5 weeks in August - single mum and 5 year old dd

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I have been granted term time only, and want to make the most of it. I'm a single parent to a 5 year old daughter. Pre kids I did a lot of backpacking. Always constrained by time though as could never get more than 3 weeks in a row off work. Ive travelled in India, Cambodia, thailand, egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, turkey, most of Europe, US, mexico.
I'm trying to think where to go this summer, I can go from 2nd August until schools go back, so 5 weeks. Any recommendations? My daughter is very extroverted and confident, likes the usual kids things which are everywhere..theme parks, zoos etc, so I thought rather than spend the summer doing those things in the UK we should make the most of the luxury of TIME.. funds aren't limitless though, so would be travelling backpacker style. I don't mind revisiting places I've been before
Possibilities are

1. Trip around eastern Europe - ive already visired croatoa, so Albania, Montenegro, Slovenia, Hungary (already been to budapest), may be Romania?
2. Trip around South East Asia - I've been to Thailand and Cambodia so visit Vietnam and Bali (Always wanted to visit bali), also always wanted to visit Japan (realise this is a very expensive destination)
3. South American trip? I'm going to macchu picchu this year without my daughter, other than that have not visited anywhere in South /central America
4. Travel the silk road
5. Road trip of usa/ Canada?

Any recommendations? My daughter is a good traveller, but don't want her to get ill...otherwise we would be travelling in India but I always get really ill whenever I do there

Some of these destinations may be better when she’s a bit older and if not appreciate them completely, not be bored senseless? I used to back pack a lot as well and grew up internationally so have tried to expose my DDs to as much travel and experience as possible. I have to be honest though, on the historic and cultural front they’ve often not exactly been thrilled to dragged around multiple temples, historic sites & museums (although some of it has sunk in and both got better with age!). Maybe do a scaled down version of what you’d do on a solo trip, fewer destinations, lots of wildlife, beaches and only one or two major historic sites? Canada and the US worked well for me when eldest DD was younger and youngest DD liked Costa Rica at 6. Your itineraries look great - I’d do them with you but if it was me, I’d scale it back. You’ve said you plan to travel backpacked style - I’ve stayed in many many hostels when I was younger & some of the third world ones were pretty grim looking back. Would your budget stretch to AirBnB or guesthouses? With a pretty young DD might be more salubrious and safer?

Backpacker not backpacked!

I remember looking at a travel Instagram thingy with kids and they said they look for parks wherever they are. So keep it low key but also get some adult bits in?

Maybe Scandinavia - Copenhagen good for few days for Tivoli etc then Stockholm in nice, we stayed at alpaca B&B 2 hours north Norrangens Alpacka where you can feed / walk alpacas. In Finland we did Arola Bears where you can see brown bears in the wild (but kids do need to be able to be quiet for 5 hours so maybe a bit young - stops mid August). AirBNB can be reasonably priced, very safe, very low risk of illness and not too hot. Lots of reindeer in Finland and can do moose safaris. Norway very beautiful but very pricey, good for fjords and viking things.

Australia might be worth looking at though pricey flights and long journey but safe and low risk of illness, not too hot. Great Barrier Reef, loads of animals, koalas, tree kangaroos, possum, pademelon, etc, boats to see whales and dolphins from Sydney / Port Stephens, kangaroos in Blue Mountains. Could stop off in Singapore and do zoo / night safari etc. Probably better when older, depends if have 5 weeks off in future.

I live in Australia, and Sydney is not very pleasant in August. Bloody freezing ( 5 or 6 degrees some mornings near Manly) and wet, and I think it is a bit of a wasted trip to come all this way and not be able to enjoy the "australian postcard" made of beach life.

Bali is great for kids. People are so kind and kid loving. The flight is long but not too long. However 5 weeks might be a bit too long.

What about touring Italy? I know it is considered too hot for many, but I don't mind hot at all and August is cooler than July. Plenty to see going down one cost and coming up the other with stops in Sicily and Sardinia and I assure you some beaches in Sardinia have nothing to envy to Asia. Italians are super friendly with kids, you can combine some historic sites with lazy beaches with great food at every corner as long as you avoid the touristic places. Italy gives you plenty to do for 5 weeks.

I wasn't suggesting 5 weeks in Sydney or going for beaches - lots of beautiful beaches in Europe and certainly a lot closer than Australia, no point travelling all that way for beaches. My kids weren't that interested in beaches but loved wildlife but each to their own. Our BA flights went into Sydney so then you go onto Cairns which was perfect that time of year for us, around 27C.

Agree Italy is nice.

Thankyou all for the responses

It is basically what I feared – that she will be bored senseless! I always found that when travelling – the children weren’t interested. I also have found that when travelling with her in Europe and thinking what a waste it is – we went to Italy last summer and she wasn’t interested in the amazing things we saw – she just wanted to get back to our accommodation as there was an English boy there to play with!

