Share your favourite holiday memories with Haven: you could win £100. NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

We've been asked by the team at Haven Holidays to find out MNers favourite memories of holidays!

Please share on this thread your memories of the first time you took your own children away (if you have been lucky enough to have been on holiday with your LOs): where was it, what was it like for you and for them?!

And what was the equivalent one with your parents? How do you think they compare?

What did you do on your holiday when you were a child compared to what your children do on holiday these days?

What's the strangest holiday souvenir you've ever seen or treated yourself too? Maybe a model donkey from Spain? Or some weird drink that tasted good when you were away!?

Add your thoughts and memories on this thread and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £100 voucher Love2Shop voucher (an excellent chance to stock up on the pre-holiday essentials as the vouchers are accepted at 20,000 stores including Boots, W H Smith, Debenhams, Halfords and Matalan). Prize draw: Monday 31st March 9am.

Please note comments made on this thread may be used by Haven on their pages on Mumsnet, in social media or possibly elsewhere.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

PS for everything you need to know to make the most of your Haven holiday. From outdoor experiences for the whole family to on-site restaurants for the fussiest of eaters do check out the NEW Haven pages on Mumsnet

[AnnMumsnet]

Thanks for all your memories - am pleased to say funkyfreks wins the £100 Love2Shop voucher! Well done

[goingmadinthecountry]

Strangest souvenir I brought home? A boyfriend. That was in 1993 - celebrated our silver wedding last year.

Memory of childhood holiday - melamine plates and cups in the Sprite Alpine caravan. I can still remember that caravan smell over 40 years later. That and the strange instruction to "make yourself small, you're in a caravan".

Took dd1 to S of France at 4 months - where dh and I met. She had an uncanny knack of sticking her fist in people's Kir then sucking her fingers..... Very un-mny I know but she's 20 now and doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects.

[ClaudetteWyms]

Please share on this thread your memories of the first time you took your own children away (if you have been lucky enough to have been on holiday with your LOs): where was it, what was it like for you and for them?!

Ours was a £9.50 Sun Holiday with DD around 18 months, to Camber Sands. We all had a great time, and DD has loved caravan holidays ever since.

And what was the equivalent one with your parents? How do you think they compare?

Can't remember, but we only ever went away for day trips in this country, or do DF's country of birth where none of us could speak the language, so I don'd have many happy holiday memories from my own childhood.

What did you do on your holiday when you were a child compared to what your children do on holiday these days?

As a child I sat in the car with siblings while parents went into pubs - nowadays we take DD everywhere with us. DD loves caravan holidays - one of our favourite was at Haven Wild Duck - but I never went on any as a child.

What's the strangest holiday souvenir you've ever seen or treated yourself to?

DD brings home anything - mangy feathers from the beach, any "treasures" she can find.

[1intheoven]

Our first holiday with DD was around the Black Forest region and visiting friends near Stuttgart in Germany. We took the ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam and then drove. DD was only six months but she took everything in. The driving was a bit gruelling, especially for a little one in a car seat but we were impressed with all the motorway services as they all had somewhere for little ones to crawl about and play. The best thing was watching DD sampling all the different foods - we even ordered her her first meal at a restaurant and she was showered with attention which she adored. When I was growing up our family didn't have much money and the majority of our holidays were camping. We never went on holidays as babies. I was five when I. Went abroad (the only family holiday abroad that I've had).we went to Majorca and I'm afraid the only real memory of that holiday was of wetting the bed! My mum and dad took us camping a lot. There was nothing better than finding a lovely secluded spot somewhere near a river and swimming and cooking on an open fire. To this day I always sleep so well in a tent! I think that the major difference between the holidays I had with my parents and the ones that I take my children on is money. We will be able to go further afield and we will be able to afford activities. This being said, I will definitely be taking the kids camping too. There is something so great about the more simple things in life! And as for souvenirs... I'm terrible for picking up pretty stones. I have some lovely stones from our honeymoon in New Zealand and also some volcanic rock from mt versuvius. My husband just shakes his head. In Prague we had lots of cocktails. I loved mint julep. It just tastes of holidays to me now.

[Teabiscuits]

When I was little my Uncle owned a huge house in Cornwall which he rented out to students, so was empty during the summer holidays. The whole family on my Mum's side would all pile down to stay, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. We would spend our time rock pooling, going to the odd visitor attraction and eating endless Cornish Pasties, as well as exploring the overgrown garden and playing hide and seek.

My husband and I now take our own children to Cornwall every year, with his parents, Grandma and siblings, who are just starting to have their own children too. Now we have to rent out big converted barns or farmhouses but we still go rock pooling, the kids still play hide and seek, and we still eat our own weight in meat filled pastries!

