Choosing Between Egypt in August or India in November—Need Advice for Our Family Trip!

Oh and railway is good or get a private driver. Look at the amaya hotels, the Kingsbury in Colombo is very good too

Well, definitely not Egypt in August, as so many have said.
I have been to Northern India in November and it was absolutely lovely. But it's not for a small child. Lots of sightseeing, early mornings, long drives. Change in climate and "flora and fauna" WILL cause stomach upsets, no matter how good the food. Just don't do it. You will have to wait until your child is older for adventurous holidays.
I'd be looking for a lovely cottage in August - somewhere like the Isle of Wight - and just have a gentle bucket & spade holiday.... your kid will love it.

I'd choose Sri Lanka in your circumstances, no vaccinations required, never had food poisoning once, easy to navigate as small and your money goes a long way. Can make specific hotel recommendations too

I would also say that Egypt is absolutely not more exotic than Europe. You'd literally be in a resort that could be anywhere, with less interesting food and culture.

You have left it pretty late to go to India, we started our vaccinations in April for October! We are staying in 5* hotels and I'm pretty resilient on the bug front but still were advised on a lot of jabs by our doctors

I've just seen your post about where you want to go. I think it is doable but it will be hard work! How long are you hoping to go for? With a toddler I would want to split up the sites with lots of pool days. So if you were doing the golden triangle over maybe three weeks, that would be ideal, with lots of time to relax at hotels in between.

if you would cosnider south India, I know of a hotel that would be amazing with children in an area with lots of sites. Obviously it's not the golden triangle but it is an area rich in history and culture and is a lot of fun! It's just lesser travelled to!

We love India. We haven't made it there with children yet but we would happily take them.

Where in India? If it's your first trip, I would suggest going to the south. Also with a child I would want to stay in a five star hotel, maybe 4 depending on which one and I don't mean a resort type package deal where the rating isn't always really a true 4/5 star. You will want good air con, clean beds (I have experienced bed bugs and it's not nice) and basically somewhere to retreat back to if you are in a slightly more hectic area. Look at the Taj, Oberoi, Leela chains plus some of the big better known ones like the Hyatt.

I also wouldn't worry about food being included if you do go for a package as food is so cheap over there.

I've been to both Sharm & Deli.

Hard no here. Difficult to choose which would be worse with a toddler.

For all the reasons already covered

Center Parcs would be my first, second and last choice with an 18 month old.

Totally this.
Central Europe is beautiful in August. Also a cruise - see different places in Europe and not an issue when bf little one.

@knitnerd90 I suspect from your throwaway sentence about Cancun that you don’t really know much about that part of Mexico! It is fabulous. My first tip though would be to get straight out of Cancun. After that, you’ve got the archaeological sites of Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Tulum, Coba (and more if you are prepared to travel further afield.) You’ve got old colonial towns like Valladolid and Merida - which is worth a couple of nights on its own, and from there you can make the trip out to Celestun to see the flamingos on a boat trip round the lagoons and mangroves. Or you can head south from Tulum into the Si’an Kaan Biosphere and see wild dolphins and manatees, crocodiles if you want to go looking for big things with teeth, eagles and other bird life, and then take the boat out into the sea and look for eagle rays and turtles. We saw turtles hatching on the beach while we were having dinner at a beachfront restaurant one night. And if theme parks and eco parks are more your thing, you can go to Xel ha for the snorkelling and lazy rivers, zipwiring at Xplor, to the native animal zoo at Xcaret. Then there are the cenotes, a different one for every day of the year, and all a different vibe from each other - one might have a zip wire, another might have terrapins swimming in it, another you might be able to swim into a cave and see fossils in the rock ceiling. And there’s a monkey sanctuary, islands to sail to, reefs to snorkel on, whale shark spotting boat trips, the vast underwater art museum. And the local food, and nightclubs if that’s your thing. Only someone who had either never been or really didn’t make the effort would think Cancun is just resorts and not worth the effort from the U.K.!

But anyway, it’s a 10.5hr LH flight away for the OP, so probably not as good an option as somewhere else. Also a lot of the attractions above are really only worth it with an older child, although I know a lot of people who’ve just enjoyed the resorts with the odd day trip out.

