Travel Rankings

HONEST DESTINATION RANKINGS BASED ON OUR REAL EXPERIENCES OF FAMILY TRAVEL WITH ONE SIMPLE QUESTION: WOULD WE GO BACK?

I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a while as it naturally brings a conclusion to each trip we go on as a family – it’s all well and good writing as many guides as humanly possible but without an ending, without a summary of my actual thoughts of each trip, it feels incomplete. So, in addition to the many guides I write, about the best things to do, the coolest coffee shops and unique photo spots, I’m going to start ranking each of the destinations visited to create a kind of master list that can be referred to for years to come. If you ask me from here on in where’s my favourite place to visit with kids or for recommendations, just know that I will be referring to this each and every time. At least it’s not just in my head anymore.

To be honest too, it’s quite refreshing to be looking at the top of a table as I’m not quite used to that with being a Preston North End fan!

HOW IT WORKS

The concept is pretty simple – each destination gets scored in six different categories with the main question being, would we go back? For the first time here too I’ll get some input from Emma so that it’s not completely skewed by only my thoughts!

It’s not really an exact science, I’m not exactly very good at that, but instead, it’s more about looking at how easy a place feels to visit with kids, the food and coffee offerings (flat white, matcha latte, apple juice and a babyccino is pretty much our only order these days), things to do, value for money and, most importantly to me, the photography opportunities. We know by now the things we like and don’t like when travelling and this way of scoring keeps things consistent so that we can fairly compare all of the different places we’ve visited.

Family Friendly
How easy a place feels when we’re travelling with kids — not just in terms of things to do, but the general vibe, how ‘set up’ somewhere is for kids, how locals tend to react and whether it actually feels like a holiday or just a bit of a mission.

Getting Around
How straightforward it is to actually get from A to B — whether you’re walking with a pushchair, carrying your little one, taking public transport or just trying to navigate without getting lost. Things get a lot harder when you’re not quite sure where you’re going or when somewhere turns out to be a lot further away than you thought.

Things To Do
This one’s pretty simple – basically whatever’s there once you arrive, from the main attractions and interesting neighbourhoods to parks and playgrounds and anything else that’s worth checking out.

Food & Drink
What the food and coffee (ok, and beer) scene is actually like — from local spots and street food markets to cafés for freshly baked pastries and a flat white.

Value For Money
This isn’t necessarily a section that deals with whether somewhere is cheap or expensive – more so whether what you get for your money feels worth it in terms of accommodation, food, transport and activities for example.

Photography Opportunities
By no means least, it’s the section primarily just for me rather than the family as a whole. This is really about how I felt about the photography opportunities – good light, interesting architecture, nice colours and whether I felt I could comfortably get shots of everyday life. Basically, did I enjoy shooting here and would I recommend it to another photographer?

Total Score
Marked out of 60.

The question of whether we would go back to a destination isn’t necessarily always directly related to the individual scores either. A place might perform well across several categories — food, things to do or photography — but still not feel like somewhere we would actively choose to return to. Equally, some destinations might not score as highly on paper, but end up being somewhere we would absolutely want to visit again.

The scoring system is really just there to help keep things consistent and make comparisons easier across destinations. However, in reality, the final answer always comes down to one simple question: would we, as a family, actually choose to return? I’m hoping that sharing these real world experiences in a more structured way will help others make an easier decision as to where to travel next.