am not one to use a hammer and nails, but my Mom is. This is such a great way to engage other family members and introduce your child to something new. See her fun on Instagram! Similarly, she enjoyed a different creation at the Home Depot in Michigan with her cousin and my in-laws!
Tip: Book your spot online in advance as you do not want to show up to the store and have your child disappointed. If you do not show up, they will give away your kit at the end of the allotted window.
Their competitor, Lowe’s, also offers a similar kids workshop. These workshops are typically the third Saturday of the month, but always check their calendar and sign-up in advance to reserve your spot. They offer different one hour windows, usually between 10 am – 1 pm. We finally gave this a try in January and loved it! We built a toolbox together and the instructions were super easy to follow. We’re already excited to return in February! Make sure they “check you in” so your child gets credit as there are different milestones to work towards.
Building a toolbox | TeamTravelsBaby
Tip: Book early if you’re in an area that only has one location within a reasonable distance. They’re usually available almost a month in advance for sign-up online. If you do not show up, they give away your kit at the end of the allotted window to walk-ins.
The last company I’ll highlight is Ikea, the Swedish company that offers furniture and home décor. The first step is to sign-up for their free Ikea loyalty card and add it to your Apple wallet or traditional wallet or purse. Every time you go there you can get a FREE coffee, with FREE refills! This is like a parent’s dream! Their restaurants usually have big windows, lots of seating and a couple of kid friendly (geared for little kids) items to touch. Drink your coffee hot!
Also, Ikea offers FREE childcare in their Smaland, while you shop. I love a kid free walk around Target with Starbucks, but free coffee and free childcare, I’m honestly blown away! The child must be potty-trained, must wear socks and there is a range for acceptable height (instead of age) which is 37 to 54 inches. The Smaland at the location closest to us (in College Park, Maryland) has been closed for some time, but they do offer a long table of free kids crafts and coloring in the restaurant on Wednesdays from 12 pm – 1 pm and 6 pm – 7 pm (always double check in case it changes and you may need to make online reservations or walk in and show your free family card, which I have saved to my Apple wallet). Plus with the FREE card, you can buy one adult entrée and get kids entrees for free the same night (which for us is like $12 for the three of us to eat). We have been multiple times and my daughter loves this! Check the College Park location for other offerings too! And we have visited many locations across the United States that have their own unique kids offerings (like at the one in Vegas, Addy got to paint a picture frame and make a placemat that got laminated and at the one in Minnesota by Mall of America she loved the little snoopy house and riding the slanted escalators).
Ikea in Minneapolis | TeamTravelsBabyIkea in College Park, MD | TeamTravelsBabyIkea in Las Vegas | TeamTravelsBaby
Tip: We have always been on weekdays in the late afternoon, which have never been busy. If you go on a weekend, expect that many others may have the same idea and there could be a wait for Smaland.
So now you know! Big box retailers do offer kid-friendly FREE fun! I hope you’ll take advantage of these great offerings. Affordable family travel can be where you live or where you travel to. If you found this page without subscribing to my newsletter, I encourage you to check it out and subscribe. Here’s my Inaugural Newsletter and my second newsletter, Sunshine State of Mind.
And while there isn’t a craft or project to take home (although on occasion, we’ve seen coloring sheets), Barnes and Noble bookstore is another big box company that offers story time which is typically on Saturdays at 11 am! Please share any other free big box retailer offerings in the comments! We love adding new things to our list for the DMV area and for when we travel.
Story time at Barnes and Noble in Tucson | TeamTravelsBaby
The beach is the obvious thing to do on a trip to Florida with kids, but there are more options! My personal favorite is the variety of birds – I could post hundreds of pictures of Florida birds, but don’t worry, I only shared a couple. Enjoy and let me know what we should add to our list for next time!
I feel very fortunate that my in-laws spend the winter months (January, February and sometimes March) enjoying Florida and have invited us to enjoy a piece of it with them the last couple of years. For me, escaping to the Sunshine State is perfect for my state of mind because it’s always significantly warmer than the temperature in Maryland where we live. Over the years, here are ten fun things to do on and near Pine Island, Florida (located on the west coast of Florida, south of Tampa and north of Sarasota). Given the location of where my in-laws stay, near Bokeelia, our travels have taken us to Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Sanibel/Captiva and Punta Gorda which are all within an hour. We have flown into Fort Myers Airport (RSW, about 1 hour), Punta Gorda Airport (PDG, about 45 minutes) and have driven all the way from Maryland. Of course Florida is choc full of airports, so if you’re willing to drive, you may get a better deal flying into Tampa/St. Petersburg, Orlando, Sarasota, Miami or Fort Lauderdale to name a few.
Tern Seagull | TeamTravelsBabyWhite Pelicans | TeamTravelsBabyBrown Pelican | TeamTravelsBabyOsprey with a fish | TeamTravelsBaby
We have adventured around this area with our daughter between the ages of three and five. Below are things we have done with her and enjoyed, in no particular order. (Always do your due diligence to check hours, road conditions and current pricing.)
Lee County Manatee Park – See manatees near the water tower. Just pay a couple of dollars ($2/hour or $5/day in 2024) for parking and you’ll find a great place to walk, play at the playground, have a picnic, etc. There are also bathrooms.
Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve – An amazing boardwalk trail and chance to look for wildlife! The parking lot is small, so go early or late to try and snag a spot and pay the nominal parking fee. I loved seeing the ibises.
Flea Master Flea Marketand Goodwill Outlet – My in-laws hid 10, $1 bills for my daughter to find and then off the flea market, in the rain, we went. Bring an umbrella and good water shoes for the parking lot, but then enjoy the covered market. She loved getting a $1.60 back scratcher, $3 to have her face painted and $2 for fairy hair and a $2 tsum tsum necklace. Goodwill Outlet is no ordinary thrift experience and kids under 12 can’t go in this location, BUT, if you’re looking for inexpensive toys for your trip, pop in here for the experience. Nearly everything is by weight and you can snag some amazing deals! Some people like to wear gloves when looking through the humungous bins! My favorite part is watching the crowd when a new row of bins comes out – trust me!
Fort Myers Beach – This one is probably obvious and it does look different since the hurricane, but still lots to explore and a fun family outing! And while we haven’t been, I want to check out D Street along the river (The River District). They hold a variety of events and Leoma Lovegrove (one of my favorite spots from Matlatcha is moving here in 2024).
Pine Island Public Library, Philips Community Park and Spot Ice Cream – If you’re driving onto Pine Island, you’ll come through the town of Matlatcha. Sadly, as of January 2024, it still has not fully recovered from Hurricane Ian (September 2022), but if you’re able to, definitely get out and see the beautiful street art, pop in the stores that are open and get coffee at the Perfect Cup! Continue on to the library which has a cute kids area and bathrooms, play at the playground across from it that has a scavenger hunt and one of those kid “elevators” and then end with Spots Ice Cream across the main road. My personal favorite was the blueberry cheesecake. (Sundays and Mondays aren’t the best days given some things are closed.)
Marina by Lazy Flamingo | TeamTravelsBabyMatlatcha Street Art by CreativelySass | TeamTravelsBabyCritters on shells at Turner Beach | TeamTravelsBaby
Cayo Costa State Park – Fortunately, my in-laws can take us here on their boat, but there is a way to get here if you don’t have access to one (verify the details). The bird life, walking the beach and looking for dolphins are some of my favorite parts. And if you have time, drive to the farthest point north on Pine Island to Bokeelia. Next to Capt’n Con’s restaurant I love to buy earrings made by locals. You can also check out the pier or catch the sunset behind the restaurant. And if you’re walking, take a look down Moyer Lane – it’s a hoot! We love eating at the Lazy Flamingo up the street, walking around the marina and catching the sunset from the bridge by it. There are so many pelicans and Addy even fed some this year! We’ve also seen wood storks, night herons, great blues and others.
FellowshipPark in Cape Coral – This is a playground, splashpad and coffee shop! It’s associated with a church, but is open to all. Don’t forget to pack a bathing suit and towel.
Fishermen’s Village – If you fly into Punta Gorda (check Allegiant Airlines for deals), this is less than 10 minutes away. We loved popping by here during the holidays when it was beautifully decorated, walking around the shops and watching Addy play in the sand and climb the big chair while catching the sunset. There’s also a huge outdoor bar in the sand.
Turner Beach– There are multiple beaches on Sanibel and Captiva. We parked in the small parking lot here, paid for parking on our phones and then started searching for seashells. Right by the big rocks is the best place to look we found – we collected and then went to the Dollar Tree for art supplies to use them in crafts like decorating picture frames and other wood décor! There’s also real restrooms here too. I needed my coffee fix and popped into Jerry’s Grocery to get one. (Unfortunately, some of the other coffee shops have not reopened since the hurricane.) Prepare with a Sunpass to pay the toll or get a bill with your license plate.
J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge – Start with the visitor and education center and then explore the wildlife loop. I believe it’s a couple of dollars, but if you have a U.S. National Parks pass (like the America the Beautiful pass), it’s included. This is a great place to spot birds – we were so happy we brought our Nikon D500! Many people had binoculars. It’s on a paved road, so you can easily walk with a stroller, bike, etc. This is located on Sanibel and requires a toll to get on the island.
Wood Stork | TeamTravelsBaby3 Year Old Addy | TeamTravelsBabyDolphin | TeamTravelsBaby
We look forward to our next adventure here. And if you have the time, definitely make the drive to the Everglades! We’ve been twice and I would happily go again. Check out my post here (Right Up a Birders “Alli” (gator)), which includes the stops we made along the way. The Everglades and Acadia National Park are my favorite east coast parks.
What should we add to our list for the next time we visit this area? Feel free to leave them in the comments so we can all benefit! We particularly love free and low cost fun for our family. And if you didn’t find me via my newly created Substack newsletter, take a look and subscribe or follow us on IG at TeamTravelsBaby!
Sunset behind Capt’n Con’s 2024 | TeamTravelsBabyFace painting at Flea Master | TeamTravelsBabySunset at Fishermen’s Village 2023 | TeamTravelsBaby
We love our national parks and have made it our decade goal to finish seeing all of them before 2030. We have twelve U.S. national parks to visit as of July 2024 and you can read about many of the ones we have visited below.
Thinking about the upcoming Memorial Day weekend during quarantine, I figured I would reminisce on our road trip from last year. We made our way through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from the Asheville side (NC) by Cherokee to the Gatlinburg side (TN). It was a perfect long weekend getaway from the DC area. We were able to do some hiking, see some beautiful scenery and explore downtown Asheville.
Sunset in the Smokies | TeamTravelsBaby
Asheville, NC
Love seeing well done street art | TeamTravelsBaby
Asheville is known for being an artsy city. There’s a cute walkable downtown with the mountains in the background. If you’re looking for a unique coffee experience, I recommend checking out Double D’s Coffee & Desserts. It’s situated inside a double decker bus. There is also street art to walk around and find. From a previous trip, I can also recommend Tupelo Honey for breakfast or brunch – just be prepared to wait if you don’t get there early.
Exploring a city with street art is one of my favorite things to do | TeamTravelsBaby
Oconaluftee Visitor Center
This visitor center has a huge parking lot and a nice trail around a large field. We found tons of elk grazing in this area and turkies! There were quite a few onlookers who brought pop-up chairs and their long lenses to relax, enjoy the sunset and take pictures here. Plus, we had to get our national park passport stamp for Addy’s book!
Chimney Tops
Chimney Tops trail | TeamTravelsBaby
This was a fun and challenging trail in the Smokies. Distance wise it’s only about 2 miles, but there is quite a stair climb and general incline to the trail to make it to the overlook. Carrying Addy (our 7 month old), made it a bit more exhausting, especially with the warm and humid weather. The view from the overlook was beautiful and we saw many people eating their picnic lunch. On the way down, we were lucky someone pointed out the sleeping black bear to us! We didn’t get the best shot, but we could definitely see him as he tried to camouflage in.
Our “big” hike of the trip | TeamTravelsBaby
Mingo Falls
Mingo Falls | TeamTravelsBaby
We found a parking spot in the very small lot. We loaded up with sunscreen and started our walk up the stairs. This is a beautiful waterfall to hike to and we find it’s always most rewarding to hike to a point of interest.
Clingman’s Dome
Clingman’s Dome | TeamTravelsBaby
Clingman’s Dome was a nice paved path, albeit a little steep. We took in lovely rolling hills from the top and popped into the cute bookstore at the bottom.
The view from the top | TeamTravelsBaby
Newfound Gap Road
Great place for a quick pop out to get a picture with the state line sign! There are a lot of different areas in this park to explore! You could definitely return again and again for a good time here!
Sunset in the Great Smoky Mountains | TeamTravelsBaby
Every year for Mike’s birthday (when there isn’t a worldwide pandemic) we go on some type of getaway and it usually involves a baseball game. In June 2019, we found a deal to Seattle, so we got on a plane for a 5 day trip filled with Washington’s three national parks, its state capitol in Olympia, a baseball game in Seattle and a few other adventures tucked in. At 8 months old, Addy was already a super traveler having recently returned from her first cruise and European adventure in April. (Check out our trip recaps: Breathe in Barcelona, Sète on a Nice Yacht, Crank It Out While Cruisin’ ItalyandLoopin’ London.) Our trip throughout Washington state was so photogenic, it inspired me to write one of my first children’s books called Where Are You, Mount Rainier? which you can find on Amazon.
Olympia
State Capitol in Washington | TeamTravelsBaby
After arriving to Seattle airport and getting our rental car, we headed to Olympia, which hosts the gorgeous state capitol building and campus. We started with a view of it from Port Plaza Park and walked the Olympic Farmer’s Market. I got my first vacation coffee treat nearby at Dancing Goats Espresso. Once at the Capitol building we joined a tour so we could get an insider’s look into the chambers. There’s also a gorgeous Tiffany lamp that hangs from the dome. Of course we couldn’t leave without getting Addy’s picture on Mike’s shoulders as this has become a tradition for us. We also made a pit stop to nearby Tumwater Falls for a pretty waterfall.
Addy and Daddy at the Capitol | TeamTravelsBaby
Tumwater Falls | TeamTravelsBaby
Mount Rainier National Park
View of Mount Rainier at Reflection Lake | TeamTravelsBaby
Initially worried about rain, we lucked up and enjoyed beautiful weather where we could get out of the car and see Mount Rainier. We stopped at many of the different view points to take in the scenery, including an unbelievable reflection of snow-covered Mount Rainier. We managed to find one great hike to a waterfall too. This park has multiple entrances (of course check if they’re open before you go) so we didn’t have to backtrack. We entered from the west and exited near the southeast.
Views from Mount Rainier National Park| TeamTravelsBaby
Mount St. Helen’s National Monument
Mount St. Helen’s after the fog lifted | TeamTravelsBaby
Nearly to the border of Washington and Oregon, we made the trek beyond gas stations to visit Mount St. Helen’s. Pro Tip: Get gas when they warn you it’s the last station! While we had a foggy drive up the mountain (plus the fear of running out of gas), we got a fabulous view at the top where the visitor center is located. Don’t miss the reflection on the visitor center or the hike nearby.
Mount St. Helen’s National Monument | TeamTravelsBaby
Olympic National Park
Marymere Falls | TeamTravelsBaby
This park is huge and boasts many different environments. We started in the south through Lake Quinault and visited the Hoh Rainforest. We found lots of weird looking caterpillars. From here we saw the seastacks for sunset at Rialto Beach before a night in Forks. We drove past the gorgeous Lake Crescent and then hiked to Marymere Falls, which I would definitely recommend. We ended at Hurricane Ridge which still had snow. While we didn’t see any bears, we had fun hiking near the visitor’s center here as well as the drive. We popped down to Port Angeles which had some cool street art and a really cool coffee bar called Bada NW where I indulged. On our drive to Seattle we spotted Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, which is home to a variety of birds. Since we have the America the Beautiful pass, we didn’t have to pay the nominal fee here either.
