One person’s dream can be another’s nightmare. We first heard of the Icelandic ‘Dream Road’ from Dick Phillips, the Cumbrian Icelandic expert and each imagined our own versions of perfection. We assumed it would be overrun by cyclists, but found we had it to ourselves. And as we bumped over stones, forded rivers, crossed beaches [...]

In love with a fish.. at Djupavik An abandoned herring factory might not be your idea of fun; especially if I tell you reaching it involves driving over mountains, clinging precariously to cliffs on miles of remote washboard gravel road. But it does make for an adventure and an interesting journey into Icelandic fishing heritage [...]

Husavik in North Iceland is a magnet for mammals roaming about in cold water, and for tourists roaming about on whale watching boats trying to spot them. North Sailing offer a novel yet traditional slant on this increasingly popular activity, so we climbed on board one of their twin masted schooners for a morning with whales, [...]

No proper tour of the Icelandic Highlands is complete without a visit to Askja Caldera, where the highlight of the trip is taking a swim in a giant volcanic bath tub. Admittedly, getting to the crater is a mission; hours spent crossing desolate volcanic deserts and lava fields where your chances of finding a petrol [...]

After biking inland and around the Lagarfljòt we decide to head out to the Eastern fjords to get a contrasting view of Eastern Iceland.  With fishing much more than a pastime here, we figured it would be good to try our hand at catching our own supper.  Now how hard can that be?  Catch of [...]

Wet and wild in Billund… Billund in Denmark is famous for one thing. Bricks. Lands made out of bricks, rides made out of bricks and model kits made out of…yes you guessed it. But there’s much more to Billund than Lego. After visiting Polar Land to ride the Polarcoaster we went on to test out [...]

Sweets upon my pillow Tired and grumpy after a long drive across Holland and Germany, Iceland still seemed an awful long way off. We drove into Hamburg by night in search of an historic water tower in Sternschanzenpark. Not because we were thirsty but because we’d heard it was a quite unique and family friendly [...]

You know you’re a Mum when…. …you stop fancying pop stars… I was watching a programme about boy bands the other night. It described different types of fan and their subconscious relationship with their post pubescent pop heros. And it went something like this: “The teenage girls want to explore their feelings in safety but [...]

No sweat, no tears, electric gears There’s a rumour going around that biking in UK’s The Lake District doesn’t have to involve sweat, slogging up hills or lycra. Yes really. And as a Cumbrian biking family we felt it was our duty to find out if it could possibly be true. If you are a real [...]

Ever had a row in an art gallery? We had several yesterday, ranging from a punch up to a ten minute tantrum. And you know what? It was fine. Five hundred acres of grounds at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park provide enough space for a family to let off steam on a Sunday afternoon, as well [...]