Needing inspiration ! Best holiday ever / and where do you dream about going?

[LyonsDemesne]

I have just received an unexpected windfall and I am going to use it for next years holiday.
So I am looking to pick your minds and need you to tell me your favourite locations/ Hotels worldwide or if you could go anywhere where would it be ?
I will be travelling with DH and DS(11)
Would you recommend going all inclusive or not bothering dependent on place?
It needs to be family friendly as DS is an only - very sociable but will still look for other kids to play with.
Budget will be about 6k

I was going to say a road trip to Calafornia, by 11 an only DC would appreciate the scale of the place, but moving about doesn't give time to seek out company your own age.

My 11 yo DD2 likes bog standard Majorca hotels because she meets the same gang of girls in kids club and by the pool and this year they were all old enough the adults just left them to it.

(My 14 yo likes her own company, our company or her sisters company and is really easy to take anywhere.)

Posted too soon.
So I guess your DS might prefer a beach resort or something where he stayed and got to know people.

By 11 he might well be able to do some water sports etc, you will have to check carefully. I know 11 was the last year DD2 can do kids club with Thomson.

I'd take him travelling around Costa Rica. He might not make holiday friends but he could go kayaking through alligator infested waters, see volcanos spurting lava, play on beaches looking out across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, explore the tree canopy in a rainforest and go White water rafting down rapids. I don't think he - or you- would be bored.

We've had 3 really amazing family holidays.

Canada for 3 weeks including a week in the rockies in a camper.

Dominican Republic for 3 weeks, dh and I learned to scuba, dc did snorkelling and surfing lessons.

Backpacking round central America for a month - Guatemala, Honduras, bit of El Salvador.

They're now older (9,11,13) and we're thinking about doing some backpacking typestuff in India or SE Asia. We'd never do AI, it's just not us. People were when they heard our DR holiday wasn't AI but staying in an apartment, shopping locally and eating out was our style. Dh has travelled round India and is very keen to take the dc to where he's been -Goa, Gujurat, Delhi, Varanasi, Rajasthan - but on the train! I'm keen!!

My best holidays with my DC have been trips to Cape Town ,Rio/Argentina and a Disney cruise around the Med. I would definitely recommend a cruise particularly if your son likes to make new friends.

South Africa, safari, cape town, beaches, whales

Costa Rica sounds fab! Who did you do this with? Did you book it all independently ?

Well Central America sounds fab it is one location that I have never been and I really fancy that!

Costa Rica is incredible. We booked it all ourselves but but I'm sure you could find tour operators who provide a package. We did a sort of figure of 8 trip around the country. Landed in the capital and headed East to the Atlantic / Carribean coast (where some of the completely empty beaches actually smelled like a Bounty ad - coconut wafting across golden sands and turquoise water). We travelled down that coast, saw turtles laying eggs on the beach, butterflies as big as both my hands etc. Went back into the centre of the country, went White water rafting, bathed in
Hot springs at the foot of a spluttering active volcano, explored the rainforest canopy on suspended paths through the trees then made our way across to the pacific coast where we relaxed on the beach enjoying sunsets for a few days before heading home.

Florida keys with teenagers is great. would love to take them to venezuela and hawaii.

Why don't you look at explore / adventure companies family trips , they have other family's on them , tend to have a lot to see and do . So in one way great for everyone involved although some of them can be a bit pricey . Booking your own flights allows you to get flights that bit cheaper if you book in advance and they do teenager trips . You then can look at lots of countries . You can also ask about ages of other children on trip and weather there boys or girls . So if not booking a teenage trip you then know that there at least a child your son age on the trip .

A cruise? If you Google 'cruise with teens' quite a few hits come up for cruises that cater especially well for tweens/teens.
Happy holidays!