What is the best and worst holiday that you have been on?

[worldshottestmom]

Hi. Plane virgin here. Thats right, I've never left the UK (pity me). I am thinking of taking the plunge and taking my kids on holiday abroad next year, for the first time ever for all of us! 'Terrified' doesn’t quite cut it.

Despite my fear of flying (heavily instilled into me by my mother, who is phobic of planes) I don't want to hold myself back and die only ever having been in the UK.

But now the question is, where do we go? I'm thinking of somewhere that's only a short distance away for the first time (probably Spain), but if it goes well, will be looking to travel further in the following years.

So, what was your most and least favourite holiday that you've ever been on?

Bonus question: if you've ever been to Spain, where would you recommend taking 2 kids to within Spain?

Best holiday was Mauritius. Dsis lives there. I love swimming and had a wonderful time. I do speak the local language creole as I Iived there for 5 years as a child in the 70s. My stepfather is mauritian.
It is much better now than it was then.

Worse holiday Sunny beach Bulgaria. My super stingy ex husband booked a very cheap holiday there. The accomodation stank of sewage and there wasn't anything to do. I like sightseeing I cant cope with sitting on a beach foe 2cweeks.

No, I had a a brilliant holiday once to the Edinburgh Fringe followed by Mull and the Highlands. Loved it, would really like to go back. The weather was fantastic though, I guess if it was raining it would be more disappointing.

As people have said, Majorca is great for a short flight, I really like the alcudia area. Ibiza is also a short flight and actually has some beautiful bays and areas away from the infamous night life which is not my scene!

When I was young my parents took us to Salou which is near Barcelona. It had a big water park and theme park which kept the kids entertained for a day or two. Haven’t been in years but I remember loving it.

Im taking my DD to Tenerife (haven’t been since I was a child). But the hotel is very much aimed at children, lots of kids clubs and activities, shows, and a big castle in the pool which I’m led to believe lights up and has shows on. Can’t comment yet though!

Best holiday for me was the Dominican Republic but I am a Disney World lover too!

Best: Icmeler, Salou, Disneyland Paris, Las Vegas

Worst: Paphos, Lanzarote

We took the kids to Menorca for our fist family abroad holiday, we loved it, very family friendly! Easy flight from the UK for their first time

I would probably join with the recommendations of Majorca for a first trip. Short flight, decent weather most of the year and things to do other than sunbathe.

Id recommend staying somewhere like Can Pastilla which is easy to get to Palma by bus. There’s also a little road train which kids enjoy. Palma is a lovely compact city and I’d also recommend getting the train to Soller.
Palma also has an aquarium if there’s a day where weather not the best

I have to put some love for Wales here following all the negativity - Gower, Snowdonia and just about everywhere I've been there has been beautiful and if wet loads to do as well. In Scotland I love Edinburgh, Mull, Glasgow and the Trossachs, as well as the Highland scenery we drove through on the way to Skye, though for some strange reason I was underwhelmed by Skye itself. I have loved pretty much everywhere I've been on holiday (most countries in Europe, Thailand and USA). I'd love to see more of Sweden - Stockholm is a great city and the train ride from Copenhagen went through some stunning scenery. Overall my favourite country is Italy with Naples and the Amalfi coast being my favourite part within it.

No worst holidays due to location but a week camping in a tent in Northumberland at the end of May with a four month old and two dogs was a huge mistake and was the only time I've ever left early. Also Belfast and Newcastle (visited a different time from the camping trip) were both a bit disappointing and not stand-out cities for me, though both worth visiting and have amazing surroundings.

Porto is a city in northern Portugal. Very far from Mallorca! 😂

The capital you might be referring to is called Palma… (And the other town Port de Pollença in Valencian/Catalan, or Puerto Pollensa in Spanish.)

It’s like me sending someone to Birmingham when the place is called Buckinghamshire!

Best- Moscow (obviously pre the current situation). Or Canada. We spent some time in British Columbia last summer and absolutely loved it.
Worst- Morocco

We really love Croatia for short haul.

