To fly long haul with a 17 month old? Destination suggestions needed!

[TheLibrarian2014]

Forgive the use of AIBU, looking for fast suggestions!

Not been away since dd was 6 months old, and did a 7/8 hour flight each way which was just about OK, but hard work.

Now we are lucky enough to have a slot when we could go away in early May, later in the summer is tricky with work. DH just wants to go somewhere warm so med is out ( too cold for sea swimming which he loves, and not reliably warm and sunny yet).

He is suggesting Florida. I am desperate for a holiday but worry that the long flight and hard work of taking a toddler away just won't be worth it, for me at least.

Any suggestions for successful long haul toddler friendly hols? We are likely to be stuck only taking holidays over winter time for the foreseeable future (seasonal jobs too busy in uk summer) so really need to find a strategy that works... Have some cash saved as we were supposed to go away a few months back, but just didn't bother in the end as it seemed too much hard work. Open to any ideas with reliable good weather in early May, and as short a flight as possible! Sharm el sheikh might have been an obvious choice previously, not so much now!

Help please, have a despondent DH and want to treat us to a holiday we can all actually enjoy...

This time 3 weeks ago I was snorkelling off the beach in the Florida Keys. It was bloody fantastic. Sea was warm enough to aimlessly float around for hours. Miami airport was easy to navigate, although security/immigration was a little more stringent than usual (we flew out 24hrs post Brussels).

We did Mauritius at that age. It was late April/early May. Good weather (couple of cloudy afternoons and the odd brief shower but otherwise lovely - warm and sunny but not stiflingly hot). Hotel was Lux Belle Mare which was perfect for tots but also quite stylish for us adults.

It's a 12 hour flight which is long BUT you can do it overnight both ways (I had DD on my lap, brought a pillow from home which really helped) and there is very little jet lag when you get there. We put DD to bed a bit later than at home so she could have dinner with us - so no need for a babysitter - and she woke up a bit later than at home too, bonus!

Personally I wouldn't go to US/Caribbean because of the jetlag - can't face being up at 3am while they adjust. But if you have a very reliable sleeper they might adjust quickly?

Another suggestion - what about Crete or Cyprus? Should be far enough south to be warm by May, although the water may be still a bit nippy. Lots of family friendly hotels (see Totstoo for examples).

Again, because of the jetlag, I would always choose to go east rather than west with a littleun.

Actually thinking about it, our first abroad holiday was at the beginning of may and we went to Menorca, it was warm and sunny but the pool was cold - Little ones didn't complain about the sea. Ds2 would have been 20 months and Ds1 was coming up 3.

I think Dubai might be a good shout. Pretty safe, lots to do and sun

Guess there is a good reason it's cheap (and still available) right now...
The Russians. They fell out with Turkey - that will have made a massive difference as last time I went it was 80% Russians.

Cape Verde is hot all year round, and has beautiful beaches.

Azores Easyjet go there via Lisbon and Ryanair go direct from Stanstead. Volcanic islands with whale watching, dolphins, black sand beaches, geothermal pools.

We did Lanzarote one Easter and the weather wasn't great, definitely not warm enough for comfortable sea swimming.

The thought of long haul with a toddler makes my skin crawl so I would suggest the southern Greek islands, Turkey or Sharm. I am just back from a "hotspot" and it was great! Quieter than usual according to locals and was rather idyllic.

Just seen Dubai suggested, please don't go there. I visit often but from the second half of April I avoid it like the plague because of the heat. It is easy to keep a toddler warm in a cold country but impossible to keep them cool in excessive heat. Think prickly heat, dehydration, sunstroke in the shade.

We are going to Agadir mid June. Weather should be perfect. Turkey will be cheap because nobody is going there due to the terrorist issues. Canaries will be nice and easy to get to. Hope you have a lovely time.

My parents live in the US and all 3 of mine slept pretty much the whole flight when we used to fly with them as toddlers! Phenergan is your friend!

I'm not long back from a holiday in Australia with 18 month old. Wasn't as bad as I expected. Get the flight times right and chances are they'll sleep for a decent amount of the flight. Top tip is get them their own seat if you're flying long haul.....no way could we have survived 24 hours in the air with 2 seats between 3 of us. Just go to Florida

I've no idea if this is a concern for you but if you are thinking of ttc again in the near future you might want to stay away from zika zones.

Really don't like agadir. It's a bit of a dump.

Thanks so much everyone, some great suggestions here and some encouragement to think flying with a toddler may not be so unbearable as I feared!

Eurochick - yes, a bit concerned about Zika. Was considering the carribean a few months ago, but went off the idea with all the news stories going around at the time. Seems to have died down a bit now, but may be just the media losing interest. We decided to give that holiday a miss completely, so I stopped checking online about the progress of the virus.

I wish we had the budget for Bermuda! Sounds lovely.

Think we may be decided on the Turkey option this time - a chance to try out a shortish flight and then maybe build up to trying one of the longer haul suggestions next year depending on how things go. I know there are risks involved, but tend to think nowhere is 100 percent safe now. Looks like we will get much more for our money there than most other places.

Thanks all for the ideas! Love planning holidays, but am finding it a slight challenge adjusting to family friendly trips only 😀

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