"Special" Christmas break trip: 2 weeks, 2 small kids, 2 parents, decent budget

[ToShelAndBack]

We have had an absolutely terrible year and we are in desperate need of getting away as a family over Christmas break. For once my DH and I are both able to take two weeks and we want to make it count. We have two very active DCs aged 3 and 7, and ideally we'd love a good kids' club to give us a bit of time to ourselves. We are thinking of doing a week at a resort and a week sightseeing in a nearby area. We don't want to do Florida/Caribbean/Mexico as we are American and only in the UK for a few years, so we want to take advantage of being here.

Our budget is generous (I think) but not unlimited -- I guess around 10k but we could go over that for something really luxurious. As I said, we've had a rough time lately and this is a rare opportunity for us.

Thanks for any recommendations!

Also, we don't celebrate Christmas, but we have no problem participating in Christmas festivities if that's what's going on wherever we are.

What about Thailand? Lots to see and do, could scombine with a few days in Singapore or Hong Kong?

With a budget like that I'd have said Lapland. Failing that Maldives, Tenerife, skiing in France. With £1k a day to spend the world is your oyster! Australia? New Zealand. Only you know what will work for you.

Go to a travel agent, tell them your likes and dislikes ages of,your children and budget and they'll be able to find something.

Lapland is magical in the winter, beautiful pristine snow. Yes, it is cold, but a dry cold that you can mitigate by dressing appropriately. Even if you aren't keen on skiing there are other things you can do - sleigh rides, huskies/sledding, snow mobiles. If you have £££, Swedish Lapland is an option (more pricy than Finland) & they have good ice hotels & Abisko sky station is supposed to be one of the best places in the world to see the aurora borealis. The kids may also enjoy a trip to Santa land.

We spent one Christmas skiing in Austria when I was about 8 and I still remember how magical it was. Christmas itself was not a huge deal - think the hotel did a special meal - but there was candlelight sledging and lots of general festivities, and of course ski school (not sure if your youngest is too young for that).

Look at Mark Warner for family holidays in your price bracket. Don't know what they do in the winter but their summer holidays have excellent kids clubs.

But if you want warmth you will have to go long haul. The warmest Europe gets at Christmas is the Canary Islands at about 15 degrees c

Cape Town has good weather at Xmas. And some hotels with kids clubs although not sure about caches for the three year old, could check the one and only hotel.
Dubai
Skiing in Europe

We spent Christmas and New Year in Maldives it was deffo brill especially if you love swimming, snorkelling and scuba diving and Singapore for the city part of holiday

Or Fiji, or any South Pacific islands are amazing We love small islands

Or Australia or New Zealand not been there for Christmas but in Jan and the weather was fab

How about staying in the UK?

You could stay in a luxury hotel that really caters for families. Somewhere like this:
www.moonfleetmanorhotel.co.uk/special-offers/festive-season-2016

You could use the time to explore a part of the UK you haven't seen before. But still get pampering and luxury.

Do you want sun or snow OP?

we went to florida keys and stayed in Islamorada then did Disney in the 2 weeks over Christmas it was fab.

we went to florida keys and stayed in Islamorada then did Disney in the 2 weeks over Christmas it was fab

mummymeister, what was the weather like? I'm hoping to take the kids away for Christmas 2017, and love Florida, but I also like warm to hot weather. Was it hot enough to sunbathe and swim in the Keys?

yes budgiegirl it was plenty hot enough mid to high 20's every day. have a look at the accuweather site.

www.accuweather.com/en/us/islamorada-fl/33036/month/342720?monyr=12/01/2015

Christmas day last year 2015 was 28 degrees and 29 on boxing day.

Middle East
We stayed in Abu Dhabi and visited some of the sights. Fabulous waterpark, Ferrari world and great shopping. Dubai or Oman would be good options too.