Maybe I will scale this back to a 3 week trip, and leave around 7 august and come back 1st September (schools go back on 3rd)

I think a tour of Italy is the way forward, I never get bored in Italy and it is so easy to travel around – we could also do a Eurocamp in Italy for a week to break things up

I’m also tempted by eastern Europe - whihc is much cheaper!

Fly to berlin
Interrail around
Warsaw
Krakow
Prague
Vienna
Bratislava
Budapest
Belgrade

Fly home

Scandinavia is gorgeous but so expensive - I think that expense really would be wasted on a 4 year old!

I think interrailing with a 5 year old is a great idea!

I'd stick to Europe this year and save the further flung places for when she's old enough to really enjoy them and remember them.

Thank you for the support - I was worried i was going to get lots of "you must be mad" comments

I'd start with Europe for her first trip then build up. She'll benefit a lot more culturally being a bit older i think. I travelled a lot with DD's when younger and dd now 10 doesn't remember much from when she was 5. We had 8 holidays that year and it can take a bit of prompting to remember much of it at all.

I wouldn’t go to either Vienna or Belgrade I think - I’ve been to both on an inter rail and they both palled in comparison to other cities and left me flat. Your itinerary is very city based - perhaps mix some countryside and seaside in? One city after another might be a little dull for a 5 year old and there’s nothing worse than dragging around a bored child! We do a lot of train travel and DD is used to it so did 3-4 hour journeys from an early age. I’d recommend giving yourself more time than usual for boarding - my younger DD got a bit anxious when small with double closing automatic doors and dragging luggage through multiple compartments to find our booked seats.

There’s no reason you can’t have an adventure, it’s just likely to be a bit different! I’ve been told more than once by parents that when you have children, travelling is a thing of the past and what’s best for kids are AI resorts, kids clubs etc. I do disagree on this (but each to their own) and don’t loose the wanderlust!

Thanks for the comment
SJane S48 - the main draw in vienna is the hunterwasser house which I loved and thought she would do too, but agree maybe some beaches etc. Which cities did you visit which you enjoyed most?

We have done the holidays with AI resorts, and kids clubs - whilst DD enjoys them, she is old enough now to do and see a bit more. I was thinking cities as all cities have attractions children enjoy like zoos etc and rather than spend the summer visiting this sort of thing in the UK we could do it abroad.

Would you consider a cruise, then your DC would have lots of activities on the ship and you could go off exploring together during the day? I know you’d have the time restrictions depending on time in ports but it could be a good compromise. I’ve cruised 11 times with my DC and we’ve seen some really amazing sights. When my DC were younger we’d often pick the family friendly excursions which worked out really well.

Thanks Lippy - yes, I would consider a cruise, it's the cost of them that seems a bit daunting though , are there any reasonably priced ones?

Hi! Single parent here. I have done city breaks with my DC. We’ve done Barcelona for example which was awesome and did zoo, aquarium, science museum, cable car, gaudi stuff as well as playparks and beach, going out for tapas. Airbnb’s have been easy and in Norway picked one with play stuff in the garden. They have loved staying on farms. Other children around gives you some downtime. I am so excited for you! I’ve tried to pick cities near beach or countryside so we can mix it up but have not been able to travel for more than 2 weeks at a time. I got her a small camera and a scrap book to stick tickets etc which was popular.

changedtempforprivacy Cruises aren’t usually much more than all inclusive holidays. It is just a case of doing a lot of research to find a good deal. I like to use Iglu cruise , you type in a region and the month in the search bar and you’ll see all the options available. If you think you’d be happy with a window (ocean view) instead of a balcony you will save quite a bit of money.

I’m currently sitting in Phu Wuoc after doing 2 weeks touring Vietnam.

Some bits are mental busy.. Hanoi. But there are some great places thT would be very do-able: Han Long Bay boat trip for a few nights, Ho Ann and evening HCMC. Phu Quoc is beautiful too and very beachy. You could combine with Cambodia, Hong Kong or similar. It’s very cheap here still: 30p for a beer, £2 cocktails

Dp and I backpacked before having dd and have just carried on. She was never bored as a baby or toddler (she wasn't interested in where we were but happily pottered around and we enjoyed the sights) and we didn't hear "I'm bored" until she was about 8.

We did a successful holifay to Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo snd Brunei when she was just under 5. Great mixture of beaches, wildlife (eg orang utan sanctuary in Borneo) and jungle (we stayed in a camp in Malaysia for a couple of days). Also child-friendly stuff in the cities eg science museums in KL and Singapore.

No need to stop backpacking just because you have children.

Thank you so much everyone for the encouragement! I'm now thinking of a interrailing holiday around europe as a gentle start - going back to places I would like to see more of in eastern europe. I think she won;t be bored as there are plenty of kid friendly things to do there.

On thing i think would really help would be taking a friend with us - that has worked really well on other holidays, as he has a playmate but it is finding a family with the same amount of time..