Our mission
To create stylish, sustainable experiences for curious families that we know will thrill everyone. Our goal is to make you happy and to make your travels more environmentally conscious.
Our values
We travel slowly, consciously and sustainably, taking the train when we can and offsetting our flights.
Our partners
We only work with eco-certified hotel partners and those, who share our values and offer us the best possible price for you and your family.
Personalised service
We work closely with you to create carefully thought-through itineraries made for your family alone.
Our attention to detail
We personally visit every single property, and have experienced each adventure with our children.
Get to know our Founder
Kerstin Bognár
CEO and Founder
Get to know our Founder
We know all about travelling with children. Our founder Kerstin Bognár’s own energetic entourage of kids means she’s done it all: road trips with baby twins, beach breaks with teenagers, and mammoth, multi-generational adventures. A successful family holiday, she discovered, always boils down to the same thing: a fabulous property, brilliant facilities for different ages, and a local’s knowledge on a destination. That’s why she founded The Niche Traveller in 2018. She’d spent many years travelling the globe as a journalist, working for ELLE, Grazia and as editor-in-chief of Houzz. But travelling with children was different. And one thing was for sure: a fly-and-flop holiday wasn’t going to cut it. Kerstin created the framework for crafting the perfect family holiday: seeking out new up-and-coming destinations, personally visiting every property, and working closely with local insiders. Today, her team curates stylish, authentic and sustainable experiences for curious families. Just like hers.
Get to know our passionate team
Our travel scouts and experts have exclusive access and established relationships with local insiders, which allows them to provide the most up-to-date information and best off-the-beaten-track tips.
Kirsten Lindemann
Travel Designer
Kirsten grew up in northern Germany, originally worked in television and luckily ended up in tourism many years ago. If it was her romantic Cornwall road trip, travelling Costa Rica during parental leave or a beach holiday with her entire crew – thanks to her now family of five, she really knows how to handle the different demands and challenges of family travel planning. She has strong communications skills, is very empathetic and takes great pleasure in creating moments and memories that are tailor-made and unique.
Christina Cohrs
Office Manager & PA
Christina has a real talent for organizing and many years of experience as a yoga and meditation teacher. With these skills she not only supports Kerstin and the team of The Niche Traveller in their daily work, but also provides good karma when things get really busy. Sustainability is a topic close to her heart and that's why she prefers to spend her vacations in nature and in accommodations that make a recognizable contribution to the topic.
Josephine Bartels
Content Team & Travel Scout
Josephine grew up on the wind-swept shores of the North Sea and may be the only person on the planet who loves nothing more than glaciers, ice and pouring rain during a summer holiday. Josephine is a journalism graduate and is the Online Editor for The Niche Traveller.
Tanja Runte
Online Marketing Manager
Tanja is a digital expert who supports The Niche Traveller in online marketing. She has a passion for exploring the world, she loves North America and France, where she has lived for a period of time and got to experience the widely celebrated "joie de vivre". Through her love of hiking, Tanja not only finds mental relaxation and renewed energy, but also gains valuable ideas and perspectives.
Anna Ostrowski
Travel Scout
Anna writes as a freelance journalist for prestigious luxury magazines and newspapers. Born in Düsseldorf, she has had a longing for travel since childhood, when a poster of the New York skyline hung over her bed. Whether it's Baku, Brussels, Tbilisi, or Tel Aviv, Anna loves exploring big cities and, whenever possible, takes her children along. For her summer family vacations, she loves recharging on the small North Sea island of Langeoog, while in winter she enjoys skiing in Montafon.
Andrea Scholtyssek-Kohlhase
Travel Scout
The native Rhinelander was born with a deep sense of wanderlust. As early as the 1980s, she travelled with her parents to what were then considered very exotic destinations like Jordan and Bonaire. A natural organizer, she feels just as comfortable in luxury hotels as she does in a log cabin in Lapland. When she’s not jetting around the world for her job as a project manager, she especially enjoys discovering authentic and nature-rich places in Germany and Europe with her husband and daughter.
Francisca Kellet
Travel Scout
Francisca was born in San Francisco and moved to London when she was little. She's not stopped travelling since, working as a travel journalist and editor for leading national newspapers and international magazines, and exploring everywhere from Australia to Zimbabwe. These days, she travels mostly in Europe with her daughters, and loves to discover small, family-fun hotels and out-of-the-way beaches. When in London, she co-runs her creative content agency, Mundi & Co.
Marika Bognár
Travel Scout
City trips, weekends in the countryside, relaxing by the sea - when Marika, a qualified teacher, isn't travelling with her suitcase, she likes to have a paintbrush in her hand. In addition to her job and travelling the world, she is passionate about painting. After living in London and Budapest, she now lives with her partner in Heidelberg. And the inspiration for her art? She collects it while travelling.