The different landscapes in Olympic | TeamTravelsBabyOn our way into Dungeness NWR | TeamTravelsBabyStreet art in Port Angeles | TeamTravelsBaby
Seattle
Downtown Seattle behind us| TeamTravelsBaby
Mike and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary in April 2016 with an Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver and then a few days in Seattle. So on this trip, our sole purpose was to see a baseball game where the Seattle Mariners play. Luckily it was an evening game, so we walked the park while it was still light out and we could see downtown and the Space Needle, Mount Rainier and then eventually a beautiful sunset.
Views at the game | TeamTravelsBaby
Snoqualmie Falls and Leavenworth
Snoqualmie Falls plus a beautiful rainbow | TeamTravelsBaby
After leaving Seattle we made a pit stop at Snoqualmie Falls. It’s a beautiful 268 foot cascading waterfall. We continued our journey to an adorable mountain Bavarian town called Leavenworth. It reminded me of another cute Danish town called Slovang that we visited with friends on our Santa Barbara trip that you can read about here. Leavenworth is home to a huge nutcracker museum if that’s your thing. Nearby, I got a yummy treat from the Gingerbread Factory before we walked along Waterfront Park.
North Cascades National Park
Diablo Lake view | TeamTravelsBaby
As part of our journey to get to North Cascades National Park we took a 52 mile scenic road that runs between Darrington and Granite Falls. This road apparently closes often since there’s a 14 mile section over Barlow Pass that is unpaved. Fortunately it was open and a nice drive with places to stop along the way. Before entering the national park we spotted the Cascadian Farms roadside stand. MAKE THIS STOP! There are delicious milkshakes sold here – I tried the raspberry and loved it! On the way into the park, the official NPS sign is really cool! The snow on top looks legit! Since we arrived close to sunset the first night, we went to the Diablo Lake viewpoint. We stayed one night relatively close to the west entrance of the park in a place called Mount Baker Hotel for under $100. It was a really nice hotel – we had a separate living space from the bedroom. One word of caution is there is no cell phone service in this area, so I didn’t know the front desk person called to check that we were still coming since there is not 24/7 concierge service. Fortunately she waited for us and we got the key without issue. We found a cute drive-thru coffee shop the next morning and then explored the park with a hike up to Pyramid Lake. Similar to Glacier, there is a scenic road that runs through the park. It’s about an hour drive from the west entrance to the Washington Pass Overlook which is definitely worth it on a clear day. I only wish we had more time to hike in this park.
Washington Pass | TeamTravelsBabyHike to Pyramid Lake | TeamTravelsBaby
Sum It Up
We arrived to Seattle on Saturday, June 1st in the morning and knocked out Washington’s three national parks, a national monument, the capital city and a few other spots before flying home on Wednesday, June 5th in the evening. The secret to a great national park trip is to get up early to enjoy the sunrise whenever possible and to stay out until at least sunset and dusk. The other secret is, showering can be totally overrated and a time waster…so unless you really have to, it’s worth skipping to pack more into your day! Spritz yourself with some Febreeze and you’ll be golden! If we find another good deal to Seattle, I would definitely want to make it to the Columbia Gorge and Portland, Oregon and/or use it to explore places like Victoria and Vancouver Island.
We’re so glad you checked this post out! See you next time! | TeamTravelsBaby
While you’re on my site, I hope you’ll check out some of your other trips and leave your thoughts/share your experiences.
The Icefields Parkway is impossible to miss if you plan on seeing Banff and/or Jasper National Parks. It’s nearly 170 miles between these two parks, but the time clicks by as you’re engorged in the beauty of the mountains, lakes and animals surrounding you. Even if you’re short on time, you will not be disappointed by this drive or a few pit stops! We had a blast as part of our 12 day trip with our 11 month old.
Banff National Park
Lake Louise at sunrise | TeamTravelsBaby
This park is worth a trip unto itself. If you want to read all about it, check out my article, Banff, There It Is. From here you can take one of the most scenic roads, the Icefields Parkway to another gorgeous park called Jasper National Park. This article focuses on some of our favorite stops between the two parks in order from east to west.
The symmetry of Moraine Lake’s reflections | TeamTravelsBaby
Bow Lake
Our teething girl at Bow Lake | TeamTravelsBaby
Leaving Banff, Bow Lake was the first lake where we stopped and got out. It’s about 30 minutes from Lake Louise and there is limited parking by the Num-Ti-Jah Lodge. It was pretty cold when we got out, so we didn’t linger too long but enjoyed taking a few pictures before warming back up in the car.
I have a thing for reflections | TeamTravelsBaby
Peyto Lake
The iconic Peyto Lake | TeamTravelsBaby
Only a stone’s throw away, this lake should not be missed! It boasts the beautiful glacial deep teal color and has a unique shape with the mountains in the background. It was quite a steep hike from the parking lot, but also rewarding because of it. The path is a bit narrow for two way traffic, but everyone seemed to manage and pass when they could.
Obligatory family shot at Peyto Lake | TeamTravelsBaby
Icefields Parkway Itself
Big horned sheep along the Icefields Parkway | TeamTravelsBaby
In early September, the leaves weren’t all quite changing to fall foliage, but we did have fun pointing out the few that were red, orange and yellow! Good thing we were keeping our eyes on the road so we didn’t miss the huge group of big horned sheep ready to cross the road. There are places to pull off on the parkway, so we pulled over to watch the group together. It’s an extremely enjoyable drive between Banff and Jasper.
A little perspective | TeamTravelsBaby
Athabasca Glacier
Athabasca Glacier | TeamTravelsBaby
It was extremely cold and windy, but we managed to bundle Addy up and start walking toward this glacier in the Canadian Rockier. There are signs that show where the glacier was at different points in time and it’s hard to believe how much it has receded (the picture below shows where the glacier was in 2006). The hike is worth getting out of the car for, but if you’re short on time, you can at least catch a glimpse from across the Icefields Parkway. We didn’t pay to walk on the Columbia Icefield, but if that interests you, make sure to do your research.
Sunwapta Falls
Sunwapta Falls | TeamTravelsBaby
Technically we entered Jasper National Park to see this beautiful waterfall. The river is split around an island and then it that joins at the waterfall. There’s a quick walk down to it or a view from the bridge. I would imagine once the fall colors are in full effect it would be ridiculously beautiful here. We got a tiny taste as you can see from our pictures.
Sunwapta Falls with a taste of fall colors | TeamTravelsBaby
Family selfie | TeamTravelsBaby
Athabasca Falls
Athabasca Falls | TeamTravelsBaby
Also in Jasper National Park, this waterfall is a gusher. It’s a quick walk to the waterfall and then it’s worth taking a few extra minutes to walk through the canyon. We headed back to the Icefields Parkway and saw a huge elk before making it to the town of Jasper.
Sunset view near the canyon | TeamTravelsBaby
Addy and her daddy | TeamTravelsBaby
Jasper National Park
Male elk along the Icefields Parkway | TeamTravelsBaby
The Icefields Parkway connects two incredible parks. I would love for you to check out my article,Bear Jammed in Jasperto get a taste of Jasper National Park and some of the incredible hikes and wildlife it has to offer. Here’s a taste!
Medicine Lake in Jasper National Park | TeamTravelsBaby
I didn’t want this trip to end | TeamTravelsBaby
Catch you on our next adventure recap | TeamTravelsBaby
And in case you missed it, check out Yoohoo! Yoho is Where It’s At! to read about our adventures through the neighboring British Columbia National Parks and On the Border of Glacier and Waterton Lakes to see how our trip started off. In total five posts summarize our 12 day trip! Be sure to subscribe for email notifications or follow us on Instagram.
As part of our epic road trip to see Banff and Jasper, we also managed to see other nearby parks in British Columbia to include Mount Revelstoke, Glacier, Yoho and Kootenay. We also squeezed in the Montana State Capitol on our way back to Jackson Hole airport by way of animal-centric Yellowstone. Leave a comment at the end and let me know what you thought!
Mount Revelstoke National Park (British Columbia)
Giant Cedars | TeamTravelsBaby
We left Golden early in the morning and drove to Mount Revelstoke National Park. We started with a short easy boardwalk hike called Skunk Cabbage followed by the Cedar boardwalk trail. The real highlight for us was the Meadows in the Sky Parkway up to a parking lot near the summit. From here we had an option to take a shuttle, but opted to walk instead. We find that hiking to a destination makes it more rewarding than taking the easy way. Before heading to Glacier National Park of Canada, we stopped in the little town of Revelstoke so I could get a coffee treat at Conversations Coffee House.
Glacier National Park of Canada (British Columbia)
Great Glacier hike on a foggy day | TeamTravelsBaby
Easily combined to make for a full day with Mount Revelstoke, we opted for the Great Glacier hike. Round-trip this hike took us about 3.5 hours to hike (approx. 5 miles round-trip). There is quite an ascent going up and once the skies started to clear, gorgeous views of the mountains, a waterfall, and running water in the valley below. We also passed the remains of Glacier House on our way out. I was so tired from carrying Addy a good portion of the way up that once we switched, I had to stay out of eyesight of Addy so we could make it back down without switching again. It was fun listening to Mike entertain her with descriptions of everything he saw from rocks to trees to mushrooms.
We stayed in a Ramada Limited Hotel in Golden, which was a nice hotel and ideally located between Glacier and Yoho. As a bonus, I got 10% off with my key card at Bear & Bone Burger, which was walking distance from the hotel. The gunsmoke burger and yam fries were absolutely delicious and I would highly recommend it!
Yoho (British Columbia)
Emerald Lake in Yoho | TeamTravelsBabyIf you couldn’t tell, I absolutely loved photographing the reflections here | TeamTravelsBaby
If you take out Banff and Jasper (which both live up to the hype), Yoho was my favorite Canadian national park that we visited this trip. We ate our free hotel breakfast and then headed to Wapta Falls. This waterfall is a gusher! It was a relatively flat hike out, with some mud and rocks to the view point. Then we continued down in order to get a better view. Next up was one of the most stunning lakes of the trip (not quite Lake Louise or Moraine Lake, but definitely up there) called Emerald Lake. It was a stunning greenish turquoise color. We walked part of the lakeshore path, took in the reflection views and had a memorable photo shoot with Addy. On our way back to the main road, we stopped at the Natural Bridge. This was a nice spot to pop out and take some pictures. The park’s visitor center is in Field – we made a pit stop for our stamp before going to see our last waterfall. From the parking lot, it’s a very short walk to Takkakaw Falls. This narrow and tall fall (the second tallest in Canada) is really cool because you can go down to the rocks along the water for pictures without people. There’s also a spot with one of the “red chairs” that are scattered throughout the Canadian national park system.
Wapta Falls | TeamTravelsBaby
Natural Bridge near Emerald Lake | TeamTravelsBabyTakkakaw Falls | TeamTravelsBaby
Kootenay (British Columbia)
Olive Lake | TeamTravelsBaby
Wider view of Olive Lake | TeamTravelsBaby
The Paint Pots hike toward Marble Canyon was the only hike we did in this park. From the pot holed parking lot, there’s a bridge with stunning views of the mountains and a river below. Hiking boots are definitely necessary as there are small boards you walk on to stay off the electrified looking water. The ink pot here is unique and we found this hike virtually to ourselves.
As we made our way toward the exit of the park we stopped at Olive Lake. It was a pretty lake with reflections and fish. It was a short drive from here to the exit by Radium Hot Springs. If we had more time, we would have stopped to check these out. The drive is definitely worth taking this route.
Paint Pots hike in Kootenay | TeamTravelsBaby
Crossing the Border
This time we checked the hours to ensure we wouldn’t have any issues. We found the border crossing virtually empty, but we were the random selectees to pull over and have our car inspected. We hung out in the station while they checked everything out. For sunset, we made it the small town of Whitefish, Montana. This town is adorable and I only wish we had made it before the small independent shops had closed.
We found a Wal-Mart in Kalispell to load up on more snacks and then found a hotel here for the night. Check out my article called, On the Border of Glacier and Waterton Lakes to read about Glacier National Park which we primarily explored on the front end of our trip.
Addy taking us over the border | TeamTravelsBaby
Helena, Montana
Montana’s State Capitol | TeamTravelsBaby
As we made our way back toward Jackson Hole, we stopped in Helena, the capital of Montana. The inside was stunning and multi-floored. We joined a free guided tour so we could see inside the chambers. One of my favorite parts about taking Addy to a state capitol building is we’ve started a tradition of taking Addy’s picture on Mike’s shoulders in front of it. We explored the little downtown and found an adorable coffee shop, General Mercantile next to an independent bookstore called Montana Book Company. We don’t really collect any souvenirs on our trips, but one thing I do like to buy is a unique and locally written or illustrated book. On this trip I bought The Chumiss and the Micken, which is an incredibly adorable and beautiful book about the age old question about which came first – the chicken or the egg. It is a children’s book that I enjoy reading to Addy and would recommend to others.
Addy and her Daddy doing their thang in MT | TeamTravelsBaby
Yellowstone National Park (USA)
Big horned sheep | TeamTravelsBabyPronghorn, the fastest animal in North America | TeamTravelsBaby
When I was pregnant with Addy (June 2018), we crushed Yellowstone National Park. (I hope to write about that trip soon.) Since we were merely passing through for sunset and the following morning on this trip, we weren’t there to see it all, but rather to try and see animals. We took the scenic Beartooth Mountains drive. Then before even entering the park through the Gardiner, Montana entrance (to the north), we spotted a ton of big horned sheep, a herd of elk and pronghorns. Once we finally entered, we found a HUGE male flaunting his rack in anticipation for the fall rut.
Lamar Valley is a must drive if you want to see animals in Yellowstone. Of course, sunrise and sunset also happen to be the ideal times. The people who have scopes and follow the wolves were out in the morning and were generous enough to let us have a look. We could see wolves way out in the valley surrounding a bear trying to feed off the same dead bison carcass. My one non-animal pro tip is to stop in one of the stores and try the $1 huckleberry ice cream sandwich – you will be yearning for a second one!
Lamar Valley has a ridiculous number of bison | TeamTravelsBabyRed-tailed hawk | TeamTravelsBaby
Grand Teton National Park (USA)
On the short list for our future retirement home | TeamTravelsBaby
The drive is so scenic from Yellowstone and throughout Grand Teton. We literally only had a few minutes to jump out for a few pictures of the mountains and another huge elk. There is one gas station close to the extremely small airport. It was very easy to return our rental car and get through security here before walking on the tarmac to our plane. It’s also really interesting that this airport offers bear spray rentals! This is definitely something to consider for a future trip as bear spray is more expensive that I thought and you have to properly dispose of it. And in case you’re wondering why we picked Jackson Hole, it’s because Frontier was offering tickets for $249 each! This was a steal for this airport!
Returned the car without issue | TeamTravelsBaby
JAC, the prettiest airport to fly in and out of | TeamTravelsBaby
Notes for Next Time
Revelstoke: A longer hike in the Summit Area
Glacier: Balu Pass
Yoho: Lake O’Hara alpine area which needs to be booked WAY in advance and looks absolutely unreal.
