Once in a lifetime holiday ideas

[Starclocks]

DH and I have been saving for a once in a lifetime holiday for years. It'll be for us and our two DDs who will be 16 and 14 when we go next summer.
We've been lucky enough to have been able to save £250 for this every month for five years, so will have £15k. I can maybe add another £2k on top if I save a bit more each month between now and then.

Originally the plan was Disney Florida. We could do a fortnight there without compromising on anything. All the parks, good food, nice hotel. But the closer we get to it, the more I wonder whether it would be a waste when there is so much more of the world to see.

The kids do like theme parks, and we went to Eurodisney when they were 6 and 8, and had a blast. And I went and was amazed by Orlando as an adult 20 years ago, so I know it's not just for kids. But it's all so fake, and there is the Trump factor and America being such a weird place right now. As a family we have had some amazing city breaks in Amsterdam, Belfast, London, Edinburgh over the years. So we could go to an amazing g city like Singapore or Sydney (or both!). We also love animals and nature, and for this kind of money we could do something amazing in that space - Costa Rica, Borneo, places in Africa.

I am just overwhelmed by the choice and conscious that wherever we pick it will mean not picking all the other places! But this is a big deal for me as I have consciously saved to give us this one big family trip that we will never be able to afford again.

I realise that we are extremely lucky to have this problem. I dont mean to sound goady at all, and we really don't have a luxury lifestyle other than this one thing. It will be our first long haul trip anywhere. And I know that whatever we pick will be great, as all our holidays have been, whether they have been little trips in the UK or France, or slightly bigger ones like our week in Crete last year. But I wonder what gems the Mumsnet give mind can come up with as options.

I haven’t been, but I am also going to vote Japan. Disney in Japan is much cheaper than Florida. You will have money left to do so much more.

Our daughter wants to visit the Harajuku district. I want to go shopping for stationary. My husband wants to go to try all the vending machines.

Then you can add actual history and natural beauty.

We aren’t going because I can’t handle the travel, but we desperately want to go.

Serengeti. And Nogorogoro (sp?}. Lake Manyara - lions hanging out in trees...
Tarangire river, elephant country.

Ending in Zanzibar.

Utter bliss.

The other thing can do for Australia is going back from Cairns via Singapore or on way in and Singapore has good theme parks if the kids want those. My kids loved the boat to the outer reef but if you are easily seasick or weak swimmers there are other options.

We didn't go there but Magnetic island looked good, with wild koalas.

Norway

Sri Lanka - and you’ll have money left over for another holiday too. So much to see and do. Safari, boat safari, historical sites, tea plantations in the hills, walk up Adam’s peak at night with the pilgrims to see the sun rise, turtles, scuba diving, surfing, cricket, take the tourist train across the island and the sea plane back … 2-3 weeks has so many amazing experience opportunities, and 5 star hotels will be reasonable

If you feel the flights are costly long haul, maybe rethink the once in a lifetime bit and have several European holidays as suggested.
You could do a trip via Eurostar for example. Did you watch Race Across the World...how about Turkey? Some fantastic places to see with a good mix of things to do.
Someone else said Italy, I agree. A fabulous trip in Tuscany. Island hopping in Greece. Croatia...Plitvice lakes is amazing then hit the coast or an island, include a city if you want that side of things.
There's so many options that dont need beyond 4 hours flying time if you wanted.

Another person jumping in to say South Africa. Or my trip of a lifetime that I had to cancel because of covid: western Canada- Vancouver, Vancouver Island, the Rockies etc. My absolute dream

We did Borneo / Kuala Lumpur / Singapore. Holiday cost itself was about £10.5k for 3 which was flights, hotel, and private driver in Borneo (so including all activities and most meals there) you could do it a bit cheaper as we went fairly expensive hotels (by se Asia standards) in the cities. Total cost including spending etc about £13k. School summer holidays works well for there.

there is a universal in Singapore we went to.

Thailand. Travel to a few different islands. The main cost is getting there and you can get some lovely hotels for quite reasonable prices.

Honestly if you have daughters who are the average 14 and 16 year old, I think Orlando will be the best and most fun option for them.

I absolutely loved going on safari as an adult, but there’s a lot of waiting around trying to find animals and I’d say it’s much more of an adult geared holiday.

If your kids like action, glitz and American food they will likely love Disney world and there’s something for everyone. The other option could be one week at Disney followed by a Caribbean cruise on royal Caribbean or similar, they’re great for teens.

