Is there a good age to take kids abroad or is it always horrible?

[FallOfSloths]

My kids are still fairly young (oldest still in infants) and we've not tried an abroad holiday, as it just seems they're too little to really care/get much benefit out of it to justify the price. I was thinking that this would be something we'd enjoy when they're older.

However, my friend has just come back from a winter sun thing with her kids (13 and 14) and says it was awful, they just fought the whole time and also just spent the whole thing rolling their eyes at her and her DH and not wanting to be near them. Before anyone says they're just spoiled etc, I have known them all their lives and they are generally decent children. My friend said she thinks the proximity just causes the arguing and that maybe it was just too intense (whereas normally they wouldn't be together all the time with school, work, activities etc).

Anyway, just curious to know if there's a golden age where abroad holidays really work? I'm particularly thinking about beach based AI type stuff as that's what I liked doing pre children, with a little bit of sightseeing.

Or do you have to wait until they leave home to properly enjoy things?!

We did a eurocamp in south of France in August and it was absolutely bloody fabulous. Accommodation itself fine, but pool was beautiful and warm. Self catered but that just meant bread, cheese, fruit in the chalet then out for dinner. We explored loads, buses and trains were easy to use. Went to Nice, got the train to Italy, went to some other beautiful well known beaches that I can't remember the name of. The accommodation isn't the be all and end all

We took ours abroad from being 18 months. Some holidays were hard work but generally they got better and easier until they were adults. The last time we did a full holiday abroad they were 22 and 20 and great company.

You dismis self catering but that worked very well for us when DC were under 7. S/C doesn't mean cooking, I have never cooked a meal on holiday! What it does mean though is much more space. Two bedrooms and a sitting room instead of trying to share a hotel room or children on sofa beds.
Breakfast and snacks are easy and all other meals out.

AI comes into it's own once they are older and was perfect for teenage boys who can eat 7 meals a day and still be hungry.
Other than that I don't think it's worth the extra cost unless you drink a vast amount of alcohol.
Lots of hotels do a choice. B&B, DB&B or AI. Compare the costs and think about whether you would spend that much or whether the convenience is more important than the cost.

We didn't holiday abroad until the youngest was just under 3. They are now 18&17.
Mine love a beach/pool holiday and we started doing more cultural city breaks as they got older- they loved Rome.
Never had an experience like your friends but I think it boils down to expectations.
When they are little holidays can be hard work- your life in a different country, in a different space with different food might not suit some families. Constantly having to watch small kids around a pool.

Don't expect an insta fairytale.
Be realistic, if you have an introvert who needs space and an opposite sibling then they both need different things.

We'll still happily have a 1 room holiday with them both and it works fine.

Maybe this is where I need to wait until they're older and then do self-catering then. At the moment, even just providing a breakfast is pretty labor intensive and involves lots of clearing up as they're not old enough to be fully independent. Ditto snacks. I just really don't want to go on holiday and be having to wash up but maybe it's a bit easier when they can sort themselves out without spillages!

Restaurants are not fun at the moment (youngest in particular struggles with waiting so it's a big effort to distract, then sorting them out with cutting up food etc while adult food goes cold, dealing with disappointment at their order not matching reality, then they finish very quickly and get bored while we're trying to finish ours off) so a week of daily restaurant meals fills me with dread. Hence loving an AI/anywhere with a buffet where we can just go in and get food straight away, kids can have bizarre combinations or try something else if they don't like one thing, or see exactly what it is they're getting.

We took ours abroad for the first time at just over a year old (both August birthdays and September is cheaper). In the early days it was camping in France. Never had a problem. As they got older and we had more money we did more adventurous stuff and road trips but we've never been ones for pool and beach holidays. When DS2 was small we generally self catered because he had a "best before" time for eating but it would be something easy like a ready cooked chicken and salad from the supermarket with chips from the on site takeaway or we would eat out at lunchtime and have cheese and cold meats for tea.

babies - OK
Toddlers OMG, and not in a good way. Actually tried to find earlier flights back one time when DC1 was about 1.5yo.
But from about 3.5 it was fun again and right now in primary-early secondary age they are fabulous company. Pack their own cases, navigate airports, no whining, happy to do sightseeing, eat everything.

@FallOfSloths how old are your kids OP- as you say youngest is still in infants- so I was thinking maybe 6 or7 ? If it was 2 I could totally understand your logic but They should be able to sit patiently at 6 or 7 - although I do appreciate kids are all different - do you ever/rarely go out for meals at home- because I found that if you did it reasonably regularly and expectations were hammered home they improved - if you do want to an AI I would look at those that offer aparthotel type situation - for the space

The oldest is still infants, they're 2, 4 and 5.

We do go out, but not often as it ends up being a lot of money for something that's not very enjoyable (more often we would just get something available straight away from a cafe counter as that's fine). So maybe not enough practice, but I'm hoping it might just resolve itself as they get older.

I think AI with some kind of apartment would be ideal.

DS first went overseas at just past 1. A quick tally till 18, he has been overseas about 25 times. Half of those times have been America as my brothers live there. We also travelled a few times with DH to conferences in Europe, or DS and I met up with him once he was there.

Ours were 3 and 4 for abroad. We visited France... Cognac region where my dad lived... lots of sunflower fields, paddling in rivers, eating bread and cheese in cafes. Then their first non-family holiday on the way home at Disneyland Paris which the kids 22/24 still remember.