Kootenay: Radium hot springs (the actual hot springs) and Juniper-Sinclair Canyon
Glacier National Park (Montana, USA) and Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta, Canada) are considered an international peace park as they share the border. As such, a passport is required if you want to see both. The Many Glaciers section of Glacier National Park was definitely a highlight and where we saw black bears. Waterton’s Prince of Wales Hotel is one of the windiest places in Canada and has a beautiful lake behind it. We also got out and walked around Calgary for about an hour or so and would definitely return to the city again in the future. Plus, as one of the few cities we visited, I actually got my treats here! While we were very non-traditional, starting and ending our trip in Jackson, Wyoming (home to the Grand Tetons), most people probably would have used Calgary as a jumping off point.
Ready for our adventure recap | TeamTravelsBaby
Going to the Sun Road (Glacier)
Lake McDonald | TeamTravelsBaby
We arrived through the west entrance by Lake McDonald on a very overcast and rainy day. Going to the Sun Road is supposed to be extremely scenic and a big part of the reason Glacier receives high rankings amongst all of the national parks. It’s approximately 50 miles long across the main section of the park and takes nearly 2 hours to drive without stops. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t have that top-ranking experience, but we did still really enjoy this park. We did have the fortunate timing of finding a group of big horned sheep hanging out across the street from the Logan Pass Visitor Center and the street to ourselves to enjoy the drive-through tunnel. At the end of our trip, we were able to dip back into the park and actually see Lake McDonald, the largest lake in the park and the colorful IG worthy stones. There’s also a cute gift shop here.
Going to the Sun Road Tunnel | TeamTravelsBaby
Big horned sheep across from the visitor center | TeamTravelsBaby
Hidden Lake Trail (Glacier)
Our first hike of the day was by the Logan Pass Visitor Center. We geared up with our rain coats, rain boots, waterproof pants and poncho to cover Addy in her on-person carrier. There is a long stair climb and then a nice path, even with the rain. We found colorful stones, a waterfall and a good hike overall. The only bummer was because of the rain and fog, we couldn’t see the view intended for the end point of this 3 mile round-trip hike.
Colorful stones along the Hidden Lakes Trail | TeamTravelsBabyHidden Lakes Trail on an overcast day | TeamTravelsBaby
Virginia and St. Mary’s Waterfalls (Glacier)
Virginia Falls in Glacier | TeamTravelsBaby
This was the only other hike we did in the park. It was a relatively easy round-trip 3.6 mile hike that took us to two beautiful cascading waterfalls. There are also beautifully colored rocks here to see if you don’t have time to stop at Lake McDonald.
Virginia and St. Mary’s Hike | TeamTravelsBaby
St. Mary’s Waterfall | TeamTravelsBaby
The Many Glaciers Section (Glacier)
Entering the Many Glaciers Section of Glacier NP | TeamTravelsBaby
This section of the park is totally separate from the Going to the Sun Road portion of the park. Once we exited the main road on the St. Mary’s (east) side, we headed north about 45 minutes. There were tons of potholes on the road, but the views were incredible. We could see glaciers on our drive in. We eventually spotted cars pulled over and got out to watch a mommy and baby black bear foraging. While watching these bears play, Addy made a noise and we turned to see a black bear cross the road behind us, probably less than 50 feet! Scary to think he was hiding in the bushes so close to us. I’m convinced Addy knew something was going on! From here we drove to the Glacier Park Lodge where we came across a female big horned sheep walking on the sidewalk. Something about how the Lodge looked and the setting on the reflective body of water with mountains in the background reminded me of Switzerland, which made sense considering it is a “swiss styled lodge”. There was a musician playing inside and the view from the back porch was the perfect way to end our time in Glacier.
Black bears in Glacier | TeamTravelsBaby
SO many good photos of Addy and her Daddy | TeamTravelsBabyView from the parking lot of the Glacier Lodge | TeamTravelsBaby
Glacier Lodge and the View | TeamTravelsBaby
Border Crossing to Canada
My little munchkin | TeamTravelsBaby
We wrapped up our evening in Glacier, drove down a long road with free range cattle warnings, until we made it to the border crossing booths. Did you know that not all border crossings are 24 hours? Well, we learned the hard way as we arrived to find it closed. My advice for next time, check the border crossing hours. It’s also smart to keep your phone on airplane mode anywhere near a border to avoid potential international fees. We made a U-turn and found our way to another border crossing that was fortunately opened and uneventful to cross.
Waterton Lakes National Park (Canada)
Cameron Falls | TeamTravelsBaby
We started our morning super early on a mission to find a restroom. We found one by the beautiful Cameron Falls near Waterton (town). Even though it was really overcast and slightly rainy here too, we decided to try the Bertha hike to Bertha Falls. There were black bear warning signs everywhere, so we had that ounce of fear during our hike, but didn’t see any bears here. We did get great views of the Prince of Wales Hotel. We eventually made it to lower Bertha falls before returning along the same path (3.3 mile roundtrip hike).
The Prince of Wales Hotel is worth a stop. We thought the Lodge at Glacier was prettier, but it was fun to pop inside and also take in the views from behind the hotel. We got some great pictures here with Addy. At 11 months old, Addy brought her favorite animal at the time, baby panda (my old TY beanie baby) with her on the trip. She discovered her love for driving the car, turning on and off the radio and dancing to the music. We also realized that she loves pretzels! Lucky for her this is one of our favorite road trip snacks.
Calgary
Calgary was a quick pit stop for us. We figured we had to at least check it out and we took the scenic drive to it. We started with a drive through downtown and took some nice pictures from across the river of the city skyscrapers. We headed to Sidewalk Citizen where I got a delicious ginormous chocolate cookie with powdered sugar. We then found a metered spot downtown and took a nice walk along the Riverwalk and through Central Memorial Park. The flowers were blooming and if we had more time we would have walked to St. Patrick’s Island. We found a small mall and I was able to get a coffee treat at Good Earth Coffee House before we got back on the road and ready for our most anticipated park, Banff National Park. You can read all about this part of our trip in Banff, There It Is!
Jasper National Park was our farthest destination for us (considering we started in Jackson Hole, Wyoming). From Banff (town) it is about 3.5 hours to Jasper (town) without stopping. Luckily, the Icefields Parkway, which connects the two towns is one of the most scenic drives. On our drive into the park, we spotted an elk with a HUGE rack…because it was close to the rut being September and all. We packed a ridiculous amount of hiking into less than 2 full days in the park. Similar to Banff, I totally get why people spend a whole week in this park.
Valley of Five Lakes
Our morning (which also happened to be my birthday) started off rainy, but we didn’t let that that stop us. We geared up with our rain clothes and headed out on the approximate 3 mile trail called Valley of Five Lakes. The early morning gave us beautiful reflection pictures and trails to ourselves. Something cool about Canadian national parks is they have red Adirondack chairs randomly located, which make for fun photo ops. Each of the lakes are labeled and there are signs between them so you won’t miss any on your hike. A good tip is to always take a photo at the trail head of the trail map (plus at this trail you can see where to find the red Adirondack chairs). This doubles for helping to keep track of what time you started the hike too.
Maligne Canyon and the Bridges
Roadside elk | TeamTravelsBaby
Maligne Canyon trail | TeamTravelsBaby
We parked near the Maligne Canyon Wilderness Kitchen for the Maligne Canyon hike after stopping to photograph some elk on the side of the road. The hike map is really helpful as there are a series of five bridges you have the option of seeing (remember to take a pic). The first two are relatively close and if you’re looking for a short hike, I would definitely recommend at least seeing the canyon and the first two bridges. Of course, if you want to see it all, it’s over a 4 mile hike. We really enjoyed the hike, but from experience and if you’re short on time, feel free to skip the last bridge. Instead of backtracking, we took the high path on our way back to the parking lot. We would highly recommend this (even though it was exhausting to climb) because the views at the top are incredible.
Small waterfall along the Maligne Canyon trail | TeamTravelsBaby
Pyramid Lake and Pyramid Island
Pyramid Lake | TeamTravelsBaby
Pyramid Lake is located relatively close to downtown Jasper. Near the Pyramid Lake Resort, you can pull off and get some incredible pictures of the lake with mountains in the background. It was so serene and I think because we were there after Labor Day, the lake itself was quiet. Past the Resort, we found parking for Pyramid Island. It’s a really tiny and walkable island connected by a bridge. It’s also a popular wedding spot. Some of my favorite pictures of Addy, Mike and I are from our time here.
Medicine Lake, Moose Lake and Bears
Medicine Lake | TeamTravelsBaby
Medicine Lake was not on my radar when I planned our trip. We arrived in the afternoon and the reflection view of this lake was one of my trip favorites and one I blew up on canvas for our condo. When we turned the corner, we found a black bear. We were in our first Canadian bear jam and amongst the leader cars! So I guess you could say, we actually started the bear jam with our sighting! The bear crossed right in front of us and then we continued to watch it as it went down into the valley. All national parks have at least a 100 foot distance rule with animals such as bears. After we finished watching this bear, we continued on our way and came across two more black bears! It was fun to watch one stopping to smell the flowers. From here we made it to the trail for Moose Lake (near Maligne Lake). It was a pretty muddy walk, so our hiking boots definitely came in handy! The view of moose lake was stunning. We made it to the car before dusk set in and on our drive back down the main road, we came across a moose! We were so excited!! Of course we couldn’t get the camera or the phone to take a good picture, but otherwise, we soaked in the moment. A few minutes later, we came across a black bear in the road (our 4th one)! I am so thankful we didn’t hit the bear!
Check out my first ever video | TeamTravelsBaby
Moose Lake | TeamTravelsBaby
Edith Cavell to the Summit
Cavell Pond and Glacier | TeamTravelsBaby
There is a recently completed parking structure here. Following the Path of Glacier trail, we quickly arrived at Cavell Pond less than 1 mile away. The glacial water is pretty and to this point, it is rather a busy hike. Continuing past here, through bits of rain, we followed a stiff incline, with Addy in tow well over 4 miles and up a 500 foot elevation gain to the summit. What was really funny is even though there were little yellow untitled signs, we weren’t 100% sure it was the end…so we kept going. We made it to another point where it started hailing out of nowhere, so we decided it was time to turn around. What’s amazing is how quickly the weather can change on a hike like this. The actual “end” where we should have stopped was a great vantage point with views of multiple glaciers, Mount Edith Cavell and the Cavell Pond from the bottom. People were amazed we did this with a baby and I’m so glad we did because it was super rewarding and physically exhausting. We also got to see hoary marmots, which are cute small mammals in the huge boulders. They blend in pretty well, so you have to pay attention for movement. This was the last hike we did in Jasper before making our way back along the Icefields Parkway back toward Banff.
The view when we went too far | TeamTravelsBaby
Our small mammal friends on the hike | TeamTravelsBaby
Other Jasper Sites We Enjoyed
The town of Jasper is so cute! The train runs right through town and it is extremely walkable. The flowers were beautifully planted around the visitor center (also has wifi) and public restroom across the street. Being my birthday and all, I got two coffee treats! First thing in the morning I got a delicious macadamia latte (with a real chocolate covered macadamia on top) from the OtherBear Paw Bakery. Later in the day a shopkeeper recommended the coffee shop in the laundromat (SnowDome Coffee Bar). I knew I had to try it and my drink here was also really good! After Maligne Canyon, we drove to Lake Annette. This lake has a play area and a beautiful recently completed walkway around the lake. We did have to dodge geese poop though.
Jasper is a fantastic national park and should be on your bucket list! September was a beautiful time to visit and I am so happy this is where we were for my birthday. I’ll write a separate post about our experience along the Icefields Parkway as there are quite a few points of interest worth stopping to gawk at. We found a reasonably priced hotel in Hinton (a bit of a drive north of Jasper) near a Wal-Mart. I mention this because I someone underestimated how many GBs of camera storage I needed for the trip and this place was our saving grace!
TeamTravelsBaby!
If we had more time, here are a few other things that were on my list: 1) Boat tour to Spirit Island on Maligne Lake; 2) Bald Hills Loop near Maligne Lake (6ish mile strenuous hike); 3) Sulfur Skyline hike to Miette Hot Springs (5 mile hike)
Don’t forget to buy the Parks Canada Discovery Pass if it makes sense for your trip! We definitely got our monies worth and are hoping to do a second big Canadian national parks adventure before ours expires. And if you missed it, check out our post, Banff, There It Is!
Follow us to our next adventure. Until next time. | TeamTravelsBaby
While our approximately 12 day trip started in Jackson Hole (Wyoming), Banff and Jasper National Parks were our MUST sees on this trip. This post is about Banff National Park which is ideally located 90 minutes from Calgary in the Canadian province of Alberta and is where most people fly into in order to explore the park. We probably ended up spending close to three days in the park, breaking it up with other nearby parks and the Icefields Parkway (the amazing road that connects Banff and Jasper). We cannot recommend this park enough. It’s an absolute bucket list must see for outdoor enthusiasts and photo takers alike! Check out my other posts from this trip including Bear Jammed in Jasper.
Lake Minnewaka
Lake Minnewaka | TeamTravelsBaby
Early September was the perfect time of year for this trip. We arrived at Banff National Park shortly before sunrise from Calgary. After purchasing the Parks Canada Discovery pass (highly recommended if you plan to see multiple parks and drive the Icefields Parkway), we drove to Lake Minnewaka. On our way to the lake, we got extremely lucky and saw two wolves! They were so close and were gone nearly as quickly as they came. The only other time we’ve seen wolves was through a scope at Yellowstone National Park, so this was an incredibly unexpected treat. We continued to the lake, which was beautiful.
Lake Louise/Fairmont Chateau
Fairmont Chateau on Lake Louise | TeamTravelsBaby
The water is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. While I absolutely love so many of the photos we got, it honestly doesn’t do it justice. Banff is breathtaking! Next to the lake is the stunning Fairmont Chateau luxury hotel. While there are signs posted not to enter unless you’re a guest…we walked in the front doors, in our sweats, like we belonged and looked around for a few minutes. We took in the Lake Louise views in the early morning hours, from above on a hike and in the evening for sunset. Parking can be extremely challenging, so there is a shuttle service option if you miss getting a spot. We were really fortunate to always find a spot.
Lake Louise | TeamTravelsBaby
Plain of Six Glaciers hike via the Tea House (Lake Louise/Mirror Lake)
We nearly slept in the parking lot by Lake Louise to ensure we found a spot for our early morning hike to the Plain of Six Glaciers. This hike is more than 3.4 miles each way and considering we took some detours on the way back down we ended up clocking nearly 10 miles with our 11 month old. The hike starts by the Fairmont, continues around the right side of Lake Louise and then the climb begins with ultimately 1,215 feet of elevation gain up to nearly 7,000 feet of overall elevation. We stopped at the cash only (Canadian or US dollars) Tea House. We climbed the stairs to enjoy a small breakfast of raspberry tea and tea biscuits in the tree house feeling tea house. This was definitely a highlight and a reward for the hike to this point. We continued on to the Plain of Six Glaciers. Once the clouds cleared, we got a beautiful glacial view. The hike was strenuous to the end and absolutely worth it. We kept hearing noises on our hike and realized we were hearing avalanches and actually spotted a few too. Right by the tea house on our way back we spotted a hoary marmot and its baby on the rocks before continuing to Mirror Lake. The lighting was perfect here in the afternoon for reflection pictures on the lake. The tea house here was packed and there were people eating picnic lunches on the large rocks. Of course, this attracted birds and squirrels too, which Addy found amusing. By the time we returned to Lake Louise, the morning fog was long gone and there were tons of other tourists enjoying the view too.
