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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Your best abroad holiday with a 4 year old!

18 replies

Jet888 · 02/05/2021 08:44

So, what was the best overseas holiday you did with a 4 year old that had lots of things to entertain? (Will have 2 year old too but he is easy!)
When I say abroad I'm looking at Europe rather than florida, Caribbean etc( I can dream!)
Summer holidays as I'm a teacher. This would be next summer forward planning (assuming covid allows etc)
Would really like to hear the best trip you did or that you've heard about. (We're doing a uk one already and haven't been abroad for years so would love to go!) Thankyou all x

OP posts:
Zodlebud · 02/05/2021 09:23

Mauritius at the Heritage Awali. The main school summer holidays is their winter but temperatures are still lovely and warm. It can be rather windy on the East Coast but on the South and West it’s absolutely fine.

You say you’re thinking Europe, but it was actually thousands of pounds cheaper than going to Europe (which is why we went). It was just over £4,000 for four of us flying BA, All Inclusive for two weeks. I had quotes for several AI places in Europe that were twice that.

Of course not everyone can drop a grand per person on a holiday, but the food, accommodation and activities were excellent and by the time you’ve factored in the costs of eating out, drinks and activities in the Med we were quids in. My kids loved the kids club as they did things like glass bottom boat rides, crab racing, treasure hunts, tie dying and cooking. You could just drop them off too - no need to pre book.

Who knows what their pricing is like post Covid but it was absolutely fabulous and great value for money.

sunsetsand · 02/05/2021 09:52

"You say you’re thinking Europe, but it was actually thousands of pounds cheaper than going to Europe (which is why we went). It was just over £4,000 for four of us flying BA, All Inclusive for two weeks."

That can't be right. Who did you book with?

ShanghaiDiva · 02/05/2021 09:59

We rented a house in the Netherlands at the end of August. Schools go back earlier than the uk so price was reasonable. We booked with a company called roompot.

Hellohah · 02/05/2021 10:03

@Zodlebud

Mauritius at the Heritage Awali. The main school summer holidays is their winter but temperatures are still lovely and warm. It can be rather windy on the East Coast but on the South and West it’s absolutely fine.

You say you’re thinking Europe, but it was actually thousands of pounds cheaper than going to Europe (which is why we went). It was just over £4,000 for four of us flying BA, All Inclusive for two weeks. I had quotes for several AI places in Europe that were twice that.

Of course not everyone can drop a grand per person on a holiday, but the food, accommodation and activities were excellent and by the time you’ve factored in the costs of eating out, drinks and activities in the Med we were quids in. My kids loved the kids club as they did things like glass bottom boat rides, crab racing, treasure hunts, tie dying and cooking. You could just drop them off too - no need to pre book.

Who knows what their pricing is like post Covid but it was absolutely fabulous and great value for money.

Wow, you got a good deal. I paid £4500 for me and a 10 year old for 2 weeks at that exact hotel.
User27aw · 02/05/2021 10:07

www.serfaus-fiss-ladis.at/en/Summer-holiday/Families

We went to this area in 2019. Our youngest was 7 but there were lots of other younger children there. It is the Austrian Alps and they have 'fun parks' at the top of mountains. All accessible by cable cars you dont need to walk much at all if you dont want to. The fun parks have petting zoos, the most imaginative playgrounds i have ever seen, bouncing pillows, great cafes, themed trails for little kids, boating lakes, little rafts, artificial streams that kids play in and dam, mountain coasters which were fantastic, go karts. At the valley bottom there were free swimming parks.

givememarmite · 02/05/2021 10:46

A week at the Lopesan Baobab Hotel in Gran Canaria. They have an amazing lazy river pool with a sloping beach/sea entry area. It's perfect with little kids. There is a also a proper, separate kids pool but we just stayed at the other one all the time as it was so easy and relaxing. There's a couple of other pools including an adult only one so you don't feel like you're disturbing others if you don't use the kids pool. There is a kids club but we didn't use it, DD just joined in with a couple of games very now and then. She loved the mini disco in the evening though, we usually had dinner, went to that and then walked down to the promenade area for a wander in the evenings.
There are lots of activities you can do in the area, we went to the bird park and visited the town and harbour Mogan which is really pretty.
We loved it so much we went back twice Grin

Original poster
Jet888 · 02/05/2021 15:37

Wow, loving these ideas! Think Mauritius not quite our budget at present! Maybe in the future il go without the kids!

