Our Recommendations
While planning for our year, both in advance and on-the-go, TripAdvisor became our sixth family member. We poured over reviews and suggestions of restaurants, apartments, hikes, hotels, trains, and self-guided tours. As a school writing assignment, we even studied what makes a good review and published some of our own.
Because it was so useful to hear from those who have gone before, we want to share some of our recommendations for YOUR trips abroad. This is by no means an exhaustive list, just many of the great things that come to mind when we look back on our year.
Sorry there are no helpful comments here, but we wholeheartedly recommend all of these places and activities linked below (we DID have some disasters and some less-than-ideals, we just left them off the list). If you want the full story, feel free to email us and we will talk your ear off!
GENERAL TRAVEL
AirTreks Round-the-World Airfare
Renault Eurodrive Lease/Buyback Program
ICELAND
Northsailing Whale Watching, Husavik
FRANCE
Cro Bique, rental in Beynac-et-Cazenac
Font-de-Gaume Cave Paintings, Les Eyzies
Beynac Castle, Beynac-et-Cazenac
ENGLAND
Helm Lune Cottage Rental, Bowness
Holiday Inn Maidstone, Seven Oaks
BELGIUM
Maison Antoine Frites, Brussels
European Union Visitors Centre
SWITZERLAND
Trummelbach Falls, Lauterbrunnen
CROATIA
Montona Gallery Pizza, Motovun
Perfectly Charming House, Viganj
Antony Boy Camping and Windsurfing, Viganj
ITALY
MOROCCO
TUNISIA
GREECE
TURKEY
Ephesus Archaeological Site, Izmir
Perge Archaeological Site, Antalya
Flintstones Cave Hotel, Cappadocia
Red and Rose Valley Trails, Goreme
Sahkulu Place Apartment, Istanbul
TANZANIA
RWANDA
Kigali Memorial Centre, Kigali
MALAYSIA
Petrosains Science Museum, Kuala Lumpur
Novotel City Centre, Kuala Lumpur
THAILAND
Thailand Elephant Conservation Center
Khaomao Khaofang Restaurant, Chiang Mai
VIETNAM
CHINA
New Day Foster Home Guesthouse, near Beijing
Olympic Water Cube Water Park, Beijing
JAPAN
Sakara Kyoto Guesthouse, Kyoto
Sakara Gion Machiya Rental, Kyoto
Hiroshima Memorial Park, Hiroshima
Toyota Plant Tour, Toyota City
KOREA
Cozy Residence Apartment, Seoul
… AND SOME ORGANIZATIONS WE HAVE GROWN TO LOVE
St. James Muswell Hill, London
Friends of the Lakes District, Kendal, UK
Lakes Christian Centre, Bowness, UK
St. Paul’s Cultural Center, Antalya, Turkey
Sonrise School, Musanze, Rwanda
Light and Power Centre, Nairobi, Kenya
Dave and Lucy Chaves, Nairobi, Kenya
Christ Church Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya
International Justice Mission Thailand, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Grace International School, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Free Burma Rangers, Chiang Mai, Thailand
HAPPY ADVENTURES TO YOU ALL!
This is SO helpful. I pray we will be able to use it one day! (Oh, and I didn’t know y’all went to the Cube! Was it worth the $$$ entrance fee? Can’t wait to hear those stories and more…counting down!)
Go Boesens! The water cube was worth the $$ mainly bc the boys had first seen it in a magazine several countries/continents earlier, got pumped about it, did the research to get us there — and then loved it. Olympic venues get us excited!