It’s not easy or always reassuring.
You're on the road for a family vacation. You've done lots of family-friendly things and now you and your significant other want a night out.

Or at least a dinner in the hotel's much touted dinning room.
But who'll watch the kids?

Hotels will often provide staff sitters or the names of agencies that they do business with, who'll sit for children while the parents are out.
But the question nags: How safe are your kids in the hands of a stranger ...and how do

How would you spend a weekend getaway in London? That very question was posed to us by Virgin Atlantic, which challenged us to design a dream itinerary for two days of gallivanting in London, one of the world's most exciting and attraction-rich cities, and a favorite of BonVoyageurs since we first moved to the Greater London area with our baby daughter and our French cat in the late 1970s.

To make the dream weekend in London even more interesting, Virgin Atlantic sent us a travel bag of inspira

To countless monikers like " Rip City" , "Stumptown," and "Beervana,"  I have added Bridge City to Portland, Oregon's list. The Willamette River runs right through the center of the city, with a total of 9 bridges (not counting rail) connecting downtown to Eastside neighborhood districts like Buckman, Sunnyside, and Ladd's Addition. Some bridges are only doable by car, but others like the Burnside Bridge are pedestrian/ bike-friendly leading directly to streets flanked with former warehouses, fa

Imagine placing yourself in paradise. Letting go all the worries, getting energized, releasing and absorbing the beauty of nature. Have you planned your vacation yet? Or are you just a global nomad, seeking out only the best things in life? Head for the most luxurious resort in Southeast Asia, Samujana, a spectacular and peaceful getaway.

Koh Samui is Thailand's second largest island, with white sandy beaches, coral reefs and coconut trees. Samujana resort has 18 villas featuring grandstand views

Orchids have a mystique. A magic, beguiling beauty. Their complex patterns, colors and forms in a flower so delicate and fragile, simply boggle the senses. They are coveted like an elusive, exotic treasure, and bought, sold and traded around the world. Whole societies and organizations are dedicated to preserving these amazing beauties.

At the Else Kientzler Botanical Gardens in Sarchi, Costa Rica (an hour's drive northwest of capital San José), you can immerse yourself in the enchanting world o

Opposite Playa del Carmen beach in The Riviera Maya, is the idyllic island of Cozumel. An island with many charms but which stands out for one thing in particular: the Arrecifes National Park, or as it is more popularly known, “The Great Maya Reef”.

Situated off the southern coast of Cozumel, the Arrecifes National Park consists of the reefs – arrecife being the Spanish word for ‘reef’ – which have formed over thousands of years and which owe their apparition to the diverse underwater terraces on

As a lifelong lover of Spain, few cities are as deeply intertwined in my image of this singular country as this singular city at the foot of Andalusia’s Sierra Nevada mountains, an hour from the Costa del Sol. That title is slightly misleading, actually – I’ve been under Granada’s spell ever since my first long-ago visit, but it’s a line from the English version of a reknowned, flamboyant song written in Spanish in the 1930s (ironically, by a Mexican) and covered by Frank Sinatra and Frankie L

If, as the old saw goes, everyone’s a little Irish on Lá Fhéile Pádraig, as they say in Gaelic (even yours truly just found some Emerald Isle heritage thanks to DNA testing!), what better occasion to visit the the gateway to the Emerald Isle which bestowed this happy holiday upon us? With a lovely setting on Dublin Bay, split by the River Liffey, the city offers fine historic and modern architecture; fascinating sites and culture; and a vibrant urban life that will tickle your fancy no matter

Every year millions of tourists from every corner of the earth flock to Rome. The city enjoys a never-ending stream of visitors, simply because there is so much worth seeing. It might take you weeks and weeks to see and do everything in this open-air museum, but if you are going for a short weekend break, there are 5 must-dos in Rome!

#1. Watch the sun goes down over the city

The best spot for sunset watching is probably the Pinciana Hill. It is part of the park of Villa Borghese and close to Piaz

Panama is well-known for its famous Panama Canal, the modern Panama City, and its idyllic islands. Now, thanks to a newly created wildlife refuge, Panama is one of the best destinations for bird lovers in the Americas.

