Sydney Explorer

  I've just returned from the most amazing 17 day inter-rail trip around Eastern Europe and am seriously suffering from the post-holiday blues. I went with 10 (yes 10) friends and, despite one argument, the trip went swimmingly. We started our trip in Prague then made our way to Bucharest via Vienna, Ljubljana, Lake Bled, Zagreb and Belgrade.

Helo divni ljudi One of my all time favourite family holidays was when we hired a yacht with some family friends and sailed around the coast of Croatia. Sadly, none of us were pro sailors so we also hired a local skipper for the week. This was fantastic as he knew all the best places to go, took us to some beautiful islands and managed to keep us all alive on our boating adventure. Living with 9 other people in a confined space was actually surprisingly bearable and living on the yacht gave me an amazing sense of freedom. As I'd never been to Croatia before, I didn't really know what to expect. However, the Croatian coast line was so stunning with beautiful islands and crystal clear water, I felt like I was in the Caribbean, not Europe.