A special holiday with almost 6 year olds

[Thedoctorswife1]

We are marking our 10 year wedding anniversary in 2026. We want to celebrate with a special holiday. Our twin boys will be almost 6. Any recommendations for something special? Budget would be up to 10-12k for a family four. Bound to school holidays- ideally summer but not necessarily. Any recommendations very welcome. We are big foodies, like a drink but not huge drinkers, like a bit of adventure and culture as well as opportunity to relax. Boys are good with travel and have huge stamina so don’t mind going a bit further afield. Would love something really memorable, any recommendations very welcome. We will have done some Europe destinations as a family up til then- Portugal. France, Netherlands

Iceland. Hire a camper van and drive around, it's stunning and you can park up anywhere for the night.

Bit boring for 6 year olds …..they not into ‘stunning’ scenery…..kids don’t see the freedom in parking up anywhere for the night…..they want a pool and so,emactivity

Thailand - great for kids of all ages, my youngest was 6 and still raves about it, and very easy to do with young children we saw and did so much

I'd probably say Florida. Not just for the parks but the beaches and the swamps etc. You can hire a fancy convertible and do some driving around.

The parks would be an added bonus to make it special for the boys. At 6 I'm not sure they'll really appreciate/remember that much.

What do your children enjoy?

Animals, a safari would be fantastic.
Sport, is there a big sporting event that could be part of your trip?

I agree with the above about children not really appreciating scenery.

Thanks for the response! We had considered safari but a lot of places in South Africa (family connection) don’t accept children under 7.
hard to know what they’ll be in to in 2 years. Not a sporting event. I think what I had in mind was an all inclusive place with a kids club where we could do excursions. So kind of adventure on easy mode. Not sure if that exists though in our budget

I've not checked prices, but this family resort is great, loads of activities.

Rovinj is also jaw dropping beautiful for a couple of meals out.

https://www.maistra.com/properties/family-hotel-amarin/#/

Cruise

We did a road trip in the Rockies when DTs were 6. We all loved it. Hired an RV.

Cruise could also work well.

For pure AI experience tui holiday village Rhodes, or a Tui blue.

IKOS would be perfect but might be over budget if you want more than a week.

We did a cruise holiday recently for a special anniversary with a 5 and 7 year old and they absolutely loved it. They were constantly in the swimming pools and made lots of friends. They were super excited by the excursions and seeing different places each day but ready to get back in the pool by the afternoon. Everything was pitched perfectly for their level. They begged to go to the kids clubs every night so we had all evening to go to the restaurants/entertainment ourselves. The all you can eat buffet was ideal for kids, trying as many puddings as they wanted every day was a definite highlight for them. An adventure holiday on easy mode perfectly describes it.

Nordic adventure. Take the overnight ferry to Rotterdam, drive up Denmark , over the bridge to Sweden / ferry to Bergen, then explore a bit, take ferry to Finland from Stockholm, Finland is great for kids of that age, lovely parks then ferry to Estonia, then make your way back through Poland, Germany to France and tunnel home. We are doing it in 2026 but taking 10 weeks going to the artic sea!

I did Alaska when mine were toddlers which was amazing, but we lived a lot closer so I recommend Northern Europe instead. A cruise is also a good option, you can even take the coastal express to the far north and train back!

we took ours on a self drive round Cuba and we all
loved it.

classic car tour in Havana and sites
out to Valle de vinalles with under ground rivers and cave, horse riding or cycling
bay of pigs and cenote swimming en route
Trinidad and jungle trek
Then finish in the resorts

lots to do and see.

we stayed in Casa particular and it was fantastic.

Mauritius is fabulous for a special family holiday, there's so much to see and do and the food is fantastic.

No, you can't. It's illegal. Designated campsites only.

Would not hugely recommend Icelamd with a pair of young children. The pools are good but kids usually don't give many shits about mountains and glaciers and the like and it's a lot of driving.

When I was last there you could, I looked it up and they changed the law in 2015.

I would imagine that kids would love boat trips, glaciers, whale watching, puffins, waterfalls, hot pools, swimming, caverns etc and it's not a big country.

I know you used to be able to but didn't want anyone to get the wrong impression now.

My kids are left absolutely cold by most of the stuff you see on an Icelandic road trip. It's possibly different since they are Icelandic, but they respond with similar enthusiasm as I did as a child when my parents took me to the Scottish Highlands.

It IS a lot of driving! The bits you stop at are spread out and if you want to see a lot of things it's hours in the car. A lot of driving and a fair amount of hiking. Some 6 year olds may enjoy it - OP knows if they're the outdoorsy type to appreciate a nice waterfall - but it's not a crowd pleaser for the little ones.

The kind of holidays we did (& they remember) at that age are camping trips.

Hiking to ruined castles through dark spoky forrests, a visit to Rome & the colosseum, Pompeii, theme parks and petting zoos. Some kids adventure trails, swimming pools and geocashing.
(All done in Europe, France, Italy & Germany)

So I would look at a destination that has some of the above. A road trip is good if you then spend a few nights in one place in order to explore. Far flug places would be great for you, but the kids won't remember where the castle, adventure playground or theme park was.

Mauritius. Although only go West coast in our summer.

It’s their winter in July / August but this means temps are 25-27 and the East coast is windy. We went in July a few years ago when my kids were six and nine and went for two weeks and had two days of rain. As it’s not peak season prices are sensible and you could definitely do all inclusive on your budget.

The kids club was fantastic, gorgeous scenery and food. Snorkelling, boat trips to see dolphins, glass bottom boat tours. Food was fab. Was a great family holiday that was easy, luxurious and had something for everyone.