Recently on World Wetlands Day – February 2 – Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela officially created the Panama Bay Wetland Wildlife Refuge. The huge five-million-acre expanse of estuaries, mangroves, swamp forests, freshwater pools and intertidal mudflats of the Panama Bay is

by Cristóbal Ramírez

Spectacularly sited on the vast blue Atlantic, this city of 620,000 may be the official capital ofMorocco, but it’s so laid back and unassuming that many visitors tend to pass it by for the higher-profile likes of Marrakesh, Fez, Tangier, and Casablanca. But that’s a pity, for Rabat is an undersung gem with handsome architecture, rich history, and cosmopolitan offerings.

Founded as a fortress (the name, in fact, means “fortified place”) by one of the Almohad dynasty calip

Finally I got the first visa stamped on my passport. It was February when we (I and my spouse) were ready to take off from India. With uncountable emotions flooding our minds, we simply did not know how our Thailand (Pattaya) experience would turn out to be. The itinerary was provided to us, but the fear of traveling for the very first time to an international destination and that too to a popularly known city like Pattaya was not letting our thoughts shut down even for a second. 

The first in

When in Hong Kong, learn about something very Chinese. The Hong Kong Tourism Board offers a kaleidoscope of free cultural programs to help tourist learn about local culture, and one of them is a Cantonese opera appreciation class. This is an old and highly respected art form that blends Chinese legend, music and drama into an exciting performance style, rich in symbolic meaning. The class guides people through the Hong Kong Heritage Museum’s Cantonese opera Heritage Hall and its numerous displ

Are you stuck for ideas on what to do with your kids when half-term starts? Here are some things you could consider doing to keep the little ones busy:

‘Frozen’ the pop-up experience

Are your children fans of the popular Disney film Frozen? Then they may enjoy this show. Take your kids on a trip to Arendelle itself and enter a magical ‘Frozen’ winter wonderland. Princesses Elsa and Anna provide musical performances and visitors can dance, sing and play around the stunning frost-inspired decoratio

Crete is Greece's biggest island, whose culture, natural beauty and climate, summer sunshine and cool sea, together with its dynamic people, make it also one of the biggest and most modern tourist centers in Greece. On the north coast, its beautiful capital Heraklion is surrounded by ramparts and medieval fortifications, erected by the Venetians who controlled the island, it is also the main port.

On a visit to the city of Heraklion, you cannot miss a trip to the San Menas cathedral  (19th c.)

by Jorge Duarte

On the banks of the lagoon Mother of God in North Pacuare, Limón, I heard the most perfect concert without paying high prices for a spot, VIP area or wrestle with the crowds, just 4 hours from San José (boat transportation included). For some it was a mere biological phenomenon, but for me it was music. This truly wonderful event: the sonic perfection produced by anurans (the order of frogs and toads) at Lirio Lodge and its natural harmony in the region. 

Solitary and poisonous te

The City

Narrow streets, beautiful squares, Bourtzi island under the light and Palamidi with the 999 steps, are waiting to welcome the visitor. This seaport's history stretches back to classical antiquity in a region that's one of the most ancient in Greece.

With the aroma of basil wafting through the air… the old town of Nafplio takes you by hand for a magic walk in another more romantic and beautiful time. Old buildings, picturesque and graceful, many with balconies that appear to embrace

We found an American treasure in Reno, Nevada.

Hidden in plain view among hundreds of classic cars is the 1907 Thomas Flyer, the winner of the first and only around-the-world auto race, the New-York-to-Paris Race of 1908.

After decades of neglect, in 1964 the dilapidated Thomas Flyer was painstakingly restored to her original condition by 40 car craftsmen in the Harrah’s Classic Car Museum workshop.

The project took six weeks and the end result was the Flyer, exactly as she looked, when she crosse

New England sure has been getting walloped by winter this year. But come warm weather, there's no more delightful part of the USA - and one of my favorite parts of it is also one of America’s first and most historic holiday destinations – a 339-square-mile (880-square-kilometre) chunk of Barnstable County, Massachusetts that looks uncannily like an arm making a fist as it protrudes out into the Atlantic Ocean from the coast an hour south of Boston.

Cape Cod is a thoroughly winsome mix of beac

Let’s face it: When we think about Peru, Machu Picchu and Cuzco, along with Lima, are usually the first places to spring to mind. But many are this country’s alluring destinations, and none more so than its second city, Arequipa, in the deep south, at the edge of the Altiplano highlands. If the capital is stress, hurry, and humidity, Arequipa is the opposite – relatively tranquil; with a crisp, sunny climate (more than 300 days of sunshine per year); rugged countryside punctuated by the trio o