An adventure for last posh family hol for 15 years!!

[sleepdodger]

Ds will be starting school next sept and I want us to have a fab family hol away before he does before we're tied to school extortion dates
I'm well aware at 4 an adventure for him will be camping in garden but would like us to do something as a more 'adventure' experience hol as a last chance before years if camping await- nothing wrong with that but I'm sure to get the idea!
Where would you recommend?
Flight no more than 8 hours
Ideally something animal based, something different culturally, suitable as in safe for children and preferably less jabs needed better, and less if time zone change better!
Budget is flexible at this stage as till I can suss out where might be best to go I can't establish whether we can afford it or not but we're not a flash holiday family at all
In my mind was somewhere like Sri Lanka seeing elephants etc?
Suggestions pls!
Thanks in advance

Hi Sleepdodger

Sri Lanka would be perfect but it's an 11 hour flight. Got everything though, food great, not too expensive and things for both kids and parents to enjoy.

India is closer - 8/9 hours or so. More child friendly than many people think, and there's wildlife to see in various locations.

Thailand perhaps? The south of Thailand has Khao Sok National Park - you can get very close to elephants there, helping to wash and feed them (but not ride). Beaches of southern Thailand nearby.

Hope that helps!

TravelLocal

There's a website (explore.co.uk, I think) with holiday ideas for families.

Have you considered Namibia. Plenty wildlife. Safe, lovely people, lots of adventure. No jet lag and direct flight.

How exciting! Have you thought about Morocco? We went pre-DC and thought how fab it would be to take kids. 4 hr -ish flight, lovely weather in spring, camels, Arabic architecture and interesting markets. Try responsible travel website or naturally Morocco - the latter do bespoke trips so you could chat to them about your requirements, they're v helpful. Have fun!

We went to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand in November and whilst the flight time from the UK is probably more than 8 hours I would whole-heartedly recommend it. There is loads to do there - Patara Elephant Farm and zip-lining through the jungle to see wild gibbons were among the highlights for us. Amazing food too :~)

Florida and Florida Keys is a fab destination. There's a Turtle Hospital in Marathon and you will be able to see sea turtles coming into lay their eggs in season (we went early July but think season lasts till September). Best wildlife experience of my life so far (and I've travelled a lot). The sunsets down there are amazing. Obviously there are also alligators, manatees and dolphins to see. Plus you'd be able to pop into Disney etc - we took our DS at the same age and it was amazing.

I'd also add South Africa - we've been looking at that for this year as we'd like to do safari but the malaria risk puts me off many destinations. Flight is approx 6 hours I think and no time difference. Many of the camps are malaria free and if you time your visit, you can go whale watching too. That's definitely on my must do list.

Sorry got the flight time wrong to South Africa - more like 11 hours it seems.

Most of SA not malarial, direct flights 11 hrs, whales in winter only (southern hemisphere), bargain right now as rand so weak God help those of us living here converting to £s : (

And 1-2 hr time difference

When we went to Cape Town it was my best long haul flight by far. We took of in the evening. Had something to eat, watched two films, slept for a good few hours and arrived in the morning with absolutely no jet lag. We checked into the hotel unpacked had a mooch around, lunch at the hotel and of we went sightseeing. I think the time difference is nearly as important as flight time.

Definitely South Africa!

There are a few companies that specialise in doing these sort of holidays. Have a read through the sites and that will definitely give you plenty of good ideas:-

www.wildfrontierstravel.com/gb/wild-world/wild-child

www.exodus.co.uk/families/activities/family-wildlife-safaris

www.explore.co.uk/family-holidays