The accommodation is simple, the weather is unpredictable, and we have to cook our own dinners but I wouldn't trade our holidays for all the posh hotels abroad in the world.

[GrasshopperNchipmunk]

We took our son to Egypt when he was 8 months old - it was for our honeymoon. If I had known how much he would embrace the sunny climate we would have gone further afield! He loved it! and all the locals loved him too.

We now have three children and go to centre parcs every year, infact we have just got back. I can't even explain how much the kids loved it. They love the pool, the parks, the sport and just being there as a family is utterly priceless.

[themitch21]

Ou first family holiday was to Cuba, which in hindsight probably wasn't the best idea with an 18 month old. The plane journey was horrendous! despite that, we had a lovely time and the highlight was definitely introducing our daughter to the water. Watching her turn into a little water baby was magical. These days we prefer to stay closer to home as we now have two children under four. We find that we can have just as much fun holidaying in the UK without the travel stress.

[CrewElla]

My favourite memory so far with DS1 (2.5) is a day at the beach where he learned to love jumping in the waves with his dad holding his hand. Up until then he had been afraid of the waves but with a lot pf patience he found the joy in jumping in breaking waves.

My childhood vacations were mostly to the seaside in a rented cottage. They are gentle and relaxing memories.

My husband and I want to teach our boys to love the outdoors and being active. I think our parents did that for us and it's what we hope to pass along to them

[sealight123]

Please share on this thread your memories of the first time you took your own children away (if you have been lucky enough to have been on holiday with your LOs): where was it, what was it like for you and for them?!
Our first holiday was at Center Parcs and was a bit of disaster :( I ended up in the hospital for the entire holiday and got out in time to go home. Our favourite holiday as a family has to be Disneyland Paris!! My daughters eyes just lit up everytime we met a character. She also loved the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride and now demands that we all call her 'Brave Little Pirate Olivia Turner'

And what was the equivalent one with your parents? How do you think they compare?
We went on lots of camping holidays and center parcs :) We have being going to Center Parcs since for around 15 years and I love it everytime :)

What did you do on your holiday when you were a child compared to what your children do on holiday these days?
Truthfully, what we do is still very similar! We try to keep active on holiday and do whatever activites we can find. Swimming, Cycling, nature walks....we're not ones for sitting by the pool.

What's the strangest holiday souvenir you've ever seen or treated yourself too? Maybe a model donkey from Spain? Or some weird drink that tasted good when you were away!?
Strangest holiday souvenir....a mobile phone case....
It's not what I normally see as a souvenir but it was only 2 euros and it was just so darn cute :)

[justshootmenow]

I remember being on holiday with my dad, his gf and my sister, we went to Skegness I was 14 and snuck out early on our final morning and sat on the beach with my holiday romance and we watched the sun rise. I havent been on a proper holiday since. I havent seen a sunrise as beautiful since either.
Ahh fond memories...

[muser31]

we used to go camping every summer holidays and drive from scotland to the south of england then ferry over to france. it was amazing, i have fantastic memories of sleeping in the car using the back of the car like a bed with my brothers , something you could never get away with now. i remember the tinned chicken in white sauce we used to have every night that tasted so good, and mums home made buns, enough supplies to last us 2 weeks. i remember going to really fab campsites where we were left to roam free all day, getting lost in the woodlands, going down huge tunnel slides, obstacle courses in the lake, going out swimming far in the lakes, all with no supervision.... there is no way you would be allowed to do half the stuff we did then without a guide. i have brilliant memories. hmm souvenirs... i don't remember collecting one specific thing, but i did like collecting badges and postcards from everywhere i went!

[Lovewhereilive]

We used to go camping/ caravanning as a child in the uk and then Europe. We go camping with our 3 DS to Wales/ the Lakes and they love it. We swim, surf, fish, eat ice creams, have bbqs.

We also like having adventure holidays in Europe where we stay in a few different places, love the alps!

Holiday souvenirs - I used to collect dolls dressed in national dress and me and my brother used to get walking stick badges from different places in Germany/ Austria/ switzerland and nail them on our walking sticks we had bought over there.

My kids love magnets of places they have been to

[BettyBotter]

Wonderful childhood memories of family holidays camping in France with Uncle Tim telling funny stories round the camp fire and fresh sardines and toasted baguette grilled over the fire. The taste of grilled sardine always takes me straight back to that feeling of sandy excitement and freedom.

