Tell me about some of your best holidays?

[wondabar]

I am looking at booking summer holidays soon and am after some ideas of what people have considered to be some of their best holidays for inspiration. We have two teenage children and love experiencing new places. Places we have enjoyed in the past have included Cuba, Thailand and Greece.

Oh and Thailand!

China - DIY multi-centre using internal flights and trains. We started in Shanghai and moved around to Chengdu, Guilin and Yangshuo before flying home out of Shanghai. It took a lot of planning but was absolutely brilliant and everyone we met was friendly and welcoming. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'd go again, knowing what I know now about China's treatment of the Uighurs.

Mexico - DH and I went to the Riviera Maya for our honeymoon and we've booked to take the DC next year. We were based at an AI near Akumal but hired a car and drove ourselves out to Chichen Itza for a few days and on various day trips. We're planning to follow a similar itinerary with the DC: ruins at Tulum, Coba Maya and Chichen Itza, swimming/snorkeling in cenotes, snorkelling with sea turtles, taco tour of Tulum or Playa del Carmen, touring the underground Rio Secreto, an evening at Xplor Fuego etc. I can't wait TBH!

Costa Rica - we spent a week touring coast-to-coast, with nights at Rincon de la Vieja, Arenal, Sarapiqui and Tortuguero, then back via San Jose to an AI on the Pacific coast for the second week. If we go again we'll spend more time in the R. de la Vieja and Arenal areas - we were there just long enough dip a toe in the highlights and leave wanting more! Absolutely stunning scenery and wildlife and more adventure sports than you can shake a stick at. We also spent some time in Nicaragua and I'd love to go back.

Mexico was probably my favourite of the three but that might be because it was just me and DH. Ask me again when we've done our second trip!

Those that have said Canada, where did you visit? My finger is hovering over the booking button for flights to Toronto next summer but I’m can’t quite pin down an itinerary. We’ll have DC 5 & 10 with us.

@RAINSh0wers
We have been to the Great Bear rainforest, Vancouver Island and Vancouver.

For your children, try Vancouver Island. There’s a lot of variety. Wildlife: whales and bears , scenery, seaside, towns and you can travel around easily. You will have to fly to Vancouver though.

The Rockies is popular for good reason. I’m not sure I’d go to Toronto over VI snd the Rockies. I’d also plan for 2024 as accommodation gets booked up.

I loved Mauritius. Lovely resorts with activities and plenty to see and do.

Great for water sports which are usually free in resort. Most cater well for teens.

Beachcomber Resorts are particularly good.

India has lots going for it, Goa for beaches, and can combine with Kerala, Jodhpur, Delhi etc, for lots to see. We enjoyed Brazil, Indonesia and Taiwan but quite a trek/costly with teens and unclear if you prefer ease of package hol in which case Mexico and Costa Rica could be more straightforward options. Sensatori hotels in Turkey could also be good for active teens.

2 week hike around m’ont blanc. That was up there with all time favourite. Did it thought a company which guided the days walking and booked all the places to stay (basic). Really loved it, amazing scenery. Then had a couple days in chamonix and Geneva.

Best holiday was US and Canada by train. Toronto, Niagara, New York, Boston, Chicago. On the “California Zepher” through the Rockies to San Francisco and then up the west coast on the “Coast Starlight” to Vancouver. Amazing scenery and lots to do. With DD18 and DS16 - they loved it.

Biarritz/N. Spain for the surfing.

Ski-ing/snowboarding with friends.
Loved US National Parks (Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Utah etc).
And kids also loved city breaks as teens (Paris, Rome, Tokyo).

Best holidays with kids so far: Lake Garda, South of France, Vancouver Island and BC, San Francisco, Disneyland, Washington DC, but the best was probably the Bahamas, staying at the Atlantis - it's perfect for older kids/ teens. But appreciate it's not in everyone's budget! We went during Covid so was a bit cheaper then. Would love to do Costa Rica or Hawaii.

Not just the tipping culture been about 20 times as well.

have family out there.

True. Spent too much time there

We’ve done two trips one East Coast - Toronto/ Niagara and then a week at blue water acres on the edge of the Algonquin - trip was awesome but a few years ago now. One week in Toronto and one week at Blue Water Acres

second trip more recent flew to Calgary - Banff - then north of Jasper, down to Whistler and finished in Vancouver - did whale watching, bear watching off one of the cable cars, hiking, bobsleigh etc. Awesome holiday.

also done a few trips across the border to Windsor when living in Michigan but that was mainly alcohol related as a long time ago.

Best holiday we went on with our teens was a cruise - we did 2 nights in Miami, 7 day cruise on a big ship (all of us squeezed into one cabin, but which sounds horrific, but it was absolutely fine) going to Mexico, Bahamas, Grand Cayman, then four days over Christmas in the Keys, before flying up to New York for the final three nights. Absolutely amazing holiday, which we all loved.

