Welcome to Mumsnet's holiday forum. Discuss all international travel here, including both shorthaul and longhaul trips. Related topics: UK holidays & day trips, skiing, camping & campervans.
Welcome to Mumsnet's holiday forum. Discuss all international travel here, including both shorthaul and longhaul trips. Related topics: UK holidays & day trips, skiing, camping & campervans.
Holidays
If you had to pick an amazing holiday for a 3 year old, what would it be?
Yebbie · 08/03/2022 09:21
We've had some really lovely UK breaks on caravan parks and a couple of abroad beach holidays and son has loved them and they've been really special. We have our second due very soon and know holidays won't really be the same until youngest is around two so will be looking at just UK breaks while they're tiny so squeezing in one last bigger holiday with 3yo beforehand.
But what? Was going to book the same Spanish break we did last time but then thought is there something better. I'd like to wait with Disney until I can bring both. Is there something I'm not thinking of? Cruise ships look pretty insane these days with the stuff on them has anyone done something like that? Just want something really special.
BrieAndChilli · 08/03/2022 09:38
we went to a Eurocamp in northern italy. near a lovely town called caorle.
The camp had private access to a lovely sandy beach (which was sectioned off with long pier type things so handy for keeping kids contained abit! and was shallow water.
it had an amaziing set of pools - a giant pirate ship waterpark and all the sunbeds were bookable and most of them were 2 feet away from the pool
The camp also had several little parks dotted around plus a bigger park.
it then had a 'main street' that had shops and resturants etc and at night had an inflatable play park and some little fair rides.
Lorryload · 08/03/2022 09:40
The TUI Blue range is absolutely amazing. Kids' clubs are fantastic, so you get a couple of hours off too.
Erinyes · 08/03/2022 09:42
I agree with a pp that you should choose something to suit you, and your three year old will be delighted to have fun with relaxed, happy parents doing almost anything.
Choosing something child-focused when they’re that young can backfire — I remember a despairing phone call from a friend who had scrimped and saved to bring her pre-schooler abroad on a special, child-focused holiday before she had a new sibling, and said pre-schooler decided on the first day that she hated sand and was afraid of water and couldn’t touch either, so the parents spent a week with a child who screamed every time a splash from the pool sprinkled her, and refused to set foot on the beach.
LizzieSiddal · 08/03/2022 09:43
I too would go to Mallorca or Minorca. Short flight, very family friendly, you’ll have a fab time.
Keep it simple, and you’ll have a fab time.
Changechangychange · 08/03/2022 09:51
Things DS has loved:
Glamping - still raves about the cabin with a hammock, the animals outside, the campfire.
Harder to replicate, but we stayed in Algonquin Provincial Park when he was 2.5, in cabins, and did some hiking, saw moose, beaver lodges, did a kayak trip, etc. Also still raves about that.
Malta/beach holiday with lots of tropical fish and a nice pool, plus Neolithic caves etc. Obviously he doesn’t appreciate they were Neolithic, but he definitely remembers the caves.
Skiing - he played in the snow but also remembers the Igloo (it was a man-made bar), drinking hot chocolate, and the hotel swimming pool.
Things he hasn’t liked - long travelling, multiple connections. Just doesn’t appreciate distance, so gets pissy about all of it. So I wouldn’t book anything too far from a major airport (no Greek islands etc).
Yebbie · 08/03/2022 09:52
@FinallyFluid
I hate when people have this attitude about taking kids places. We spent a week abroad with our son when he was two, he ran in and out of the sea grinning, he saw all the fish swimming around his feet and was squealing with happiness, he spent the majority of the week in the sunshine grinning, he sat at a tapas restaurant and tried almost everything and loved it, we went to a safari park and he was amazed by it all, we went on a boat trip to see some animals and he still asks if we can do it again now he's nearly 3. He may not remember when he's older but for me and his dad it's some of the most precious memories ever, we will never forget the happiness that week, the photos are on the wall, we have videos to look back on. What a miserable life it would be to not do stuff while they're little because they won't remember..
Yebbie · 08/03/2022 09:52
Lots more suggestions thanks! I will spend the day having a look into them all.
RosesAndHellebores · 08/03/2022 09:56
Buckets, spades, paddling, crabbing, rock pools, laughter. We had fabulous holidays in England at that stage.
