“Big” holiday young kids

[freespirit333]

Hi everyone

DH and I will have extra money and leave next year and so want to take the DC on a “big” holiday rather than blow it on an all inclusive sun holiday (which we love, so easy with DC!). DC will be 9 and 6.

I really want to go to Oz but over the summer holidays it’ll be winter so feels pointless. I’ve never done much travelling, so fancy South East Asia (Thailand? Singapore?) or similar but also concerned about the weather. I have done Malaysia (KL) and Bali in August and the weather was great.

We want a hotel with a pool etc, but also places to see - we won’t manage an exclusively sight seeing holiday though, it’ll need to be a bit of a mix.

Has anyone done anything like this and could recommend places?

You could have a look at South Africa or Botswana combined with Mauritius for some down time. Also a USA trip could be fun, with some beach time somewhere? I wouldn't rule out Oz because it's winter. We used to live over there and my in-laws continue to live there, yes it's winter, but the top part of the country so Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef and Darwin for Kakadu national park is still going to be beautifully warm. I mean Darwin averages day time highs of 32 in August. My in-laws live in Sydney and we were in jumpers most days last August, temperatures sit around 18 but that can feel cool as the sun sits pretty low in the sky in winter and there is lots of shade around. Generally no need for a coat though. Melbourne is definitely colder. You could combine some time in the big cities where you accept it's cooler weather and then head north for some warmth. That far north you likely have to trade swimming in the sea for swimming in pools though because of the saltwater crocodiles, unless you stay on an island on the reef.

The weather would be hit and miss in Asia in August. In Thailand I'm led to believe the weather is better on the East than the West coast that time of year, we transited through Bangkok briefly on the way back from Oz last year and it absolutely hammered it down constantly. That may have been a freak occurrence, but it was rain like nothing else. We had 36 hours in Singapore on the way out to Oz and the weather was good then, but we may well have been lucky. We've also been to the Maldives twice as a 4/5 day stopover in August and had good weather both times, there were the odd 20/30 min rain showers and then it is beautiful again. Maldives routing can be more complicated. Check the expected rainfall in Borneo in August as that is another fab place you could go.

I did similar holidays with my DC to the one you describe in Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro combined with Argentina , Caribbean islands such as Cuba and also Egypt plus many European holidays too.
We booked a nice hotel and either did sightseeing every other day or everyday but kept the trips to a similar length to a school trip so around 9.30 to 3 or 4. That way we had time for some swimming later on in the afternoon.
We also found cruises worked well, we’d often combine a cruise with a stay such as a few days in Los Angeles and then a cruise to the Pacific side of Mexico. Cruises are great for getting a good balance of relaxation and fabulous days out.
Twin centre holidays can work well, one year we rented a town house in St Lucia and did lots of different days out and then transferred to an all inclusive hotel and chilled for the second part of the holiday.

Sri Lanka (north and east) and Borneo both are good weather wise in the summer holidays. We had great trips to both with kids of similar ages.
If the budget is healthy, Kenya and a Safari?

Agree with these suggestions

Or go back to Malaysia (east coast) or Indonesia, those are really the only bits of SE Asia with good weather then tbh

I would probably pick Borneo if you haven’t been, kids will love the wildlife

Thank you everyone, excellent suggestions!

I had forgotten about Vietnam but I’ve fancied it, but will look into weather situation.

Definitely going to look into Sri Lanka and Borneo!

Friends did Vietnam in Summer and it worked well despite some heavy showers some days.

You could look into the US, a National Park with a lodge and a week at Cape Cod at the end for some beach time, flying back from Boston. Saying that, the US doesn’t have the typical resorts with pool you find in Europe, people go to the beach.

I would do a week in Maldives after Sri Lanka. Yes not ideal season but even if it rains for a few hours, it’s immediately super hot afterwards. Plus they are a good age to go snorkelling and enjoy the animals and corals.
If you don’t like AI resorts (but they offer lots for kids) you can stay much cheaper on inhabited islands on guest houses.

Vietnam’s weather is tricky. In summer only the central section (Hoi An and around) has good weather, it’s poor weather for quite a few of the “must sees” like Halong Bay and Hanoi so depends how you feel about that.

Maybe look at Costa Rica? Jungle, rainforest, volcano, beaches, white water rafting, zipwires through jungles etc. loads to do and see and easy to get around

Sri Lanka is a good option because it's a smaller country, lots of places kids will love (elephant sanctuary, turtle sanctuary etc) options for safari's, boat safari, other monuments etc and they love kids. Would recommend a couple of nights in Colombo then heading inland on the train, then south to safari before chilling out at the beach. I wouldn't opt for ai or half board if offered as there's so many places to eat, even ate in someone's front garden, only one group per evening, delicious.

Costa Rica is pretty wet in our summer. I do know families who have enjoyed it despite this - depends whether you are “put a mac on and go out anyway” types. I am not 😆

We only had 2 wet days in three weeks last July/August in Costa Rica. Plenty of overnight storms though.

Haha we are not put on a mac people! Sounds like Sri Lanka is a front runner! I’m definitely not against AI resorts at all as we’ve had fantastic holidays with kids there, I just don’t want to blow our money on a really fancy one, like Ikos, if that makes sense, would rather actually see a bit more of the world. But if there was one in Sri Lanka for example that would be amazing!

I won’t rule out the US either although I hadn’t considered it before.

Interesting about Costa Rica’s weather, it can be so tricky! When I was in KL we were due rain every day but it didn’t rain once in the daytime either, just overnight.

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone has been to butlins in Bognor Regis really late on into their pregnancy?
long story short dp hasn’t got the custody agreement for the holiday he wanted with dd, since they now can’t go on their daddy daughter trip before the baby gets here he wants me to go instead so we can get booked and get the discount for next year. I’m hesitant to go though as I’ll be 37-38 weeks pregnant at that point and it is a 9/10 hour drive away from where we live! While still in the uk it is my first baby and dps 2nd, and my mum is one of my birthing partners along with dp and I don’t want to have the baby in a different country (we’re based in Scotland) without my mum being there incase I go into labour early- I also don’t like the idea of a 9 hour drive home while I’m in labour 😩I’ve had a lot of sciatic nerve problems already and I’m only 27 weeks so I assume that’s going to get worse as I get further on as well.

I just don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go and I don’t think I’d be able to relax while I’m there and would much rather stay home but I thought I’d ask if anyone else had done something similar and enjoyed it?

thanks

What’s your rough budget and amount of time OP? Singapore/Borneo/Thailand would be amazing, food and combo of beaches, animals and exploring is my idea of heaven. We’ve done some big trips where we do a lot of hopping around, sort of 4-5 days and then next port of call, looping back towards home. If you sort out your flights in advance and plan well, it can add up to less than a package or a direct flight to your main destination. I’m a big fan of flying into one airport and out of another, going overland to get to the next.

Length of time we could do 3 weeks, maybe stretch to 3.5.

Budget is tricky to say as it’s how much we can save added to the amount we’ll get from work. Maybe £10k…not sure if I’m being unrealistic!

Canada? Multi destination Toronto, Niagara Falls, Rocky Mountains, Banff. Maybe Vancouver.