OP posts:
zafferana · 02/05/2021 16:00

When our kids were that sort of age we did several holidays that were basically a group of holiday cottages around a fenced pool with a garden full of toys and that sort of holiday was perfect - very easy and relaxing and the kids loved it. They were absolutely NOT in the same league as the gorgeous hotels listed above, but depending on your budget they might suit you more.

We went to Grange du Moulin in Charente Maritime, Emerald Coast Gites in Brittany and Pian di Cascina in Umbria. We also loved Efteling in Holland. You can drive there quite easily from the UK using the Eurotunnel and stopping in Bruges (very nice for a couple of nights with DC).

Ducksurprise · 02/05/2021 16:05

Tui holiday Village, any of them except Costa del sol. Honestly it's a four year olds dream. Happy kid happy parent IMHO.

Mixingitall · 02/05/2021 16:07

When our boys were small the best holidays were October half term somewhere easy, like Ibiza and Majorca. It’s normally 22-25 degrees, and we would hire a car and see the island, visit different beaches and go with the flow. We would play in the beach all day, have long lunches and eat in at the villa.

Jjjjjj1981 · 02/05/2021 16:09

Berlin every time. Parks on every corner, kids cafes, easily accessible transport, lots of attractions, really child friendly. We had an amazing time when my DS was about that age.

Original poster
Jet888 · 02/05/2021 16:11

@User27aw can I ask which of the 3 villages you stayed at? I showed these ideas to my husband and when he heard Alps and childcare his 'yes' was incredibly speedy! I'm assuming plenty of lovely alpine-ness for parents to enjoy if kids are in the kids club for a few hours?

OP posts:
troppibambini6 · 02/05/2021 16:15

We did a holiday village in Majorca and it was like hell on earth. I really wouldn't recommend at all. Horrible food, horrible drunk people smoking everywhere it was rough and awful.

User27aw · 02/05/2021 17:15

[quote Jet888]@User27aw can I ask which of the 3 villages you stayed at? I showed these ideas to my husband and when he heard Alps and childcare his 'yes' was incredibly speedy! I'm assuming plenty of lovely alpine-ness for parents to enjoy if kids are in the kids club for a few hours?[/quote]
We actually stayed a couple of miles outside this area in an airbnb in a village called Prutz. Most days we drove to Ladis and got the cable car from Ladis to Fiss. One day we got several more cable cars to Serfaus. I don't know anything about the kids clubs tbh 95% of the other tourists were German/Austrian, I assume all the kids clubs were in german but i didnt look into them as my kids were older.
We paid about£ 80 per adult to get unlimited cable car trips. I think you might get a free pass if you stay in Fiss, Serfaus Ladis area, the accommodation there looked a bit more expensive though.
Having looked again at your kids ages, I wouldnt have taken my kids until they were say 5 and 7 type of ages. It was a great holiday but a very busy active one. We flew to Innsbruck with Easyjet.

zafferana · 02/05/2021 18:12

If you and your DH like the sound of an Alpine holiday @Jet888 you might want to look at Kinderhotels and Familotels:

www.kinderhotels.com/
www.familotel.com/en/

Hoppinggreen · 02/05/2021 18:15

I can’t remember the exact place but when DD was that age we went to The Austrian alps in a Kinderhotel, loved it

Alfaix · 03/05/2021 14:30

Zafiro Menorca, self catering in an apartment with its own garden.
Pirate ship pool and a fun kids club. Sun lounger in the garden while DS was at kids club 10-12, pool in the afternoon.
Breakfast and lunch in the garden. Wander in to Cala n Bosch marina for dinner and look at the boats.

BatleyTownswomensGuild · 03/05/2021 18:46

At 4 our kid was happy with a beach, a park and a swimming pool. Just keep it simple. We went to Corsica and had a lovely time.

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