When I travel, I do want to experience the food and indulge a little but maintaining a healthy eating plan is important to me as it is so easy to get off track and go down the slippery slope of overindulging and feeling guilty about it. I put together 5 health tips that my family and I try to stick to while on the road.
Pack healthy snacks for the day and bring them in a day pack. We stocked up on raw nuts, fruit and granola bars for the kid.
Bring water bottles instead of having to buy sugary drinks while you are out and about. We brought Swell bottles that kept our water cool. In Asia, you will have to purchase bottled water as the tap water is not drinkable but in Europe the water is perfectly fine to drink.
Just like at home it is better to shop for groceries and prepare as many of your meals as you can instead of eating out. You can control your portions and what ingredients you are using. This is a big reason we go Airbnb most of the time as we prefer having a kitchen. You also save big $ too as eating out gets expensive. In fact, this is really helpful for the budget.
When you do eat out, share meals and snacks instead of ordering one for each person. It’s often the right portion size and you don’t have to worry about left overs that may not get eaten.
It’s okay to indulge a little here and there but don’t think because you are on “vacation” or traveling that you can eat whatever you want. We loved our cafe latte’s and also had the occasional Gelato and Italian Pizza because while in Italy…..uhmmm…how could we not?
We rented an Airbnb right in central Lucca and it was awesome! It was a 5 minute walk to almost everything yet where it was located was very quiet. It was also two floors, two bedrooms and a decent kitchen. Everything we needed. There were cool black and white photos on the wall of the mother that used to live there. I loved that!
These photos are so cool!
Falling in Love with Lucca
When researching places to visit in Italy, Lucca was high on the list. It is known for its Renaissance city walls completed in the thirteenth century to keep out invaders. Today it is an incredible almost 5km pathway around the city used by runners, cyclists and everyone in between. It is lined with trees and even has a couple of kids playgrounds along the way. There are a few access points to the path. It has many churches, a clock tower, Guinigi Tower that you can climb to get an amazing view of the city. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to do this but it was on our list. In Lucca, the streets are narrow and windy and the buildings are colourful and beautiful. I felt like I was in a movie.
Here are some Must Do’s in Lucca:
1. Rent a Bike and Cycle the Wall. There are several bicycle rental shops in Lucca and they also have options for families. Our 11 year old had his own bike and our 7 year old went on a tandem bike with Marco. We ended up doing 2 laps around the wall as the day was so beautiful and it was awesome to get a full perspective of the city by cycling all the way around it.
Cycle the Wall!
2. Walk the streets and take in the vibe. We walked everywhere in Lucca. It is small and that is how you get around. It is so interesting with so much going on. Narrow streets, interesting buildings, sculptures, historical monuments, restaurants, and buskers. If you go to Italy, Lucca is an absolute must! Watch our Lucca Video to see all the amazing things! (COMING SOON)>
3. Have Gelato of Course! We found the best Gelato to be in Lucca! It was better than the places we tried in Florence. The place we loved was called Boteggo and was off the beaten path in Lucca. We learned from a local that the good Gelato is housed in canisters to keep it at the correct temperature, not overflowing in containers, and visible. This Gelata we were told is also pumped with air to make it look fluffy. Botegga is known for their salted Pistachio which was to die for.
4. Visit the Park ofPinocchio. This park originated from the story of Pinocchio, the puppet wanting to become a real boy and whose nose grew every time he lied. It is in the town of Collodi (from the author of the same name). We took a train to Pistoia (nearby) and then a taxi to the park which was about a 10 minute drive. At first we thought the park was lame and creepy with a bunch of worn out Pinocchio puppets, old carousels and a lame park. The kids wanted to leave but we thought we’d walk a bit further and came across hanging bridges and a zipline for kids. The kids had to put on gear and make their way through various obstacles ending with a small but cool zipline. They loved it! Also – I did not know that the story of Pinocchio was from Tuscany. The actual story is of a more sinister tale which was then glamorized by Disney. I encourage you to look up the actual story.
Cool Adventure Area at Pinocchio Park
Adventure Campitelli Tip
Eat outside of the Amphitheatre (a public square in the northeast part of Lucca, originally where gladiator games were held, now a tourist area full of restaurants and cafes) or buy your own groceries. In this area you are charged a “service or sitting fee” about 2 Euros per person. Take your latte to go or you will be charged this fee!
We planned for 5 nights to hike the 5 Terre (a.k.a. Cinque Terre) and we stayed in a City called La Spezia. We booked an Airbnb close to the train station to make it easy to get around. The location was convenient but the area was a bit sketchy and our apartment was above a bar….#fail on this booking. The apartment was clean and modern but the loud music and people yelling all night was brutal. I will not be recommending this Airbnb. We were also told (after the fact), not to stay too close to the train stations as the area can be a little rougher.
Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre means “5 lands” and it is made up of 5 towns on a stunning hillside on the Italian Riviera. It is a very popular travel destination which is known for it’s hiking trails linking the towns. You can access the towns by train, bus or even boat. For us, the plan was to take the train to the first town and hike the towns. By train, it was only a 15 minute train ride to the first town. We lined up at the train station to buy a combo Park Pass (as it’s a National Park) + train. The cost was 42 euros per day for a family and we purchased two days. At the tourist office where you buy the tickets they give you a map and tell you if any trails are closed. Unfortunately the hike between the first two towns were closed (Riomaggiore to Manarola) so we stopped at the third town Corniglia. The train station is at the bottom so we had to climb 400 stairs just to get to the start of the hike. You can take a bus to the top but we decided to give it a go. At the top you are greeted with nice cafes and places to get fresh juices. Although expensive for Orange Juice (4 Euro), we couldn’t resist. We also splurged on our morning latte and a couple of treats for the kids before we set out.
Starting the 400 stair climb to the start of the trail
OMG our 6 hour Hike!
Yes this title is correct. We hiked from the 3rd town to the 5th town Monterosso as we heard it had an amazing sandy beach. We were determined to do the entire hike instead of taking the trains between the towns. Had we known how difficult the hike was, we would have only hiked one town. The total distance was only 7.5km but it was rocky with very steep stone pathways, huge stair climbs and narrow dangerous paths. The total 6 hours does include our stop in the 3rd town Vernazza for a quick break but the hike was crazy! Way harder than I expected. I have to admit that we did love every bit though. The views were unbelievable and the scenery was spectacular so well worth it. We were so proud of the kids! Our youngest lead the pack the entire way and had energy after….we think our hiking in the Canadian Rockies had to have helped.
Our favourite town by far was Monterosso. We arrived there about 5:30pm and were too exhausted to explore the town so we took the train back there the next day and spent the entire day at the beach under a beach umbrella.
Beautiful Monterosso
Adventure Campitelli Tips
It is extremely touristy here and expensive so you can save $ by staying outside of Cinque Terre such as La Spezia and take a short train ride in.
The food including the Gelato in the touristy part of the towns is not very good and it is very expensive. We ate breakfast at home, packed snacks and shared a small snack (Calamari) to get us through the day after we tried the food on Day 1.
Be prepared. Bring LOTS of water! There are fountains in each town to refill and in the heat you will drink a lot of water. Also pack good footwear…runners are fine. Bring snacks especially for kids. Don’t forget sunscreen and hats as the sun is very hot.
Follow the main trail which is called the “Blue Trail” or “SVA”. It is very well marked with red & white paint in spots all along the path.
If you love sandy beaches and want to spend time in the water make sure you save time for Monterosso, our personal favourite!