MaryAndHerNet · 08/03/2022 09:57
I wouldn't, because on 3 years they'll not remember it.
A day at the park with an ice cream and trip to the petting zoo will stick in their minds more than hours of travel and boredom.
FinallyFluid · 08/03/2022 09:59
If you want me to be really picky the OP was an amazing holiday for a three year old.
My answer was factual, he won't remember.
Now if the question had been what magical holiday can we bring our three year old on that will give us amazing memories, the answer may have been different.
Snoken · 08/03/2022 10:02
@MaryAndHerNet
A day at the park with an ice cream and trip to the petting zoo will stick in their minds more than hours of travel and boredom.
Why does it matter if they remember it? The point is to go and have a lovely time together as a family. Not to brag about it 10 years later. You can apply that to anything otherwise. No point in having a birthday party for a child, they won't remember it. No point in buying them a toy they like to play with, they won't remember it. No point in father Christmas, they won't remember he ever came before the age of 5.
MaryAndHerNet · 08/03/2022 10:05
No point in having a birthday party for a child, they won't remember it. No point in buying them a toy they like to play with, they won't remember it. No point in father Christmas, they won't remember he ever came before the age of 5.
You're absolutely right.
That's why parents shouldn't fall into the trap of thinking that these things are for the child, they're not, they're for the adults.
If people want to do what a 3 year old would.love, it isn't 13 hours of travelling, it's mess and muck and sweets.
The travelling and 'makong memories' is purely.for that adult.
justpicksomething · 08/03/2022 10:06
Really special for a 3yo?
Efteling.
I can't think of anything more magical at that age.
DockOTheBay · 08/03/2022 10:07
He won't remember or know that you've spent loads on an amazing break. I would probably go for the normal beach holiday or caravan break which I'm sure he will absolutely love, and save the money for a big holiday when they're both old enough to enjoy it.
Dawnofthefed · 08/03/2022 10:08
I think 3 year old prefer to holiday without having to wait around in airports or spend time on flights or transfers. They mostly prefer somewhere nearby with a beach, a playpark, ice cream and a farm.
TheresSomebodyAtTheDoorNeil · 08/03/2022 10:08
Efteling also has a donkey that you feed money to and golden coins come flying out of its backside😂😂😂
LethargeMarg · 08/03/2022 10:09
My kids preferred holidays abroad from school age. They always got tired and irritable on the beach and pool quickly at that age. I think for age three something with a pool and kids activities in the uk is best for three year old happiness . And they love a caravan or lodge- something a bit different but not to unfamiliar
Abouttimemum · 08/03/2022 10:09
Yes I agree entirely, DS is nearly 3 and I do plan to take him to Disneland next year when he’s 4 and before school. I’m not really fussed that he won’t remember in a few years, because it’ll be worth it for the fun he has in the moment, and the fact DH and I will love it too.
Yebbie · 08/03/2022 10:14
I'm amazed by eurocamp prices? Can get a week in a lodge for £200, adding ferry is between £50-150.. I'm looking in May. Is there some catch and everything will be closed? 😂
Hugasauras · 08/03/2022 10:18
But not remembering something doesn't mean that you don't get pleasure in it. I always see this argument and it's so weird. My DD won't remember her third birthday party but she had an absolute blast on the day. It's the same with holidays.
TheresSomebodyAtTheDoorNeil · 08/03/2022 10:19
Also check out Polynesian lodge resort. The pools there are amazing as is the beach, there are countless activities on site and it has a huge amphitheatre for shows. It also has a train station over the road for trains direct to Barcelona and buses go direct to portaventura.
Kids do remember these things, my dd still goes on about seeing an octopus and it swimming round her feet when she was about two, she also remembers sitting by a tree stump with her little fishing net trying to catch a lizard that was hiding in there and she's 23 now.
I find the attitude that taking small kids travelling and giving them experiences pointless ' because they won't remember' odd..... It comes from people who are for their own reasons bitter at what life has handed to them. 
coloradoqueen · 08/03/2022 10:30
Cala'n forcat in Menorca used to be great when ours were little. There was a lovely little water park, and all the bars had play areas/bouncy castles for the kids.
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