Advice/opinions on holidays with a 1 year old

[Ineedsleep2024]

Hi there,
I have a 1 YO, before having kids, me and DH would travel loads and have been all over the world, loved seeing new places and particularly focussed on trying local food. We have been away a fair bit since having a child (Europe and UK) but we now want a holiday in the autumn. Our child has just started walking so want somewhere we will all enjoy/with enough space to not feel cooped up.
I think what I’m asking from collective experience is, what would be better:

• resort type holiday with flights, hotel, transfers etc. (we have never done this before so the most unknown)
• self book trip abroad - probably city break
• driving holiday in the uk to somewhere with/near facilities, like a pool/ soft play

i would be grateful for recommendations, ideally we want to relax as much as possible! Thanks!

I don't think I'd do a city break with a 1 y/o who has just started walking. Purely because they tend to be busy and your 1 y/o will now want to be out of a pushchair whenever they can.
Its all personal preference on the other options. I think they are all equally as exhausting 🤣 we did a UK holiday in June, big farm stay with swimming pool, soft play and animals on site. It was still tiring. I was pregnant at the time though.

Have you looked at tiny travel ship website or Instagram page? They list family friendly places to stay all over the world. Mainly Europe but they do have South Africa, st Lucia, the Maldives etc. I've booked a few from there and they've always been really good! (You can't book direct it's more of a collection of places and you go direct to the hotel/resort site)

We went to Barcelona and Rome when they were that age. Had a great time. Did lots of sightseeing during the day, played in parks, had some lovely lunches out. Stayed in self catering apartments with a balcony centrally so could sit out in the evening a with a glass of wine, it was amazing!!

I’d do a city break. I did plenty with my dc around that age. They will still go in a pushchair so you can get around easily especially where public transport is very accessible (Barcelona for example was fab). You do some activities you enjoy, broken up by parks, playgrounds, child focused activities, picnic lunch in a park, meal out for dinner, wander around in the evening while they sleep in pushchair. If there’s two of you, you each get to go to an adult activity of your choosing while the other is with toddler. Get a flat with a nice dining area:terrace so you can do evenings in if you want.

I did Barcelona on my own at that age with a newly mobile baby and it was genuinely great. Because it was October/November the temperature was much more manageable than summer but still hot and sunny.

@Ineedsleep2024 We didn’t do city holidays when either DDs were 1.

What worked for us was a short flight mor ferry and self catering. We hired a car and took required seats or took our own. Or we went to self catering in the uk and had a house with a garden. We found swimming pools, beaches and play areas as we went along. Easy enough in France.

We found DDs weren’t keen on just sitting in a pushchair in a city. We also took our own car to Brittany and hired a self catering unit several times. We did go out for some meals, always, but found dc settled well with a fairly well established routine. I’m not a fan of flying with babies and we never ever went to a big resort hotel. Just not our style.Brittany was great.

When dc were older we went on a Mark Warner holiday as DDs enjoyed holiday clubs. DH and me were bored rigid. Huge mistake and never did it again.