To ask for your ultimate, once in a lifetime, family holiday destination?

[PicturesOfLily]

I should probably start by saying I love travelling and planning potential holidays (which largely don’t happen because of budget!). My dds are 5 and 1 so I have a bit of time to think about it yet but on my list are places like Lapland, Disney World, Costa Rica, safari in Africa and Japan. However, they will probably be the ideal ages to go to these places close together and there’s no way we’ll be able to afford all of them. Also, a friend recently went to Disney World and said that although it was amazing, it was SO expensive that she didn’t think it was worth the money. Our annual budget is around 3-4K so these big trips would be 3-4 years worth of holidays and I don’t want to waste our money. So that got me thinking, where is the best place you’ve been with family that I should look at and what sort of age child does it suit? Alternatively, is there anywhere you’ve been that didn’t live up to expectations? (A bit like the emperor’s new clothes thread that I really enjoyed reading!)

I would love to stay in an overwater bungalow (with glass floors) in the Maldives.

I'd go Lapland while they are young. Older kids and teens can appreciate Disney and a safari so you could save for a few years and do those when they are older. But Lapland when they are young is amazing.

The best holiday we ever had was Greek Island hopping for 3 weeks. My kids keep asking if we can do it again.
Disney was shit.
They also loved Iceland and the Northern Lights.

Japan. We went when kids were in their teens. But you could go with younger children. It is very clean, very safe. The food is great for children - lots of noodle dishes and chicken kebabs, mild curries, soft ice creams as well as more experimental stuff.

Kids love the modernity - from the robot assistants in railway stations and hotels to the bullet trains and singing toilets. But they also love the ancient stuff - gongs and bells and incense at the temples, writing wishes and prayers and tying them in trees at the shrines. They love feeding monekys at Arashiyama and deer at Nara, travelling on the pirate ship at Lake Ashi and the cable car over the bubbling sulphur mountains near Hakone. There are art islands, rabbit islands, cat islands, hot springs to bathe in, crazy costumed teens in Harajuku, the magical Ghibli museum. So much for children to enjoy.

We did absolutely everything we wanted on a bespoke tour, were there for about sixteen days and spent, all in, about £12k, including all food, travel, entrances and lots of souvenirs. So worth it. A few years on, DS tells me rarely a day goes by when he doesn't think about that trip in some way. And I had such fun planning it.

Interrailing - choosing the next country as you go, everyone gets a say in where to visit. Staying in hostels and Airbnbs.

Canadian Rockies.

Arctic circle on the train.

East coast of USA from New York to the Florida Keys.

Ours was a road trip around California, including San Diego, a hop over the border to Tijuana (Mexico), Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Yosemite National Park, San Francisco (& Alcatraz), and through the Napa Valley. Flow into Los Angeles and back out of San Francisco. Something for everyone, inc theme parks (Universal Studios, Sea World), nature, coast, and the culture of Mexico. Two weeks and around 2,500 miles but easily our best holiday. (And that's comparing it to Jordan (Petra), Egypt, Kenya, Canada, etc.). Just the sheer range of activities/experiences within a few hours drive of eachother!

DS has been to South Africa 3 times ( as a toddler 7 and 12) and probably 10 + is a good age. At 12 he could go shark cage diving and appreciated Robln Island as he was doing history. The Rand was great value too.
We wanted to do a us road trip but the pandemic knocked that plan. We’d need 3 weeks and no one has that time now

I really want to take DS to Nepal as he would love trekking in the mountains and I want him to appreciate just how much stuff he has. Can do that in a week/ 10 days so might be the plan at the beginning of September.
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@goldfinchonthelawn sounds wonderful! Those is the next trip I'm planning. Will definitely be doing Tokyo, Hakone circuit, Kyoto and Nara. Anywhere else you'd recommend?

My kids would be like "are we there yet" and moaning about no 4G.

My kids would be like "are we there yet" and moaning about no 4G.

Love how this thread has become a MN competition about who has done the most random, off the beaten track holiday in obscure country.

Most kids would probably prefer a week in Tenerife with a kids club, all inclusive ice cream and water park.

The places you mention are all fantastic. Depends what you and your family like doing. We love hiking so we climbed the holy mountain Koyasan and stayed overnight in a Buddhist monastery which was out of this world, like stepping back in time - silk hangings and paper screens onto zen gardens, silk kimonos for us and onsen baths. But the food, though a work of art, is about 50 different ways to serve tofu so you might want to smuggle in some snacks for DC!

We also loved walking the old Samurai path as it passes through medieval villages with water wheels, tea plantations and DC felt like they were inside a Ghibli movie.

Things I regret missing: we never went to the art island and everyone I know who did said it was amazing. I really wanted to go to Hiroshima but the others didn't. It looks like an amazing day trip from Osaka or Kyoto.

Well, to be fair, the thread OP was a question asking where was the best place people have been with their family on holiday. For some people (and clearly you fall into that category) a week in Tenerife with a kid’s club and good internet is the bees knees. Your kids would have hated sitting with the grown ups in a tent in the desert without even any electricity, let alone wifi. My kids would be horrified at being put in a kid’s club. It’s great that everyone is different - if we all wanted to get to the same places it would be a bit crowded there. Not everyone likes heat, not everyone likes cold, not everyone likes adventure, not everyone likes lying around a pool. But just because your idea of a great holiday is not everyone’s idea of a great holiday, doesn’t mean other people can’t do something different.