Annelien Orbie
Travel Scout
Annelien grew up in a small town in Belgium, but has been moving around the globe from the moment she graduated. She lived in New York, Bali, and currently resides in charming Amsterdam with her partner and beautiful Golden Retriever, Oliver. Oliver himself is quite the globetrotter too, joining Annelien and her partner on most of their journeys. Annelien is a film producer but her favorite thing is to fill the gaps in between projects with travelling and discovering new dog-friendly places and hidden gems.
Juliane Clüsener-Godt
Travel Scout
Juliane is probably the most French German you will get to meet. She grew up in a bilingual household in Paris and lived in Germany and Spain before returning to France. She is currently starting her career in the luxury sector in Paris, where each day leads her to new discoveries in the realms of travel, art, design and gastronomy.
Özlem Özsoy
Travel scout and photographer
Özlem works as a freelance photographer and picture editor for numerous magazines, specialising in travel and portrait photography. She admits to being addicted to travel and loves sharing her experiences with our clients, often taking her French bulldog, Gizmo, on the road with her – although he can be quite demanding.
Annalena Graudenz
Travel Scout
Annalena grew up in Hamburg and loves her hometown very much. Nevertheless, the journalist is regularly gripped by wanderlust. She loves the beach and the sea just as much as city trips. Whether Mallorca, Sydney or New York - she brings back great insider tips from every trip. This summer, she tracked down the best beach clubs in Europe for The Niche Traveller.
Alice Mengers
Travel Scout
Alice, born in Hong Kong, developed a passion for travel from a young age. Currently living in Hamburg with her husband and three children, she finds herself drawn to the hospitality and cultural richness of her Asian roots. Even now, the allure of her homeland continues to inspire her. Her most recent significant journey led her to explore the vibrant landscapes of Indonesia.
Mirjana & Philipp Bernstorf
Travel scouts
Berlin-born Mirjana is a journalist and social media manager for a variety of brands. Philipp works as a creative director and as a photographer. Together, they love travelling with their baby son and are always on the lookout for hot new restaurants and authentic spots to share with The Niche Traveller clients.
Anne Haladin
Travel Scout
Anne grew up on a small Danish island and in Hamburg. She loves travelling between luxury and adventure. Her favourite destinations: Asia and South America. Since her son Bruno has been born, her priorities have slightly changed. For example, she now knows pretty much all the playgrounds in Paris. When she is not travelling, the former journalist works for her corporate publishing business Haladin & Weber.
Elizabeth Heath
Travel Scout
Elizabeth Heath is a writer and editor based in central Italy, from where she writes about travel in Italy, Switzerland, the rest of Europe, and points farther. Whenever possible she brings her family along for the ride, including her husband and daughter, who's seen more places in her nine years than Liz saw in her first three decades. Liz is a fan of thermal spas, slow food, sustainable travel, and luxury hotel suites.
Daniel Bognár
Creative director
Daniel loves design – you’ll usually find him art directing for a variety of glossy print publications. For The Niche Traveller, he’s gone back to his roots, applying his skills to creating our logo as well as our digital design. He also loves travelling, of course, and is always heading off to new off-the-chart destinations.
Marta Ghelma
Travel Scout
Born and raised in a small mountain village in the Piedmontese Alps, Marta's curiosity to discover the world was very strong from an early age. A journalist and mother of two, she writes for Italian and international media, has travelled to all five continents and firmly believes that travel is the best way to learn about yourself and others, as well as to respect the environment.
Silke Roth
Travel Scout
Growing up in the idyllic Black Forest in southern Germany, Silke was quickly drawn out to explore the world. Today, she works as a journalist for various magazines and when she's not exploring or planning the next city break, she spends many months a year living in a small Portuguese fishing village and surfing the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
Tatjana Seel
Travel scout
Tatiana has been travelling the world as a journalist since 1996. She was editor-in-chief of the interiors magazine Deco Home, and now writes for The Niche Traveller and numerous publications. When not travelling, you’ll find her hiking in the mountains and swimming in Lake Starnberg with her family.
Ulrike Barcatta
Travel Scout
Ulrike grew up in South Tyrol, and now divides her time between Tuscany, South Tyrol and Munich. She studied in Austria, Germany and Italy and went on to work in wine and art PR and marketing in Italy, followed by a stint as communications manager in a five-star hotel in Munich. She is currently a hospitality PR consultant and runs a large network spanning Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Northern Italy. She loves travelling with her three-year-old daughter, Philomena.
Alexandra Philipson
Travel Scout
Alexandra is a travel and lifestyle journalist and broadcaster based in Mallorca. She is also a judge on a cooking show on German primetime TV. Her most frequent trips are with her young family, writing for The Niche Traveller and numerous publications on family-friendly destinations.
Alexandra Cohal
Travel Scout
Transylvania-born Alexandra now lives in Austria with her husband and two boys. She is passionate about sustainable tourism and is always on the lookout for new family destinations that combine nature, tranquility and authenticity – and loves nothing more than writing about her discoveries for The Niche Traveller.
Logo files and media assets
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For all other enquiries, please contact hello@niche-traveller.com.