Help! Holiday suggestions. How do you find something for everyone?

[Elizabeth0712]

Pre kids holidays for me were about culture, scenic old towns, art, maybe an antiques market, chilling on the beach in the day. Now with a 4 & 6 year old they look very different. I’m wondering if anyone has managed to find a good balance where as an adult you get some culture fix but the kids aren't bored and are happy too?

2022 we went to Menorca & did an all inclusive. Not something I would have done previously before kids. The food was awful & the cleanliness was grim. It was super busy & that was pre having to go in the summer holidays! However we did meet some lovely people to chat to & the kids loved the disco in the evening & we could relax to an extent in the day whilst they ran around water shoots in a very shallow pool.

What I’m trying to get to the bottom off is this what holidays look like for now or has anyone found a happy medium & what that looks like? Or do I need to suck it up that this is life for the next few years!

help!

We’ve all enjoyed some city breaks, where we do one or two attractions as a family in the morning whilst it’s still cool, then DH and I chill on a picnic blanket in a park in the afternoon sun while the dc play on the playground and eat ice cream! So far we’ve done this in Barcelona, Malaga, Lisbon and Budapest. We’ve also enjoyed Eurocamps where we’ve taken our own car and used it for going out for day trips.

Honestly, I just prioritise where I want to go.

We just do our regular culture holidays still (little different here as son is only 3 and second baby on the way) combined with a day at the beach or trips to a park or aquarium etc sprinkled in. For museums, I try and find ones that are more tactile or interactive so that son gets more out of them. For our last holiday we combined six days in a city with two at a beach town.

Accommodation has changed since son was born though. We now stay in apartments with a garden/balcony and separate living room then eat out for lunch and dinner but have breakfast at the apartment.

Ultimately we're explorers rather than sit on a beach types so AI would drive us nuts and that hasn't changed since we had our son. Holidays can look like whatever you want. You're not trapped with AI because you have kids :)

Agree- I love to read but otherwise a fly and flop is too boring for me. We go to somewhere with stuff we want to do- do the adult trip in the morning (e.g a museum or whatever) then chill in the afternoon or take a book to a great park etc. Intersperse with a trip to a zoo for a whole day or a kid focussed day out. Definitely find apartments are much better with kids and the more central the better as then you can go back and chill there for a few hours around lunch time before heading out again later. We’re still learning, even the trip we’ve just finished we realised after 2 nights of eating out that it was just not fun for any of us (ours are 5 and 7) so we’re doing a longer lunch out in the day while they play around and then eating in the apartment in the evening.

Up until around age 10 we always did France , load the car up with all the shit they need. We mainly used Siblu holiday parks. Totally geared towards kids, you have the flexibility to eat out or in the van, you have a terrace to sit out on once they go to bed. You have the car so can go to museums / chateaux / whatever floats your boat.

Now they are older we do AI. Have never had an issue with cleanliness, the kids still like the entertainment and have the freedom to go off on their own within the hotel and they can have as much ice cream / drinks / snacks as they like.