At 6 and 7, went to Florida , did a bit of Disney, beaches, space center. Great ages for a long haul holiday.

I am a single parent and first took my children abroad alone (had done it before with their dad) when they were 5 and 9. We did a few days in Paris/Amiens, and then we went to Disney (though my parents joined for that part). It was great.

I took them to Italy when they were 7 and 11. We travelled around and did a lot of sightseeing. Exhausting but we had lots of fun again. I have now booked to take them to France again this Summer (self catering, lots of days out).

We haven't had a bad holiday. We do a lot of sightseeing, which I try to vary so there is a mix of theme parks and cathedrals (extreme examples) but we have always had lots of fun. We tend to either stay in self catering accommodation/airbnbs or if we do stay in hotels they're the budget ones. We spend so much time out of them it works for us. We are staying part of this year in a eurocamp for the first time though (with pools and slides) so that will be a little different.

Ours have been travelling abroad since they were babies. We have a great time, don't go off your friend's experience. Book a holiday and give it go.

We've always enjoyed it with ours and still do (they are 16 and 19). We've never done AI, we always do self-catering or camping. Never long haul - only UK or Europe.

We went for the first time last year and DC were 5 and 6. I hadn't fancied it much before that as I just didn't want babies/toddlers lying on me in the heat and sun cream and stickiness etc! But at 5 and 6 it was fab and will definitely do it again!

I always loved it but would definitely recommend self-catering so you can do things how you want. I think people go wrong when they try to have holidays exactly as they did pre-kids, or else stick the kids in some god awful kids club with a load of randos and then seem surprised when the kids are fractious and clingy afterwards.

I couldn’t imagine not holidaying until they left home or even until the teenage years. Travelling is as much for you as them, yes you’ll spend part of the time in a play park but you’ll also discover so much more. My DD is 8 and has been very fortunate to travel a fair bit. She still talks regularly about things we’ve done

I’m not one for AI though. City breaks, camping and travelling around are more my style. Having plenty to do with a loose itinerary. I usually book self catering as having a kitchenette is handy for breakfast and snacks, we eat out during the day and then my DD can still get a decent nights kip whilst I’ve got space to relax of an evening

@FallOfSloths I get you when you said infants I was thinking infant school - I've personally never enjoyed holidays with 2 year olds- home, abroad if I'm honest - and yes I know what you mean at that age about sitting and waiting -

I think something like this might suit you - I did an example end of May just to gauge price range and it's about £1800 for a week - but obviously you need to book flights on top so maybe about £2700 in total . That's scrolling across to 'full board' for a 2 bed apartment -but can take 5 of you . It's not AI 'as such' but wouldn't need to sort meals- only drinks- will give you an idea anyway -

https://www.booking.com/hotel/es/calapiclub.en-gb.html?age=2&age=4&age=5&aid=898224&apphotellid=91661&checkin=2025-05-23&checkout=2025-05-30&fromsn=ios&grouppadults=2&groupchildren=3&label=roommdetails-qm8kbt%401738879999&norooms=1&reqqadults=2&reqage=2&reqqage=4&reqage=5&reqqchildren=3&room1=A%2CA%2C2%2C4%2C5%2C

Apologies - didn't link

https://www.booking.com/hotel/es/calapiclub.en-gb.html?aid=304142&label=gen173nr-1FCAEoggI46AdIM1gEaFCIAQKYAQm4AQfIAQ3YAQHoAQH4AQyIAgGoAgO4ArXqlL0GwAIB0gIkNjlhYTllODUtOWM2Yi00NjgxLWFkZjItNGZkZGU0ZDhmZThl2AIG4AIB&sid=51499a30af760b34713ffaf4e0819b45&age=2&age=4&age=5&allsrrblocks=91661103632020355341166520453480448&checkin=2025-05-23&checkout=2025-05-30&destid=900039425&destttype=city&dist=0&groupadults=2&grouppchildren=3&hapos=1&highlightedblocks=91661100363202035334166520453480448&hpos=1&matchinggblockid=91661100363202035334166520453480448&noorooms=1&reqadults=2&reqqage=2&reqage=4&reqqage=5&reqchildren=3&room1=A%2CA%2C5%2C4%2C2&sbbpricetype=total&srrorder=popularity&srpriiblocks=91661103632020355341166520453480448__129400&srepoch=1738880347&srpvid=7ed99cecfde1051b&type=total&ucfs=1&

Not as often as you but agree. My kids have never ruined a trip. They wouldn’t dare! Neither do they ruin days out at home.

This is the direct website as has lots more pictures - right on the beach and lkucnajor is a beautiful old town too and not too far from airport- about 25 minutes if I remember correctly

ona-cala-pi-club.allmallorcahotels.com/en/

Thanks, that looks really ideal! On the beach is great and I guess it's the easy food aspect of AI I'm bothered about rather than the drinks so much.

I took mine from 10 weeks and apart from the crawling stage around 8 months every holiday has been fantastic.

I think you just have to accept it's a different holiday now and embrace it. You won't be lying on a sunbed all day and reading a book. But you will be making 'memories' for your children!

@FallOfSloths glad you liked it - it was just as an example but I think you need to be looking at apart hotels with 2 or 3 bedrooms that do full board and you can narrow it down using the search on booking.com - the other thing if you can afford it is something maybe like mark warners

I definitely think having several bedrooms and a sitting area can make it so much easier