Best: Austria is up there - so pretty! Also had some great holiday memories in Majorca as a child. This seems to be coming up top for family holidays 😊
Worst: Málaga, probably went the wrong time of year and even witnessed drug addicts on the street..not an ideal view when trying to enjoy my sangria!

My favorite place in Europe is Venice but not in summer. I have only ever been in winter and autumn because I hate crowds. Venice is magical at Christmas because the Italians make an art form of decorating their shops. Whereas Venetians at the tourist venues have a repuutation of sometimes being rude in high season its completely different in winter. Visitors are fewer and the Italians are basically a fvery riendly people. It can be cold on the canals but not nearly so cold as in a UK winter.

Best holidays? Going to see family (we're scattered all over the world after having to leave Iraq). So, Canada, USA, all over Europe and ME. And - to be honest - UK!! We came to live in UK when I was 10 but before that we used to come to England on holidays in the summer and it was (to us and our family/friends!) a very exotic place to visit! I've been lucky to have travelled/lived/studied in lots of places.

Holidays with the DC: I've taken the DC back to ME once, so they could see my old stomping grounds and have an idea of what life was like for us (climate, culture, food etc) before coming to UK. Otherwise, our holidays have been in the UK - mainly camping (as it is cheap and we love camping). We're still trying to discover more of the UK as I think it has such a lot to offer and many amazing places to visit. I think we are pretty easy going though: we love camping (and hotels!), walking/hiking, visiting sites, doing outdoor things etc. I can't bear the cold (never really acclimatised to the weather here), but I'll wrap up warm if under 20 degrees and just get on with it. DC and I are fine in hotter weather (30 degrees and over).

A few holiday destination places now that I can't/won't go to - Israel (never been, would love to go, but would be a big problem if I went there and then wanted to go to another ME country - that is discounting the war happening now) and USA (I'm too scared to go because of ICE/current government).

Future plans: We're trying to get our old campervan up to scratch so that we can do some road trips to mainland Europe :) Me and my eldest are also both working towards our bike licenses so we can do road trips on our bikes and take ultralight tents for camping along the way (I'd have youngest on the back as a pillion).

Oh FWIW, we've been to Scotland (bike rally and road trips), Isle of Man (TT) and Wales and thought that they were beautiful places to visit., though quite cold for me!

Worst holiday? Though it wasn't really that bad! We did a few days camping in the Lake District when I was still with XH. It pissed with rain the whole time (despite it being summer) and DSS got homesick part way through (he was 11/12 at the time), so we had to pack up a soggy tent and drive a 3hr journey to drop him back home (I wasn't prepared to do a 5/6 round trip to drop him home early and then another long drive home, so we made the decision to break camp early) and then another 4/5hrs to get home ourselves. The soggy tent and the loooong drive in hideous rain was the worst bit!!

Best was a safari in South Africa.
Also fab was a trip to Russia but, sadly, that's now off limits.
Honestly can't think of a worst, but I don't think I would like a large AI resort full of Brits!

For a first-time trip, OP, I'd recommend Portugal. Lots of easy flights from the UK, English widely spoken, good weather and excellent value for money.
Otherwise, go for a fabulous city..... Rome, Amsterdam or Paris are the obvious ones.

Best and worst have many other variables like who you're with, the weather etc.

Spain is great, Balearic islands I would always recommend. We also had a brilliant holiday in South of France. Stayed at a eurocamp that had a regular bus dropping you off in town, and from there the train travel was brilliant and could take you all the way along the coast in either direction. Didn't need a car. Got the train all the way to Italy one afternoon.

Edit as I didn't add best and worst.

Best was California, drove top to bottom. But far away and it was incredibly expensive.

Worst was a really cheap AI in gran canaria. Proper getting up at 6am to get pool loungers, no air con in the rooms. In the middle of August. That was years ago and we've stayed at lots of great AIs since but that one was hellish

Op have you thought about taking a short flight solo first, just thinking that you don't want to pass your fear onto your children. If you just went in the UK you could always then get a train back it was too traumatic, although I'm sure you'll be just great.
Plus you'd then experience the airport as they can be a bit confusing to find your way around and security can be a bit hectic with small children even for me and I've travelled a fair bit pre-children.

