What is your best ever holiday with kids?

[pumpkinpotpie]

Preferably primary school age kids (mine are aged 7 to 13).

Just fancied a bit of inspiration and thought I'd be nosy about other people's best ever holidays with kids to see if there's something we really should add to the (very long) list. Budget not an issue because this may be total fantasy.

I'll start. I think the best holiday we have done was to Brittany and the Loire valley. We stayed in Eurocamp accommodation in both and I really enjoyed the freedom of exploring during the day / swimming / going to the beach and then in the evening relaxing with a glass of nice wine while the kids made friends and played.

Downsides were that I couldn't get my kids to visit a chateau and we had a fair amount of arguing etc but I think it's definitely the best holiday I've discovered so far.

My kids generally don't want to do things like kids clubs and one of mine is on the way to an ASD diagnosis so overwhelm and meltdown is a real problem.

When ours were 9 and 11ish we flew to San Francisco and travelled the 101 slowly to LA. Highlights were Disney, the sequoias and Monterey aquarium (for them), the Ragged Point Inn on the Big Sur and Santa Barbara (splashed on a lovely hotel there) for me. They absolutely loved it, was a great age for them to take the trip.

South Africa - vast and varied landscapes, wide range of activities, great food, amazing wildlife. Flights are a big chunk of the budget, but accommodation and eating out are relatively cheap.

Who wouldn’t like to see wild penguins on the beach or have elephants wandering past you as you drive through a national park?

Dordogne, caves and prehistoric dwellings, cave paintings, dinosaur park, canoeing on the river, castles, amusement park and aquarium at Le Bugue, glass elevator in Sarlat. We stayed in a couple of different Eurocamp sites, and a lovely gite complex with a pool and games room. I loved a Eurocamp holiday when dd was younger - separate bedrooms, lots of other kids, wine on the terrace at the end of the day. Not a buffet breakfast to be endured. :) Best holiday when she was older was interrailing and letting her play a big part in the planning.

Cornwall - buckets and spades, bodyboarding and hot chocolate afterwards!

Southeast Asia eg Malaysia, Thailand, Borneo particularly island resorts. They enjoyed swimming in the warm seas, snorkeling, watersports and boat trips. They still talk about it and keep asking when we'll go again!

I don’t know if it’s the best holiday - but the kids love Florida - we do all the adventure parks and rent out a villa with a pool and they have an absolute blast! They also enjoyed doing road trips across America - we have done both the north-east and south- west and they truly enjoy it!

My best holiday with my children was robin hood bay in Yorkshire. Parked at north bay in Scarborough, did the sea life centre and walked to south bay. Robin hood bay was really lovely. My son got excited because he thought he found a piece of jet on the beach.... turned out to be coal 🤣🤣

Best two holidays when the kids were little were to the North Norfolk coastal. Lovely days paddling in the shallow water on the huge sandy beaches, running up and down the rivers and making dams. Then back to our lovely cottage for tea and cake and a play in the garden.

Another good one was a couple of years ago in America in the New Hampshire mountains. Spent the days swimming in mountain rivers, hiking, theme park etc. Although the location was great, probably more important for the kids is that we went with family so they had a great time playing with their cousins. We rented a big house with lovely gardens.

Generally we prefer destinations where there is a mix of activities to do - outdoors/cultural/beach etc

I think ours was Dordogne, including Lascaux caves, canoeing and some great food. We stayed here and it was fabulous.www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g675417-d505885-Reviews-Domaine_du_Chateau_de_Monrecour-Saint_Vincent_de_Cosse_Dordogne_Nouvelle_Aquitaine.html

Florida hands down. And not just Orlando (they don’t like Disney) we've done the gulf coast and cruised for a week to the Caribbean from there too. We’re just back from a holiday to Los Angeles and Las Vegas and they still want to return to Florida in the future.

Disney, Orlando.

Could you let me know what eurocamps please 😊

Our best have been Eurocamps type holidays. We’ve tagged on DLP, Efteling and Parc Asterix to some of them. My eldest has ASD (the youngest on the waiting list for assessment). The space and freedom of holiday parks are ideal. We can cater for fussy eating plus kids (and DH) would struggle with restaurant catering every day. Luckily my DC love a chateau or any other historic stuff. Joint favourites with the kids were Duinrell and Efteling in the Netherlands and a road trip to Lake Garda stopping at a couple of places there and back.

@MissAmbrosia which dinosaur park did you visit please?

Ready Camp in Cornwall and Scotland with kids and grandchild.
Unfortunately, Ready Camp has closed (no idea why, was always full) but there are similar offerings available.

Easily the month I spent with my then 9 & 7 yr olds in Laos & Cambodia.

So much we did. So cheap. So much life experience.

We've done lots of Eurocamp style holidays and they always love those but the hands down favourite trip for the kids was 3 nights in Billund, Denmark. We stayed in the Legoland hotel, went to Legoland, Lego House, Lalandia water park and did other activities in Lalandia. We got pictures outside Lego HQ and stuffed ourselves on Danish buffets which oldest DS loved. As hardcore Lego fans it's been pretty much the highlight of their life to date 😆

Train to Paris, then Milan, stayed near a lake (Eurocamp too), and visited Venice for the day, before getting the train back.

@MNHQ - what happened to my post with all the links I painstakingly looked up as people asked about them?

Ours was the Netherlands- ferry over with the car, stayed in Eurocamp accommodation at Beekse Bergen (had 2 pools, a safari zoo, fair etc. on site included), spent a few days at Efteling theme park down the road, hired a speedboat and took it out on the canals, visited the tulip gardens and saw some old castles and windmills. It was just an amazing holiday, no messing around with airports and flights and the Dutch are so friendly.

Spain - Costa de la Luz - less crowded than the Med but still plenty to do
St. Lucia
Barbados
2x Horse riding camp in Germany (DD is bilingual) and then a week family holiday with castles, hikes, swimming pools
City break in Paris

That sounds like a great trip. What was the Eurocamp site?

My kids are adults now and they say it was to Cala D’Or in Majorca. We’d go to the Cala D’Or Playa apartments which are amazing for children, the beaches are beautiful and safe and they loved eating out at night. They preferred those holidays to Disney World.

Zimbabwe/ Zambia including amazing safaris, Victoria Falls and fantastic travel experiences like old sleeper train. Incredible! They always talk about it years later. They were 9 and 12.