OMG! We have just won a competition - a family holiday anywhere in the world. We choose. Where shall we go??

[areyoutheregoditsmemargaret]

Obviously I am rather excited

Two dcs - 7 and nearly 5.

Thinking of going for two weeks - either we'd drop everything and go at Easter or be naughty and add an extra week on to the summer half term or go in the summer holidays, though dh is keen on it being asap.

I'd obviously like us to do something we could never afford normally - so long haul. Maybe a safari? I know you'll all hate me for being so lucky but any suggestions gratefully received .

I'd love to do Tibet or China with my DC if I won this. Temples, elephants and mountains.

I have done Nepal which I hated but it's just such an experience I'd do it again.

Why did you hate Nepal? That's another of my dreams that I'm currently discounting as dcs too young, I think

Well I think it was because I just went spur of the moment on my own. Booked it one weekend and was out there a week later!

I was expecting sort of Buddhist and inspirational. It was therefore a shock landing in the third poorest country in the world. The sky was yellow with pollution and the roads are massive potholes linked by paths - it looks like a war zone TBH. Wasn't helped by going to the wrong hotel (there's more than one Blue Horizon!!). I couldn't see any clean water anywhere so decided early doors to only eat oranges and canned tuna (with the odd bottle of beer). It truly made me grateful to come home to taps.

Good points were meeting a nice Nepalese chap in reception who is still in touch butt here were quite a lot of sleezy chaps. I feel bad that I gave guides too much money to show me round but paid a poor girl selling necklaces too little. Hated watching the Israeli's tourists who would argue every penny with everyone. Loads of tourists doing the same mountain trekking thing dressed to the nines in all the kit. I hadn't planned on trekking but there wasn't much choice so me and the Sherpas were up and down in our everyday clothes (to be fair lots of them had bare feet though not loafers).

There was loads of other stuff but I am actually aware of how lucky I am every day now though down to that one trip. There were lots of people with children in tow though so don't let me put you off. Everyone else I met loved it (although on the plane back I was the only one who hadn't got a story about being ill!)

I'd do an unites posh cruise. Panama canal or arctic circle. Maybe not with kids though.

Save it for Christmas and do Lapland?

Fiji and some of the other small pacific islands. People really friendly and love kids, scenery stunning, beaches, weather, snorkeling, boats, island hopping, sea planes, relaxing, beach life.....,

I would love to do a tour of Canada through the rockies etc but probably not entertaining enough for little children.

What about a tour of America, Las Vegas, New York, San Fransisco etc etc

I do think a cruise would be an amazing option, fantastic facilities and a new beautiful country every few days.

Congratulations, I hope everything works out perfectly for you.

Congratulations but, lets get to the nitty gritty. This cannot possibly have and open budget. You could run up a bill for tens of thousands easily if that was the case.

Florida and, then a Caribbean cruise? that would be my way of thinking.

I am loving the horror stories about some of the places I've always dreamed of visting

On a public forum I can't go in to the details of how/why this has happened but it is definitely not a wind up. The budget is not open but it is very generous. Still, looking into safari/Madagascar or possibly Mauritius - the problem we're having now is dates, we can't go at Easter because of short notice and dh worried it will be too cold in the summer holidays - if anyone's been to Mauritius in June or July and can say otherwise it could be useful evidence.

DO NOT GO TO MAURITIUS!

It is horrible

Sorry, dont go to Mauritius if you have ANY social conscience.

Outside your nice and luxurious resort, the waiters who serve you breakfast, and the chambermaids, etc, live, under cardboard boxes, hidden in the shrubbery, "out of view". They work for free, on the promise, that when the hotel is hiring again, they will become employed, and then they will have a salary. The waiter we spoke to said he had been on the waiting list for employment for two years, like most of the others. They were working purely in the hope that one day, they would get paid. At least, they got to eat leftovers so they could stay alive, and they were happy because the hotel supplied clean uniform, the only clothes he had.

Quint. Wow. I went to Mauritius years ago and agree that, like Jamaica, there are places of absolute poverty, but never knew people worked for free.

I'd go to St Petersburg (only been in winter, didn't spend much time outside!) then do the transiberian in first class with good stop off in Moscow to experience the manicness of it and go out to the golden ring towns then on to Baikal and down into Mongolia. It would be amazing.

With young children? I dont think theyd enjoy it.

I hated Mauitius and wouldnt recommend it. Canada would be lovely, you could take a cruise from there.

Go to Norway. Take a Hurtigruten cruise up the coast, with stops in little villages on the way....

Mauritius is fabulous for children, and weather is always good. Its important that you go to the 'right' side of the island i.e. the north-east

Quint, if you had to avoid every country where 5 star resorts are staffed by the local poorer population then you'd have to write off the entire African continent, as well as much of South America and South East Asia. Sorry, but have been to Mauritius a couple of times (live in SA). I honestly don't believe that working for free story. Plus tourism plays a pretty important role in these poorer economies.