A hoary marmot and its baby | TeamTravelsBaby
Is it any surprise that this is called Mirror Lake? | TeamTravelsBaby
Moraine Lake
The color of this lake is teal – my absolute favorite color! There is a short hike called the Rock Pile trail which makes for a great photo op above the lake. As a bonus, small mammals called pika live in the rocks and we spotted one! A walk along the lake is a must. It was actually the walk back where the reflections on the water were perfect! I loved the symmetry of it. We came here during the morning hours and in the evening before dusk. The parking lot here is SMALL-way too small for its popularity. But they manage the road from the main road and only allow enough cars down that can fit which is good.
Pika on the Rock Pile trail | TeamTravelsBaby
Consolation Lakes hike (near Moraine Lake)
Consolation Lakes | TeamTravelsBaby
This 3.6 mile round-trip hike recommends a minimum of four people due to bear activity. While we planned to hike it anyways, our timing was incredible that another couple similar in age was ready to hike at the same time and didn’t mind hiking with the couple + baby. It was fun getting to know them along the hike. At the end, there are huge boulder-sized rocks. Another place with beautiful reflections pictures and the rocks were fun/scary to climb on since I was front-carrying Addy.
Johnston Canyon and Ink Pots Trail
This was the last hike we did during our time in Banff and we started it at sunrise. The canyon part is really cool with waterfalls, including one where you duck through a passageway for a better view. The boardwalk built right into the canyon is super well done. There’s a long section between the canyon and the actual ink pots which is merely hiking and changes in elevation. Then wham, you arrive at the ink pots and it is gorgeous! The ink pots themselves are really unique and the pictures won’t disappoint. It seemed that most people turned around after the canyon and waterfalls, so we didn’t have to share the ink pots with many.
The Ink Pots | TeamTravelsBaby
The Village of Lake Louise/Town of Banff
Morant’s Curve | TeamTravelsBaby
We were able to get our visitor center stamp at the Village of Lake Louise. The town of Banff is an adorable mountain town and very walkable. It’s definitely worth exploring, even if it’s late in the evening after a day of hiking. We also drove to see nearby Bow Falls. You’ll see an option to drive on Bow Valley Parkway and if you do, I definitely recommend a stop at Morant’s Curve.
There is no denying how incredible this trip was. I totally get why people spend a week or more just at Banff. It is breathtaking and the lakes are undeniably gorgeous. The tea house hike was my absolutely favorite. If this isn’t on your list, it definitely should be. My grandmother (90 years old at the time of this trip) told me that Banff was her mother’s favorite place and that she took the trans-Canadian train across Canada to see it. I knew I had to have this experience for her during her lifetime so I could share it with her.
If we had more time, here are a few other things that were on my list: 1) Lake Agnes and Devil’s Thumb via the Beehive to combine with Lake Louise; 2) Mount Norquay for a view of Banff at sunrise; 3) Valley of the Ten Peaks to Eiffel Lake near Moraine Lake; 4) Cascade Gardens near the town of Banff or cross the Bow Valley pedestrian bridge and 5) Try Wild Flour bakery in Banff which is supposed to have great bread and offers wifi.
Dusk at Lake Louise | TeamTravelsBabyAn extra hoary marmot picture – can you see the baby? | TeamTravelsBabyCover photo of Lake Louise and the Fairmont Chateau at Sunrise | TeamTravelsBaby
In 6 days, we crushed the state of Arizona (and some surrounding areas) on an epic road trip! We saw three national parks (Grand Canyon, Saguaro, Petrified Forest), two national monuments (Sunset Crater Volcano, Wupatki), two national recreation areas (Glen Canyon, Lake Mead), a state park (Coral Pink Sand Dunes), a national historic place (Hoover Dam) and many cities too! We take our daughter everywhere we go and this trip was no different! At only 13 months old, she has seen quite a few national parks as we continue our adventures to catch them all!
Saturday, November 9
In July we found less than $200 direct flights each on Spirit to Las Vegas over Veterans’ Day weekend in November. Of course we booked them. Las Vegas is one of those ideally located cities for so many awesome adventures. My sister-in-law flew from Detroit and we flew from Baltimore and were able to meet up without too much waiting. Vegas’ airport requires two shuttles to certain car rental places, but luckily it was easy, well-labeled and a short trip. We found a deal ($151 for pre-pay) with Fox Rent-a-Car.
Coral Pink Sand Dunes | TeamTravelsBaby
Our first stop was Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park ($10/car). Since our evening destination was Page, Arizona, this was great because it was a place to stretch our legs after about 3 hours in the car. At the park, you can climb onto the sand dunes and walk the ridge. There were very few people there and we watched some cool recreational vehicles as they rode up the hills and flew to their landing. It was a great stop to spend an hour or two. We made our way to Page after the sunset, so we went to Wal-Mart for some water and snacks before checking into our hotel. There are so many good ways to find last minute hotel deals. This time we used Orbitz and booked America’s Best Value Inn for $45! It was an okay hotel with a nice coffee machine in the lobby.
Sunday, November 10
Lake Powell at Glen Canyon NRA | TeamTravelsBaby
We woke up early to enjoy sunrise at the Hanging Garden in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. We found the turnoff near the bridge and had the hike to ourselves. It’s only a mile round-trip and I would highly recommend it. The views from the top were gorgeous! You end up above Lake Powell, which is beautiful. From here we headed to our pre-booked tour of Lower Antelope Canyon at 8:45 am (about $40 each). Make sure you book ahead of time as there is free cancellation available and you do not want to miss this! Due to the nature of the hike, deep into a slot canyon and the possibility of flash floods, you have to sign a waiver before entering. Our tour guide was a Navajo Indian and extremely passionate, engaging and stopped at different points to use our camera and take pictures of us/pose us for memorable keepsakes. He also gave us the best photo tip to use the “vivid warm” filter to brighten the red in the canyon. Since there are many tour groups going through the slot canyon, it’s important to adjust your expectations and expect to keep it moving.
Lower Antelope Canyon
We headed to the Dam Overlook next. There is very limited parking here, but we were lucky enough to get a spot. It’s a very short walk and has great views of the bridge. From here we made the quick drive over the bridge to check out the Carl Hayden Visitor Center and view of the bridge. Plus, as a national (fill in the blank-park, monument, rec area, etc.) stamp collector, you can get your national recreation area stamp here.
Horseshoe Bend | November 2019 | TeamTravelsBaby
The other place that can’t be missed is Horseshoe Bend. The national park pass does not work here, but it’s only $10 to park the car. There were quite a few people enjoying the 1.5 mile round-trip walk to this photogenic icon. A wide view lens is recommended if you want to get the entire horseshoe bend in the photo. We found lots of great places to take pictures, climb and get away from the crowds.
Since we started our day so early, we made it to the east entrance for the south rim of the Grand Canyon. There are actually two distinct sections of the Grand Canyon that are accessed separately – north rim and south rim. If you’re interested in the north rim, check out my article called The Grandest Canyon of Them All! The east entrance is a popular drive called Desert View Drive. Our first stop was Desert View Tower. It was cool to climb the tower and also super windy at this stop. Make sure to look out and take in the views of the Colorado River. Luckily since we entered here the park before sunset, we were able to enjoy the rim from multiple points of interest like Navajo, Lipan and Moran Points. After this great end to our day, we made a drive through the park to Williams, Arizona to stay at the Grand Canyon Inn and Motel. We had a large room and a great coffee machine in the room, but no free breakfast here.
Sunset at Moran Point, Grand Canyon | TeamTravelsBaby
Monday, November 11 (Veterans’ Day/federal holiday)
We crushed and woke up super early to make the half hour drive to the Grand Canyon visitor center parking lot before sunrise (at 7 am) via the south entrance. We were amazed to find lots of other people had the same idea. People spread out along the rim to take in the sunrise. From here, we packed our hiking bag and walked along the rim to the South Kaibab Trail. We hiked down into the canyon to Ooh Ahh Point. This was a beautiful and rewarding hike. People told us they were amazed we were hiking down and up with our 13-month-old in tow.
Sunrise at the Grand CanyonOoh Ahh Point, Grand Canyon | TeamTravelsBaby
Instead of retracing our steps to the visitor center, we took the free shuttle bus back to maximize our time at the national park. We got in our car and luckily found parking by Maswik Lodge. Most people travel using the shuttle system since parking fills up quickly throughout the park. From here, we walked the Bright Angeltrail. We spotted big horn sheep, which was a great treat. They would have been super easy to miss, so keep your eyes peeled if you hike this trail.
Bright Angel Trail | TeamTravelsBaby
We drove about two hours to Cathedral Rock in Sedona. This hike was largesse and stunning. There were definitely some challenging parts with front carrying Addy, but we made it to the top where we saw an engagement and wedding photo shoot taking place. We followed the cairns and handful of other hikers, barely making it down before it got pitch black. A tip from a fellow hiker was to check out the view from the Church of the Holy Cross on a future trip.
Shadow of Cathedral Rock | TeamTravelsBaby
View from the top of Cathedral Rock for sunrise | TeamTravelsBaby
Phoenix was our sleeping destination with an easy highway drive and cheap hotels. We actually stayed in our favorite hotel here called Red Lion Inn & Suites in Tempe. This hotel seemed like it had recently been renovated and had the most delicious coffee and hot breakfast in the lobby. They also had a cute fake grass open area and a pool.
Tuesday, November 12
Downtown Scottsdale | TeamTravelsBaby
We drove to downtown Scottsdale (suburb of Phoenix) first. We found free garage parking and then stumbled upon Berdana’s, which made the perfect honey lavender latte. Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden was our next step because it was FREE on community day (the second Tuesday of each month). This place is normally pretty expensive. The layout was lovely and we even spotted a hummingbird in the hummingbird garden. Before entering, they had a Chihuly display as well as Cracking Art’s Wild Rising colorful animals inside and outside the gardens. The different animals like meerkats and bears, made for fun photo ops.
Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix (Do you see the hummingbird?) | TeamTravelsBaby
As someone who loves visiting State Capitol buildings, we would be remise if we didn’t stop at the one in Phoenix. Arizona’s State Capitol ended up being one of my least favorite, but I’m still glad we went. We have started a thing where Addy gets a picture on Mike’s shoulders in front of each capitol building. It was important that we planned ahead since this building is only open Monday through Friday from 9 am – 4 pm.
Arizona State Capitol | TeamTravelsBaby
Saguaro National Park was one of the national parks we planned to see on this trip. The saguaro is the type of cactus found here and they’re pretty iconic. This park is split into two distinct sections – Tucson Mountain District to the west and Rincon Mountain District to the east. We started in the west and made it to the Visitor Center for our stamp. Luckily, with the America the Beautiful National Park pass, we got in for free ($80 annual pass for all national parks and a variety of other places like national monuments) versus a $20 fee for this park alone. We got a recommendation from a ranger to hike the Kings Canyon trail, which we did before we drove to the east side for the sunset. Finding a saguaro to photograph for our sunset pics was a top priority for us.
Saguaros and other cacti | TeamTravelsBaby
Sunset in Saguaro National Park | TeamTravelsBaby
In an effort to do it all, we made the long drive (almost 4 hours) to Show Low. This town has a fun story behind its name and was in decent proximity to Petrified Forest National Park. We checked into the Quality Inn, which was nothing fancy at all, but again, offered good coffee and fresh eggs, so it worked for us.
Wednesday, November 13
We drove to Petrified Forest, which is not a 24-hour park like many of the others and costs $25 if you do not have an acceptable pass. During the last quarter of the year, they’re open from 8 am – 5pm. We entered from the south and stopped at the Rainbow Forest Visitor Center. There was a nice short path with examples of petrified logs. If you look closely you see the colors. We made a point to see all of the points of interest like Crystal Forest (gorgeous colored stone logs) and Newspaper Rock (petroglyphs), but the absolute highlight was Blue Mesa. This mile long loop has absolutely stunning mini rock mountains with blue stripped colorings. If you can only do one thing at this park, this is your spot! In some ways it made me feel like an outer space scene should be filmed here. Before heading to our next destination, we headed to the north side of the park and stopped at a few of the points which exhibited sweeping views of the painted desert. Overall, this park exceeded our expectations and we had it nearly to ourselves. As a note, the park road is approximately 28 miles, totally doable with only a few hours or half a day and only has short hikes.
Some petrified logs | TeamTravelsBaby
Blue Mesa | TeamTravelsBaby
From here we actually headed back to Sedona. We heard we couldn’t miss Devil’s Bridge. The first half of the hike was very straightforward with incredible views of the gorgeous red rock you picture when you think of Sedona. We did eventually have to climb up until we made it to the natural bridge. From across the way, the bridge looks SUPER narrow and intimidating. We didn’t let that stop us and we got the pictures we wanted and enjoyed the views. It was however, insane to see people attempting handstands and holding their friends on their backs while on Devil’s Bridge. We made it back to the car in the dark without incident and loved seeing so many stars in the sky.
Devil’s Bridge in Sedona | TeamTravelsBaby
We ended our night in Hotel Aspen InnSuites in Flagstaff, the first International Dark Sky City in the world at nearly 7,000 feet in elevation. Our hotel was good with a separate building to house the hot breakfast and before we settled in, I got a delicious latte at Wicked AZ Coffee (isn’t the name clever!). While we didn’t go, I read the Lowell Observatory is cool if you’re looking for something else to do in Flagstaff.
Thursday, November 14
After we stuffed our faces, we drove to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument in Flagstaff. The amazing thing about national monuments is they are covered by the America the Beautiful pass. This monument normally costs $25 to see this one and the one adjacent (Wupatki)! After talking with the park ranger, we hiked the mile long Lava Flow Trail and boardwalk near the picnic area. From here, we continue to Cinder Hills Overlook. We had this place to ourselves! If you like volcanos and you’re traveling the U.S., you may also want to check out Capulin National Monument in New Mexico or Mount St. Helen’sNational Monument in Washington.
Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument | TeamTravelsBaby
Wupatki National Monument | TeamTravelsBaby
By continuing along Loop Road, without backtracking, we arrived at Wupatki National Monument. We stopped in the visitor center, showed our pass and then got a little book that explains the Wupati Pueblo. The pueblo is in good condition and is fun to walk through and read about. From here we went to the Lomaki Pueblo and Box Canyon dwellings before starting our long drive back to Vegas.
The Hoover Dam | TeamTravelsBaby
We decided to stop at the Hoover Dam. If you pass the parking garage, there are free parking lots. The Hoover Dam was SO COOL! Way cooler and pretties than any of us expected. Plus as a bonus, we got ice cream to enjoy here. We also made the drive to a separate parking lot to walk across the bridge itself. Once we got our fix here, we pulled off to take in a view of Lake Mead National Recreation Area before continuing our drive to Las Vegas. We found free parking near the Las Vegas Strip at the mall. The casinos, lights, displays and music were fun to take in. The highlight for me was seeing the Fountains of Bellagio dance to All That Jazz from the Broadway hit, Chicago.
We had an easy car rental return and airport experience before taking our red eye planes back to Baltimore and Detroit. This is definitely a great hub to consider if you’re hoping to see national parks! We will definitely be back so we can explore more of Nevada like Great Basin National Park and nearby Death Valley National Park! If you’re considering a trip like ours, I can’t recommend the America the Beautiful annual national park pass enough. This trip along without the pass would have cost $100 compared with $80 for the pass that gives access to so many places. And honestly, having the pass turns into motivation to plan more trips and further maximizing the annual benefit! Thanks for reading! And while you’re on my blog, feel free to check out some of our other national park adventures like the Everglades (Florida), the Badlands (South Dakota) and Zion (Utah). You can also read about all of our national park adventures by click on the National Parks topic button.
