UK holidays for age 10+ kids

[Bearsinmotion]

So over the years we’ve done Butlins, Center Parcs and Bluestone but at ages 8 and 11 the kids are getting too old for most activities and we’re not getting as much out of them as we did. We went to Eurocamp last year which worked well but the travel was expensive - just wondering what others do with pre teen kids on a budget of ~£1k - £2k for a week? Tend to have our main holiday at half term as the summer is so much more expensive!

What about an outwards bounds type place. There is one where in Pembrokeshire where you stay in a lodge and then do acticities (either one or two a day) such as coasteering, orienteering etc). It’s an active holiday but with more intense/wild activities than at places like centre parcs.

or maybe choose a challenge….eg climbing Snowden (obviously only if you do walking together) and do that?

Maybe include them in the planning.

We still do Haven and Centre Parcs but tend to use them as bases and have more days out in the local area, so use less of the activities. (Swimming and cycling still very popular)! We like going to cities and going to the museums, shops, having dinner or lunch out etc. I think at this age the dc also enjoy having a lot of down time on their gadgets etc as well.

We also do shorter mini break type holidays where we go to London / York etc or wherever for a few days and stay in a hotel- premier inn always go down well and have family rooms.

My children are now 19 and 17. Throughout their childhood we always rented caravans or airbnbs and did lots of lovely walks. When they were younger we always sold it as "going to the woods" or "exploring the clifftop" or "climbing a hill" or "finding a lighthouse" or "seeing a beautiful lake" or "wild swimming" rather than "going for a walk". We also had lots of treats in the bag to incentivise them if they struggled, or else had milestones at pubs or cafes along the way where they could get a coke and a bag of crisps or hot chocolate or cake. Depending on what was nearby we mixed activities such as kayaking, or surfing, or hired bikes. They still enjoy going away with us now so it worked for us.

AllTrails is a good website for finding walks, wherever you happen to be.

We went to Bournemouth a few years ago.

Great weather (for Britain) and an abundance of brilliant day trips. We did

Brownsea Island
Stonehenge
Thorpe Park
Beaulie
Brilliant swimming pool in Poole with more than a dozen flumes
Boat trip on Jurassic coast
Plus beaches

We stayed in a Premier Inn but there are cheaper and also caravan parks.

Have also enjoyed lots of places on the coast of Northumbria and the Lakes.

In Scotland Loch Lomond has loads to offer.

Look at Pierre et vacances in Normandy - there's a few options. Short drive from the port. Added bonus is that the museums are great there, the kids are a perfect age to visit the d day exhibits, musee de Caen is particularly good as is the juno museum. Budget wise should be fine

We've booked a lodge in a park by Milford on Sea. Looks lovely. Lots of beaches, castles, woodland walks and the park has a pool, arcade, playground etc. We've never used kids clubs, they make friends on the beach or in the playground.

We stayed at Sandy balls resort and used that as base . We went Bournemouth , did the upside house, zip line off then pier .

Also near there was an aqua park which the kids loved , and a country park which there was a go ape .

There's alpaca walking on the resort and small pool which the kids were ok with for a dip

I should have said, I do have mobility issues so can’t walk too far - we like to be fairly active but with activities either on-site or drive able. Sandy Balls sounds good though! snurk

And Normandy! And Loch Lomond but I don’t think we would manage the drive…

I also really like the city break idea, I loved visiting different cities when I was younger which really helped when looking at universities. Lots to think about, thank you all!

We did Northumberland earlier this year with DS10 and stayed at Haggerston castle. It's a haven site but with archery, high ropes course, junior segways, a assault course and bungee trampolines. We combined it with a trip to holy island, Bamburgh castle, seahouses for amusements and crazy golf, and stopped off at the metro shopping centre on the way down.

I also do a solo trip with DS to York for a couple of nights in the holidays. We've done it for the past few years staying at the radisson and previously we've done Jorvik Viking museum, DIG, Harry Potter indoor adventure golf, an afternoon tea, shopping, walking on the walls and this year we're considering an escape room and one of the museums.

Thanks @Peabody25 that looks good too! I like York too!