Family activity/adventure holidays

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Hi all

So we're thinking of a holiday in Europe next yr with our daughter aged 8 and did aged 6. We want to do something different which will involve some activities and a bit of adventure off the beaten track. Any ideas?

Sorry should read 8 year old DS and 6 year old DD!

Does it have to be summer? We did an amazing winter family activity week in Finland a few years ago when DC were 9 and 12.

Husky sledding, skimobiling, snow showing, northern lights, cross country skiing. Amazing holiday, not cheap but kids say it was their favourite holiday.

Oh that sounds fab but I'd prefer a bit of sunshine I think!

I read a v good review in the telegraph if an adventure holiday in Malta, sounded fabulous- snorkelling, diving, high ropes? Etc

We did scuba diving in Turkey and quad biking in Spain too.

Giraffe- how old must they be for scuba? And how far must they be able to swim?

Neilsons Are great for family activity holidays

We did scuba when dc were 10 and 13 I think. Both were good swimmers but we were never left alone underwater so we felt it was safe. We just did say trips rather than proper PADI training.

Thanks giraffe, think my youngest needs to wait a couple of years yet.

I think 6 and 8 is a bit young to find the sort of activities that you seem to be looking for. they tend to be aimed at older children for safety reasons. there are some really expensive bespoke type holiday brochures where they pull together an adventure - camping in the desert that type of thing. for activities then neilsons is the way to go but with adventure ones they usually start from 7 or 8 sometimes older.

We did a more active holiday in Slovenia last year. We did beginners white water rafting, summer tobogganing, kayaking, hiking and swimming. It was brilliant. We also stayed in a posh treehouse at Garden Village Bled.
Beautiful country, lovely weather and my 7 and 13 year old boys loved it.

Sandras...could you tell us a bit more about your holiday...who you booked it through, where you did white water rafting? Thanks

Wow that place looks fab. Who did you book it through?

I worked for Acorn Adventure years ago and in the summer holidays they did family holidays.
We were in the Italian alps and activities were white water rafting, hiking up to a glacier, rock climbing and abseiling, gorge walking, cable car up to Mont Blanc etc etc
Think min age was 8 though.

I was told about this adventure holiday company in Sweden. Www.naturetravel.co.uk. They offer log raft building and then you float down the river for 4-8 days on your raft and camp at the side of the river each night. Food can be provided but think you take everything else with you (not the raft building stuff tho!) maybe worth a look? We really fancy it for next summer 🙌🏼

Hi, I booked it all independently. Flew into Ljubljana, did a couple of nights Airbnb then picked up a hire car to drive to Bled (an hour away)

There are lots of activity agencies in Bled for rafting, the family friendly ones are in the Sava river rather than Soca.

We also really enjoyed visiting Saklikent Gorge. There's a waterfall
at the end.

Such a beautiful country and we finished our trip by driving down to Rovinj in Croatia (3hrs) for a few relaxing days. Best holiday ever.

We've done a fair amount of adventureish stuff on holiday, including in Slovenia. We stayed in a wooden cabin at Camping Sobec, near Lake Bled.
We have never dpone an organised 'Adventure Holiday' because all of this stuff is just so much better value if you just look it up online and organise it yourself. eg Lots of places abroad have High ropes type courses tailored for younger kids, loads of places do kayaking - lakes, rivers etc. Eg in the Dordogne we kayaked/canoed two different stretches of the river and went to two different high ropes places not far from the campsite we were in.

Just get a rough idea of where you want to go and google it.

We're heading to Morillon in the French Alps this summer.

There's loads to do: walking, biking, via ferrata, rafting, outdoor swimming.....

Self catering chalets are surprisingly affordable, there are meal delivery services to save cooking every night.

I can't wait!