And our children's first holiday? Camping in France of course! DS2 was still a baby and we crammed our tiny car with the baby paraphernalia, buckets and spades and we spent a wonderful week introducing our boys and ourselves to the joys of almond croissants, rockpools, crepes and sandcastles. Real happiness.

[WhyIRayLiotta]

My daughter is only 2 and we have not taken her abroad yet. But I was never taken abroad as a child and I never felt I missed out. All we ever did was have 1 or 2 days during the summer holidays on the beach about a 2 hour drive away.

Last summer I took my then 18 month old to the same beach and we have photographs of her in the exact same spot as pictures of me and my brothers and sisters. My LOVE all the memories of those trips. The excitement going to bed. loading the car up, and then all the "Are we there yet?!" My DP and I kept saying it on the drive there also! We had soggy home made sandwiches on the beach and we just played all day. splashing in the water and finding jellyfish. Then Fish and chips in the wee village and fall asleep on the drive home.

I will bring my child(ren) there every year. I am lucky that I have more money than my parents ever did - and I imagine I'll take my kids on foreign holidays too, but I hope they love the day trip as much as me and my brothers and sister did.

Oooh this has made me all nostalgic!

[asuwere]

When I was a child, we went to Haven/Butlin type holidays and they were great, I remember going to the kids clubs and going to shows, staying up late and just generally having fun.

So far, all our holidays with the DC have been similar (mainly at Haven). The DC love staying in a caravan and even 1 night in a travelodge was super exciting. I love the sharing the excitement from them staying somewhere new and having the freedom to relax with no specific routine.

[Cherryjellybean]

Please share on this thread your memories of the first time you took your own children away (if you have been lucky enough to have been on holiday with your LOs): where was it, what was it like for you and for them?!
My first holiday was to Poole and brownsea island, it was very relaxing and just what we needed. Dd was only a tiny baby and a bit clueless to what was happening.

And what was the equivalent one with your parents? How do you think they compare?
I think my first one with my parents that I can remember was to Italy, I imagine Italy was warmer!

What did you do on your holiday when you were a child compared to what your children do on holiday these days?
With the exception of the Italy holiday most of my holidays were camping. We go at the last Moment if the weathers sunny, but my parents had a week off and we would go regardless of the weather. As a child We only went on holiday with extended family twice, my dd has already been with us and the extended family 3 times.

What's the strangest holiday souvenir you've ever seen or treated yourself too? Maybe a model donkey from Spain? Or some weird drink that tasted good when you were away!?
I really can't think of anything!

[AndHarry]

Our first holiday with children was taking DS camping in Sussex when he was 4 months old. We packed so much paraphernalia into the car that we forgot that we needed space for the baby and had to take it all out and do it again! I look back and laugh at what we thought was necessary for the entertainment of such a tiny person: huge pram, travel cot, moses basket, baby gym and a suitcase full of toys. In the end they sat unused in our spare tent (!) while DS was perfectly happy travelling in a sling, sleeping on the Moses basket mattress on the ground next to me and playing on the grass trying to eat the daisies.

I can't remember my first holiday but my parents tell me they hired a holiday cottage in the UK and I smeared cherry juice all over the walls!

I did a lot of camping with my family in the UK and France as a child whereas DH's family are more into long-haul hotel breaks. I loved the sense of freedom when we went camping and try to recreate this for our two children. DD is only a baby but DS (4) loves camping: 'helping' to put up the tent, treasure hunts on the campsite, playing with the other children and roasting marshmallow on sticks around the campfire.

Weird souvenirs... Whenever I go to France I come back with a box or two of a great Kellogg's cereal that they don't sell here. I can't remember the name but the cereal is like tiny shallow cups covered in chocolate. Yum!

[telsa]

We went every year to a caravan site in the South of England or to a friend's place in Whitstable. Holidays were never far away and we spent lots of time on the beach or in parks, never spending much money. What a contrast with my own children. We usually go abroad, stay in hotels - except for our yearly homage to a German rock festival where we stay in a circus truck. We go to cities - once we went to Venice and probably spent more there than my parents did in 10 years of holidays. It makes me a little ashamed. I think in fact the children would be happy with a week camping in Wales, and that is what we intend to do this year.

[HALA]

Our first holiday was to Goa, in India, and my daughter loved playing on the beach and in the warm waters. We stayed in a village, and it was lovely to just watch the local kids playing, and take long walks by the river ourself. We played board games in the evening.

[kelandab]

We took our two little girls at the ages of 3years & 1 years abroad for the first time & as I remember it, it was a breeze - probably helped because we went with my mum, sister and brother so had lots of extra pairs of eyes (this us probably my best tip for a stress free holiday) I will say though that I always joined in the kids clubs but my own children are slightly more reluctant to give them a go.


