Interesting holidays with kids - get us out of the all inclusive

[HeyDiddleDumplings]

Hello,

I’d like some ideas for interesting holidays with kids (5&7). Where have you been / done that’s more interesting than an all inclusive.

Up until this point we’ve loved an inclusive (not that we cash to holiday lots, but have managed a few) it’s given us all a break we’ve needed. We recently had our holiday cancelled last minute so had to book something else very quickly & last minute. There wasn’t much left and the place we ended up wasn’t that great and still cost quite a bit. It left me feeling a bit over all inclusive’s - the waste, the ‘pack em in’ approach, the cost, the lack of culture. And now the kids are in school holiday they are just so expensive.

I would love some ideas for summer holidays where you get to do a bit more stuff and are more affordable in summer. What have you done that your family has enjoyed?

Friends have had great holidays in Eurocamp campsites in Italy (Lake Garda) and France (Brittany and near La Rochelle). All were chosen because they were close to beaches. The favourite was lake Garda where they went canoeing on the lake. Italy has great food for children too. There was scope for the DC to have a degree of freedom on the campsite too.

Unfortunately it was out of our price range at the time, so we had UK holidays.

Our favourites were Northumberland where there were lots of castles, beaches and a boat trip to the Farne Islands.

Similar with North Wales - castles, collecting lots of shells on the beach, Llandudno is a classic seaside town with beach, pier and cable car up Great Orme.

The Isle of Mull had a 'challenge' on arrival. Lots of options including a trail around Tobermory, a stamp from a steam railway, name of a tree on a particular forest trail etc and a prize at the end.

Going abroad, can I second someone else's suggestion of Barcelona?

We've not been with DC but I always wanted to. It is my favourite place. There is sooo much to do there. There are beaches, amazing buildings, a park where you can go boating on the lake, a cable car across the harbour, Parc Guell is amazing. The exhibits at the Joan Miro gallery would appeal to children too. And the Spanish actually like children!

We had a great week in the Loire Valley. We visited Châteaux, one with Sleeping Beauty in the attic, an old Abbey with tombs, cave dwellings, Gardens, and French markets. We had DDog with us which limited what we could do, but there were options to cycle along the Loire and canoe too.

Our holidays have always been busy though. We can't do more than a day or two at the beach. Or rather, I can't! We have a mix of busy morning or afternoon with relaxing at the cottage in between. If they can have quiet time in between you get less overtiredness.

I have been AI once which was enough to convince me it's not for me. We haven't been abroad for a few years while the kids were babies, partly due to cost and partly due to my feeling it would be hard work doing some of the things we wanted to do with babies. This thread is making me really excited about all the things we can do next year.

@perenniallymessy. Can you share where the hot springs are in the mountains near Krakow. It is on my list as a city break but that could make it into a proper holiday.

@whiteroseredrose we didn't go out to the mountains just saw a million adverts for day trips out there!

I just had a quick Google and it looks like all the lake, mountains and hot springs are out in Zakopane area, about two hours in the car from Krakow. So you could do a few days in Krakow then hire a car and head down into the mountains. There are mountain walks, water parks, you can drive into Slovakia too.

Try to do the Krakow part in the week. We were there Monday to Friday this week and there was an influx of stag parties on Thursday with the bank holiday weekend.

Absolutely agree. As children my brother and I hated mixing with other kids. So kids club was used as a threat "if you don't stop moaning/squabbling we'll put you in kids club tomorrow" 😂though we knew they'd never go through with it. So for us self catering (albeit on a camp site sometimes) was ideal as we could stay as a family unit and not have to mix. As we got older (and no more sociable) we moved to self catering villas where we had our own pool and space which was ideal. Whereas i know for a lot of kids getting to make friends is the best part!

@pereniallymessy. Thank you. I will Google and have a look on Trip Advisor.