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

Our first family holiday as a new family was to hafan y mor north wales doing the breakfast run in the morning the children loved sitting on the beach eating their sausage cobs ?? seeing the kids happy and for us all being together priceless.

As child I often toured Europe with my grand parents rarely went with my parents,I treasure our holidays more,no matter were we go as we're making memories.

We took my son away to Haven for his first holiday, it was fabulous he l;oved it and there was plenty for him to do. Wiht my parents we went on holiday to Ireland in self catering and spent our time in the country and on the beach. Now there is more entertainment laid on, then we used to make our own. We didn't tend to buy soveniers, just lots of postcards

We always have the best times at Butlins. My son is ASD so doesnt particpate in a lot of the entertainment in the day . Nights big NO as bright lights and loud noise he cant tolerate. But he adores the swimmong pool sometimes going 3 times a day. Loves big open spaces and thrives and reall 1 on 1 time with his Dad .

I went to Florida with my parents and will be taking my kids this summer - can't wait to see if it is as magical as when I was a kid :)

We took our 6 month old son to see his grandparents in Spain-it wasn't as stressful as we had imagined, he slept most of the way there! It was a bit harder the year after. Looking forward to seeing how we manage with 2 next year! Caravan holidays are always good, less stress and you can do your own thing. We never had many holidays as a child, unfortunately (cue violins!), so can't really compare.

We used to take our children camping at Shell Island in Wales. Back then it was much quieter and just a couple of showers you needed to pay for. Now we take the grandchildren and they have a big shower block, but they're free and there's always a queue :/ Much busier!

We tend to potter in the rock pools, collect shells, build castles & leap in the waves.

My own childhood holidays were often spent at Gran's in Plymouth or with other family friends. neither of my parents drove, so train or coach.

Our first holiday with our lo was when she was 2 years old. We stayed at a cottage for a week in the Forest of Dean with our friends. We had a great time just being outside and doing lots of activites. We visited a place called Puzzlewood which was amazing and required quite alot of walking which my little girl did with no complaints whatsoever (probably because she was allowed to get extremely muddy in the process!)

I used to go to Tenby with my Parents as a child. Me and my Sister would play on the beach all day while Mum and Dad would soak up the rays. Afterwards we'd go and have something to eat in a seaside cafe then pop back to get ready for an evening of entertainment. Usually dancing or a live comedian. So simple back then. Nowadays My Family and I go abroad, usually all-inclusive, as self-catering is a chore and a lot of time is wasted cooking. Much more expensive to go these days and I don't think it's as much fun as it used to be.

We took my little boy on holiday for the first time last year to Spain, aged 22 months. We were nervous about taking him on a plane but he was actually very good. We had a hire car and he managed to figure out how to get out of the carseat very quickly so I had to sit next to him when we went anywhere to keep him strapped in. He was quite nervous about going on sand at first but by the end was running all over. Same with the swimming pool.

The first holidays I remember were in a caravan. My mum and dad use to get the roof rack on the car for the cases as they had a box of tinned food in the boot which had been collected up over the preceding weeks.

The main differences between now and then is that I never went abroad with my parents. They always went for 2 weeks in the summer holidays. We tend to have a week in late spring/early summer and a week in the autumn. They used to go self catering and take their own food to cook. We tend to eat out quite a bit.

Not really that weird but I used to collect bookmarks from wherever we visited when I was younger.

As a kid the family used to go to Cornwall every year. We loved the place. I can remember running across sand banks, hiding in the dunes, body surfing and fishing with a small net.

Mine was as a child with my mum and brother the first time we went to Butlins, I thought it was amazing! We are taking our daughter for the first time in April, can't wait :)

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!

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 :)

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 couldnt 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 dont 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 dont 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 DDs does Highland Dancing and I would love to take her the Braemars Highland Gathering one day

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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!

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.

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