Learning Escapes: A Mama's Blog on Travel, Food and Meaningful Moments

I was recently looking for an easy destination for a weekend, a beautiful town where we could relax but also explore at leisure and enjoy a bit of Christmas magic and decides on Ghent, Belgium. It was perfect! Super easy to reach (easy train ride from Brussels), stunning, historic, relaxed, full of places to eat, with a lovely Christmas market and not overrun! Magical! Full guide to follow, photos for inspiration 💛

If you’re planning a trip to Rome with kids this holiday season, this is for you 💛 between nativity scenes, Christmas World and the sheer beauty of the city, it should be a pretty magical one

Christmas in Rome with kids: best things to do, tips, fantastic Christmas events in Rome for kids you'll love this year (2025 Update) - Mama Loves Rome Christmas events in Rome for kids for the holidays season: a list of child friendly ideas for Christmas in Rome

Embracing the seasonal baking craze making pasta frolla cookies just like those in patisseries back home in Rome. The buttery smell is delicious but the taste is even more so 😍 (recipe below)

The Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain are two of the most famous and beautiful landmarks in Rome and they are easy to visit on the same day. They are so close to one another, you can even walk and I recommend you do so as between them you see many significant Rome attractions, you can catch some of the best views over Rome and get a sense of how much of an open air museum Rome really is. I am from Rome and this is my recommended walking itinerary between the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain (or vice versa!)

Colosseum and Trevi Fountain: what to see, how to see the + exact itinerary you'll love (by a local!) - Mama Loves Rome Colosseum and Trevi Fountain itinerary: a detailed travel guide with how to get around, what to see in the area, food stops

Pretty London 💛

[ITA nel primo commento] On a sunny day in London, being along the Thames is one of the nicest things! This time we just walked across it as I cannot get enough of those beautiful views ovee Westminster 😍 but in the past we’ve gone up the London Eye (cool) and took a river cruise which was fab! Both highlights for us and a great way to see a lot without exhausting yourself 💛 🇬🇧 🇬🇧

One day in London with kids itinerary spot 1: Buckingham Palace! 👑We decided to start our day with ‘grand’ London so our first stop was, of course, Buckingham Palace (yes, Bunny 🐰 still join us on all trips!) We got there at 10.30 which is just before the famous changing of the guards happens… hence the huge crowds! Because of masses of people and heat we didn’t stay on the main square and instead went towards the Barracks where the guards’ brass band soon started to play. We had the best view and the music was super energizing! Highly recommend it!

Ljubljana 💛 while staying in Trieste, we couldn’t resist a quick hop to Ljubljana (Slovenia). With little planning and huge curiosity for a country we had never visited before, we got on a Flixbus and in 1.5h we were at our destination! It will be a brief stay but first impressions already make us say it is so worth coming: the town is so pretty! Lots more photos to come!

Pylos 💛🇬🇷 On the westernmost coast of Peloponnese lies Pylos, the mythological kingdom of Nestor! We drove here from Koroni, along a rather unnerving mountain road, but it was worth the stress (there is also a much better road from Kalamata). Pylos has a lovely port, a very busy, buzzying main square and a stunning Kastro, the castle at the top of the town. It is much much busier than Koroni but also much more served. We were happy where we where but with younger kids or for a more active holiday, Pylos would be a great place: there are lovely tabernae, option of boat tours and the kastro is wonderful ! 🇬🇷

Koroni again 💛🇬🇷 As well as being very pretty, we found Koroni wonderfully quiet. We always found tables in tabernas, tons of space at the beach and, when we enquired, last minute boat trips availabe. The whole of Peloponnese seemed like this actually, everything seemed amazingly easy: maybe we were lucky, maybe it is always like this? Am I just too used to busy Italy? I can see we need to come back again to check 😉😍 🇬🇷

Koroni 💛🇬🇷 When we booked our stay in Koroni, Peloponnese, we knew we would find stunning sea but I had no idea we would also find a village this beautiful! This delight of bougainvillea flowers and domes is the kastro, at the very top of the village. We reached it by chance by car and the narrow, steep road up made us more than a little bit apprehensive... but as we arrived, it all got washed away but the tranquility and beauty of this spot. A much better option would have been to walk: if you come from the town center, you cannot miss it - literally, you just walk up, as far as you can go. I highly recommend you do 💛 🇬🇷

Epidaurus 🇬🇷💛 Another wonderful site we visited from Mycenae was Epidaurus, an absolutely incredible place! The archaeological site has what remains of a large sanctuary to Asclepius, God of Medicine, and a wonderfully preserved theater (still in use). There are several info panels so you can visit without a tour/ guide and there are several shaded areas where you can rest and take it all in. The kids also loved it: climbing up the theater is fab and the history of the sanctuary and how it operated fascinating. Very easy to reach by car and, at least when we went, no need to prebook.