Frommer's Guide to Wales Family Holidays
Travel Ideas from Welsh Castles to Sandy Beaches Safe for Kids
Aug 7, 2009
The Frommer's series of 'with your family' travel guides promises to put the fun back into family holidays, and the latest title covers Wales and all things Welsh. Anyone looking for ideas of where to take the kids while on vacation in Wales will find hundreds of ideas packed into the book's 248 pages.
The book's coverage is wide-ranging, and includes the Welsh mountains as well as seaside holiday resorts, historic castles and beaches with rock pools, fun family farms and dolphin-watching trips, and which museums and other attractions to take the family to in the major cities such as Cardiff and Swansea.
Wales with Your Family: the Authors
Two expert travel writers have out this Frommer's guide together:
- Nick Dalton – who has written about travel for some of the UK's major national newspapers, and writes about family travel on the Take the Family website.
- Deborah Stone – Nick Dalton's wife who also writes for the national press and for the Take the Family website.
It's to be hoped that the couple's children, Georgia and Henry, were well-rewarded with ice cream and other treats as they appear as happily-smiling models in photos throughout the book.
Wales with your Family: the Format
The whole look of the family guides is different from the familiar Frommer's travel guidebooks. The paper is slicker and smoother, there are color photos and color maps throughout, and two columns per page instead of the usual single column. These changes all make the books far more visually appealing, and easier on the eye.
Family Highlights of Wales
Although the 'family' series of guides differs in many ways from the usual Frommer's guidebook format, it does begin as usual with the authors' selections of the best family experiences in different categories. These include:
The Best Welsh Family Experiences
- Cardiff
- The West Coast Beaches
- Snowdonia
- The Brecon Beacons
The Best Welsh Family Seaside Resorts
- Tenby
- New Quay
- Barmouth
The Best Welsh Family Museums
- The National Museum of Wales
- The National Slate Museum
- St Fagans National History Museum
Wales with your Family: the Plan
The book is divided geographically, starting with Cardiff, South Wales and the Brecon Beacons, then moving on to West Wales and Mid Wales, and finally chapters on North Wales and Snowdonia.
Each section begins with a map that has the main family attractions marked, an overall introduction, and contact details for where to get further travel information whether online in advance or on the road as you travel. There's advice on getting around (by car, on foot or by public transport), what to do and see, family-friendly dining, and family-friendly accommodation (from hostels and caravan parks to upmarket and luxury but still family-friendly hotels.
Wales with your Family: the Verdict
Wales with your Family is a thoroughly-researched and well-written guide to all the fun things to do with kids throughout Wales. The photos of the authors' children also show this was all researched first-hand – and the smiles on their faces say how much fun it was too.
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Other titles in the Frommer's 'with your family' series include:
- Devon and Cornwall
- Ireland
- Scotland
- Florida
- The Algarve
- Croatia
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Buying Frommer's Wales with your Family guide
Wales with your Family by Nick Dalton and Deborah Stone is published by Frommer's at $18.99 in the USA, $20.99 in Canada, and £12.99 in the UK. It's available from Amazon and other online book stores, from book shops, and from the Frommer's Online Bookstore.
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