To book a holiday to Tunisia on my own with 2 kids?

[Mammyloveswine]

I'm a teacher and my husband is useless at booking time off in the school hols because he "doesn't need to"... anyway I'm sick of this meaning me and the kids usually only end up with a caravan hol in October half term or a few days at his parents house.

He also moans about the price of holidays abroad.

So I thought I'm sick of this and have been looking to just take our children away myself.. I've found a brilliant deal for all inclusive through TUI for £1600.. only catch is it's in Tunisia..,

We would likely just stay in the hotel complex for the week but would I be mad to book? Boys have never been abroad and will be 9 and 7 when we go. Love the idea of surprising them one day in the summer hols saying "and we're off on our hols!".

Honest opinions please! It's next August so advice might change but current foreign office guidance is that it's safe to travel to!

I wouldn't in Tunisia
I wouldnt feel safe there on my own with two young children

But can see you have booked it
So with that, i would just stay within the hotel complex

A good friend went a couple of years ago. She said she’d never go again and wouldn’t recommend. She really loved The Gambia though but it was expensive.

I went to Tunisia in August and it was baking! Like 45 degrees. You couldn’t really do anything until the sun went down except sit in the pool.

I was younger & with a female friend and we were constantly harassed but I would imagine it would be different with children. The hotel was 3 star at least but the food was pretty awful. I was sick a lot of the time! Never wanted to return.

Definitely go on holiday without the miserable DH. Depending on how well travelled you are Tunisia might not be ideal. Culturally it's quite different from the UK, you will find the men quite pushy. You'll get the hard sell round the pool, and hassle when you go to or walk past the shops. Even nice hotels can be rough around the edges, and food hygiene is dubious. The roads are quite frankly terrifying. If you can take all of this in your stride then you can have a lovely holiday in the sun for a very good price. If you're in anyway a nervous traveller you will hate it. This also goes for Egypt, Morocco and to a lesser extent Turkey. Alternatives would be Spain, canaries or Malta which have a far more western vibe.

Why Tunisia? Would not be my first choice on my own with 2 kids, unless you intend to stay at the resort. In which case, again, why Tunisia?

No I wouldn't go to Tunisia.
Also I don't see the point of staying in a hotel complex your whole trip.

Have a look at Spain / Europe.

Just staying in a hotel complex for a week would drive me mad. Also wanting to take them abroad because they've never been, but then not leaving the hotel once you're there sounds mad. I'd rather go somewhere else for less time and be able to explore.

OP covered this its a matter of budget isn't it. School holidays especially August is expensive.

Tunisia is cheap for a reason.
As is Bulgaria.

I’ve taken the kids away on my own several times but we’ve gone to Spain (mainland) and the Canaries where we’ve been out on trips etc

Went to Sousse at Christmas as a single parent with children. It was fine and safe at the resort. Sousse is a bit of a hole outside of old town and the resorts though. The resorts have security. Did excursions to Tunis and Carthage, which were fun and interesting.
I met other single women with children on trip including Arab women.
Hotel was a Mahaba. Mixed crowd of Brits, Germans, Dutch, Polish and Arabs.
August will be very hot and the resort will be very busy. It was quieter at Christmas, which was nice.

I wouldn't go personally because of the heat and also I'd be bored stiff stuck on the beach. But the hotel will be entirely safe, so book away. I imagine any travel warnkngs concern the inland, mountain areas.

OP has already booked
My experience of Tunisia was that I didn't enjoy it because both my DC were ill however norovirus had been doing the rounds at school before the (october) ht that we went so no way of knowing if it was that or the buffet or something they picked up on the flight. We mainly stayed at the resort and the time we did go out we were given the hard sell outside every cafe or restaurant. And people on the beach trying to sell us terrapins!! 🤣
And for people saying it will be so hot, it will, of course...but will it actually be much hotter than eg Spain, Malta , Turkey etc that are suggested alternative. We went to Majorca last year in August and it was mid 30s every day, and 26° in the middle of the night!

I’ve been there, we returned about ten days before the terrorist attack.
Found it quite safe, much safer than Egypt. It was clean, food was good, staff were nice.

Went outside the hotel on my own and didn’t feel threatened, it was very quiet and pleasant.

I get that but I think the OP said she has booked two weeks. I’d have probably gone for Spain/Canaries but just for a week or ten days if that made enough difference on price.

For a resort based jumping in the pool all day holiday I think your choice will work well.

I went to Tunisia on my own last summer. I had a fab time, I did a big trip into the Atlas Mountains, I was the only English person on the excursion had a great time with people from
France, Belgium and Holland, 2 hours of spa treatments every day, swimming, a walk, and a trip to a mall to see what is was like.

It’s horribly hot in August. My sister’s DC had upset stomachs in Tunisia from the heat. They just couldn’t cope with it. I’d rather pay more for somewhere cooler & nicer.

I've booked for just the week! Flying direct from Newcastle!

The heat is a consideration but given the miserable summers watch had I'm sure we'll cope!

Stay safe

@Mammyloveswine , I went on trips and loved the Star Wars caves. Also recommend El Djem and Carthage.

Sounds great, where did you stay?

Not sure if that was supposed to be an ironic reply...? 🤔

Care to elaborate?

Definitely go without the husband!

I did Tunisia in August once and it was ridiculously hot. We had very high forties and a couple of days where it hit the fifties.

That you felt perfectly safe, but was 10 days before massacre that killed so many Brits seems an ironic statement

Well it was and I did. Lovely people, who work very hard and were devastated by what took place.

Perhaps I should have omitted that part. 🤔Terror attacks can happen anywhere, I certainly felt safer in Tunisia than Egypt or Dubai.