Best holidays lots of these with our tweens/teens:
Cruises - all over med, Greek islands, Adriatic, Norwegian fyords, Caribbean, Baltic.
Canada - loads to do in the Toronto area, book those flights RAINsh0wers
City breaks- Rome, Barcelona, Krakow, Budapest, Lisbon, New York.
Orlando theme parks.
Las Vegas/San Francisco/Grand canyon tour
Beaches Turks and Caicos
Cala d'or

Love this thread and seeing the amazing trips everyone's doing with kids - we travelled with just one child, but looking for something easier for the next few years now we have two (and littlest one is a bit more of an erratic travel companion than the first!)

Singapore/Gili Islands - Singapore is amazing with kids, so much to do (not just a stopover) and Gili Islands are amazing. This part of SE Asia is good weather in Aug too (not rainy season). Many people go from Bali, but closer from Lombok, really beautiful.

Vancouver - very cool city to stay a few days, then we rented a car to go to Vancouver Island. Lots of nature opportunities, whale watching, etc. We stayed in a town called Tofino, really tiny but PNW is just beautiful, people are super chilled. From Vancouver you could also spend a few days in Seattle or Portland - big food scene, would be lots of fun with teens.

East Coast Canada - we have flown into Toronto to visit family, and Niagara is a great day out/night. From there you could go on upstate New York or drive east in Canada and visit Quebec and onto New Brunswick. It's a lot of driving though!

Lived in USA as a child and my dad planned amazing trips in California/Wyoming in a RV camper van - you can do a few days at Disney and then spend the rest in National Parks - Sequoia, Joshua Tree, Yellowstone etc.

Really nice suggestions.
We have enjoyed SF, Yosemite , SW national parks - USA road trip
Disney and theme park when the kids were in the Tweens,
Safari - Tanzania
Egypt
Morocco- atlas, anti atlas , camping in Sahara
South of France - take your pick, never disappointed.
Greece - only been to Crete, love it
India - mostly the south. Much more safe and chilled out than the rest of the country. Kerala - backwaters for example is totally different.

Iceland is fab too

Europe - Amalfi Coast including a week in Naples & Rome (watching Barcelona play Roma when Roma won the match to progress through the championship league - I'm not a fottie fan but the atmosphere that night was something we will never forget) Versuvius and Pompeii as well.
Long haul - Mauritius, best holiday ever . So much to do on the island, beautiful beaches, friendly people amazing food - perfect holiday

Symi, Greece.

Nysiros, Greece.

Sedona, Arizona.

Amalfi Coast, Italy.

On my list...

Madiera
Faroe islands
Costa Rica
Vietnam

Family holidays now kids are older kids/tweens - Antigua, we have had two amazing breaks there and all relaxed and had so much fun together. Ticked everyone's boxes.
We're hoping to travel more with them now that long haul is a less traumatic prospect as they get older. Looking at Mauritius, Egypt made Turkey (we all like snorkelling and nature).

When they were little we had some lovely times in France, southern Brittany, Loire, Ile de Re and of course, Cornwall! Seriously, we had a run of three years where the air bnb was good and we caught heatwave weather. Totally amazing.

As a younger, free person, touring around the Southern part of California - Santa Monica, Orange County, San Diego. Some lovely times on the French Riviera as well - especially Juan Les Pins.

I like beaches basically!

We went to a hostel (link below) on Terschelling Island, off the north of the Netherlands. It was awesome. It was helped by blazing sun the whole time we were there, but the beaches are incredible. The rooms were cheap and comfortable, and the food was good.

We've also had fabulous summer holidays in Croatia and Cyprus.

hostel

It depends what your children enjoy (happy children = happy parents)
For city and culture - Rome, Italy in general but avoid high season
for natural views/scenic stuff - NZ, ( glow worm caves, Rotarua for smelly mud pools and geysers, ) Black magnetic sand beach, sand dunes so big you can descend on body boards, Spectacular fjords at Milford Sound, helicopter rides over and onto the southern alps, Sierra Nevada for snow and culture (just outside Granada so you get the best of both worlds), west coast of USA (Grand Canyon etc) Canada You can travel on a very special train called the Rocky Mountaineer through the icefields - wonderful and enough of a novelty for teens I would think. Glacier walk at Abathasca (better do that before it melts!)
But it all depends on what you like doing!

It doesn't have to be an either/or (depending on your resources of course!)

'Culture' at Easter/autumn half term (Rome, Paris, sorrento for Pompeii etc) - a bit cooler and less crowded for sightseeing.

May half term is brilliant for wildlife lovers - Mull, Norfolk Broads for instance, you really don't need to take a kid to the Galapagos!

Summer for watersports etc.

We had an amazing trip to Austria, particularly loved Hinterglemm and surrounding area. So much to do around that area in the summer, it's like a big teenage/adult playground! We had a couple of other stop offs too. Not beachy but lots of beautiful lakes and mountains, probably many similar areas across the Alps but we loved it there. Stayed at the Adler.