Can you talk me through taking small children abroad as if I'm an idiot?

[BessSedgwick]

DS (5) has decreed that he would like to go on a plane. We want to go during October half term, and it would be two adults and two children (5 and 2).

I feel completely overwhelmed by the idea of taking them abroad. Can anyone kind explain what I should be thinking about as if I were five years old and not very bright?

Our usual type of holiday would be walking, city break, nice things to do and see - but that all feels impossible with smalls! Some sun would be nice; ideal airport to fly from would be Stansted (though could do another London airport if necessary); the shorter the flight the better.

And if you have any recommendations of countries/cities/hotels you have loved, I'd be very grateful!

We are regular travellers with 3 DC all under 6.

I would say everything hinges on food and sleep, and if you can get those things right, you can have a wonderful time!

things which help us-

snack bags for the plane which can be refilled for daily adventures

spinners that stick to airplane windows

Packing cubes

Check on regulations for car seats in the country you are going to and remember to book them in for any transfers or hire cars

Look for a YouTube video of wherever you decide to go to show them and give them some idea of the destination

good luck!

I wouldn’t do Edinburgh with a 2 year old. Pushchair will be a bit of a faff with the hills and cobbles and a domestic flight isn’t much less hassle than an international one. Great trip for when they are a bit older though.

I don’t like self catering because I feel like I’m constantly clearing up and preparing food. That said, a washing machine comes in very handy at that age. I would want to be walking distance to restaurants if self catering.

My experience of kids that age is they love the beach and the pool and need very little else.

A city break is definitely still possible with kids if that's the type of holiday you like :) We've done three holidays in Italy (Emilia-Romagna by train, then Sicily) and Spain (Granada) since our son was born and are heading off to Vienna in September when we'll have a three month old in tow.

The only thing we've had to change was on the last trip when son was 2.5 and we needed to include some child friendly activities (such as a couple of beach days) as well as our usual adult centric museums and stately homes.

Lanzarote. Maybe Teguise. Beach and ice cream.

You can totally do this, it will be lovely! Or stressful with parts of lovely thrown in!

Airports maybe the slightly tricky bit but don't pick hard flight times, prepare games / activities / snacks in a special bag to keep them entertained

Pick a location and accommodation set up - AI would be a great shout (with other families in solidarity) or an Air bnb somewhere like Valencia with lots of museums and open spaces that they can roam. We flew to Girona(sp?) for our first abroad holiday with baby it took an hour from the south east and 30min transfer to hotel

And then once you are away you can just do what you would usually do but in a fun new setting, maybe with some sunshine, nothing more complicated than that :) apart from however your children will react to new sleeping arrangements for a week - mine was in my bed 🤣🤣🤣

If you've not been abroad with dc then I would chose a good quality all inclusive. It means you don't need to worry about bringing as much stuff. It's geared up for families. I also don't want to be cooking and cleaning when on holiday. Ones which we've enjoyed are TUI Blue Sarigerme park (turkey), holiday village (kos) and our favourite was TUI Blue Tropical (turkey).

DC6 has been abroad when younger but this was the first overseas trip since covid so we were unsure how it would go.

We did a 5 day trip in the summer from our local airport (10 mins by taxi) to murcia (la corvera airport) and booked an apartment in Los alcazares which is 25 mins away by car. (Booked a private transfer for 40 euros)

Not too long a flight , 4 supermarkets within 5 mins walk and 2 swimming pools in the complex.

Burgerking was 10 mins walk away too and plenty to do (there was a funfair on every night)

Ideal first trip and we left wanting more time there

Meant to add we checked in one bag and carried one each with DC backpack filled with games, snacks, etc for the flight

The main thing is to go with the flow

My daughter has been taking her son scince he was two ASD( he's now nine) to Lanzarote every year... A place with a pool with mini water park. Play grounds and near the beach and centre.
Yes she does get priority boarding for him.. but even when he was in a pushchair it was easy. Wheel them to the plane and the handlers take your buggy off you at the plane steps.
Sometimes you can ask the airline if its possible to go into the cockpit.
My Grandson loves flying. But it's four hours to the Canaries so he does take his ipad and head phone defenders.

If you were going in the summer, you'd have lots of choice. I'd suggest Majorca...small kids don't get much out of city breaks. You want a beach, pool, kids club, playground etc and Majorca is lovely and less than a two hour flight. But weather in October is a bit hit and miss I think. Tenerife would have good weather in October but obviously a longer flight

Book a family friendly hotel in Spain, use a tour operator eg TUI as they are used to families and their hotels will have English speaking staff. Your youngest is too young for kids clubs but the elder could do some activities when the younger is napping and some kids activities don't mind younger ones accompanied by you. I'd choose somewhere on a bus route for ease, no need to worry about car seats. The canaries are a lovely temperature in October or mainland Spain if you don't mind it being more changeable. Some hotels have water parks incorporated into them which should be a big hit.

I personally wouldn't book now as there's always good deals nearer the time, we generally book 4-6 weeks out

Any of the canaries works but i personally recommend magic life fuerterentura as it's got an amazing beach adjoining it, (down steps or a winding path) was family friendly with quite a few toddlers, splash zone for little ones, kids club and several restaurants included.

I think longer flights are fine with young children as you can get up to use the toilet, watch films, walk around etc. But check the length of the transfer to the hotel, sitting on a coach for hours with tired children is no fun!

