TravelDay buddy

Hana Stefansdottir

@packedlunches · she/her · Stockholm, Sweden

Pick one big thing a day, then let the children choose the rest.

  • Family travel
  • Science museums
  • City parks
  • Slow pace
  • Mid range

Hana Stefansdottir is a drawn, fictional companion written by TravelDay. The places below are real entries in our catalogue, and each one names the guide it came from.

How Hana Stefansdottir travels

I am forty one and I travel with a boy of eight and a girl of eleven. We used to try to see everything and everyone cried by four in the afternoon. Now we book one anchor for the day and leave the rest loose.

My rule is simple. Something to look at in the morning, something to run around in after lunch, and food we can eat with our hands. I pick hotels near a park, not near a sight. I carry snacks even in cities famous for their bakeries.

I do not chase tasting menus any more. I do chase aquariums, science floors you can touch, and market halls where everyone finds their own lunch. The children remember the market hall.

  • Family
  • Museums
  • Walking

Cities Hana Stefansdottir keeps going back to

  • Copenhagen

    Denmark

    Short distances, a park with rides in the middle of town, and no car needed.

  • Tokyo

    Japan

    The museums let children press things and the trains do the rest.

  • Orlando

    United States

    We go for the parks and stay for the gardens nobody warned us about.

  • Lisbon

    Portugal

    Hills, trams and a tank full of ocean fish. That is a week.

What Hana Stefansdottir recommends

Copenhagen

  • Tivoli Gardens · Sight

    Go late. The lights come on, the queues thin, and small children cope better in the evening than at noon.

    • Seen in VisitCopenhagen. Named by the official Copenhagen tourist board among the city's headline experiences

Lisbon

  • Time Out Market Lisboa · Market

    One roof, one table, four different dinners. This is the only way my two eat happily on the same night.

    • Seen in Time Out. Time Out's own page says the market opened in 2014 in the Mercado da Ribeira with 26 restaurants and 8 bars

  • Pastéis de Belém · Coffee

    Queue on the left for takeaway, sit inside if it rains. Two each, cinnamon on top, then walk it off by the river.

    • Seen in Time Out. Time Out says these tarts follow a 19th century convent recipe known only to the house's master bakers

  • Calouste Gulbenkian Museum · Museum

    The garden matters as much as the rooms. We look at art for forty minutes and sit by the water for an hour.

    • Seen in Visit Lisboa. Featured by the official Lisbon tourist board among the city's museums

  • Lisbon Oceanarium · Sight

    Book the first slot. The central tank is calmer before the school groups arrive.

    • Seen in Visit Lisboa. Featured by the official Lisbon tourist board among the city's museums

Tokyo

  • Tsukiji Outer Market · Market

    Come at eight. Let each child pick one thing from a different stall and eat standing up.

    • Seen in Go Tokyo. The official Tokyo travel guide says the outer market holds around 460 shops and serves sushi from breakfast

  • Sensō-ji · Sight

    Big gate, long shopping street, incense you can smell from the corner. Easy for children to hold on to.

    • Seen in Go Tokyo. Listed by the official Tokyo travel guide as Tokyo's oldest temple, at 2-3-1 Asakusa

Plans you can copy

Four slow days in Copenhagen with two children

4 nights · May to September · Slow pace · Mid range

One anchor a day, a park after lunch, and the whole thing on foot or on the metro.

  1. Day 1

    Land and look at boats

    • Nyhavn · Afternoon · Walk

      Twenty minutes of coloured houses is enough. Then sit on the quay and let them count masts.

    • Tivoli Gardens · Evening · Sight

      We go in after dinner. Three rides, one ice cream, out before the small one folds.

      • Seen in VisitCopenhagen. Named by the official Copenhagen tourist board among the city's headline experiences

  2. Day 2

    A whole morning underwater

    • National Aquarium Denmark · Morning · Sight

      The metro goes straight there. Give it two hours and expect to be dragged back to the hammerheads.

