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!)

We aren’t very adventurous with our family
holidays! We like a pool, nice restaurants in walking distance, a few interesting places to drive out to for day trips and crucially, sun!
Our dc have always been happy with the above, not particularly keen on lots of sightseeing when it’s warm anyway, and delighted with ice creams and swimming.
Oldest is now 18 and her favourite holiday was in Italy in a little place where no one spoke English and we unknowingly ordered little ds what we thought was hot dog and chips (he’s the least adventurous eater!) and it came served on top of a pizza 😂
I love reading about adventurous holidays, they sound wonderful but not quite right for our family. I go and have those sorts of trips with some of my girlfriends, they are much easier travellers than my dh!

@buckleten I’ve seen some road trip itineraries that look good though with Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore or Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Teton national parks. Grand Teton is next to Yellowstone so if you based yourselves in one of the parks or nearby you’d be able to do both quite easily. It’s quite far to cities and other attractions though - Jackson is nearest and that’s about an hour away so you’d probably want to stay a bit closer.

Re whether kids enjoy ‘big trips’, I was at the Grand Canyon recently and got talking to a family who were doing a ‘family gap year’ of travelling around iirc Europe, the US and Central America and it sounded awesome. The kids were having a great time and having so many cool experiences, trekking up volcanoes and whatnot. I think the youngest was about 7 and the eldest was a young teen. I’m sure they would enjoy Tenerife too but they were definitely enjoying this trip.

We have adults now so NYC this year.

Op try efteling whilst they are little, I've not been to Disney world and it's on our list but v Disney Paris, efteling is far far superior

Bahamas was amazing for us we stayed in a resort that had a water park and you could swim with dolphins etc but we also did an excursion where you can see swimming pigs and go in the water with nurse sharks …my kids still talk about it now and they we’re about 3/5 at the time but it really is for kids all ages

went to Lapland when the youngest was three - really magical but in all honestly it was too cold for her and we should have waited till she was older I’m not sure she remembers that much of the 4 day trip …you could also do it in 2 days , for me there was a lot of “free time” on the 4 day trip that was just the kids playing in the snow or inside colouring because they got too cold - would 💯 per cent go back it was amazing

would really like to go to Aruba and see the flamingo island

Love this. I had a wonderful childhood full of domestic holidays, mostly wild camping and discovering other parts of the country. I have travelled vastly since, so my point is it's great you're able to take your DC abroad but it's not the be and end all. Make sure it's for them, not just for you.

In 2019 I took my adult children to the Galapagos Islands - it was fantastic. Young children won't necessarily remember the once in a lifetime holiday. You could go later.

We've done Disney but best holiday by far with teens has been a cruise. Cities to explore. Sea days with loads of activities on the ship. The kids made loads of new friends. They had a fab time.

Japan and Fiji.

Possibly a bit out there but the best place I’ve ever been to was the Falkland Islands. If I could take my kids anywhere that’s where I’d take them.

@PicturesOfLily Japan is fantastic but I’d definitely say it’s one to do with slightly older dc.
@Stompythedinosaur Yes to all the places @goldfinchonthelawn mentions in Japan, but just mooching around Tokyo is great, as it’s so vast and there’s so much to see. Try to check out any local festivals that are happening while you’re there - they can be a bit difficult to track down but they’re absolutely amazing and so colourful and celebratory.

You can easily do Hakone (don't miss the fantastic open-air museum!) and Nara in a day but it would be more relaxed to stay overnight somewhere. As a pp mentions, a rail pass is a must if you’re travelling, especially by bullet train. A trip from Tokyo to Kyoto, say, would cost you very significantly more without a pass. You buy them over here, before you get to Japan.

Thanks all for your suggestions. There’s some fantastic ideas that I hadn’t thought of! We do love a UK holiday too but I will also look at Sardinia and Efteling whilst the kids are little and hopefully get a bigger adventure organised in a couple of years. Happy holidays everyone!

Definitely Lapland around the 4 and 8 or 5 and 9 age. If you don’t want to use lots of holiday budget on Disney then just go to Paris. The kids will still enjoy it and you can take them into Paris for the day as well. Africa and Costa Rica if wait until they’re teenagers so you have lots of years to save! I’d suggest Iceland in the spring or autumn so it’s not too cold. Lots to see and do there .

Disney have short cruises from Southampton next august. It might be a good option for your ages. We did one of the staycation cruises last year and the kids absolutely loved it, as did we.

Disney was my favourite family holiday as we spent every day doing fun things not sunbathing / in the pool. We also saw a bit more of Florida / stayed on the gulf coast. That was 10yrs ago, we are going back this year. Depends what you like, for some they’d hate Disney. Yes it’s very expensive, but I guess if it’s going to be the holiday of a lifetime you’ll have a bigger budget.

I also love cruising

I have instilled my love of a very nice hotel in DS and it's the best accidental parenting decision I've ever made. In lockdown we had a couple of nights in the nearest city in nice hotels and honestly, it's a joy going into a hotel room with him as he opens every cupboard, turns on all the lights, tries out the seats - he's 16!!!! What I'm saying is, if you get them 'in' to going away then even just the act of going away is a real pleasure.

However, the best holiday I ever did was eurorailing with DS on his own when he was 14. It was just bloody brilliant, felt really adventurous, we went to 5 different cities then met up with DH in the Netherlands. There were a lot of different hotel rooms but it was just that feeling of adventure, being on the road, going to different places. I just loved it.

Completely agree @NumberTheory, there is so much more to do in Orlando. We went when DS was 5 and only did one day in Disney World, there was so much to explore and the nature there is thrilling for wee ones.

Yas Island Abu Dhabi is my kids favourite place to visit

Warner brothers studio, Yas water park and Ferrari world.

And no Qing as it's such a non tourist place to visit.

I had many happy childhood holidays in Thailand and will take DC there when he’s a bit older, but I have found this thread really inspiring!

I haven't done any once in a lifetime type trips with my own yet but when I was a kid, stand out holidays were to South Africa and Florida. I know it isn't for everyone bug if your family like disney, then disneyworld is brilliant fun. Plus the weather, universal studios, waterparks, space center, etc are all great. South Africa is amazing for so many things but if you do a safari (which you totally should), worth waiting until kids are 10+ I think. Also I'd really recommend Addo elephant Park as a slightly smaller safari experience.

Sorry to derail slightly - but those of you recommending Efteling- would you do this as a full (e.g. week) holiday or part of a general holiday in the Netherlands?

I am so going to win this as we took dd to Bhutan! 😂

the holidays my dc enjoyed the most where those great geographical features:
new Zealand
western australia
pembrokeshire
borneo

There are some extraordinarily beautiful places with rich histories much closer to home:

Austria
Scandinavia
Germany
Croatia
The French Pyrenees
Provence
The Amalfi Coast
Iceland is breathtaking and different

Alaska was amazing, we mostly used ferries and trains. They were 2&4