OP, if you want to come to SA and want to combine it with a beach holiday, its worth considering visiting the Kwazulu Natal coastline (warm in winter, very beautiful and tropical - SA has massively different climates accross the country) or you can also consider Mozambique which is beautiful.

Another island option is Reunion Island, and if you want something child friendly the Club Med there really caters for children.

Rycie, when you say warm in winter do you mean your winter? And is it malarial on that side, plus is Mozambique malarial? That could well be an option if we postpone until later in the year. I was looking at Reunion, it said the beaches weren't as nice as Mauritius, and is the Club Med super-French? Dcs would want to be with other anglophones. But it did appeal as somewhere different.

Areyou, yes I mean our winter as in June. Mauritius and Reunion have no malaria, but Mozambique does, I hadn't thought of that although the risk of malaria is greatly reduced in Winter. There are some very good anti malarials these days with little in the way of side effects.

Both Mauritius and Reunion are french speaking, but it will be very English based. There will no doubt be lots of South Africans on holiday there, which is a positive or negative depending on how you look at it!!

In June, Cape Town is beautiful, its called the green season but is rainy. Upcountry has rainfall in summer, not winter so is very dry in June and is a fantastic time for game watching because the grass is dry and low rather than green and high, so visibility is much better iyswim. The days will be sunny and clear, T-shirts in the day etc, but cold at night.

And also, the Kwazulu Natal coastline is beautiful - very tropical, white sandy beaches. There is a fab resort called Rocktail Bay that's worth a google.

So I would recommend, 5 days in the Cape - penguins, winelands, table mountain etc; 4 days on safari (3 is actually enough and it is expensive) and then something like Rocktail bay. If your budget is very generous, you could check out a game reserve like Phinda, also in Natal. If you have a bit more time you could do Mauritius or Reunion (5 hours flight direct from Cape Town/Jhb) so is an easy trip.

I've been to Mauritius twice and both times it was fab. Yes there is a lot of poverty but as someone else has said, there is huge poverty in many countries where we would see a luxury holiday and tourism is often a huge economy.

La residence in Mauritius is fab, great kids club, lovely beaches, not so sure it's a (our) summer place to go though, more a winter destination I'd have thought.

Rocktail looks divine - that's a serious contender now, thank you Rycie. And would the weather be fine there in June/July/August, I see it's pretty far north. As for malarials, everyone seems to make a lot of fuss about young children taking them but presumably they can and do ... I haven't taken any for about 15 years, so am hoping the pills are smaller now and easier to swallow. Thank you.

The poverty issue affects many countries / destinations...

It is heart-wrenching and if that is a problem how about Australia? bit far to go for a two week family holiday perhaps but some amazing experiences await your family and you could have a stopover somewhere interesting.

Be aware that the tourists in Reunion are 98% French-speaking, there are very few non-French-speaking tourists, and consequently tourist infrastructure is geared for French speakers; finding someone who speaks English (if you don't speak French) can be difficult.

Disney...? pffft. Why, if you could go anywhere, would you want to go somewhere plastic that could be interchangable with any other themed resort? (Disclaimer, I have not ever been to a Disneyland resort. I would rather gnaw both hands off at the wrist. )

If I had very generous funds, and they were flexible about you determining the nature of your trip, I'd be torn between a long stay in NZ with a decent hire-car and lots of funds for accommodation, somewhere very exotic with interesting ecology like Madacasgar, somewhere in South America (taking in as many temples and ancient sites on top of mountains as possible, plus wonderful tropical snorkelling), or a long stay in Canada, maybe combining a rail tour across the Rockies with stays in various log cabins and ending up in a luxurious hotel in Vancouver, The Best City In The World.

OP, I hope this is all going to happen for you - you lucky, lucky thing!

Mozambique is malarial yeslinky. Also IMO not necessarily all that kid-friendly - many hotels are honeymoon type places.

Madagascar would be amazing and would be my top pick, but it is malarial too linky again. Don't know about the weather in UK summer.

If you are limited to UK summer - good options weather wise are Indonesia (Bali is not malarial and has lots for DCs) or South America (Peru/Ecuador). Go to the Galapagos! - it's expensive, so worth doing courtesy of someone else and the DCs will love it.

Borneo is fun if you like nature but it involves a lot of internal flights as the terrain is impossible any other way, which I found a bit wearing. Also, away from the coast it's malarial link

Have fun! sounds like a fab opportunity.

Forgot to mention Mexico/Belize as an option. It's the rainy season in the UK summer but still plenty of sun. And relatively low malaria risk.