Big family holiday - where to go?

[aliceelizaloves]

My in-laws are treating the family to a big holiday in a couple of years and we are currently trying to decide where to go. They have put aside quite a lot of money as want it to be a special, once in a lifetime experience. There will be 8 adults and 7 children ranging from between 3 years and 10 years. One of the children is very sensitive to sunlight so they can't go anywhere too hot and one has quite a few food allergies so wants to be somewhere where they can get fairly familiar food. Suggestions so far have been Canada, somewhere in Scandinavia and New England. Where would you recommend? In terms of country and also any actual accommodation you've been to which you would recommend?

Well we absolutely loved Canada and our favourite place is Tofino - you get the ferry from Vancouver and then it's about a 3 hour drive. The Crystal Cove cabins were amazing- right on the beach and we had a shared hot tub.

We also had an amazing holiday in Canada - Whistler and Vancouver island. We stayed in Uclulet and was one of the most amazing places I've been.

Definitely Canada - and I second Vancouver Island and Whistler. We stayed in the Nikita Lake Lodge in Whistler which was nice and had free bike hire. Victoria is lovely - beautiful gardens nearby, whale watching, brilliant museum. We stayed at the Oswego hotel - good location and nice hotel.

West coast Canada is fab, but it's a loooong way! You'll need cars when you get there too. We go a bit and spend on average £5k for two of us, not necessarily splashing out!
Maybe New England would be better for such a big group.

@rookiemere
Those cabins look fab but are extortionate! $450 a night for a beach front one? We got an AirBnB cabin on the beach near Sooke and paid £600 for a week!

Thanks guys, Canada sounds amazing. I'll look up some of those places you've mentioned. So car hire is definitely necessary? Shouldn't be a problem, just checking. Is there plenty for the children to enjoy?

www.woodloch.com/

I've not been to this resort in Pennsylvania but it looks amazing. I'm planning on going when we do a big family holiday to the USA in a couple of years time. We're visiting NYC then DC and then onto here for some R&R.

Thanks zampa will take a look.

Love the idea of New England area where we can possibly visit New York for the day.

Another family member suggested Iceland, would you recommend there?

What time of year will you be going? NE and the NYC city area are extremely hot and humid from about June-Sept, so if you're going in the summer then I recommend you do the Canada option - much cooler and less sunny. Canada and the USA are very easy countries to travel in. Customer service is generally great, no language barrier, roads are big and wide (as are parking spaces), food is plentiful and there are always lots of child-friendly options. The one downside with going to the Pacific side of the continent is flying time and jet lag, the former being around 10 hours and the latter, 8 hours.