A whirlwind long weekend (3 day trip) exploring South Florida! Everglades National Park boasts tons of wildlife (like alligators and birds galore), biking through beautiful nature and air boat rides. Biscayne Bay National Park is nearby with a small land portion and views of the Bay. Tons of other great stops for viewing opportunities along Tamiami Trail and totally doable with a toddler.
Day 1 Highlights
Lee County Manatee Park (Fort Myers)
Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve (Fort Myers)
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park (along Tamiami Trail)
Ochopee Post Office (smallest in the U.S.) (along Tamiami Trail)
Big Cypress National Preserve (along Tamiami Trail)
Animals – alligators, anhingas, great blue heron, stork, SO MANY BIRDS
Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve and Lee County Manatee Park | TeamTravelsBaby
When you find roundtrip tickets for $65, you book IMMEDIATELY! I couldn’t believe the deal we found (albeit on Spirit) to Fort Myers, Florida. Fort Myers is on the west coast of Florida and the airport is beautiful and all the car rental companies are ON PREMISES – a huge bonus. Recently, I discovered a new car rental site called “Wisecars” and I was very happy with it because it truly found the cheapest price for us (plus they allow cancellation up to 48 hours in advance). We rented from Budget and when we arrived, the line was SUPER long, but I was impressed it only took us about 45 minutes to get our car and be on our way.
Within a 15-20 minute drive of the airport is Lee County Manatee Park. This place was something like $2 to park (for an hour) and free to enter. It is an extremely short walk to the water (past a cute playground if you have kids) and during the cold months (like February), you can see manatees. We saw SO MANY manatees! There are volunteers there sharing information – like one of the 1000 pounds manatees eats 1/10th of its weight in food everyday! From here, we got our Wal-Mart water/snacks and then went to Six Mile Cypress Slough [sloo] Preserve. This place has the tiniest parking lot and they recommend carpooling or biking because there are literally not nearly enough spots for the middle of the day. We lucked out, found parking (which is like $1/hour) and absolutely loved the boardwalk trail. We saw anhingas (a type of bird), an alligator sunning himself, ibis, turtles and a few other animals. The boardwalk is extremely well-maintained, and this is worth a stop if you have at least 90 minutes.
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park along U.S. 41 | TeamTravelsBaby
We started our drive toward U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail), which is the scenic drive across the Everglades (compared to I-75/Alligator Alley). This road is incredible, and you can literally see all types of gorgeous birds and alligators on your drive. Our first stop was Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park. We parked right along the trail and headed for the walk in where we saw incredible birds, an eagle’s nest and a small alligator. We did not hike everything, but 45 minutes here was perfect for a taste of south Florida wildlife. As we continued along the road, it was super random, but we got to see the SMALLEST U.S. Post Office called “Ochopee”. Definitely a great photo op!
We nearly had the State Park to ourselves | TeamTravelsBaby
If your goal is to see alligators (like anyone who comes to the Everglades), then Big Cypress National Preserve is a must! Easy to park and free! They have a nice, short boardwalk where the opportunities to see alligators, birds, and alligators hunting birds are endless! Don’t forget to look down. It was crazy how many people walked right by an alligator without noticing it. There’s also a visitor center here if you’re a park stamp collector. We actually ended up stopping here twice because it was that good!
The smallest U.S. Post Office | TeamTravelsBaby
Day 2 Highlights
Shark Valley, 15 mile bike ride-alligators, all types of birds (Everglades National Park)
Flamingo Bay-osprey, crocodiles (Everglades National Park)
Royal Palm, Anhinga Trail-green heron, great blue heron, alligators (Everglades National Park)
We survived our first family bike ride…only 15 miles | TeamTravelsBaby
We started our morning early and headed to Shark Valley Visitor Center. We parked our car early as we waited for the rangers to open the gate (at 8:30 am for us). While we waited, we saw alligators next to our cars in the water. After showing our America the Beautiful pass ($80 annually), which I can’t recommend enough and as long as you visit a few parks is 100% worth it, we parked at the Visitor Center. As a side note, the Everglades alone are $35. Bike rentals are hard to come by, so get there when this place opens. It was easy to rent (by the hour for $9/hour/bike) and they have kid seats/helmets so our 16 month old daughter got to enjoy her first ride. Within our first two miles, we had already seen tons of alligators and a huge variety of birds. In hindsight, we totally could have turned around at this point and have been satisfied by what we had seen. BUT, we’re not those people, so we powered through and made it to the tower around the halfway point. The tower reminded us of the one we climbed at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We finished the 15-mile loop and will note that the first 7ish miles are definitely more scenic and have more wildlife.
We drove to the southern most visitor center in the Everglades called Flamingo Bay. Did you know Florida had crocodiles?! Honestly, even though I lived in Florida more than half of my life, I didn’t know that! We saw an almost 14-foot crocodile in the water (that people were kayaking in…because they’re crazy), a baby crocodile and the coolest osprey nest we had ever seen. This osprey nest was amazing because you could see the mama bird and then when the dada bird arrived with the food, you could see two out of her three babies! It was so much fun watching and our daughter loved it too! We heard manatees and dolphins can sometimes be seen in this area, but we did not see any.
Sunset on the Anhinga Trail in the Everglades | TeamTravelsBaby
On our drive out, we stopped at Royal Palm to walk the less than one-mile boardwalk through sawgrass marsh (Anhinga Trail). It was perfect timing because the sun was starting to set, and the lighting was great for taking pictures. PAY ATTENTION! I was so thankful someone pointed out the alligator under the open railing because it would have been super easy to walk by and not notice. The coolest bird we saw here was a green heron! These birds are unique looking and can be hard to spot (we were lucky someone pointed it out to us). You will definitely see other birds and alligators here.
Day 3 Highlights
Biscayne Bay National Park (land portion)
Coopertown Airboat Ride plus alligator tail (Everglades National Park)
Fort Myers Beach
After a good night’s rest in Homestead, we made the 15 minute drive to Biscayne Bay National Park. We parked at the Dante Fascell Visitor Center and enjoyed the lovely Jetty Trail. You can see Miami and Miami Beach in the distance, spot birds and watch the boats leave for the Biscayne Bay National Park islands. This park is 95% water and if you want to see more than the trail and visitor center, you have some planning to do. If you’re a national park stamp collector, don’t forget to get one!
Biscayne Bay National Park | TeamTravelsBaby
In talking with another tourist at Big Cypress, we learned about Coopertown Airboat. All along Tamiami Trail you will see signs for airboat companies. Lucky for us, Coopertown (it’s been around for 75 years) had a great reputation and a GroupOn deal! Our daughter went for free and our America the Beautiful pass waived the additional fee for access to the park. Before the boat ride, there’s a short animal show. They have a handful of alligators on the premises and then someone presents a snapping turtle, a snake (which my 16 month old pet with excitement…not mommy) and talks about the Everglades. From here, we were placed on the airboat and having a toddler landed us in the front row! There are life jackets on-board, they offer you cotton balls for your ears and give the little ones headphones.
Riding on an airboat was not scary like I anticipated. It was a thrill! The boat moves really well, and you get up close and personal with birds (before they fly away) and alligators (yep, they may swim right next to your boat). The driver was informative and funny. It’s insane to imagine there used to be a canopy covering over the Everglades before Hurricane Andrew wiped it out in 1992. Seeing the Everglades via air boat is a MUST to complete any trip here. There’s a small restaurant next door and as part of our experience, I ordered alligator tail for us to try. Needless to say, it tastes like chicken? Well, it’s fried and breaded, so I couldn’t tell it was alligator and we both really liked it.
We made our way back down Tamiami Trail, stopping again at Big Cypress for up close alligators and birds and then at a random lake filled with white and brown pelicans, roseate spoonbills and tons of other birds before driving through Marco Island (absolutely stunning with cool canals) and Naples. Ultimately, we arrived at Fort Myers Beach. Fort Myers Beach took quite a while to get onto since it narrows to a one lane each direction road over a bridge. We found reasonably priced public street parking (on the right when you get over the bridge). We walked the historic pier, wandered between the shops and let Addy walk the beach for the first time. She loved collecting sticks, leaves and shells! We also took off her shoes and socks so she could walk into the ocean for the first time. The water was pretty chilly, but she tried! The sand between her toes didn’t bother it at all and at one point we thought she was going to lay down and make a sand angel. We caught a lovely sunset here before heading to Tampa to spend time with my parents and then fly home.
Fort Myers Historic Pier | TeamTravelsBabyThanks for following our trip to the end (aka sunset on Fort Myers Beach) | TeamTravelsBaby
Barcelona is the perfect sized city on the Mediterranean with gorgeous weather (this was April). Whether you have an extended layover, 24 hours or a few days, there’s something here for you as the central part of the city is easily accessible from the El Prat airport. On our two week European adventure with our 6 month old, we had about one full day before our Pullmantur week long cruise and two full days on the back end (we also visited Girona, about 100 km away).
View from the MNAC | TeamTravelsBaby
MNAC View | TeamTravelsBaby
Unforgettable View:
From the front steps of the MNAC (Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya)
We love seeing any city by foot or by bike. With a baby, we found walking to be the most convenient mode and used the Tula carrier we were gifted for Addy. It was ideal for carrying her since she weighed somewhere between 16-17 pounds on our trip and an American sized stroller is not as convenient (but I would argue still doable if you felt the need to have one). If you have limited time, I would recommend arriving to Placa d’Espanya by the Arenas de Barcelona (huge mall). From here head toward the beautiful archway and hill. Conveniently, there are escalators that will take you all the way up to the MNAC and even beyond it. First you’ll see the Montjuic magic fountain. Check to see which days/times it is turned on as it looks like it is spectacular! At the top of MNAC, take it the beautiful view of Barcelona. If you continue behind the MNAC, you’ll arrive at the 1992 Summer Olympic Annex. We didn’t find any Olympic rings to take a picture of like we saw in Innsbruck, Austria’s Olympic site, but it was still cool. If you continue on a longer walk, you can continue uphill through gardens to see the Montjuic Castle. There is a cable car (I read it’s a bit overrated/expensive), but I feel I can always appreciate a view more when I’ve worked hard to get there. While we didn’t visit inside the Castle (5 euros to see inside), we found the views from the outside were lovely and you can even look over the edge and see the cruise ships.
View from the Top of Montjuic
Addy in Barcelona
Unlimited People
Watching: The famous street, La Rambla
La Rambla is a fun street to walk with a huge pedestrian walkway down the middle, lined with kiosks of sweet treats, souvenirs and restaurants. The section closest to the Mediterranean starts at the Columbus Monument and it continues to the Placa de Catalunya. The famous market, Mercado de la Boqueria shouldn’t be missed (it’s closed on Sundays)! If you’re willing to wander off the main block, head to the Gothic Quarter and find the Cathedral of Barcelona. It’s absolutely stunning and free to enter. If you want to climb it, head there between 10 am-12 pm daily with your euro coins! If you’re down by the water, cross the bridge and check out Maremagnum, which is a huge shopping mall (and a good place to find a bathroom).
La Boqueria
Barcelona at Night
Placa de Catalunya
Cathedral of Barcelona
Cathedral of Barcelona
Barcelona by the Med
Unlimited Sand: Platja
de la Barceloneta is a huge sand beach and you can also stroll the paved
promenade, check out the street sellers, view sand castles and take in the city.
On the way to the beach, you can pass by the old port (Port Vell) where lots of products for sale by street sellers. After a walk along the beach or promenade, we found the Parc de la Ciutadella had pretty buildings and a small lake with swans, herons and other types of birds. Like Paris, Barcelona boasts its own “Arc d’Triomf” (not quite the same, but still a great photo op) that is at the end of a nice broad pedestrian street that’s easily accessible after leaving the park.
Port Vell
The Beach
Addy in Barcelona
Blue Heron
Columbus Monument
Arc d’Triomf
Unlimited Photos: La Sagrada Familia is the famous church that has been a WIP for nearly 140 years.
A trip to Barcelona would not be complete without seeing it. You can walk around the entire church and there’s a small pond on the backside that gives you some decent reflection photos. The church is also lit up at night (check for the exact times – we saw it at 8:30 pm).
Pro Tip: If you know your dates, then book your tickets in advance if you want to see inside (try all of the ticket types to find available times).
La Sagrada Familia
La Sagrada Familia
La Sagrada Familia Up Close
Another Pro Tip: If
you’re visiting Barcelona on a Sunday, check to see if the Picasso Museum is
still free in the afternoon/evening.
Transportation: The T-10 card (10.2 euros) was perfect for our trip which we could share for the metro and Rodiales train (within Barcelona). Even though we had about 3 days in Barcelona, we typically walked everywhere and used exactly 5 trips each for a total of 10 on the card. If you’re coming from the airport, it costs one ride for the Rodiales (R2Nord) and one ride for the metro (to wherever you’re going). We found the public transportation to be very convenient. If you’re more limited on time, you may want to consider the AeroBus which is a coach style bus that drops off in Placa de Catalunya. There are other items like the Hola BCN travel card (primarily a transportation card by number of days) and Barcelona card that may be worth a look, depending on your particular trip and needs.
Graffiti
Street Art
Where We Stayed: We really liked the two hostels we stayed in – Pension Peiro (super close to the metro stop Paral-lel and convenient for embarking on a cruise or exploring Montjuic) and Primavera Hostel (super close to the metro stop Verdaguer and convenient for walking to La Sagrada Familia). In April 2019, we found both locations for under $100/night and stayed in a private room (shared bathroom) with our 6 month old. Both hostels let us drop our luggage/stroller off early without any issues. Primavera Hostel had a shared kitchen that was really nice with coffee and our room had a balcony! Use my booking.com referral link and we both get $20!
Cruisin’ from Barcelona: This is an awesome port city to start or end a Mediterranean cruise and we would recommend it! We found it was walkable from Pension Peiro to our ship (you can also pay for a bus that leaves from close to the Columbus Monument which I think was 5 euros round-trip). If you like cruising, check out our post about our Canary Islands cruise in February 2019!
The south of France (aka the French Riviera) and Monte Carlo, Monaco are even more beautiful than the pictures portray. Having the chance to see the smallest country, the Vatican and the second smallest country, Monaco, on the same vacation was incredible. The people in Monte Carlo were super friendly and the views from the Prince’s Palace of the coast and all of the incredible yachts were surreal. The train system between the port city of Villefranche-sur-Mer, Monte Carlo and Nice was extremely easy to navigate, inexpensive and the train stations were walkable into the heart of each city. Our second port city, Sète, was another easy “do-it-yourself” stop. Did I mention we did all of this with our 6 month old baby?! These stops were part of our week long Mediterranean cruise on Pullmantur. Check out this trip report as well as our time in Barcelona, Italy and London!
Overview
Villefranche-sur-Mer (Saturday, April 13, 2019)
– Monte Carlo (Monaco) and Nice
Sète (Sunday, April 14, 2019) – Some use this as
the gateway to Carcassonne (the walled castle), but we used the day to explore
this seaside fishing town.
Our boat arrived to Villefranche-sur-Mer and we learned that
we needed to tender into port. This means you go from the cruise ship onto a
smaller boat that serves like a ferry to get you to the walkable town. Luckily,
it also meant we had a gorgeous view of the coast from our cruise ship and also
one from the smaller vessel. The only downside was it meant we had to queue
when the cruise ship gave the “all clear” before we could start our day of
exploring. But as they say in France, c’est la vie!