We have done both AI and SC when the kids were little, both had benefits but I prefer self catering as you don’t need to worry about meal times, keeping them entertained at the table while you wait for food (if it’s not a buffet), getting dressed for breakfast. Plus sometimes we like to chill at the apartment ourselves and are happy with a cheese sandwich and packet of Lays!

Take lots of snacks and toys for the flights. I also pack plastic cups and a few small Tupperware pots so you can take drinks and snack for days out instead of buying things out.

Take a basic supply of Calpol, plasters, antiseptic cream and rehydration sachets, but don’t worry too much as it sounds like you’ll be staying in a resort that will have a pharmacy.

Southern mainland Spain should still be OK for you weather wise in October - warm enough to play on the beach even if not warm enough to swim in an unheated pool and a shorter flight than the canaries. I think weather probably too unpredictable in the Balearics at that time otherwise that would be perfect.

If you wanted to be by a city, there are several that have a beach (Barcelona, Alicante, Malaga, Valencia) although I would wonder if walking around a city may be tiring for a 5 year old (we still took a buggy when ours was 5 but I'm guessing that's out when you have a 2 year old).

Alternatively you could look at a resort such as Benalmadena which has some kind of wildlife park and other things nearby). It's on a train line into Malaga, easy taxi ride from airport.

I would go with the self catering option (Airbnb, vrbo) so you can keep your routine up and know that you can find something your children like to eat - or eat out somewhere of your choosing. Easy to check out where it is in relation to shops, beach etc and read reviews. Alternatively a resort hotel may offer children's activities during the half term week.

Our first holidays abroad with young DC were to Lake Garda in Italy (early September) and to Nerja in Spain (October).

Passports is the first thing and that’s quite expensive if for all of you

algarve/portugal is great for smalls. Weather def not guaranteed that time of year but it can be delightful

Turkey was amazing with small children. Definitely the most child-friendly place we went. I preferred self-catering to make eating and napping easier, but all inclusive is probably fairly attractive too. The Canaries are a really good idea too.

@Imnotarestaurant longer flights are definitely fine except for the cost! Did Melbourne when the children were younger than the OP. But I assume the OP is looking for a short haul flight. There are lots of babies on planes to Australia. I assume most who fly such long distances with babies and very young children have families overseas.

Tell him that when your youngest child starts school, you'll take them both somewhere.

Why? If the OP didn't want to do it, I doubt she'd be posting to ask where to go!

We went to France, both camping and self-catering in a small apartment when ours were little. Brittany was good. We also went to southern Spain when our youngest was 2 or 3.

Billund for a short break would be ideal for a first time visit abroad. - there are several threads on MN.

Ryanair from Stansted to Billund. Stay at Lalandia or the Lego Hotel, or the Zleep Hotel (which is at the airport). Legoland and the Lego House are both within a short taxi ride from the airport or hotel - depending on where you stay you could even just walk. Lalandia has pools and indoor stuff in case the weather is not great.

Billund is very small - if the 5 year old likes planes you could stay at Zleep and eat breakfast in the dining room there which actually overlooks the airport. Everyone speaks excellent English and Denmark is very child-friendly.

Canaries, Portugal etc. hotel with entertainment, all inclusive.

I haven’t attempted it myself yet but I read a lot of recommendations for Menorca for little kids. Apparently it’s very family friendly, not rowdy, and is quite small so transfers aren’t too long. Plus a shorter flight time. I’m not sure what weather is like in October though.

As others have said, Canaries may be best for October weather, around a 4 or 5 hour flight.

The only other idea I have is a quick flight to Paris to Disneyland. It’s been a while since I went but I believe there are shuttles from the airport to the park apart from Sundays.

I would go for Turkey or Canaries in October, it won't be warm enough to swim outside in Spain etc We went to Majorca for October half term and was nice t-shirt weather but the pools were freezing. I used to cringe at the idea of all inclusive but was absolutely the best thing with small children. There is food available at all times, they can eat what they want and you don't have the faff of walking round town with starving kids trying to find somewhere nice to eat every mealtime. Also, we found that while they are mostly very child friendly, a lot of restaurants don't serve evening meals until quite late. Some people's toddlers are flexible, but mine would turn into monsters if they didn't eat and sleep well. I'd try to book somewhere with both pools and a beach to walk to, so you can have a bit of variety.

@BessSedgwick I would start by looking at:
Jet2 Holidays
EasyJet Holidays
Tui

If you want 20C + weather ie beach and pool weather look at Canaries/Cyprus.

Mine are grown up now.
At that age mine were happiest between beach and pool and in an AI hotel. Might not be your first choice but it takes a lot of the work out of holidays with little ones. You can feed them at any time and if they hate the food you can choose something else.The shorter the flight the better.
October half term would not be my choice because you'd have to have a 4+ hour flight to get warm weather. Pools in the Canaries even if heated are not very warm.
Menorca in June is perfect. Santo Thomas or CalaNBosch.

All inclusive in the canaries (water is lovely and warm in the sea in Oct in resorts like Teguise in lanzarote.) Short and easy transfer from the airport. Bars and restaurants in the town so you can feed kids early at the hotel and have a later dinner / drink out if you like. Otherwise a nice villa within walking distance or short bus ride to town. Easy to navigate the island for day trips by car or local buses. Although weather not 100% guaranteed you’re very likely to get lovely warm sunny days. If all goes well you can try something more adventurous next time!