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!

Travelling with kids is easy. (And not sure you need a travel agent to hold your hand either 😂)

Get passports, easily done online
Go to TUI / Lastminute / Virgin / BA / EasyJet or similar
Select holidays rather than flights
Populate the search function with your chosen airport, destination etc and select somewhere budget appropriate.

I would recommend canaries for October, all inclusive to make it easier.

At the airport use the family lane, one of you have all liquids in a clear bag, iPads etc in one backpack and get it all out at security (some airports you don’t even need to do this anymore..)

Don’t overthink, it’s so easy. At that age mine had already done 12 hours plus on a plane, you’ll be fine.

First apply for passport!

Canaries or Cyprus are your best bets for October half term but they are long flights. Its that or an indoor resort a short flight away.

The baiha principle fantasia in tenerife looks good for young dc. AI though. We stayed at GF victoria costa adeje tenerife which is both upmarket and kid friendly. There's a waterpark and kids clubs. We went out to eat every evening and didn't bother with the entertainment as that's not my thing. Loro parque zoo great for young dc. Wd enjoyed park siam waterpark but reckon thats better for older kids.

There's resorts in aiya Napa and paphos Cyprus called the Olympic lagoon resort which I also like the look of. Lazy river and splash park can do AI not sure how good for going out for dinner every night (my preference). Get to choose your sunbeds and keep them for the week.

For short flight indoor resort Look at hof van saksen in the Netherlands. Its a very short flight to Amsterdam and you can get a train straight from the airport. It's an hour train ride and easy to uber from the station. Once you are there you don't need to leave the resort. There is a waterpark, soft play, trampoline park, cooking school, crazy golf, bikes, go kart hire, bouncy outdoor pillow things, 2 lovely outdoor playgrounds, beach next to man made lake, every activity you can think of for not much extra cost. Cater for all ages. But weather won't be good. Everything is indoors. It's like an upmarket centeparcs. The restaurants are excellent and child friendly (lego walls and mini soft play areas but quality wine food and ambience). You can also get food from onsite shop, either self catering or get it delivered. I had buffet breakfast 2 days then rolls and croissants delivered the rest of the time.

Also short flight: Lisbon will be bit better weather than Holland. Lots for kids and you can combine city and beach. There's an aquarium and a castle and a lovely park. If you hire a car you can easily do beach trips as well. The kids would enjoy a tram ride on the old fashioned yellow trams. Food is lovely and kids can eat lots of pastel de nata!

Edited to add tenerife into GF victoria

For the 2 year old you want a travel pushchair that you can take on as half luggage. The Joolz aer and bugaboo butterfly are both great.

I think it's easier than you think it is. We had some lovely holidays with the dc around those ages. Barcelona was great - beach, cable cars, things to see and do. Rhodes was nice too.

The secret is not to expect to spend too long any where, and to gamify everything - so if your are seeing a famous site, tell the dc something notable to look out for, things like that. I'd consider a double buggy too.

The format that worked for us was to stay somewhere breakfast was included, spend the morning getting out and about, then back to a pool or beach in the afternoon.

For the flight, get sweets to suck to help with the pressure change, and a surprise activity book for when they get bored - sticker books or Where's Wally type things.