I'd definitely recommend the Eurostar though, we've gone on it a few times now. My daughter prefers it to flying as less waiting around etc.
We did around Switzerland, Italy and France for 3 weeks by train and it was great. Switzerland was amazing but expensive.
Lake Annaecy in France was lovely, we went on bike rides and swimming in the lake.
Also the Netherlands is really nice and family friendly, we went to Amsterdam and Duirnell Holiday Park, its a theme park with an indoor pool with slides, an outdoor pool and rollercoasters and caravans, but nowhere near as busy as UK theme parks. Really easy to get to on the train.

You can also avoid changing at Paris and just go direct to Lille, Brussels and Amsterdam ( I think you can now) which are easier to change at as smaller stations/cities.

Worst was a holiday ex in-laws gave us as a honeymoon/wedding gift. They told us not to book anything and that it was a surprise but did let us know it would be in this country. Exh was super excited. I knew he was in for a massive letdown. I went along with it for him. Day after our wedding they came over with our booking details. They had chose us a chalet in Somerset on a holiday park. I was grateful and we set off a few days later with our ds who was a few months old. When we got there the park was a dump. The chalet was so mouldy and damp that we immediately went back to reception to ask for a different one. They then gave us a caravan that was worse than the chalet. We tried to stick it out but left the next day after ds started coughing. Meanwhile in-laws were in their holiday home in France lol!.

best was a little log cabin in wales with three kiddies. Great weather all week and lots of walking and crab fishing. My dd ate well travelled but we all agree this was our best holiday

I absolutely LOVE the highlands. Its my happy place. Particularly Lochness. I feel like I can really breathe up there.

Best - Iceland (pre-kids). Loads of interesting, unusual things to do. The people were great and we got unexpectedly upgraded to the honeymoon suite at the hotel.
Worst - Brussels. The area we stayed in was very run down, was covered in rubbish and felt incredibly unsafe. On the first day we were followed, saw women being intimidated and assaulted by groups of men, and saw a lot of blood on the streets. We didn’t leave the hotel again after that (luckily we were only staying for a weekend).

I think Greece, Cyprus and Italy are much nicer than Spain. Depends what you want, if you want quieter then maybe Cape Verde which is lovely and always warm.

My favourite European holidays have been to the Dordogne region in France with Canvas (eurocamp type holidays). The region is stunningly beautiful, the food is great, it’s reasonably quiet, and there’s SO much to do!

Sardinia, although some beaches are busy In August it’s got a nice quieter feel to it than some parts of Spain. So Authentic and like you’re in a time warp in some parts. Great food and my autistic son loved it. It was super hot and an unexpected humid heat when we went and he did complain at times. We hired a car so moved around a bit. Every beach is more stunning than the last and so safe and some quiet too. A real gem

Highly recommend flying into Malaga, you can get straight on the train from the airport, you have the city itself which is fab or tons of options up or down the coast within half hour on the train. Torremolinos is nice, and you can travel out to Mijas etc for the day.

Best, 2 weeks in Bahamas when I was younger. Worst, went to Kefalonia for my 30th birthday with then boyfriend. Got cystitis there, we argued all the time and I left (without him) after a week. It was when I was crying into my cornflakes on the balcony that I realised I couldn’t stay.

What's your budget, OP?

I'd consider May half term if I were you, pleasant weather in many places in Europe and shouldn't be insanely hot. We have been to Lefkada the last 3 May half terms and it's been lovely. I've heard good things about Parga, which is nearby.

Would your children tolerate a kids club for a bit or is that out of the question?

I can recommend a great place in Lefkada but has a kids club/crèche and isn't super cheap, so depends on what you are looking for.

Please go on the trip! See if you can get some therapy to give you the encouragement and the confidence. There are so many great things to see and do in Europe.