I don't really remember holidays when I was little particularly well but we did similar things/went to similar places that we take the girls too.

We always bring home a fridge magnet as a souvenir, have seen (but not purchased) some strange ones on holidays including a dried olive one.

[PavlovtheCat]

I forgot to mention strange items we bring back. We tend to go to outdoorsy/country type places for our holidays, and so we always seem to collect pieces of wood, large branches of various lovely kinds, that appeal to us as walking poles or that we could use as wizard sticks, curtain poles etc , I can't remember what we would get as a child, the usual stuff, shells from the beach mostly.

[PavlovtheCat]

We didn't holiday often as a child, only really as I grew into my teens. Tended to do caravan or camping holidays for like two weeks. I remember travelling in the dead of night to get to our place early to maximise our time there and so I, as the youngest, would sleep and not ask 'are we there yet!' as soon as we got outside london. I remember one time staying awake watching Pink Floyd The Wall at home until 2am while family packed my sister's car and until it was time to drive to Wales. I remember driving my sister's car around a camping field in Rhyl and walking on grey sand. I remember a time when my brother broke a window on a caravan in a holiday park in Cornwall when we played football at midnight.

Now I live in Devon. We don't have to travel far to have the most amazing holiday locations ever. We tend to do shorter trips, more often rather than big fortnight long trips away. When DD was young, we travelled to US a few times to visit family. Amazing, but very hard work. DS has not been abroad aged 4, and I don't have huge desires to take him far as jet lag cripples me.

My first memory of transatlantic holiday with DD was queuing for hours to get through security with a tired 5 month old who had a fever, having taken too much stuff as hand luggage and getting myself in a flap. A lovely member of staff came over and took me, DD and DH past the huge queue still looming in front of us to the front. It was just after the 9/11 attacks and so there was huge paranoia. I remember taking her into snow for the first time in New Mexico and making a huge snowman.

My first memory of holiday with DS and DD together was to a yurt. In UK, one of my best holidays ever. Relaxing, not doing much, friends visited and we drank wine and ate lovely food in front of a roaring outdoor fire, while DD played with dogs from the farm and DS crawled about on the grass before they both went to bed knackered in a bed warmed by a wood burning stove.

I LOVE yurt holidays.

[AugustRose]

I have a thing about red deer, I just love them, especially when you see stags with their huge antlers. When our DS1 was 2 we spent a week in Braemar in November. It was freezing (reaching 20 one of the nights and freezing the pipes) and when we arrived in the dark we met the caretaker who took us up to the cottage. As we got out the car he told us we had to keep the gates closed because it was rutting season and the deer would come in and eat the plants, just as he said we heard them really close to us although we couldnt see them. I was so excited and the next day we drove further up into the forest and came face to face with a whole herd of red deer  they were magnificent. The cottage was an old hunting lodge, it was small and snug and so dark at night it actually hurt your eyes trying to see, DS1 thought it was great and he slept in a big bed for the first time. There was also a piano that he had great fun playing on and then going outside where the stones stuck to your shoes it was so cold. We all enjoyed feeding the ducks at the pond, which had a layer of ice over it that was inches thick  although I dont think the village shop appreciated us buying all their bread for the ducks!

We had visited Scotland a few times before but that holiday is the one that made us want to live in the countryside  sadly we dont live in Scotland anymore but we still live rurally and Braemar has a special place in my heart. Breathing in the smell of the pines while the cold took my breath away is one of my favourite memories. One of my DDs does Highland Dancing and I would love to take her the Braemars Highland Gathering one day

[Geniene]

We went to Devon to a Haven holiday park, and I can clearly remember buying the Tiger Club tape and singing the Tiger Club song all the way home. We bought a dingy and took it to the beach where my Dad used to pull my sister and I along for hours on end! I remember using the pools on site and going down a water slide with my Dad. I was only 8 so I don't remember too much more, except the very unfortunate choice of spotty shorts and vest top my mum put both myself and my sister in, matching of course!!! Fun times :)

[tinypumpkin]

First time away with DD2 was a few days break in Torquay in a hotel paid via Clubcard vouchers. Was peaceful and manageable. She seemed to enjoy it but she was tiny (literally!)

I can't remember my first time away with my parents, my memory is not that good. It was mostly UK holidays though until we were much older. I suspect it will be similar. Can't see us going abroad for a long time (cost!)

The strangest souvenir is hard! The only thing I can think of is DD2's cup with a picture of her and some rabbit character on it. Pretty much useless as a cup and expensive. She loves it though!