Looking for ideas for destination for dream holiday for me and dd.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Come to the conclusion that life's too short and as I have a fair bit of money saved up I think while dd is still wanting to come on holiday with me I'd like to take her for an awesome holiday.

We have fairly differing ideas of what constitutes awesome.

Dd's ideal destination is firstly one which doesn't require vaccinations. She'd like a nice pool, probably a beach and places to see, things to do.

I'd like it to be warm/hot. Safe. I'd like to see different cultures, sights, etc.

Some ideas I've got are Borneo, Vietnam, Thailand, Costa Rica, Nepal, carribean? But I don't know good places/where to go/what to do in those places. Oh and dd says she doesn't want to go anywhere there might be a tsunami or earthquake.

I wouldn't want to just sit on a beach for two weeks.

I'd like to go further than Europe.

I don't want to go Middle East or Egypt or turkey.

I'm leaning towards an escorted/organised tour. I've gone to Thailand in the past on my own with no plans and gone with the throw but with been responsible for dd and it just the two of us I feel I need some sort of safety net. But then all the places like Explore, etc are expensive and also they seem to rush from one location to another every day. I don't want to spend the holiday travelling as I want to relax.

I want somewhere with pool, and beach and rainforest/jungle with canopy walks, elephant treks, wildlife spotting, pony treks, ruined temples, breathtaking sights.

I'd be looking at spending approx 3-4k for the holiday plus food.

Viva have you considered a cruise? We did our first this year and can't wait to go on another. Amazing food, loads to do and you get to see lots of places

Caribbean cruise.. Good food, good pool and see loads of sights. Definitely worth the money

How about Ecuador? Mayan cities, the Andes, rainforest, lovely beaches, active volcanoes?

Vietnam is great. You can do city, beaches, inland historical and a huge variety. If you look at a holiday company like Hayes and Jarvis or kuoni for ideas that might help. Some do packages with flights in one airport and out the other, with a variety of hotels/ sights/ boat travel in between

I hadn't thought of a cruise at all. Mmmm, I like the idea of your bedroom been in the same place every night but think I might get bored/cooped up on a boat?? Will look at some schedules of carribean cruises.

Ecuador sounds nice. Mayan cities sound good.

Thanks.

We went on a royal Caribbean cruise and the boat was gigantic, not once did we feel cooped up definitely worth considering!

Mexico? Avoid Cancun, but Some of the resorts further south are lovely & there's great things to see eg Chichen Itza, Xel-Ha, Xcaret

Cambodia is on my dream holiday list but waaay out my current price range. But if you're flush?? Luxury and amazing sights to see look at kuoni they have some incredible water bungalows!

Have just found out Thailand has a rainforest at khao sok which I didn't know about. It looks nice, maybe not as much wildlife as Costa Rica.

Decided against a cruise.

I keep coming back to Costa Rica but don't want a tour where we're moving onto different places all the time. Will have to get a guidebook and investigate best resorts to stay in.

Sri Lanka?
Malaysia or Borneo?
South Africa?

Sri Lanka is Gorgeous.

Cuba . Swim with dolohins , amazing beaches, city tour, amazing excursions .

Malaysia... You could do Borneo (Kota Kinabalu), orangutans, jungle/mountain treks, snorkelling/diving... You could then fly on to a different Malaysian island, Langkawi is stunning.

Alternatively, how about India?? How old is your DD? You could do Goa and then down to Kerala, houseboat, backwaters etc, very beautiful and would be a great experience for DD.

Hasn't Sri Lanka got a war going on at the minute?

Cuba doesn't have monkeys. If I'm going to a rainforest it needs monkeys, and ideally parrots.

Dd is nearly 13. Not keen on the idea of India. Worried about safety and getting the shits.

"Hasn't Sri Lanka got a war going on at the minute?"

Perhaps. You should maybe make that the first priority to avoid. No war is definitely a good reason to stay away.

I mean, WAR is a good reason to stay away. NOt a good reason NOt to stay away.

Costa Rica is fab. So much wildlife, rainforests,volcanos,lovely people.
Incredibly safe and easy to move around.
If you are looking to stay in a resort perhaps look at the pacific coast but probably worth travelling around a little after going so far.

I'm going to Costa Rica in 5 weeks. It looks amazing

Langkwai looks lovely. And it seems to be fairly easy to get to Borneo from there or vice versa.

So we could go uk to kula lupa, then to Borneo. From Borneo to langkwai, spend a week on the beach relaxing and pootling about. Then back to KL and plane home.

Sounds like a plan.

Toddlewaddle - where did you stay please? I don't mind moving around a bit, just not every couple of days! I don't want to spend hours every day travelling.

NoArmani - whereabouts are you going to? It does look great. Have you got plans for rainforest excursions, etc?

Sounds like you have narrowed it down a bit! Costa Rica sounds wonderful, never been in that direction before but here good things!

Langkawi/KL/Borneo all very accessible now and would offer a nice mix of activity/beach/pootling!

Have a fab time whatever you decide.

PS- when do you plan to take the trip? Imagine weather systems are quite different in both locations.

I'm flexible about when we take the trip so would decide where to go first.

Have you looked at the family adventure holiday companies eg www.explore.co.uk. Sometimes they have Teen/Kids weeks where your dd would be guaranteed other people her own age. I am sure they do Costa Rica as I have looked at that before.

like this one