    • Kastellet · Afternoon · Walk

      Grass ramparts shaped like a star. They run the whole loop and we do not have to watch traffic.

  3. Day 3

    Animals, then plants

    • Zoologisk Have København · Morning · Sight

      Arrive at opening. Feeding times are posted at the gate and they shape the morning for you.

    • Botanical Garden · Afternoon · Nature

      The glasshouse is warm and quiet. A good place to recover from a zoo.

  4. Day 4

    Crowns and a big room of paintings

    • Rosenborg Castle · Morning · Sight

      Go down to the treasury first. Crowns hold a child's attention in a way that furniture never will.

    • National Gallery of Art · Afternoon · Museum

      Free entry to the collection and a children's workshop most weekends. We stay one hour, not three.

    • Amalienborg · Afternoon · Sight

      We time it for the guard change and then walk home along the water.

  • Seen in VisitCopenhagen. Named by the official Copenhagen tourist board among the city's headline experiences

Lisbon with children, hills and all

4 nights · March to June · Slow pace · Mid range

Lifts instead of stairs where we can, one museum a day, and custard tarts as the reward.

  1. Day 1

    Eat first, decide later

    • Time Out Market Lisboa · Evening · Meal

      Everyone picks their own counter. We meet back at the long table and nobody negotiates.

      • Seen in Time Out. Time Out's own page says the market opened in 2014 in the Mercado da Ribeira with 26 restaurants and 8 bars

    • Santa Justa Lift · Afternoon · Sight

      A lift that is also a sight. It saves legs and buys goodwill for the rest of the day.

  2. Day 2

    A morning in the ocean

    • Lisbon Oceanarium · Morning · Sight

      First slot of the day. The central tank is the whole point and it is calmer early.

      • Seen in Visit Lisboa. Featured by the official Lisbon tourist board among the city's museums

    • Teleférico do Parque das Nações · Afternoon · Sight

      Ten minutes in a cable car over the river. It buys us a quiet lunch afterwards.

  3. Day 3

    Belem, slowly

    • Tower of Belém · Morning · Sight

      The queue is the hard part. Go at opening or look at it from the grass and skip the stairs.

    • Jerónimos Monastery · Midday · Museum

      The cloister is the bit children remember. Half an hour is plenty.

    • Pastéis de Belém · Afternoon · Meal

      Sit in the back rooms. Order more than you think you need.

      • Seen in Time Out. Time Out says these tarts follow a 19th century convent recipe known only to the house's master bakers

  4. Day 4

    Castle, view, tiles

    • São Jorge Castle · Morning · Sight

      Walls to walk, peacocks in the grounds, and a view that explains the city better than a map.

    • Miradouro de Santa Luzia · Midday · Walk

      A bench, a view and shade. We stop here whenever the hill wins.

    • National Ceramic Tile Museum · Afternoon · Museum

      Tiles tell stories, so we play spot the ship. The cafe in the old kitchen is calm.

  • Seen in Visit Lisboa. Featured by the official Lisbon tourist board among the city's museums

Orlando without melting down

4 nights · February to April · Medium pace · Mid range

Two park days, one water day, and one day that is only gardens and a lake.

  1. Day 1

    Ease into it

    • Universal Orlando · Afternoon · Sight

      We start after two in the afternoon on arrival day. Half a park is enough with jet lag.

    • Universal CityWalk Orlando · Evening · Walk

      Free to walk through, and it is where we eat when nobody can agree.

  2. Day 2

    The big park day

  3. Day 3

    Water, then a lake

    • Universal Volcano Bay · Morning · Sight

      Bring your own towels and reef shoes. The ground gets hot by eleven.

    • Lake Eola Park · Evening · Walk

      A loop, a swan boat and a playground. This is the evening that saves the week.

  4. Day 4

    Hands on, then green

Hana Stefansdottir is a TravelDay buddy: drawn, fictional, and not an account in the network. Research edition 2026-09-17.