Long haul places to go with baby

[sageandbasil]

DH and I are planning a long haul trip next year, around feb/March time. We will have DD 15/16 months. We were thinking Mauritius but wondered if anyone had any other suggestions/recommendations of places/ family friendly hotels please

If you’re set on long haul Asia is fantastic with kids. Bali would be my choice staying in a villa near Seminyak and then Ubud.

Would like to go somewhere that isn't in Europe and ideally not the Caribbean as DH has family there so we visit St Lucia a lot. Could go to another part tho. Will look at Bali

Thankyou^

I've travelled to St James Club Antigua when DD was that age.

(Although a xpost with "not the Caribbean" there!)

Anywhere! Honestly, travel with them as young as possible to get them to used to. Bali is fantastic, we love the Caribbean but I’ve seen you don’t want to go there.

South Africa.

Only issue with long haul at that age though is that they aretoo young for their own seat and the bassinet/seats are often too small. So the flight can be uncomfortable.

Yes, I agree with this. Assuming you will be travelling economy (if business or first you can ignore this), ask to sit at the front of the economy section (travellers with babies/under 2s will usually be put there anyway, but make sure you request that's where you are), and you should have the partition in front of you, which gives you a bit of extra legroom. Take a blanket or eiderdown or something that can be put on the floor and make your DD a little play area on the floor by your feet. You won't want her on your laps the whole way and she will be bored, hot and fidgety. Understand that you will probably do a lot of walking up and down the aisles with her at that age. TBH, I minimised long haul between starting to walk and about 4 years old, because it's just fucking hard work!

That's for the tips regarding the flights.
We usually fly business but I don't know if we can now. We’ll prob go pre eco. Yeah it's not going to be a fun flight. Maybe we should go closer to home.

Love South Africa but would love to take her on a safari and she's a bit young atm which is sad

Yes sorry I wasn't recommending South Africa - I've never been! If I were you though, I'd choose a lovely, luxurious hotel somewhere that's warm in winter, like maybe Oman. I wouldn't get a 12-hour flight anywhere with a toddler, if I had the choice!

Oman would be superb - the shangri la just outside Muscat (or if budget is lower, the crowns place in the edge of Muscat).
4 hours time difference- that’s the key rather than travel time, hence Mauritius and S A / Mozambique also being a great call.

Crowne plaza!

We usually fly business but I don't know if we can now

if you're wondering this because of your baby rather than cost, I've seen plenty of babies/young children in business. I think it is more common on flights to holiday destinations.

We’ve taken our 14 month old on heaps of flights and find it fine - yea a bit annoying - but worth it I think! 🤣 we were just on a 3 hour flight yesterday with her and we were both exhausted after it as she decided she didn’t want to nap at all and we had to take turns holding her - luckily she will watch the iPad now a bit so that passed a bit of time for us !

We've booked to go to America in a few months so that’s a much longer flight!

way I see it is it’s just one bad day and then it’s over and you’ve the lovely holiday afterwards 🎉

I’d say Asia is a great bet tbh - maybe Thailand or Goa or something

And we are considering going business class tbh for the long haul cus I think it’s worth the money to be able to lie down with her and possibly get some sleep together rather than dealing with 8 hours of her on my lap 😂😂

I’ve seen babies in business class loads of times.

We went to Mauritius for our honeymoon and there were a few babies / young toddlers at our hotel. Happy to DM you the name if interested.

Thanks for everyone's recommendations! The Middle East was suggested to us a few times so wvee just booked Dubai. Had a companion voucher and points so decided to go business. DD will be 16 months and hopefully still as good as she is now! Thanks for all the tips

Jet lag is worse travelling east so I'd be tempted to fly west to Florida or somewhere like that so that I can make the most of the time away then deal with the disrupted sleep once back home in own beds. But my kids were terrible sleepers while young and all my holiday memories from that time are marred by sleep deprivation so appreciate my opinion may be biased!

Sorry just seen that I'm late to the party and you've booked! Dubai sounds great!

We went to Dubai with DS when he was 10 months. It was great for him. We took a few days to Abu Dhabi as well which was amazing. We went to the grand mosque which is well worth a visit.

Why would you want to fly long haul? Bad for the environment and long flights are tiresome and unhealthy.
Morocco is hot exotic and near, no time difference either.

@Iwanttenofthose ah damn it 🤦🏽‍♀️ our flight times are good so hopefully itl be okay!

@Twizbe would you mind sharing where you stayed please? There's so many hotels so hard to know where to go. Going to another part for a few days is a good idea too. On the list thank you.

@Etinoxaurus we haven't had a holiday for over 3 years we just want to go somewhere abit further away. Morocco is still a plane journey away so not great for the planet either

Sure, we stayed in a double tree by the mall of the emirates. We had points for there. Hotel was ok but not a great pool. We wouldn't go back there.

In Abu Dhabi we stayed at the emirates palace hotel. It was really nice but I got a stomach bug while there so didn't get to enjoy the whole thing.

Thank you! How frustrating for you!