Monaco – So many yachts! | TeamTravelsBaby
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Getting to Monte Carlo from the port city of Villefranche
was super easy because it is extremely well marked on the way to the little
train terminal. Because a cruise ship was in port, there were many people ready
to help us purchase our tickets who spoke a variety of languages. It was less
than $4 to get our ticket to Monaco and less than a 20 minute ride (which ran
about every half hour) with only three stops (Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Eze, Cap-d’Ail)
before we would exit at Monte Carlo. I used this site to look up times before
our trip: https://www.thetrainline.com/ . It’s hard to believe we planned
trips before the internet!
Monte Carlo is also well signed and super clean. We followed
the signs to the famous Casino
first, knowing that many pre-booked excursions head here. On the walk, there
are tons of high end jewelry stores (Carré
d’Or). We enjoyed the picture opportunities in Casino Square then went in to the Casino lobby. It’s free to enter the
lobby and they had a separate line for men and women. There are some amazing
red dice in the lobby which make for a great photo op. After a few pictures
(you have to pay to enter more than the lobby), we headed to the back side of
the casino where we enjoyed a walk overlooking the water on our way to the Formula 1 race track that hosts the MonacoGrand Prix every May.
The weather was warm with a Mediterranean breeze. On our
self-made walking tour, we got directions from the race track to Place d’Armes. This lovely square had
an indoor and outdoor food market called Marché
de La Condamine. While
we didn’t have a chance to try it, I read somewhere that “Barbagiuan”, which is
a deep fried pastry stuffed with Swiss chard and ricotta is popular in Monaco. We
crossed the street and followed the signs to Port de Fontvielle. We cut through the
humungous Fontvielle Shopping Center
on the way there. We lollygagged along the boardwalk where we could see a
ridiculous number of yachts and dream about our retirement to a place like
this! In order to get what we believed would be the best view of the city, we
followed the signs that took us up to the Prince’s
Palace (be prepared for a steep, but not too lengthy walk). We made it just
in time to see the changing of the
guards (occurred at 11:55 am), which drew quite the crowd. We wandered the
narrow streets lined with food and gift shops and mostly, stopped to enjoy the
unparalleled view of the coast, yachts and heavenly place we were in!
View from the top of the hill by the Prince’s Palace | TeamTravelsBaby
We made our way back to the train station, bought our
tickets from a machine and took the train about 25 minutes to Nice, France (we
passed by Villefranche-sur Mer, where we started).
Nice, France
The Nice train station was pretty large and the tourist site
has good maps. We
exited the train station, hung a left, passed the Basilique Notre-Dame de l’Assomption and then turned right onto the
Avenue Jean Médecin. This is the
main street and you’ll notice the black and white tiled walkways. This street
is lined with shopping options and is a straight shot into old town (Vielle Ville) Nice.
Really cool water display with a sick backdrop in Nice | TeamTravelsBaby
We didn’t have much of a plan for this city other than to
wander and see what we could. Along the main street, we watched the water
display before we found Cours Saleya,
a lovely market in old town where I bought a small bag of lavender for ½ a
euro. We walked to the beach, which was rocky, instead of sandy. There were
many people sunbathing and relaxing. While we didn’t walk the entire 7 km (less
than 4.5 miles), we really loved the Promenade
des Anglais. After seeing tons of gelato places, I finally found one with
lavender (yum!) and indulged.
On our walk, we found an adorable independent bookstore
called Librairie Masséna and I was able to find a book for
Addy with vibrant pictures. It made for a great souvenir and it will be a good
test of my French as I try to read it to Addy. From here we grabbed a
cappuccino and sat at an outdoor café before making our return journey to
Villefranche and our cruise ship. Fortunately the train ride was less than 10
minutes and under $3.
If you stay in Villefranche or have additional time, here
are a few places I had on my list that you may want to check out: Saint Elme
Citadel, St Michel Church, St Pierre Chapel, Rothschild Estate and Gardens and
Rue Obscure (Dark Street).
Sète, France
This city is a working fishing port city known for its
series of canals (like a mini Venice) where you can find water jousting in the
summer. We found the local tourist site to be extremely helpful for getting an
overview of the city and what there was to see: https://en.tourisme-sete.com/sete-cruise-passengers-information.html. After
taking the free bus to the port entrance, we walked to the central market
called Les Halles on Boulevard
Gambetta (opens at 6 am). Inside a really nice vendor gave me a free “nazette”,
which is like a little oblong table biscuit. I really wanted to try a “zezette”
or a “nazette” at Crèmerie Lou Pastrou, a shop next to Les Halles, but they had
extremely limited hours on Sunday (9 am – 12:15 pm).
We made our ascent up Mont
St. Clair (about 600 feet tall and the highest point in Sète). On our way,
we found lots of amazing street art. The view from the top was incredible and
it was great to do this first thing before it got too warm out. There is a huge
cross at the top and also a fisherman’s church called Notre Dame de la Salette. This church is unlike any we had ever
seen before – it’s small, but has unique paintings inside on every wall.
There’s also a building next door where nuns live and you’re allowed to climb
to the top for an even better view!
View from the highest point of Mont Saint Clair | TeamTravelsBaby
From here, we made our way down to Pierres Blanches National Pine Forest. It’s lovely to have so much
green space in the middle of a city. We wandered a few paths and enjoyed views
of the Mediterranean and Thau lagoon (Étang
de Thau) before we started heading back to the rest of the city. We took a
nice long walk along the water that eventually got us to the Théâtre de la Mer (we could only see
the outside) and the Cimitière Marin,
which is a beautiful cemetery with decorations on the headstones and the
Mediterranean as the backdrop.
As we continued our walk we could see the Lighthouse of Mole Saint Louis at the
end of a narrow peninsula (we didn’t go up it, but it’s around 3 euros to climb
it). Nearby, we climbed some steps to Quartier
Haut which also boasted some beautiful street art and views of the
lighthouse (some say this area reminds them of a Little Naples). We made it
back to Les Halles for a different
experience since it was bustling with people compared to the early morning. We
wandered through other streets, found a pop up market and wandered the canals
searching for more street art along the way. This city was the perfect end to
our cruise experience and I would highly recommend a half day or day in this
city.
While we did not go here, I read good things about theInternational
Museum of Modest Art (MIAM) in Sète. Many people on our cruise went to Carcassonne (UNESCO World Heritage
site), which is about 80 minutes away and is a walled castle. We opted not to
go here because there seemed to be enough to do in Sète and because it was
going to be challenging to “do-it-ourselves” in the amount of time we had at
port.
Thank you!
Thank you for checking out the France and Monaco portion of our Mediterranean cruise and European adventure! Do you get the article title now? We hope you’ll take a few minutes to browse our other trips or read about our time in London, Barcelona and nearby Girona (great stop for Game of Thrones fans) and our ports in Italy. Be sure to follow us on Instagram! Until our next adventure!
I’m sure you can see why we fell in love with Monaco (cover image)! | TeamTravelsBaby
Italy is a European country that everyone should strive to see in their lifetime. A cruise is the perfect way to get a taste of beautiful Italian cities like Naples, Rome, Pisa and Florence as well as the world’s smallest country, the Vatican. On our Mediterranean cruise we tried to “do-it-ourselves” as much as possible so we didn’t get crushed by cruise line excursion prices. Check out our trip report!
Naples (Wednesday, April 10, 2019) – Pompeii,
Herculaneum, Mount Vesuvius.
Civitavecchia (Thursday, April 11, 2019) – The
gateway to the Vatican and Rome.
Livorno (Friday, April 12, 2019) – The gateway
to Pisa and Florence.
Naples
Naples Port of Call | TeamTravelsBaby
Naples was a great port city because you literally disembark and walk straight into town. This is the one port where we booked an excursion (outside of the cruise line) because after extensive research on do-it-ourselves transportation and talking with a good friend who had recently been, this ultimately was going to make the most sense. We opted to book an excursion through Shore Excursions Group that covered transportation from the ship to Herculaneum (impacted by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius) then to the famous Pompeii, onwards to Mount Vesuvius and ultimately back to the ship. It was decently priced and Addy, our infant (6 months) was free. As this was a transportation only service, we still had to buy tickets at each site. A car seat was unnecessary and a stroller was highly discouraged due to the uneven terrain at each location. We only brought our Tula carrier and we still think it was the best decision. I would also highly recommend this excursion because it ran exactly as promised, the guide in the car (separate from the driver) spoke very clear English and shared history and recommendations with us during our rides to each destination. Herculaneum is very doable in the 60-90 minutes given to view it as it’s much more compact than Pompeii.
Herculaneum
Overview:
11 euros each; must check your bags for free and this is a separate line from
the tickets if you didn’t purchase ahead of time so divide and conquer if you
can; bring
some information to read (they ran out of English guides when we were
there)
View once you enter Herculaneum | TeamTravelsBaby
Pompeii
Overview:
15 euros each; this place is HUGE so make sure you know where you are dropped
off and are supposed to meet back up; tickets can be purchased ahead of time or
at the gate; pick the top items you want to see (if you look at
the map we focused on section I-II and VII-IX)
Beautiful view from inside Pompeii | TeamTravelsBaby
Mount Vesuvius
Overview:
Bring cash for your tickets which are 6.5 euros each; a jacket and good
walking shoes are a must for hiking to the top and cross your fingers it’s not
too foggy!
Mount Vesuvius under the mist | TeamTravelsBaby
Civitavecchia (gateway to Rome and the Vatican)
From our ship we took a short bus ride to the port entrance
(there wasn’t a walking option). Once we left the entrance, this city was very
well signed and it was about a 15 minute (almost perfectly straight shot) walk
to the train station. Take it from us – you can absolutely get to Rome and back
to the ship without paying for an overpriced cruise tour. While there is a new
speed train, I would recommend the “slow” commuter train if you plan to go
to the Vatican first. We looked up the
schedule ahead of time so we knew we wanted to catch the 8:39 am, 8:55 am
or 9:16 am train and anticipated a 40 minute ride to S. Pietro station. We were
able to purchase the ticket from a machine with a credit card, but be weary as
we had a staff person try to sell us the new train ticket, which for us didn’t
make sense because we would have waited around the station for quite some time
for the 9:35 am train plus it’s slightly more expensive.
Saint Peter’s Basilica | TeamTravelsBaby
We took a short walk from S. Pietro station and I read
online that if you get in the line for Saint
Peter’s Basilica by 10 am, it’s about a 45 minute wait. This was accurate
almost to the minute for us, even with the line looking very intimidating. We
didn’t have much time to look around once we got inside, but we are happy we
got the few minutes we did. On the way in we saw the Statue of David and were amazed by the views inside. If you have
more time, you may want to pay to see the dome or check out the Grottoes (it’s
free, but make sure to do it last as you’ll end up outside afterwards). We had
to hustle to the Vatican Museums for
our 11:30 am confirmed ticket (BUY THEM AHEAD OF TIME, print and have your
passport just in case). It was a good 20 minute walk from the exit of the
Basilica to the Vatican Museums. It’s absolutely beautiful, but they herd
everyone through, so do your reading ahead of time. The Sistine Chapel is
lovely but unfortunately, you can’t take pics or videos. Adjust your
expectations and expect to be “rushed” through the Vatican. Personally, my
favorites were the room with paintings on the ceilings and floor to ceiling
tapestries (Tapestries Hall) and Raphael’s Room.
The view by Castel Sant’Angelo of Saint Peter’s Basilica | TeamTravelsBaby
We found we could always find someone to help us with
directions. Even though it wasn’t recommended by most, we walked from the
Vatican to Castel Sant’Angelo and
then across the Tiber River (which also has a beautiful view of the Vatican) in
order to see the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Piazza Venecia and ultimately the Colosseum. We were amazed by all of
them and I was so happy the Trevi Fountain wasn’t under construction (like it
was in May 2010). This was a TON of walking while carrying a baby (more than 3
miles), but a great way to see the city (versus finding and taking public
transportation or paying for a cab). Luckily there was a metro stop right by
the Colosseum and a guard there was able to give us directions on where to
transfer so we could get on the commuter train back to Civitavecchia.
Livorno (gateway to Pisa and Florence)
View at sunset by our ship in Livorno | TeamTravelsBaby
Livorno…this is how cruise companies get you. First, we had
to pay (well, we didn’t…but that’s another story) 5 euros cash or so for a
roundtrip bus ticket to get from the cruise ship to a square in town (I believe
the Piazza del Municipio). This annoyed me only because there wasn’t an option
to walk. From the square, we opted for the approximately 1.5 mile walk to the
train station (Livorno Centrale), where we crossed the famous Piazza della Republica to board a train
for Pisa. (There is a bus option to Pisa too.) Even though it’s almost a
straight shot, I definitely recommend bringing a map, asking locals (use the
word “stazione”) or using the GPS on your phone if it works. Once we were at
the station, it was super easy. Trains leave every 15 minutes or so, it’s a 15
minute ride and only $3 a person! Let me tell you, this is SIGNIFICANTLY
cheaper than what you will pay with a cruise line AND the funny thing was when
we arrived to the Leaning Tower of Pisa,
it was about the same time the people from the cruise line tour were arriving
by coach bus. After we arrived in Pisa (at Pisa Centrale, train station), it
was about a 15-20 minute walk to the actual Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Square of Miracles. En route to the
Leaning Tower, the bridge we took over the Arno River has a pretty view and
lots of vendors were selling beautiful flowers. We also passed through two
markets which were neat to browse. In my research, one thing I learned is
infants (and actually anyone under 8) CANNOT go up the Leaning Tower. This
helped us to stay focused on the view from the outside. We enjoyed taking lots
of fun pictures, as one does when they’re here. (Having climbed up it in May
2010, if you have to miss out on going inside in order to spend more time in
Florence, I think it’s the right call. Of course if you’re taking a land tour
of Italy and not cruising Italy, definitely go up it!)
The Leaning Tower of Pisa and Square of Miracles | TeamTravelsBaby
We made the walk back to Pisa Centrale and took a train to Florence (stop: Santa Maria Novella) which is about an hour ride and about $11 per person. The ride was comfortable and once we arrived in Florence, we got a map at the Tourist Information center (across the street from the train station by a church) and started making our way toward the Arno River to see the Ponte Vecchio (bridge). It’s the bridge which houses tons of jewelry stores. From there it’s a nice walk down by the Uffizi Gallery to see the statues of famous men like Da Vinci, Giotti and Botticelli. At the end, it opens up and you can see the Piazza della Signoria, the Statue of David and Neptune’s Fountain. We walked to the famous Florence Cathedral (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore) and waited in the very long line. We ultimately got in (it’s free) and saw Brunelleschi’s Duomo. At first it’s not obvious why everyone waits so long to get inside, but once you see the painting inside the dome, you will be amazed. It’s beautiful like the Sistine Chapel. We enjoyed walking around the leather market and inside Mercato Centrale (lots of food choices). Florence is a beautiful city with friendly people (in May 2010 I enjoyed a few days here with friends and highly recommend getting tickets to the Florence Cathedral to go to Giotto’s Bell Tower). We made the walk back to the train station, bought our tickets (about $13 per person) and got on our train back. Make sure to VALIDATE your ticket (any machine will do). We found that our train back to the port city was a long walk from the entrance and didn’t get a chance to. Luckily, a nice Italian women helped us and wrote our train number and time on the ticket for us and we didn’t get in trouble.
Ponte Vecchio Bridge in Florence | TeamTravelsBaby
Cruisin’ Italy
We went on a Pullmantur cruise out of Barcelona (check out my article about this awesome Mediterranean city) because the prices are extremely reasonable and kids are free (as in you don’t even pay port taxes or fees). And while we don’t drink, this is also an all-inclusive cruise line (think free house wines with lunch and dinner) AND they have an espresso bar which is also FREE! If you want to keep your trip affordable, take the time to plan it out and “do-it-yourself”, but also recognize that you can’t do it all. A cruise merely gives you a taste of each city so you know where to return to. Our biggest tip is to make sure to have the train schedules ready, your maps ready and not to be afraid to ask for directions! Happy travels and be sure to check us out on Instagram@teamtravelsbaby!
