How much do you do on holiday

Take the older ds. Bribe him with ice cream, treats, something nice for himself. This works on my teens. We’re currently in France and have had days at the beach, visited a city, markets, villages, shopping. Dh can have the younger one and they can do their own thing.

Why do you feel you should experience some culture? How often do you/your kids get to spend almost unlimited time by the pool with food on tap? That is a glorious experience in itself. Your 3yo won’t care, so does your dh and I’m certain your ds won’t be bothered too if half of you don’t want to go. If you really feel you need to tick that box, I’m sure the resort can arrange something or have a tour arranged?

I would definitely go on my own for a few hours and enjoy it, child free, and offer your dh a break of similar length to sit by the pool. I have always gone off and done things, my dh loves to relax whilst away. For me it is relaxing seeing new things, and having adventures.

But I'm a bit unusual probably as don't really like outdoor pools prefer a spa style affair and inside pool.

We like 2-stage holidays. So the first bit will be 3-5 days doing something busy (a city or an activity of some kind) followed by a week doing nothing at a beach / pool destination. That works for us!

I like visiting galleries, museums, palaces, landmarks and parks pretty much everyday. I have been on one very expensive all inclusive and it was amazing especially the food but I was bored by day 3. I hear you!

Go on the boat trip yourself? On a beach/pool type holiday we usually do one excursion per week.
This holiday was lakes and mountains so it’s one walk locally per day and one trip further afield per week.
But there’s no right/wrong answer, just need to agree what works and split up for the afternoon / day if need be.

Can't you take your older child if you both want to go on an excursion, and the others do what they want?

What do YOU want to do? Surely you can go off and do something fun alone for a few hours/half a day?

I'm easily pleased. I can lounge round the pool or I can be out all day doing stuff.

The one thing I hate though is bloody excursions. Unless it's an activity where you actually do something, I find all the boat ride type ones unbearably boring.

I would struggle too. I like to be out and about exploring. To me it feels like you could be anywhere if you stay on the resort all the time. I like to see a country and experience as much of it as I can. Even when the kids were small we kind of did one day on resort and one day out and about. It feels like that is fair as that way everyone gets something out of the holiday.

Depends how hot it is. If it's very hot, as I imagine Balaerics wil be this time of year, then as little as possible. Don't have the energy to do much and I need the pool to cool down. A boat trip is always a must for me, so in your case I'd go on the trip on my own.
If it's a bit cooler then a couple of eccursions and a boat trip.
You shouldn't feel guilty about not going anywhere and just relaxing by the pool with family. Sometimes you need that time to just chill out and recharge.

I'm a doer. I always do some sort of activity every day, whether it's visiting a local attraction, going on a hike, theme park, all sorts really. I tend to do multi-stop/touring holidays, rather than staying in one place unless it's a long weekend.

I can't remember the last time I sat around a pool all day. It would be a waste of money in my opinion, especially in this heatwave as I can just go to the gym and lay on a lounger by the pool all day, it's only a short drive away and I have already paid for my gym membership.

But I am aware that some people would find my style of travel exhausting, and it's not for everyone, and that's ok. That being said, I always do plan on some down time with nothing much happening, but it wouldn't be for a whole day. I kind of like doing something in the morning and hanging by the beach (preferably) or pool later in the day.

We normally do a bit of both and alternate beach days with sight seeing. I would get bored laying around a pool for the whole week. Boat trips are quite a nice thing to do when it’s hot as you get a breeze when out at sea. However if you’re not comfortable to go off without DH, I don’t think you should make him go if he doesn’t want to

Depends what sort of holiday we go on really, some are more active, some sightseeing, some relaxing.
We often split up though, so I’ll take the older ones snorkelling for example while DH will do something more suited to the little one, or vice versa.

We dont do beach holidays so like an itinery. But we are retired so enjoy it!

I dunno. The novelty for me is equal parts pool and thrashing a rented Seat Ibiza around the island.

There's nothing you "should" do on holiday.

I often have a little to town alone or whatever if no one else wants to come if I fancy a leg stretch.

I must say I do think it's pretty unreasonable to drag your family away to do something you already know they won't enjoy as much as they're already doing, because you think you should.

Same.

Been on a beach holiday for 10 days and did 1 excursion. It’s too hot in August in Southern Europe to drag young kids around. Enjoy your time by the pool or go alone.

We tend to do a trip out each day and some relaxing at beach/pool unless it is a long day trip.

But we discuss this before we even book the holiday, not when we get there.

If you really want to go and the excursion will be interesting then take your older DC it’ll be fun bu not if you’re sweating for hours on a boat. Depends on the length of the boat ride and where it’s actually going. Some boat excursions are great some really aren’t worth it.

We do loads. We do city breaks where it is just constant sightseeing. We’ve just done a cruise and it was all go with a few sea days.

I’d love a villa holiday either a pool and a book but DH hates that…

It depends on the holiday, somewhere like Thailand/Malaysia etc we explore most days in the mornings, go back to the villa and spend time in the pool/reading etc from around 1/2ish then out again at night. If I’m flying long haul I’m making the most of seeing wherever I’m going.

City breaks we cram as much in as we can because we love exploring.

5* adult only all inclusive beach resorts we go out maybe 6 days over 14 days in the mornings then back for the pool/beach/cocktails/food, if there’s somewhere we want to see we do full days occasionally. We normally do a couple of meals out at night too.

I don’t think I could cope with staying in a resort for the full holiday.

Same. Especially with a 3yo!