I’ve been to Costa Rica and found it amazing but I don’t have kids - I think if you want to see wildlife in nature (we saw tapirs, humpback whales, sloths, monkeys, tropical birds etc) you’d probably want your kids to be late primary age or older so that they have the patience and ability to stay quiet. There are plenty of wildlife sanctuaries where that would be less of an issue though. But if you wanted to do stuff like zip lining or white water rafting these might have age limits. In the La Fortuna area there are a lot of hot springs resorts and some of them are child friendly with kids areas, slides etc. There’s a travel blog called ‘my tan feet’ which I found really helpful for planning our trip.

I came back to this thread as I thought there were some really cool recommendations on here and I might get some inspiration for my own travels. I fail to see any boasting. I think some of the recommendations have been incredibly detailed and helpful. Rather than be snarky why don’t you tell us what makes Tenerife so great ? I mean that genuinely.

We did an Orlando holiday that wasn’t Disney World focused (we did have one day and night there but only the one, and it was the least good day!). We mainly stayed at a Universal Studios hotel. We did three days at Universal and 1 at their water park, Volcano Bay. We took a day trip to the west coast to swim with manatees, another on an airboat on the swamps, and a two day trip to The Kennedy Space Center. We had a few days at the hotel mixed in to chill and do some of the more local Orlando tourist things. We paid for a lot of extras - cabana rentals, fast passes, massages, lunch with an astronaut, etc. - and I think that was a big part of what made it such a good holiday. Also, our kids were 10 and more into Harry Potter than Disney, so we didn’t have that issue.

@Sungodess

Ive never been to Tenerife. But feel sure that I would enjoy it if I went.

I'm actually not being snarky ok a little bit and there are some lovely holidays described on here.

But IME kids prefer a holiday where they can eat, swim, meet friends and play in the sun rather than hiking up mountains in Tibet or weaving yurts in Peru.

But happy to be dismissed as a chav of course.

We are looking to do a good holiday next summer after exams - liking the suggestions for Costa Rica, I hadn't considered there.. Also thinking USA - want to do Yellowstone especially! Where would be a good place to base from in order to do that? Our best holiday so far has been Australia (Sydney to Cairns area) and New Zealand, loads to do there!

My two DS are now 21, but I'd say our top holidays were (1) hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge in southern China on our own + hired mules (2) 3 weeks in Thailand including beach and ethical elephant sanctuary and city stays (3) Travel around Japan with their rail pass to various cities.

@THisbackwithavengeance I haven’t been to Tenerife either but I’m sure I’d like it. In fact we’re going to Spain next month for our holiday to a hotel with a splash park because I think the kids will enjoy it. I started the thread to see if there’s anywhere I hadn’t considered for a big trip or if, for example, Disney or Lapland really isn’t worth it because we won’t be able to afford to go everywhere I’d like to. Any big trips would also be for us. DH is very keen on Japan, Africa and South America but has no interest whatsoever in the USA so it’s good to hear other people’s experiences. Mostly, I’d be absolutely gutted to blow 10-12k on a holiday and wish we’d gone somewhere else!

I'm not necessarily going to answer the best holiday question, as all the trips we've done have been brilliant for different reasons, but thought i could offer some insight to explain how we built up the travelling from a young age!

We did the usual European villa/apartment/AI from 12 months -Majorca, Tenerife, Costa Del Sol, Bulgaria etc.

When DD turned to 5/6, we started city breaks (Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Nice, Edinburgh, Lapland etc) - building up on the sight seeing, stamina for walking, travelling with small luggage volume etc. - and the standard Disney Florida & Paris for longer breaks (much better value then, than now)

When DD turned 7, we moved onto guided tour holidays (we used Explore Family Holidays, but there are plenty of others). Started with India, then Vietnam & Cambodia, then Thailand, before graduating (!) to a self tour of Japan in 2019.

Covid put pay to alot of our travel plans (we had Costa Rica booked for 2020 and Canada booked for 2021) and the uncertainty was too much for me, so I cancelled them all I took a couple of years doing UK hols like the Lake District, Yorkshire Dale's, Pembrokeshire (which are all just as beautiful as the global sights)

We are back to it with city breaks this year - Vienna, Prague, Budapest all booked so far - but a massive Brazil Argentina & Peru trip booked for 2022 in celebration of GCSE's.

The biggest thing I would say, is to work to your children's pace, their tolerance levels, and with lots of flexibility and you'll be just fine.

We loved the guided tours when she was young because all we had to worry about was getting on and off the coach at the right times, the tour guide did all the rest - planning, ticket nying, knowledge, research, journey planning, even where to eat in most days!!!

Just before lockdown we did Japan - the DC were older - it was as insane as you would think!

"This is the best day of my life."
DS, aged 10, said while laying on his back, looking up at the stars, at a campsite near Skegness.

Different things, though, aren't they? My dc love a Butlins holiday, and they love camping. But I wouldn't call those holidays a "once in a lifetime special holiday". I got the idea the op was looking for a different sort of thing.

My kids enjoyed some more adventurous holidays, too. No need to do them if your dc wouldn't enjoy them, but no need to be sniffy if mine would.

Was coming on to say a safari in Africa but you've already said it and the kids might be too young. When we went the kids over 4 could go out in the truck. We're hopefully going to go when our eldest is about 10.... she's currently 6 months 😂