Family Holiday with 16 y/o and 21 y/o

[BellsaRinging]

Mumsnet hive mind-can you help? We have not done a big trip as a family since Covid and the youngest is finishing GCSEs next year so I am going to plot a great trip...but I have no idea where. I travelled and did loads pre kids as did DP but we've not done a lot of off the beaten path stuff in 20 years!

I have a big budget of c£12k for a once in a lifetime trip for all of us. We would like to do things rather than lie on a beach-but I would like to have a 3-4 night beachy thing at the end of it. Other than that i am open. I thought maybe costa rica or Galapogos. Or Canada. Or Norway and Sweden. Or Japan. So havent really narrowed it down at all!

My oldest is very active-treks, climbs, kayaks etc. The youngest is not but would like kayaking and swimming and history. I just dont know where to start. No to trumpian America, but otherwise hot me with your suggestions of big family holiday successess-if you dont mind! All input really appreciated.

Yes, you can - if you shop around and book ahead. For instance, in September you can fly Emirates for £1030 return.

And obviously you can do wildlife trips for less than £3k per person - have done it ourselves several times. There’s more to Africa than staying in luxury camps and being driven around.

I think you could do Japan if you book it all yourself. The arranged packages are stupidly expensive, but I found it very reasonable booking nice Airbnbs and hotels on Expedia. Eating out and sightseeing are also very cheap compared to the UK. Your main expense will be the flights. Have a look on the Japan planning threads on here for ideas.

How about a cruise? There is lots to do on the ship on sea days, my husband visited the casino, I joined the choir, you can sun bathe on deck, prop up the bar or attend a lecture, treat yourself to a massage or just watch a movie in your cabin. Then on port days you are in new one each time, you can book excursions in advance or just do your own thing, most places have a beach nearby, there are concerts, shows or comedians on most nights. There is honestly so much for all ages. A cruise was the best thing i have ever done and would love to be able to do it again.

I would recommend Indonesia. Last July, DH and I and 2 DC of similar ages went there and it is very budget friendly.
Flights are the expensive part - probably £1k per person to Bali return via Singapore. You could do 3 nights in Singapore to explore the city.
Then fly into Bali for 4 nights (try a villa outside Ubud), we had a luxury private villa with a pool, 2 bedrooms and breakfast for £25 per person a night. Food and drink is cheap and fresh.
We then flew to Flores where we explored the Komodo national park for 3 nights on a live on boat and then flopped on a beautiful beach for 4 nights.

I did Sri Lanka with my two many years ago as a single parent (they were 17 and 18). It was an absolutely brilliant holiday - had a bit for everyone. My son loved surfing and the beach and my daughter did yoga and the animals etc. it was great fun. Sounds like it might fit the bill. We did go via Doha so not sure how easy the flights are now but maybe there are others.

If you’re looking for after GCSEs, make sure you factor in contingency dates, prom and 6th form transition days.

Do you want basic or more comfortable or even luxury accommodation? With kids those ages how about staying closer to home and inter railing, or heading to the alps for some activities like rafting, paragliding, biking, walking etc? Not blowing a fortune on flights will help the budget to go further on accommodation and activities

It’s really not. Walmart current price for a cauliflower is $3.76 = £2.02. Food is definitely pricey (like everywhere nowadays), but not quite that extreme!

I can only go by what he told me the other week. Likely slightly bigger than that as they’re cooking for a family so maybe they’d need 3 of those or more - I can’t quite work out the size but looks tiny.

@BellsaRinging I was hoping to do something similar and when I looked at flights I found the multi-city flight option to be the cheapest rather than direct to one place.

So you could get 3 holidays in one.

I looked at going to Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand split over 3 weeks.

Interail around Europe?

or watch Race Across the World for inspirations of where you’d like to go.

From your experience what would say are must-dos whilst there?

And did you book your accommodation at each place via a specific website?

Cuba with a tour group like g adventures then a few hotel days on the beach at the end

Hong Kong is great for their ages, could be combined with any beach place in Asia

I would do Vietnam as it is cheap as chips when you are there and there is a lot to see and do.

For that budget, I’d stick to Europe. There are loads of amazing adventures you could have without feeling it’s a stretch. For example, castles and bear watching in Romania, touring the Icelandic highlands or exploring the beautiful Balkans.

We just used booking.com. Really easy. Our child is quite young so our itinerary was quite relaxed but would definitely recommend Hanoi, SaPa, Hoi An. We took a night train and also used internal flights. It was so easy to plan and move around the country. I would not recommend motorbike tours. We didn’t do one but I’m aware they are popular but also I think safety standards are poor and many people get injured. Overall though extremely safe and easy country to travel in.