Three days in London is the perfect amount of time to get a taste of this huge city that will leave you wanting more! We were lucky to experience the city with minimal rain and boy oh boy did we pack it in! Some highlights included the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Camden Market. London has amazing public transportation and is also extremely walkable. Check out our trip report, pictures and tips!
Thursday, April 4 morning through Sunday, April
6 morning
Arrived via Heathrow (LHR) airport and departed
via Stansted (STN) airport
Transportation:
Oyster card, pay as you go for the Underground (subway) and buses
Accommodations:Excelsior Hotel, easy walk
from Kings Cross Station; feel free to use my Booking.com referral link for
any hotel accommodation and we each get money at no additional cost to you
Thursday (Day 1)
We picked a hotel near Kings Cross station because it’s a
hub with lots of different Underground (aka “The Tube”, aka metro/subway/train)
lines running through it. It was easy to get on the Piccadilly Line from Heathrow airport
and take the Tube for about a 50 or so minute ride without any need to
transfer. The Excelsior Hotel was conveniently located about 2 blocks away once
we found the correct exit and allowed us to store our luggage early.
Tower of London | TeamTravelsBaby
We were able to start exploring before 1 pm and headed to the Tower of London. We figured a weekday would probably be a little less crowded then the weekend and we were right. We walked up and bought our ticket without issue (you can also get a slight savings by buying it ahead of time). We took a free tour with one of the Beefeaters, saw lots of the notorious crows and the famous crown jewels. We brought our stroller here (plus our rain cover that we ended up needing), which worked out fine. We enjoyed walking along the top of the castle wall through each of the towers and just left our stroller until we returned for it. If you do this, make sure to go in the room that tells about the Royal Beasts (animals). We made one of the three offerings of the White Tower tour (when we went it was offered at 10:45 am, 12:45 pm and 2:15 pm) and ended up getting a PRIVATE tour because no one else came. We really enjoyed it. From inside and outside of the castle you can see Tower Bridge, which is beautiful and often confused as being London Bridge. It’s definitely worthy of a few pics! If you look up from inside the Tower of London you can also see the Shard (cool looking triangle glass building) which was completed around 2012.
View from London Bridge facing Tower Bridge | TeamTravelsBaby
From here we walked the River Thames and crossed the London
Bridge. On the way we got to see the Monument to the Great Fire of London (you can pay to go up it). The view of Tower
Bridge from the London Bridge is spectacular on a clear or semi-clear day. We
stumbled upon a gorgeous church called Southwark Cathedral(the
city’s oldest gothic church) and the Borough Marketas they were closing
once we crossed the London Bridge to the south bank. This area has some amazing
street art that’s fun to find or stumble across in our case. We continued along
the river past Shakespeare’s Globe
Theatre to the Millennium Bridge
where you get a gorgeous view of St.
Paul’s Cathedral. Before crossing the Millennium Bridge, you may want to
pop into the Tate Modern, art
museum. While we didn’t have time to see any art, it’s free, so it makes a
great stop for a bathroom and changing station if needed. Actually, many of
London’s amazing art museums are free, just like the Smithsonians in
Washington, D.C. If you do have time or can time it right to be here on a Friday
or Saturday night when it’s open late (until 10 pm), you can look for work by
famous artists such as Cézanne, Dali, Matisse, Picasso and Warhol. While you’re
walking around London, don’t forget to keep your eye out for the iconic red
telephone booths which make for another great photo op! If you decide to keep
walking around, like we did, you can see additional places like the Royal Court of Justice, London School of Economics and Covent Garden to name a few. We ended
up walking to Convent Garden because there was a Tube station here with a
direct ride (8 minutes) on the Piccadilly Line back to Kings Cross.
Friday (Day 2)
We started our morning early with a Tube ride. When we got
off the train, we wandered through the official Temple Bar Gate which signifies you are entering the City of
London. Make sure to check out the cool dragon! Since we brought our stroller
again, we were able to enter St. Paul’s
Cathedral through the accessible entrance and then were taken to the ticket
counter to purchase our ticket. It’s absolutely gorgeous inside the Cathedral
and the tour with a guide is included in the price. After our tour, we left our
stroller and moved Addy to our on-person carrier to climb the many stairs (very
narrow in some places) up to the dome. This should NOT be missed! The views
from the top are spectacular! You can also enjoy some time wandering the crypt.
From here we made our walk to the Royal
Court of Justice. It’s free to enter after you pass security and some
people say it has a Hogwartesque feel to it. Unfortunately, they don’t want you
to take pictures inside (good luck trying to do so incognito). Covent Garden
was not too far around the corner and is super fun to walk around. There are
tons of shops, restaurants and good people watching! If you have time to spare in
this area, it’s a short walk to Neal’s
Yard which is a super colorful hidden alley.
View from the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral | TeamTravelsBaby
Hopping on the Tube is super easy with the Oyster card. We rode the Piccadilly line from Covent Garden to Green Station. We enjoyed wandering Green Park, St. James Park (to see the famous resident pelicans; they are fed daily at 2:30 pm, but we saw them even outside of feeding time) and seeing Buckingham Palace (if you want to see the changing of the guard this happens around 10:45 am. Because we LOVE to walk and see it all, we continued to Hyde Park. This park has lovely flowers, tons of birds, and points of interest to see like Kensington Palace and Gardens. We exited on the south side of the park by the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall. From here, we ventured to a street with many museums and popped in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Besides being a free museum, it also has late hours on Friday nights (open until 10 pm), which made it a great place to rest and again find a free bathroom. If you are here earlier in the day, the Natural History Museum is on this block and is free too.
The resident pelicans of St. James Park | TeamTravelsBaby
As if our feet weren’t exhausted, we trekked on to Harrods, the
must see humungous department store. We walked the main floor and then took the
elevator to the kids section. The organization of each cubby-like room is by
theme (stuffed animals, Legos, Barbie dolls, etc.) and fun to see…but forget
about being able to buy anything. Take a picture, it’ll last longer. The baby
furniture section and the creepy kids’ mannequins were also unique to see. Then
right outside of Harrods we hopped on a bus heading in the direction of Piccadilly
Circus and got off there (very short, less than 10 minute ride). It’s a fun
area to see at night and we loved posing for pics in the Lego Shop at Leicester Square. They had a life-sized Tube train
with characters to sit with and a map made entirely from Legos. Let’s just say
we CRASHED after this day of exploring London!
Addy needs a giraffe | TeamTravelsBaby
Creepy mannequins | TeamTravelsBaby
Saturday (Day 3)
We woke up early and rode to the Embankment station which put us right along the River Thames. It was a beautiful walk with views of the London Eye. If Big Ben weren’t under construction until 2021, we would have had a nice view of the clock as well. Since we did not buy our tickets ahead of time for the House of Parliament (aka the Palace of Westminster), we had to go to the ticket booth located in front of Portcullis House on Victoria Embankment, which was actually on the way from the train station. If we had gone during peak tourist season, it would have been better to buy these ahead of time, but luckily we were able to secure tickets for later in the day.
In the meantime, we hustled over to Westminster Abbey (across the street) and got in line to purchase our tickets. Luckily, we were able to secure them here and go right in (it opened at 1:30 pm on Saturday). We got the self-guided tour headset and thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful church (if we were here during peak season, we would have purchased it ahead of time). So many famous people are buried here like Isaac Newton and Charles Dickens! Since my visit as part of my study abroad experience in May 2010, Stephen Hawkins’ ashes were buried in Westminster among other brilliant science-y people (think Newton and Darwin). When you get near the Poets’ Corner, you have the option to pay and climb up Westminster Abbey.
Quick snap inside of Westminster Abbey | TeamTravelsBaby
From Westminster, we exited into Parliament Square (where there are tons of famous statues to see like Mandela and Churchill) and it was booming with people! It was like a bunch of tour buses opened their doors and the people flowed out to the streets! We crossed the street and entered the House of Parliament for our ticketed time. Touring this was an absolute highlight and getting a self-guided tour headset is included in the ticket price here too. We were only allowed to take pictures in the first two rooms, but the other rooms are gorgeous and I definitely wish I could have snapped away!
After we exited, we walked along Horse Guard Road between St. James Park (another chance to see
the famous pelicans) and a lot of other beautiful architecture on our way to
Trafalgar Square. We made it to the National Gallery, which
hosts loads of famous work from artists we’ve all heard of like Botticelli,
Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Renoir and Van Gogh. The beauty is, this place is
FREE, so you don’t have to feel bad only seeing a few particular paintings and
on Friday nights it’s open late (9 pm).
Guard
Monet
Van Gogh
To catch a breather, we hopped on the Tube and road past our
hotel stop at Kings Cross up to see CamdenMarket. This area has tons of
shopping, incredible street art and murals and is a must see area of town, very
different from the sites we had seen up to this point on our trip. After a nice
coffee break, we walked to Regent’s Park.
We enjoyed the park stroll on our long walk back to Kings Cross. Other things
in this area include: Queen Mary’s rose
garden, the ZSL London Zoo(the world’s
oldest scientific zoo) and Hampstead Heath (supposed to have great views) if
you have the time.
Camden Market Area | TeamTravelsBaby
Sunday
London is definitely a city that requires more than a stopover. There is so much to see that even with our three days, we know we could come back and see more. On Sunday morning, we took the Tube from Kings Cross to Tottenham Hale station. We then had to buy a separate ticket for the Greater Anglia Railway to take a direct commuter-type train for 35 minutes to Stansted Airport. Even with a baby and our luggage, we found this to be incredibly easy and worthwhile since we were flying on an inexpensive one-way ticket via Ryan Air to Barcelona, Spain to board our Mediterranean cruise to Italy and France. Check out those hyperlinks to read about those portions of our trip!
Trip Planning
Considerations and Tips
For some, it may make sense to purchase the London Pass. Ultimately, we decided on the Oyster pay as you go card and purchasing individual attractions. This article may be helpful for your review: https://www.londonpass.com/london-attractions/
Transportation: Make sure to have a map or a transportation app. If you’re not using your phone overseas except on Wi-Fi, I definitely recommend screenshots or physical paper maps for reference. Of course, you can always just ask a local! If you’re going to use your phone a ton, it may be worth getting a portable battery bank!
Accommodations: Our hotel, was really more like a hostel (Excelsior Hotel). We had a shared bathroom and a private room. Since we had our stroller, two pieces of small luggage and a backpack, plus a pack-n-play, there was virtually no room to walk in the hotel room. For us, this was perfect because it was the least expensive place I saw for 3 nights (because we didn’t want to have to switch hotels in the middle of our short trip) in a good central location. We also knew we wouldn’t spend any time in the room except for sleeping.
Often mistaken for “London Bridge”, this is actually Tower Bridge | TeamTravelsBaby
We couldn’t do it again if we tried! We drove exactly 2,019 miles on our first trip of 2019. We visited 5 National Monuments, 3 National Parks, a National Wildlife Refuge, a State Capitol and lots of other points of interest in between. Did I mention we did this with our 4 month old baby? #TeamTravelsBaby ! Check out our 5 day trip report (February 15-20).
Lucky for us, Spirit Airlines often flies for ~$100 round-trip to Denver from Baltimore. Even better is Denver is situated in the perfect place to take all kinds of amazing National Park trips. Check out our long October weekend to the Badlands and Wind Cave National Parks or our 7 day National Park trip that ended with Rocky Mountain National Park (an easy 90 minutes from Denver).
We are National Park junkies and have made it a goal to try and explore them all and we’re almost halfway there (Mike and I have visited 27 together)! My sister-in-law shares our love of hiking and adventuring and joined us on this ambitious trip out west (luckily Spirit offers a similarly priced trip from Detroit)! February is a COLD month to visit Colorado and New Mexico (think negative 12 degrees at one point) and we literally would not have been able to cover as much ground or have the five day trip we did without her help.
Favorite trip pic of Addy!
Day 1
(approximate miles driven: 550 miles)
Start Day – Colorado Springs (Day 0, arrived late in the evening to DIA and drove here to sleep)
Bishop Castle – Think crooked, unfinished castle with cool turrets, beautiful stain glass and a unique “found on the side of the road” Colorado vibe. Fun to explore at your own risk!
Capulin Volcano National Monument – Right over the border in New Mexico, you drive to the top of the volcano. It is SUPER windy and there are two hikes at the top – one around the rim and one into the crater. There’s also a nice short round-trip walk near the visitor center. While this park costs $20, if you buy the $80 America the Beautiful National Park pass, you can get your monies worth in no time by visiting a handful of parks in a year. The ergo baby was perfect here, but our Addy hated the wind.
Las Vegas – If you know geography, you’ll know we didn’t drive to the real Las Vegas. Las Vegas is a small town with a historic hotel, some graffiti and a town square with some statues. A good pit stop to stretch your legs on the way to something cooler.
End Day – Roswell
Day 2 (approximate
miles driven: 484 miles)
Draperies
Hawk at the Caverns
Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge – We woke up in Roswell (yep, the alien city with the alleged UFO citing). First thing in the morning, we drove the 8-mile wildlife loop. It was a very serene drive and a nice place to start the day.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park – This was one of the highlights of the trip and also covered by the America the Beautiful Pass (instead of $15 per person, the pass covers up to 4 people). The drive up the mountain to get the visitor’s center is beautiful as well as the one-way loop on Walnut Canyon Desert Drive. The walk down to the Big Room in the cave as well as the loop around it is filled with decorations or stalactites and stalagmites. There’s also an elevator option, which we took at the end back to the visitor’s center instead of attempting a steep walk up with Addy. Our ergo baby came in handy and Addy slept almost the entire time we explored. If you’re interested in taking a guided tour, make sure to buy your tickets in advance as they only take small groups and they sell out quickly. Based on our positive experiences of taking guided tours at Wind Cave National Park (SD), Jewel Cave National Monument (SD), Cave of the Winds (CO), and Luray Caverns (VA), this is something we wish we could have done here. We also enjoyed the short nature trail that looped back to the amphitheater (where you enter the cave).
Guadalupe Mountains National Park – This park is extremely close (like a 30 minute drive) from Carlsbad Caverns and right over the border into the northwest corner of Texas. We also went through a time zone change driving here. The scenery is beautiful and shouldn’t be missed. We weren’t here long, but we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset over this park on the way back to New Mexico.
End Day – Santa Fe
Day 3 (approximate
miles driven: 147 miles)
Santa Fe – Waking up here was the best decision because this meant my SIL and I got to try the Christmas chili (red and green chili) breakfast burrito at The New Baking Company. It was DELISH! From here it was a short drive to old town Santa Fe. We parked a few blocks from the State Capitol at a meter (there’s a free week day parking garage, but it fills up quickly). Everywhere you walk there’s red chili hanging. It’s super pretty and unique. The whole city has a unique vibe. We checked out the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis, sipped a matcha latte and chai plus indulged and tried gelato samples from Café Atalaya and toured the utilitarian State Capitol building (found the accessible entrance through the connected Annex). The artwork throughout the Capitol was made by artists who lived in New Mexico at the time of creation and the views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains are incredible. This was a stroller friendly couple of hours.
Bandelier National Monument – This was another highlight of the trip! Starting at the visitor center, there’s a great hike up to the first set of houses. There are ladders to climb up and take a peek in the different houses. We continued past these to the Alcove House! This is a 140 foot ascent up multiple ladders (at your own risk) and we did this with our baby in tow! My husband was brave enough to wear her up and down and VERY lucky for us, she slept through it all. The experience is exhilarating and the view from the top is worth the climb. We also saw mule deer and an Abert’s squirrel (they have funny ears).