What are your daughters into and where do you think they'd like?

I was lucky enough to go on a two-week family holiday to Orlando when I was 14-ish (and then again when I was 20) and have been back a couple of times since then, so it's fair to say I'm a fan. But I preferred Busch Gardens (Tampa) and Universal because I'm a fan of roller coasters. Or was until I got old and discovered I can't cope with all the loops any more 😫

There's much more to Florida than Orlando though and you could potentially spend part of two weeks by heading down into Florida Keys and the Everglades, rather than just giving Disney Corp all your hard-earned money.

I've also done a road trip on the West Coast and whilst the Disneyland Park is smaller there, you've still got a Universal Park, Six Flags Magic Mountain and Knott's Berry Farm (the home of Snoopy!) as alternative theme parks if that's what you / they are REALLY into.

Longer and presumably more expensive flights to there but might be easier to fly into one place (Los Angeles) and out of another (San Francisco) though depending on airline options.

You couldn’t pay me to go to Disney / Orlando for a special holiday. I highly recommend Vietnam and you could do it in serious style on your budget

Argentina.

Start in Buenos Aires for some history and sight seeing. A Sunday morning in San Telmo to watch some tango dancing in the streets and a potter around the market.

Then head to Mendoza, the city itself is quite flat but it is surrounded by mountains. So head to a vineyard for a tasting, explore the mountains on horseback, zip lining, rafting and finish off with a day at the hot springs.

I would also consider time of year you are going if its summer for some places that's the best time to go, for others its not a great time. Japan would be far too hot for me then. Other destinations its their winter but some places winters have better weather than an average British summer. Borneo was hot but managed it by staying in places with air conditioning or high up in a forest and wearing cool clothing. Costa Rica was their winter but was about 27C every day and rain always came after 4pm and was fun to watch in the rainforest. Sri Lanka we are going in summer after Easter which is a better time had to be cancelled due to Emirates flights. We are doing quite a wildlife based itinerary and that's still very possible and out of monsoon. South Africa its not the best time of year. Australia was their winter but at the top of the country was warm to hot and dry, Sydney and Blue Mountains were much colder though not cold (10-14C). Costa Rica has a lot of ziplines through rainforest as well as wildlife and hot springs, some teenagers are very into ziplines.

Singapore is expensive but has

Gardens by the Bay nature domes

Universal Studios

Art galleries

Old town

Extremely clean

Then you could fly & have time in
Vietnam, Thailand, Borneo, Malaysia, Bali, Australia, New Zealand

Look at Bana Hills Vietnam

Cable car to access

Rides, shows, hotels, gardens, hand bridge

More for your money in Vietnam

Fly to Seattle
Cruise to Alaska, inner passage
Winibago it back via the Alcan Highway to Seattle
OR
Petra, Jordan
Go safe✌️

Japan
South African safari
Jordan
Galapagos

I’d actually recommend Sri Lanka far more over Costa Rica. CR is lovely but apart from the Caribbean coast, the other main areas are ridiculously touristy and full of Americans. Sri Lanka has the element of safari (go to a smaller one than Yala though), mountains (Ella), tea plantations, beautiful train journeys, turtles laying eggs on the beach, amazing food, culture and scenery. Also your money will go a lot further and you can combine with a few days in the Maldives on your way home!

Sri Lanka - both jungle and coast. Maybe take them scuba diving.

We didn't find Costa Rica busy at all but went back in 2017 and I think it's become more in trend since then and I think prices have risen. It was relatively cheap when we went, well about £8k for 4 of us including all trips, hotel and all meals. Sri Lanka we are doing this year for 2 of us and that's coming in at £3k each but over £1k is direct flights and Heathrow car park is pricey. Rest is excellent value though very hot and some areas have stray dogs issues.

August is low season for Costa Rica so doubt it would be busy that time of year, that's when we went and there's was miles and miles of nobody around. Were some Americans at hotel.

With that budget I'd be tempted to do something really memorable rather than Orlando. Costa Rica and Borneo would both be amazing for wildlife, or a Kenya Tanzania safari combined with Zanziba if you enjoy nature. We did the Kenya and Tanzania safari last year and it was honestly one of our best family trips. We booked through Beyond the Plains Safaris and they put together a really smooth itinerary without us having to organize everything ourselves.