@flawless29 if you are looking for somewhere with a bit of culture that’s not too long a flight away and you haven’t been to Greece or Italy yet, I can highly recommend them while you children are young. Shorter flights, sea still lovely and warm, baby friendly people, and loads to see and do. If you are really after some more exotic culture but don’t want to flight too far, and you have a slightly more robust approach to the state of the world (and I’m assuming you do given your first suggestions of Egypt or India) have a look at Jordan, but November not August (will be baking in August.) Lots of culture and natural spectacle there. When I went we flew into Amman and saw the sights up there (Jerash, Dead Sea - don’t take your baby in that! Various crusader castles, etc) then headed down to Aqaba (3 hours away, but taxis cheap enough for air conditioned private car each way) for a few days on the beach, we stayed in Tala Bay Movenpick. Cheap and civilised, and very family friendly. From there you can scuba, or take trips out to Petra and Wadi Rum.

Cancun is mostly just resorts. You can do day trips to some of the maya sites but overall not really worth the trip from the UK in my opinion.

Japan might be too far flight wise but possibly not for price once there. The yen is extremely weak right now. It’s lost a third of its value against the pound in the past couple of years.

Go to Egypt on November. Egypt is currently 48° and getting hotter. We go in October as it's about 30 then.

You’d be better off leaving your dc with his granny and travelling alone! It sounds like you've over indulged on instagram!
At that age, holidays should be geared towards being suitable for the child, not the parent’s bucket list.

The only way I would do this is fly into Delhi, drive straight to Agra if possible. Go to Taj mahal at dawn. Have breakfast, go to Agra fort, then drive straight back to delhi. Take the first available flight to Goa and chill for a week. Stay in the nicest hotels you can afford.
Would give Rajasthan etc a miss with such a small child.

Sharm in August is a bad idea. Too hot.

From my perspective, sounds like asking to choose between having your fingernails pulled out or your toe nails pulled out. Both sound like dreadful choices and you seem to have missed the memo where you do the adventurous travel BEFORE you have children and the more relaxed, safe travel afterwards. That does not have to mean dull, I have had really fabulous trips with mine to the Italian and Austrian lakes, all over Scandanavia, to Eastern Europe and loads of other places. It seems like budget more than care for safety (I'm talking about heat and the potential for stomach upsets rather than other kinds of safety) are dictating your choices. If you can't afford exotic and safe then you should choose not exotic and safe in my opinion. Because whatever you spend will seem like a collosal waste of money if heatstroke, illness etc befall some or all of you.

If I was choosing a holiday I would do either,
Japan, Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand or Morocco

Don't know. I wouldn't go to either if I had a choice.

I've been to Kerala and Goa in India, Came back and whole family had severe food poisoning and was I was hospitalised for 2 weeks. Was not a fun time.

Oops i posted too soon. I was going to say that I definitely wouldn't. E put off going to Egypt on the basis of heat,hygiene, or safety, but I would consider Luxor rather than Sharm el Sheikh.

I've never liked the sound of sharm el sheikh, but I love other part of Egypt and have been to Luxor, Aswan, and Cairo a number of times in July and August. Whilst it is very very hot, it's a very dry heat, which makes it far more bearable. I find it much more pleasant in temperatures of 45 degrees in Egypt than 30 degrees in Europe or the far east.

In all our visits to Egypt, none of us has ever had a bad stomach upset, including my daughter who lived in Cairo for a year. We've always been scrupulous about using hand sanitiser every time we've touched Egyptian money without fail, which I think is a major source of contamination, rather than food. We've always felt extremely safe in Egypt, and while people do harass you, we've never felt intimidated and have always been friendly but firm with people who have been a bit persistent. Luxor is one of the only cities where I would walk alone, or just with my daughter, at night.

I definitely wouldn't be put off going to Egypt on the basis of heat

Also, I'd say you can't go wrong with Thailand! We took our eldest when she was 22 months and it was (mostly) dreamy.

I've been to both and would 100% not go to either with a young child. Egypt will be horribly hot, India is amazing but full on! Every time I got in a car I thought I was going to die, almost everyone gets sick.

I would maybe consider India when my youngest is about 8. Hope you have a lovely time wherever you end up. ♥️