The travel blog for adventurous families

All

Africa & Arabia

Asia

Europe & NZ

Latin America

North America

Travel tips

Father and daughter walking in the dunes - Wahiba Sands

Travel writer Mike Unwin explores Oman with his family

June 12, 2019Africa & Arabia, Oman

They say a picture paints a thousand words, even if you are an award-winning author and travel writer. Here, be inspired by Mike Unwin’s photos which capture the essence of...

Travelling with toddlers and young children - Stubborn Mule tips

Tantrum-free Travel Tips when Travelling with Toddlers & Young Children

June 10, 2019Travel tips

It started with a 3,000-kilometre bike ride around South East Asia. With a toddler. Who didn’t eat rice. When Stubborn Mule founder Liddy Pleasants decided that having under threes were...

Best family beaches - photo of a young Stubborn Mule Travel customer jumping in an azure blue ocean

Best Family Beaches Around the World – Our Top 10 for Kids

May 28, 2019Africa & Arabia, Asia, Latin America

Does the sight of a hammock slung between a couple of palm trees bring on the kind of longing usually reserved for post-put-the-kids-to-bed-wine-o’clock? Will your holiday only be complete with...

Photos of travelling to Africa with kids

Travelling to Africa with children – 30 unforgettable moments

April 10, 2019Africa & Arabia, Kenya, Safari, South Africa, Tanzania

When we asked Stubborn Mule’s Africa specialist, Claire Gray, what makes travelling to Africa on safari with children such a stand-out family holiday experience, we anticipated a few superlatives, allusions...

Young photographers awards 2018 - young woman on beach taking a photograph

Stubborn Mule Travel – Young Photographer Awards 2018

October 8, 2018Africa & Arabia, Asia, Latin America

Wow. Just wow. When we decided to re-run our ‘Young Photographer Award’ for 2018, we put up our hands and admit we were concerned, concerned that the standard may not...

Peru with kids - bustling Peruvian Market

Peru with kids: Top ten things to do with the family

September 11, 2018Latin America, Peru

Peru is a wonderful destination for families. The people are welcoming, the landscape diverse, the culture and history rich – even the cuisine is one of the hottest new food...

Self-driving in Costa Rica - Charlotte and her dad river tubing in Costa Rica

Self-driving in Costa Rica for Families – Charlotte Hamilton reports

August 6, 2018Costa Rica, Latin America

A firm Stubborn Mule favourite and one of our most popular countries, child-friendly Costa Rica is the ideal destination for active families who love the open road. So when travel...

Ecuador with kids - young boy dressed as Ecuadorian cowboy ready for an afternoon horse riding

Ecuador with Kids – Our Top 10 Favourite Activities

August 2, 2018Ecuador, Latin America

Often overlooked in the rush to get to the Galapagos, mainland Ecuador is one of South America’s best-kept secrets. Dramatic highland scenery, active snow-capped volcanoes, colourful indigenous cultures, picturesque colonial...

Which family holiday tribe are you?

July 4, 2018Africa & Arabia, Asia, Latin America

Here at Stubborn Mule we like to think that we’re pretty astute when it comes to understanding our customers, quickly identifying what ‘type’ of holiday, activities or destination would suit...

Teenager in Rio, on Brazil with kids holiday

Brazil with children – our favourite family-friendly activities

May 14, 2018Brazil, Latin America

A holiday in Brazil with children will be a hugely surprising and entertaining experience. A steady stream of wildlife experiences, exciting activities, fabulous food and incredibly friendly locals will leave...

Packing List for a family trip to Ecuador & the Galapagos

May 13, 2018Ecuador, Latin America

A trip to Ecuador can involve travelling from the freezing snow-capped volcanic highlands down to the humid, tropical rainforests of the Amazon jungle whilst the Galapagos Islands are relatively ambient...

50th Birthday Celebration Abroad in Sri Lanka

May 11, 2018Asia, Sri Lanka

How best to celebrate a landmark birthday? That was the question that Stubborn Mule traveller, Lucy Guthrie found herself asking. However, rather than having a party which other friends had...

Galapagos family trip - boy photographing tame wildlife

Galapagos Family Trip – The Ultimate Holiday Guide

April 30, 2018Ecuador, Latin America

A trip to the Galapagos Islands is always going to be that clichéd Holiday of a Lifetime. And rightly so. Stubborn Mule’s Helene Cooper spent a week in this amazing part...

Two young girls taking afternoon tea on a China with kids itinerary

China with kids – Top 10 things to do with the family

April 9, 2018Asia, China

China might not be the first place which springs to mind when choosing a family friendly holiday destination but it's a firm Stubborn Mule favourite. Company founder, Liddy Pleasants, spent...

