Spam me with your best family holidays

[TryingReally]

I’m trying to sort a family holiday for next year, either summer or October half term. I’ve got two primary aged children who are very adventurous/active. We’ve done lots of Europe, doing Africa next year and I’ve done enough Caribbean/Bahamas to know it’s somewhere I’d want to go without them 😝 so spam me with your favourite family holidays. What was a massive hit? I’d prefer not to travel too far (nothing over 8 hours if possible) but happy to drive/ship/plane

DDs favourites have been U.K. holiday parks like Butlins and Haven. The playgrounds, kids activities like slime making, archery, trampolining and the proximity to beach and arcades make them a huge hit.

As much as I'd love to be able to say that she really loved the quiet, read a book on the beach or explore historic locations type holidays, honestly she likes noise and tat. Hopefully she'll grow into my kind of holiday 😂

Alpine elements was a huge hit with our kids

My kids love Singapore, but longer than 8 hours. They would choose to go back there over most other destinations.

Croatia - you won't look back.

Canada - the Rockies, Vancouver island and Toronto (3 weeks)
the Alps (summer) - Austria and Swiss alps for 2.5 weeks
Italy - Rome Venice and Garda over 2
weeks

Iceland - loads to do and such beautiful scenery
Malta and Gozo
Toronto/Niagara
New York

Just to name a few 😀

We've done the Austrian alps the last two years which was brilliant. Loads to do- especially outdoors. Lots of places have regional cards that save you so much money on activities so worth doing your research.

UK wise, we love the lake district and go regularly. Bowness/Grasmere/Keswick are all good bases to explore from. Again, lots to do, especially if you enjoy the outdoors.

We’ve been all over but Egypt was a hit with my 8 and 12 year old in October. The weather is glorious and the flight wonderfully short! They loved the big hotels with slides and entertainment, the boat trips, snorkelling and water sports. We loved the marina in Hurghada and really enjoyed El Gouna, especially the Tuk tuks that took you between main town and the marina there. So much to to and see for a very short flight.

Do not skimp on hotel tho- unfortunately you really do get what you pay for although it’s far cheaper than Dubai and the likes.

LA/Hawaii/NYC
Canada Fly drive from Calgary to Vancover Island
A month in Thailand
Jamaica, Negril

They are the ones we all talk about all the time now they are grown up.

The Alps in the summer
Costa Rica.

My boys don’t like sitting around ok a beach though.

Sorry didn’t read the bit about not travelling over 8 hours.

We all absolutely love Club La Santa in Lanazarote. But we all love sports/ being active on holiday.

Had a gorgeous family holiday at the Grecotel white palace in Crete last summer and we’ve booked again for this summer. The place I’d really like to take DD to is Oman, DH and I have been a couple of times and it’s beautiful. First time we did a few days in a resort to recover en route back to the UK from India, second time we did a nicer beach resort which had lots of family amenities and a trip to a desert camp. When we go again I’d like to go up into the mountains .

If they're active, bring them up north and set them loose on the Munros?

Can't beat Florida! So much to do!

Sri Lanka would be perfect for you except it's a 10 hour flight (direct) but you could take the cheap Qatar flights and stop off one way.

You can do a safari staying in a tent, a river safari, elephant sanctuary, turtle hatchery, historic "stuff", beautiful landscapes with mountains to climb, trains, cheap to get a car and driver, surfing, snorkelling ... no idea of your budget but it's cheaper than the americas for instance and weather in late July is typically good

Another vote for Florida

In Stella Palace crete

onsite water park
rooms with pool
beach
decent restaurants
short transfer from airport
rooms with separate space for the kids

Ooh yes Florida was also a hit when they were 8 and 9. October better than summer probably. We went in April and it was still like 95 degrees!!

We inter-railed to Stockholm and back.

Stopped off in Paris, Hamburg, Cologne Copenhagen, Vimmerby, and Malmö using Youth Hostels

Egypt in October - fabulous! Great weather, good food, lovely adventures and not super expensive. Only a 4-5 hour flight.

What about a cruise? MSC Virtuosa is an incredible family friendly ship.

Thanks everyone! I really like the idea of Egypt but I’d want to see the pyramids etc. is that possible to travel from the more beachy parts? I’ve heard it can be a bit dangerous in the past?

@whycantibeselfishforonce we actually did the virtuosa to Norway last year. I was very seasick, but I’ve cruised before and not been ill so I’m blaming the storm we sailed through! I like cruising in general, I’ve been looking at the Disney crusies that are being released today, but they’re so expensive!

I had a quite a few bad experiences in Egypt (though travelling with female friends). It’s not somewhere that I’d want to visit with my family.

And yet another vote for Florida! It's just jam packed with stuff to do for every interest. Of course there's the amazing theme parks, but also beaches, sports, golf, nature, shopping, world class restaurants, it just has it all. My first trip was 1989 age 11 with my parents, and latest trip just in November with DH, DS7 and DD4 with 10 trips in the middle.

This year we're going Interrailing and plan on France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy.

We've also enjoyed Iceland, Holland, Portugal and Spain recently.

Place marking for later