Ideas of how to make holiday with dc brilliant!

[losenotloose]

I have a tendency to be disorganised and not make plans which means we end up bored and bickering. We're going near Barcelona for 10 days with 13 and 10 year old dc. Obviously we'll spend lots of time at the beach, go for walks etc but how do we fill the inevitable gaps? I'm bringing badminton stuff and they'll both have books to read. This is our first holiday abroad btw, (apart from to dh home country which doesn't count!) I just want us to have a good time.

Tia

Anyone?!

Have you had a look at local excursions?
A day trip to Barcelona to see the sights?

What kind of place you staying ie do you have space to roam around or stuck in a hotel room? Card games always go well...either a pack of cards and knowledge of games, banagrams etc. Stuff you can play together and are easy to pack etc

And maybe get them doing some planning, searching stuff on internet they want to do. A family holiday is family responsibility not solely yours

Oh yes, definitely get them to research things to do, it'd be fun.

The Yelmo Icaria cinema in Port Olympic area shows undubbed films, if you're wanting a lazy day.

The places espanya light show is tacky as anything but cheesey fun, worth a look.

Tibidabo has a funfair and fantastic views of the city.

Of Gaudi, I'd recommend Parc Guell at the top of the city and Casa Batlló near the centre..

The Boqueria market halfway down Las Ramblas is beautiful and fabulous for food, there are little bars inside that serve tapas etc. Otherwise I'd avoid the Rambl altogether.

For day trips I'd recommend:
Girona, one hour by train.
Tarragona, one hour by train.
Sites 30mins by train. Lovely beach, cute old part with church, cool vibes, cool shops.
Port Aventura theme park, one hr+ by train, spend the entire day.
Montserrat, if they're up for a bit of walking. (There is a big monastery, funiculars, zippy train, cable cars).

What kinds of things to your DC like doing?

Games! We love a family board or card game. Can recommend
Suishi Go
Chameleon
Sussed
Splendor
Carcassonne

Some great ideas so far! I've asked them for suggestions and they just say dunno! Hmm, they like bickering incessantly, which is fun for all of us. They enjoy eating, walks, the beach...struggling to think of anything else.

And we're staying in an airbnb house! We've got our own outdoor space but no pool.

Where will you be? How close the Barcelona are we talking?

Get them into card games.

Don’t plan too much. It just makes everyone stressed.Ask what everyone fancies doing but only as an overview- the blame game when someone’s choice is spoilt by being stupidly busy , with Barcelona heat is no fun.Its not a competition.
Take the odd taxi.The metro is good but some have really long walks underground and you don’t see anything. After schlepping round a museum/house/ attraction you just want to get home.
Go early and last thing ( most places are open till 8 or 9) and book in advance. Cruise ship passengers pile in at 11am. Be done before they arrive.
Their are good restaurants at the end of the beach. Shoko etc. Most tourists can’t be bothered to walk that far up ( or are looking for the tripadvisor places in Barcelonetta). The nightclubs that do lunch in the day are very cool and literally on the beach. Great menus and menu of the day are very reasonable.

Sorry that was all for the city itself.
We are a bickering family but sometimes that’s part of the fun. Honesty about why it’s happening - boredom, hunger, tiredness helps. No point in getting up early if you work better in evenings or vice versa. Build food break expectations in. Ie light breakfast, big lunch, ice creams when required, late dinner.works well in Spain.

We're around 30 minute train journey from Barcelona. You're right, I don't want to over plan but just have a few ideas for when the boredom kicks in! We found out today it might be cost effective to hire a car so hopefully that will take away some of the potential for problems. Although I'd like to try public transport. Thanks for all the helpful tips!