Safari diary – a day in the life of a family safari

March 18, 2018Africa & Arabia, Safari

What is it really like on safari? Here Stubborn Mule's Liddy Pleasants describes a typical day on safari with her family. Activities are geared around getting the best wildlife sightings and...

Galapagos Island cruise - young boy on a panga transferring from ship to land

A Typical Day on a Live-Aboard Galapagos Island Cruise

February 26, 2018Ecuador, Latin America

Stubborn Mule's Helene Cooper set sail with her nine-year old son on a Galapagos Island cruise on board the Santa Cruz II. Being on a larger expedition-type vessel allowed them...

Nepal photo diary - Kelly about to fly from Pokhara to Kathmandu

Beyond the prayer flags – Kelly’s Nepal photo diary

January 30, 2018Asia, Nepal

Want to truly get inside Nepal? To go beyond the prayer flags and the trekking routes to Everest Base Camp (not quite literally perhaps). Stubborn Mullette Kelly Perks has just...

Postcards from India - family travel review from Stubborn Mule Travel

Wish you were here – Postcards from India

January 28, 2018Asia, India

When we sent our lovely travel consultant Charlotte to India with her sister, she wondered whether the experience would live up to her dreams of a real-life Best Exotic Marigold...

Wildlife experiences in Sri Lanka - spotting brown bear

Top 5 wildlife experiences in Sri Lanka for families

January 11, 2018Asia, Sri Lanka

The great attraction of Sri Lanka is that is encapsulates such remarkable variety in a very small area. World-class historical sites (there are eight UNESCO World Heritage sites), spectacular hill...

Whale shark, Belize - Blue Planet inspired holidays

Blue Planet Inspired Family Holiday Activities

November 21, 2017Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Latin America, South Africa, Sri Lanka

We have no idea what we did on Sunday nights before the Beeb’s Blue Planet II, or, indeed what we’ll do with them after the seventh and final episode has...

Wish you were here – Postcards from Cuba

August 9, 2017Cuba, Latin America

Want to know exactly what a Stubborn Mule Cuba trip is like, day by day? Here, Helene shares her ‘mule musings’ - effectively a daily postcard - on what she...

Cambodia photo blog - Preparing breakfast for the monks

Kelly in Cambodia – Traveller Photo Blog

July 12, 2017Asia, Cambodia

Let me just say: I LOVED Cambodia. It was beautiful, friendly and welcoming and, for anyone who has travelled to South East Asia before, Cambodia doesn’t have the same, ‘been...

Climbing Mount Kinabalu with kids - two youngsters by the summit trail sign

Climbing Mount Kinabalu with the kids: a day-by-day account

May 17, 2017Asia, Borneo

Always ones to put our money where our mouth is when it comes to family adventure, our very own Stubborn Mule team member summitted Borneo’s highest mountain, Mount Kinabalu (4,095...

South Africa for families – Armchair Traveller Photo Blog

May 15, 2017Africa & Arabia, Safari, South Africa

This Easter, I set off together with Mr Mule and three not-so-little mulettes to see what there is on offer in South Africa for families. The answer is... MASSES! Safaris, zip-lines, fish...

Young girl with bike in Vietnam - Family bike rides - family cycling holidays abroad

Wheely great! The world’s best family bike rides

April 7, 2017Africa & Arabia, Asia, Latin America

Find us a child who doesn’t love their bike and, well, we don’t know what we’ll do because the concept is inconceivable. To adults, cycling is a way of staying...

family travel blog - turtle and fish drawing

Our Favourite Family Travel Bloggers – Read the inside story

March 9, 2017Travel tips

Living and breathing family travel as we do, we LOVE being inspired by tales of family adventure travel, from our clients, from our FB and newsletter subscribers and from the...

National Geographic kids award - photo of Nun's shoes in Burma Myanmar

National Geographic kids award for Stubborn Mule traveller, Josh (aged 11)

February 18, 2017Travel tips

One of the most rewarding parts of our jobs is hearing feedback from clients following their trip. Like parents who cheer on the entire class come sports day, we thought...

Guatemala family holiday - Kelly looking out over Tikal

Explore Guatemala – Kelly Perks reports on an action-packed trip

January 19, 2017Belize, Latin America

It’s been described as Central America’s ‘most diverse’ country, yet Guatemala, which neighbours Belize in the east, and is sandwiched between Mexico to the north and Honduras and El Salvador...

Sri Lanka family travel - Helene in a tuk tuk

Sri Lanka Family Travel – Helene’s Top Ten Tips for a Hassle-free Holiday

January 16, 2017Asia, Sri Lanka

Our love affair with Sri Lanka knows no bounds it seems, with the sub-continental destination topping the popularity charts for some years now. Frankly, we’re not surprised. It’s one of...