Albuquerque – We saw the most gorgeous sunset on our drive to ABQ. I would highly recommend finding a good spot to post up for pics! We found an evening coffee spot called Prismatic Coffee, drove around for a bit and then called it a night.
End Day – Albuquerque
Bandelier National Monument
Ascent up to Alcove House
Petroglyphs
Day 4
(approximate miles driven: 330 miles)
Petroglyphs National Monument – We happened to be in ABQ when there was TONS of snow, so there wasn’t a sunrise like we had hoped to see in the Volcanoes Day section of this park. We ended up being able to hike at Piedras Marcadas Canyon. This was a really fun hike to do in the snow (with the place to ourselves) and we were still able to see petroglyphs and lots of black-tailed jackrabbits.
Tent Rocks National Monument – We were super bummed we drove all the way here and it was unexpectedly closed. If you’re in this general area between Santa Fe and ABQ, definitely try to add it to your list! The cone shaped rock formations are reminiscent of the hoodies we saw at Bryce Canyon National Park.
Rio Grande del Norte National Monument – This was a way better stop than we anticipated. The bridge itself and views are amazing. We got super lucky too and saw 5 big horned sheep grazing below, two of which were males with huge horns. There’s ample parking on both sides of the bridge and facilities.
Taos – We didn’t quite make it to the “mountain village”, but we did enjoy a coffee shop here before the rest of our drive to Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve.
Colorful Colorado – Don’t miss the opportunity to jump out of the car and get a picture with the “Colorful Colorado” sign at the border!
End Day – Alamosa (near Great Sand Dunes)
Great Sand Dunes National Park | TeamTravelsBaby
Day 5
(approximate miles driven: 330 miles)
Great
Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve – We drove the park road the night
before and saw tons of elk grazing. On our sunrise drive into the park, we got
to take in some amazing views and you realize the sand dunes are right before
your eyes in front of humungous mountains. We went right past the visitor
center and we were able to hike onto the snow covered sand dunes. Again, we had
this place to ourselves! It was cool to see different animal prints in the snow
covered sand. It’s unlike any place we had ever been before and also one of the
highlights of the trip. We didn’t have the right kind of vehicle for the
terrain and snow covered incline, but if you do, it looks like nearby Zapata
Falls would be an amazing place to see.
Florissant
Fossil Beds National Monument – This wasn’t in the original plan, but when
we realized we had a little extra time on our hands, we headed here. There are
fossilized redwood stumps and we enjoyed a snow-covered trail here. There were
also tons of fossils to see in the visitor center. We didn’t see signs for it,
but there’s a new National Monument called Browns Canyon in the general area
between Great Sand Dunes and here that looks like it would be fun to see. You
can see the Arkansas River when you’re driving.
Colorado
Springs – At 4.9 stars when we checked, Story Coffee Company is a super
cute, tiny coffee shop located right in the center of town. Our drinks were
delicious and kept us warm as we looped around town checking out the street art
and beautiful mountain views. With about an hour left before we needed to head
to Denver, the Garden of the Gods (free)
was a perfect way to spend the sunset. The red rocks make for the ideal photo
backdrop. If you have more time, Cave of the Winds is located here.
End Day/Trip – Returned rental car to the Denver
airport and took a red eye flight home; Car rentals can be really expensive out
of Denver Airport, so make sure to shop around. We got the best deal using Car Rental 8, but in the past I’ve
often found the best deal using CarRentals.com
.
Would we do it again? Absolutely. Would we recommend waiting
until it were slightly warmer out? Perhaps. However, the BEST benefit of
traveling during the off season is you get places like National Parks and
Monuments all to yourself. At many of the places we visited, we either had the
place to ourselves or we saw less than a handful of people. The other BIG
benefit is you can find CHEAP hotels in the off season, if you have a baby like
us and can no longer carsleep your way around the country. Keep up with us on
Instagram @TeamTravelsBaby
as we head out on our next adventure!
Did you see what I did there? Delaware is considered the “First State” as it was the first one to ratify the Constitution of the United States and was also the first state we visited to kick-off the new year! On our Sunday day trip we visited Dover, Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Cape Henlopen and Rehoboth Beach. We got very lucky with a 50ish degree day, which made it a perfect day to be outside and exploring new places. It also meant that because it was January, we had each of these places to ourselves.
Boardwalk Trail at Prime Hook NWR | Teamtravelsbaby
Don’t Ditch Dover
Dover is a really quaint capital city. The highlight for me was stopping at the House of Coffi. The coffee house is adorable with lots of unique art inside to match their unique selection. I completely indulged with a cinnamon roll latte and red velvet muffin (yep, muffin, not cupcake)! No wonder this place has 4.8 stars on Google!
After you’re loaded with your caffeine, it’s only about a 10 minute walk to see Wesley College. It’s was the first private college in Delaware and has beautiful brick buildings. The gorgeous Victorian houses along the way really make the walk worthwhile. On your loop back toward the coffee shop, stop by Woodburn, which is the Governor’s Mansion to at least get a picture of the building or gardens.
Across from the House of Coffi is the huge public library and then easy access to all kinds of Federal buildings from the post office to the archives and eventually the huge Legislative Hall (or State Capitol). Coming in January has its perks – like being able to photograph the entire Legislative Hall across the Green without a single person in the pic! Seeing the Old State House is also nice and right next to it is where we found free, unlimited parking for our time here.
In talking with the locals at the coffee house, Silver Lake Park was recommended. The park has a pretty waterfall and some nice areas to walk. While we didn’t try it, McGlynns Pub and Restaurant were recommended to us because of the perfect location in the middle of the lake.
All in all, this is a great day trip from the Washington, D.C. area as it’s only two hours away over the Bay Bridge. If you’re interested in touring any of the historical places or the Capitol, make sure to verify the hours online in advance.
Prime Hook and Cape Henlopen
Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge and Cape Henlopen are great stops on a nice day for some hiking. Prime Hook has tons of trails and it’s free! We hiked the Dike Trail and Boardwalk Trail near the Visitors Center (which was sadly closed due to the government shutdown along with the restrooms) because we were able to take the stroller on both. We only saw one great blue heron, but if you love birds, you’ll want to check the website for which migratory birds will be there and when. We found Christmas Holly, which is Delaware’s State Tree along the Boardwalk path.
Cape Henlopen normally costs $10, but for some reason it was free the day we went. It’s really close to the Lewes Ferry that will take you to Cape May, New Jersey. We drove up to Herring Point which had ample parking. There’s a great view of the ocean as well as access to a beach. The physical structure there has a “spy” history. Across the street from the physical structure are some paths, including a nice boardwalk path along Gordon’s Pond. If you have time, the Visitor Center offers free bikes on a first-come, first-serve basis and there are tons of biking paths to take advantage of.
Sunset on Rehoboth Beach
Rehoboth Beach is one of the many beaches in Delaware (some other include Dewey and Bethany) and popular for retirees. From researching which beach to check out, it appeared Rehoboth would be the best due to the one mile boardwalk. We timed our arrival so we’d get there around 4:30 pm and close to the sunset time. We are so glad we did because the sky looked beautiful. With the exception of a jewelry store, candy store and a restaurant that were open, this place was a ghost-town. While I imagine it is completely different during the summer, I think I would still prefer Ocean City, New Jersey.
We didn’t go, but I read “the Avenue” and the Tanger Outlets are popular to check out due to Delaware being tax free on clothes. Plus, if you’re a AAA member, don’t forget to stop by the Tanger Info Booth and get your coupon book!
If you want to make this trip a full weekend adventure, I recommend reading my article about the East Coast of Maryland called Ponies by the Seashore.
Have you heard of the Canary Islands? They’re a group of Spanish islands near the coast of Morocco with temperate weather, lots of national parks, volcanoes and beaches! If you’ve ever wanted to island hop, doing so via a cruise is a great way! There are seven main Canary Islands and we got to explore five of them, plus a city in Morocco during our week long Pullmantur cruise (Horizon ship) and a stopover in Madrid. We traveled February 16 – 26, 2018, which was the perfect time to escape the cold Washington, D.C. winter.
Top Benefits of
Cruisin’
Stress-free. You don’t have to pack and unpack
every night.
Time-saver. You get to cover a lot of ground
without exerting any effort.
Eat without thinking. You know where all of your
meals are coming from.
Fun galore! There are lots of activities and
shows for entertainment and pools to relax by.
Socialize without the clean-up. You can meet
people who share your love for travel from all over the world.
Tenerife, Canary
Island
We were here for the end of Carnival (a huge celebration where everyone dressed up in costumes like it was Halloween). Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the main city where Carnival was being celebrated and is also where the port is for the round-trip cruise.
Wandered through Strasse Park, which had very unique agriculture.
City of La Orotava is an old historic city with beautiful views.
Easy to rent a car from the airport and drive on the island.
Arrived one full day ahead of our cruise departing to explore the island (and found a safe place to carsleep).
La Palma, Canary
Island
Curved around and up the mountain to see the Santuario
de la Virgen de las Nieves, a famous church with a beautiful view of the city.
Hiked in Caldera de Taburiente National Park
where we saw a few Canarian ravens and a stunning rainbow!
Viewed the famous Spanish balconies and black
sand beach while eating delicious ice cream!
Agadir, Morocco
The port is not extremely close to the town
(probably 45 minute walk) and we came across a few stray dogs and cats. Be
careful as we found the dogs will follow you.
Traveled to the Kasbah, which is the highest
point. There are camels you can ride on or take a picture with. The inscription
reads “God, Homeland, King” on the side of the mountain.
Shopped three Souks (markets) and learned about
Moroccan oil. Negotiated a great deal for a painting with tree goats in the
argan tree in a small souk by the beach.
Lanzarote, Canary
Island
Los Hervideros is an incredible water hole. The
water is so strong that you are not allowed to swim as people have died trying.
Drove through Timanfaya National Park to see the
crater. We stopped at El Diablo Restaurant in the park to see a demonstration
of the volcanic heat. This restaurant makes its food from the volcanic heat.
Some drank wine, while I ate ice cream at La Geria.
Fuerteventura, Canary
Island
Walked along La Oliva, a beautiful sand beach.
Visited a cute, small town called Betancuria and
the ruins.
Explored the port city of Arrecife and Puerto
del Rosario.
Gran Canaria, Canary
Island
Strolled through the quaint town of Vega de San Mateo and Tejega (one of the most beautiful cities in Spain).
Ate a fabulous lunch in the City of Teror, saw their famous balconies and stepped inside their historic church.
Saw the Roque Nublo or cloudy rock, which was beautiful.
Promenaded along the Playas de las Canteras which was the happening beach near the cruise port and took in a beautiful sunset here.
We had a fantastic tour guide and a small group of travelers from around the world. The funny thing is, we spent the first thirty minutes of our time on the island panicking that our excursion wasn’t going to happen because the excursion company (Shore Excursioneer) confirmed a different time with us then they did with the person picking us up for the tour.
Gran Canaria Sunset | TeamTravelsBaby
Madrid, Spain
Booked a flight with a stopover in Madrid (less than 24 hours; arrived 3 p.m. and departed 1 p.m. the next day) because it’s only 30 minutes via public transportation to get to the city center.
Bird-watching in the huge park, El Retiro Park.
Peaked into the train station, Atocha and also found the perfect, last minute hostel with a private room called Far Home Atocha for only 40 euros that I would highly recommend. Use my Booking.com link and we each get $20!
Awed at the Almudena Cathedral, and would definitely tour it the next time we visit this city.
Traipsed through town and saw places like Plaza Mayor, the San Miguel Market and the bear and strawberry tree in La Puerta del Sol.
Full Disclosure
I was about 8 weeks pregnant on this trip, so I couldn’t fully indulge on the Pullmantur cruise line which offers free alcoholic beverages (like house wines) in the price of the cruise.
I had all day sickness – morning sickness, motion sickness, you name it and still had an amazing trip and would recommend checking out www.vacationstogo.com (free with your email address) to find this cruise and other deals!
Richmond is Virginia’s capitol and full of U.S. historical sites. It also boasts cool street art and some delicious treats! Spending a holiday weekend during the cold months meant no crowds, easy to find parking and the sites were still open!
Richmond Highlights over New Years’ Eve Weekend 2017
Belle Isle Pedestrian Bridge
Maymont
Hollywood Cemetery
Carytown – Street Art, Carytown Cupcakes, Lamplighter Coffee
Virginia State Capitol
Shockoe Bottom and Main Street Station
After sipping our free hotel coffee, we headed into Richmond. It was a cool morning and we parked near 300 Tredegar Street in order to take the Belle Isle Pedestrian Bridge. The bridge is really unique and gives you some great views of Richmond.
Belle Isle Bridge View | TeamTravelsBlog
After a little exploring, we got back in our car and drove to Maymont. We parked outside the gate and walked onto the property, which is beautiful! The mansion itself is gorgeous, but we didn’t take the tour (I’m 99% sure I did as a kid though, because the whole place felt nostalgic to me). There appears to be a lot to do, like a nature center, the mansion tour, etc. if you have time and are interested.
Maymont Mansion | TeamTravelsBlog
The Hollywood Cemetery was a must see for us. Before you drive into the cemetery, there’s a map you can get or take a picture of, which we found to be really helpful as we didn’t want to miss any of the historical figures like James Monroe and John Tyler. I think because we were here on a holiday weekend during a cold month, this is why it wasn’t busy at all and even enjoyable to drive around and park where we wanted to take pictures.
Who is buried here? | TeamTravelsBlog
We drove to Carytown next and found a free parking spot on a side street. This street is a must see with its cool street art, the delicious cupcakes at Carytown Cupcakes (you really can’t get just one) and the yummy coffee at Lamplight Roasting Company.
Yummy cupcake | TeamTravelsBlog
Caffeine | TeamTravelsBlog
As it was approaching 1 pm, we made our way to the Virginia State Capitol which has pretty short hours on Sundays and is closed on holidays, like New Year’s Day. Again, I think because it was a holiday weekend, we basically had the place to ourselves and one of the docents gave us an excellent tour.
Hello George! | TeamTravelsBlog
The statue of George Washington in white marble under the rotunda is incredible and has a lot of details that you may not notice without a tour guide or doing some research ahead of time. We had a little bit of time afterwards, so we explored the Capitol grounds which included seeing the Governor’s Mansion on one end and St. Paul’s Church at the other.
Inside the Capitol | TeamTravelsBlog
Our last stop in Richmond before making the two hour drive home was Shockoe Bottom historic area. We found another side street parking spot and checked out the artwork along the street before making it to the train station. The train station is beautiful inside with an art exhibit, a mini visitor center and because it was NYE, they were setting up for a party upstairs. Don’t miss the opportunity to take a picture with the “Love” sign in the Main Street Station.
Let me know what we have to see next time we make it to Richmond! Did you guess right? The cemetery grave site pictured above was for James Monroe.
e coffee house is adorable with lots of unique art inside to match their unique selection. I completely indulged with a cinnamon roll latte and red velvet muffin (yep, muffin, not cupcake)! No wonder this place has 4.8 stars on Google!
On your loop back toward the coffee shop, stop by Woodburn, which is the Governor’s Mansion to at least get a picture of the building or gardens.
We only saw one great blue heron, but if you love birds, you’ll want to check the website for which migratory birds will be there and when. We found Christmas Holly, which is Delaware’s State Tree along the Boardwalk path. 
Treat Yourself to Travel 