Hi, welcome to Map and Family. Looking for city guides, secret beaches, culture, luxury or fun? We’ve inspiration for grown up trips all over the world and ideas for travelling with teenagers too.
I’m Nancy Roberts, I live in London and have two sons in their twenties. I’m a former women’s magazine editor and I’ve always had a passion for travel.
When the boys were younger I quickly realised that some of the best advice about travelling came from friends who’d been there first. At the school gate their advice was priceless whether it was tip offs about the best sheltered beach near Lisbon, avoiding the queue for Rome’s Colosseum – or the jellyfish that never get a mention in the guidebook.
This is how Map and Family was born. I originally conceived it as a resource to help families travelling with teens. My travel-loving friends contributed stories, always well-researched and candid, about the good and not-so-good aspects of each destination. I used their insights and experiences to help others to plan their best family trips ever.
As my children have grown up, I’ve expanded this site to include tips for grown ups travelling as singles or couples again. I believe age is a state of mind, not a number. But I also reckon that ‘the grown-ups’ – I hesitate to categorise us as over 50s because some may be younger – are looking for particular things when we travel. We’re no longer catering to the needs of small children, we want fresh and individual experiences, and sometimes we have a bit more time and money to enjoy ourselves too. I love exploring unspoilt corners of the world but I also delight in the busier bits too – I’m always torn between a weekend on a beach or in a city.
My 20-something sons both contribute to Map and Family nowadays. The simple fact is we share many of the same interests and values when it comes to travel. I’m thrilled when they go off exploring with their friends and equally happy when we take a trip together too. I’m less tolerant of overnight buses than them(!) but we all love a fabulous view, an extremely ‘local’ restaurant or an ancient ruin or two. If you’re a curious traveller, and love to scratch the surface of the places you visit, then I hope you’ll find lots of inspiration on these pages.
A huge thank you to Map and Family’s trusted contributors who have kindly agreed to be interviewed for this site and have given up their time to share their travel experiences. Contributors – you know who you are! Your enthusiasm, your wonderful photos and your stories from every corner of the world are an absolute inspiration to me.
About our photos. The images on this site come from many sources. Please always check the photo credits before you consider using them as some may not be free – or available. Photos that belong to our contributors may NOT be used or linked to by any other person or site without written permission. Thank you.
A word about accommodation/travel credits: Since one person’s hotel from heaven can be another family’s hell we will only give details of hotels/accommodation if the contributors that stayed there are confident they’d recommend it to their friends. If for whatever reason the accommodation is not considered up to scratch it won’t be featured in the story – simple as that. Because of this some reports may not include accommodation listings.
For the same reason please always do your own research before you book a trip. The content on this site is for general information and entertainment only and is gathered from many sources. Map and Family cannot warrant that it will be up to date or free from inaccuracies.
Disclosures. If a trip or stay that is featured on this site has been subsidised in any way by a tour operator, accommodation provider or airline we will always let you know within the feature.
Similarly items which have been sent to Map and Family for review will be marked as such. We won’t review any products or services that fall short of our expectations or are not a good fit for our readership.
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