Going on holiday alone with DD

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I am looking to go on holiday for a few nights up to a week with my 3 year old DD. Any suggestions on where to go? U.K. Or abroad? Single parent friendly! I have looked at websites for single parent holidays but they seem so expensive! My max budget would be £600.. we have done butlins already so I am ruling that one out.

TIA!

I mostly did Haven when my DS was that age.

I have now taken him abroad.. You might want to ensure there is a kids club if you thing DC would go.

I find that it took till 7 to be able to relax in any way on holiday.. I think at 3 we did a daytrip a month rather than staying away as he got so over tired and so over excited staying away from home he became a nightmare.

Haven or sun token holidays. They are great and lots of entertainment for kids.

Let me know what you find...i am considering a trip early next year ...ds currently 5 months...so hard ti find something

I took DD to Greece (all inclusive booked last minute through Tomson) It was good fun but it is NOT a holiday. I was just as exhausted but it was sunny. Also a lot of kids clubs won't take them for that long at that age so I couldn't have even gotten a 60 minute massage. At 4 it got easier.

One thing we have done which was lovely was have a "staycation" and booked a hotel with a pool in the UK (Oxford was lovely, as was Rye) then we did local things - museums, afternoon tea, took in a film. It was lovely and relatively relaxing. Hotels can also book sitters so if you want to hit the spa you can do that too. (Mums should get a break too IMO ;)

Mark Warmer and Club Med do all inclusive with lots of entertainment and playgroups for little ones. I'm hoping that, in the future, I might club together with some other single parents and go somewhere like this. If you're lucky, your little one might agree to go to the onsite playgroup for an hour or two while you go for a massage or swim! Good luck! And please come and report back. I'm new to this so am needing all the pointers I can get!

WHen do you want to go? I have travelled extensively with both children alone ( am married but often only one of us free, Dh also takes them alone)

For £600

-3 day trip to Kraków, Poland. City trip, but lots of interesting things

• 4 day Budapest. In summer it's lovely. Large parks, Island in river you can hire bikes to cycle, spas with pools for kids, castles etc

It depend salso if you want to hire a car abroad. That opens up all of Europe to do cheaply as usually areas closest to airports are most expensive to stay in as generally the city, if you are happy to drive an hour out you can easily stay in a lovely small beach apartment for a week almost anywhere. France or Netherlands you could drive own car to.

Holiday letting is a good place to find cheap nice accomadation.
The best place I found was a one bed bungelow in Croatia, with private decking into the sea, and jaccuzi etc. Was about 3 years ago, when mine were 2 and 3 years. Was only £220 a week ( I hired the whole summer and worked from home there). We did need to hire car though.

I'd go abroad. I have brought DS away lots of times during my time of being a single parent, and always found it easier to go abroad. No driving around, worrying about rainy weather, and to be honest not really any more expensive. My favs when he was 3 were Menorca or Salou - you can get an apartment cheap enough if going out of season, and lots of nice beaches and other kids the same age to play with.

Re single parent holiday conpanies - I've gone on 2 - both skiing. I had mixed feelings about them - it was great for babysitting and adult company in the evenings, but more expensive than a typical holiday. Plus the second year I went, there were a couple of awful parents with badly behaved kids that ruined it for me and DS. I suppose it's a gamble basically holidaying with a group of strangers.

DH and I went to the Family Life Orquidea in Gran Canaria in September. We booked one week and travelled the next knowing full well it was going to be full of children.

It was fine for adults (someone had taken a bug in that I unfortunately caught, but it wasn't the hotel's fault) but it was ideal for people with small children. There were several single parents there. There were several children's clubs varying from baby to teen, so you'd get a few hours alone time if your DD wanted to go. Entertainment at night was for the children, and finished early.

Thomson have Family Life hotels all over Europe. I'd have a look if I were you.

I was in my own with two DDs.

Had some great skiing holidays. We were lucky that we shared a chalet with a fab family. Other times we stayed in hotels. Travelled mainstream companies or DIY

Haven was good, but a bit boring for me at night sitting in the caravan. Felt a bit isolated. Also had the hassle of cooking and shopping.

Kid friendly hotels were good. Did Crieff Hydro near Perth and the Macdonald in Coylumbridge. Loads to do, comfortable, DCs loved it. Not too isolating.

Did Disney. That was better than I thought, but still a bit lonely in the evenings.

Did a few city breaks. York was fun. Copenhagen brilliant (although wrong time of year for Tivoli Gardens) Paris a bit miserable because of rain and New York in February was a bad idea!

Remember it's your holiday too.

I go away a lot with my 2 dd's now 3 and 6 we do at least 2 caravan holidays a year sometimes sun tokens sometimes not. We also had a cottage in the north of Scotland this year and 2 weeks in Cyprus which was definitely the most popular. Kids had an absolute ball. I agree single parent holidays are really expensive and a normal package deal in a child friendly hotel probably better. Cyprus is a 5 hour flight. Mine are used to travelling so wasn't a problem but if your child is not might be wise to look at places with shorter flights such as Spain or Portugal. There is a lot to be said for the knowledge that you can use a pool/beach outdoors all day every day... I found it very relaxing.

My DS loved Haven. I only loved it if we ate out for our evening meal, otherwise it was like being at home with all the cooking and cleaning still to do. I always booked a modern, heated right through caravan.

I preferred Butlins with their nicest accommodation and half board catering option. Felt more of a break for me, and I spent less money than at Haven.

Camping with friends - good fun with company
Disneyland Paris - both loved it.

I've also done a lot of weekend breaks with National Holidays with my DS. I like that it's all organised for me and paid for in one go, and all I need to do is turn up for the coach. Lots of kiddy friendly weekends eg thomasland, lego land, theatre shows, peppa pig world, etc.

We've also done a couple of cheap all inclusive abroad holidays too to Majorca and Tunisia.

I'd say book whatever you fancy and enjoy. My DS is autistic and a lot of peoople have said to me that I'm brave or that they wouldn't holiday in my shoes on my own but we've always had a ball! I take some books for the evening IF he nods off before me.

I've just (after reading this post) booked a caravan holiday in Devon next summer for myself and my 2 young boys! I've never done this kind of holiday before but figure they'll have a blast!

Our guaranteed holiday every year is flying to Turkey to stay with family which I hope to do next year too. I've never hesitated flying on my own with my young children, there is always someone kind to help you if needed with bags!

It's like an adventure and if you treat it like that you'll relax and so will your children and you'll all have fun regardless x

I took DD (then 2.5) to a UK camp site over the summer, one near the coast. She adored it and still talks about it now. We went to different places nearby each day - beach, activity centre, local town etc. Weather was good which helped. I borrowed the gear from friends who camp all the time and just bought a few bits myself. You can get tent pitches for as little as £7-12 a day, if you book in advance.

Where would you like to go & what would you like to do, if you weren't taking DD with you?