Vacation Home Rentals

posted by Vacation Home Rentals on Jun 26

The Isle of Wight is notorious for being a beautiful island with many attractions to appeal to the whole family, from the 500 miles of footpaths to world-renowned music festivals and events such as Bestival and the Isle of Wight Festival. With attractions that appeal to all ages, whether you want to explore the famous Needles or go back in time at Carisbrooke Castle, there is a mini Isle of Wight guide to help guide those with young children around.

The Needles Park at Alum Bay

The Needles is an iconic landmark on the Isle of Wight coast  and can offer something for every age.Take a chairlift to view the striking Needles themselves or a boat ride to view them close up, or marvel at the multicoloured sands on the beach. From visiting the nearby shops where they can watch experienced glassmakers in action, to playing on the Jurassic mini golf course or building sand sculptures or just visit the old-fashioned sweet shop, there’s a lot for children to do. Every Thursday this summer (30 July – 27 August) there is a spectacular firework display over the Isle of Wight with street performers providing street entertainment accompanied by live music at the special Magic in the Skies night.

Carisbrooke Castle

Children can go crazy running along the walls of ancient Carisbrooke Castle and there’s even more room in the 800-year-old grounds for them to do more. There’s even more exploring to be done, in the appealing visitor centre and museum, seeing what’s up the castle steps, or peering out at the donkeys hard at work pulling water from the deep Medieval wells, all before having a picnic on one of the lawns.

Dinosaur Isle Museum

Don’t worry, you haven’t stepped into a time machine – welcome to Dinosaur Island, home to a huge amount (15 species!) of dinosaurs. Built in the shape of a giant pterodactyl, the Dinosaur Isle Museum houses a large collection of dinosaur bones and other fossils found in the Island’s sedimentary rocks. Your children will be greeted by life sized flesh reconstructions of dinosaurs and the two animatronic dinosaurs, as well as skeletal reconstructions.

There is also plenty more to do on the Island, including getting a thrill from the Blackgang Chine adventure park, or about some of the world’s most endangered species at the Amazon World Zoo Park. Buy tickets for these Isle of Wight holiday attractions with ferry travel at www.redfunnel.co.uk

posted by Vacation Home Rentals on Jun 26

The Greek Mediterranean Island of Crete offers a wide array of family-friendly attractions and hotels that make it a great choice for holidaymakers with kids. Crete is less than a 1 hour flight from London and other major European cities and boasts a mild,dry climate. There are Crete hotels and resorts available at a number of price levels helps ensure that there is something for every family’s budget and the island includes more tourist facilities than many of the other Greek Isles.

Water Sports and Beaches
Hugely enticing, you might have a hard time luring family members away from Crete’s glistening white sands and clear aqua waters. For those who want to get active but don’t want to stray too far from the sand there are plenty of water sports on offer.

Parasailing, skiing and diving, sailing and surfing are all accessible from many Crete hotels and resorts. While the hotel’s friendly staff members entertain children at the onsite kids’ club, parents can laze about on the beach.

Pick from an Array of Cultural Activities
For those who want to explore some of the island’s cultural offerings, a trip to King Minos’ palace at Knossos is advised. Kids can learn all about the legends of Theseus, who allegedly journeyed through the labyrinth to slay the half-man, half-bull Minotaur. You can also go and see the old harbour of Irakleio, where an ancient Venetian fortress still guards the ancient city. Children can explore ancient Minoan artifacts, when there at out Crete’s Archaeological museum.

Crete’s Countryside
Visit the flower-covered hillside outside of Lerapertra, where children can enjoy donkey rides and strolls. There is more to be seen, with hidden caves, wild goats and rare birds being some of the things you can watch out for. There is also Greek dancing and dine on traditional Greek fare, at the end of the day, when you visit a local tavern. If you fancy a strenuous one day hike, visit the Samaria Gorge, which is perfect for families with older children, who can hike through the breathtaking scenery.

Regardless of the type of vacation your family wants – whether active or leisurely – there are plenty of Crete hotels that can accommodate the needs of families with children. Ensure all members of your family enjoy their vacation by choosing Crete as your next holiday destination and build memories that last a lifetime.

posted by Vacation Home Rentals on Jun 26

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that mountain bikes are designed for riding on mountain trails. They were invented by ordinary guys who loved to take their bikes off the road and ride hard on steep dirt tracks. Since Diamondback bikes hadn’t been invented yet, they had to modify the bikes they had with the few tools they had at their disposal.

Road and racing bikes were no good for their purposes because they had such skinny tires. Those tires are designed to reduce traction, while their bikes needed even more. The bikes they worked with were fat tired street bikes.

Those racing bikes did have state of the art derailleurs, though. They took the derailleurs from their racing bikes and adapted them to their fat tired bicycles to make a hybrid bike that had a lot of gears, but fat tires.

Next they went to work on the handlebars. They started off just sticking a flat bar of steel on the bike, because they wanted a lower profile and could really push the bike on the hills. However, they needed to lean back for traction, so they added ends to the handlebars so they could change their hand position and pull back on the handlebars when they needed to.

Once they had the basic design down, these young entrepreneurs started building bikes from scratch. They began using lighter weight materials and adding refinements to the frame design. Before long, people who saw them riding around on these cool looking bikes started asking them to build one for them.

Only years later did the big companies start making mountain bikes. The Schwinn mountain bike followed the earlier brands. As a result, those small manufacturers established names for themselves and were able to compete. Today, they still hold a large share of the MB market.

All that remained to be invented was a helmet that was both cool looking and functional. A black helmet made for playing football just wasn’t right for blazing down single track mountain trails. Helmet designers went to work and now there are dozens of lightweight helmets that look good and do their job as well.

Nobody can write the mountain bike off as a passing fad anymore. They are clearly here to stay and outsell most other types of bikes. Even though they were originally designed for riding offroad, they are seen on city streets everywhere. They have come a long way and now are high tech machines with up to 24 gears and sophisticated breaking systems.

They may not have had the same impact on our lives as the personal computer, but MBs have a similar past. Both the PC and the mountain bike originated as a glimmer in the eyes of a handful of inventive and determined individuals. They both testify to what ingenuity and hard work can accomplish.