Great Holidays for Families with Small Children*

I think it’s a well known fact that I love going on holiday. Actually, not just holidays, I love to travel. We spend so much of our lives stuck in the same place, working more days than we have off, leaving so much of the country we live in unexplored, and even less of the world. For someone who has never had a high paying job, and is now a single mum, I do manage to get out and travel a lot, but I’d say this is down to some rigorous saving strategies. However, with a young child I do have to think carefully about where we’re going to go. There are a lot of places I am yet to visit due to this fact, such as city breaks in Europe or even LA. Holidaying with a young child is so different to traveling with someone where you don’t need to know where the closest bathroom is! So today I’m sharing some holiday ideas for those of you, like me, have young children.

All Inclusive
So, you want to holiday abroad? My first suggestion is all inclusive. These trips are usually the ones you can pay off in installments making it so much easier to save towards. You go into the travel agents, pay a deposit and everything is covered in the final price from flights, transfers, accommodation and even food, all you’re left to budget for is souvenirs. You can split your savings from the booking until the final payment is due (usually 6 weeks before). Another thing about all inclusive holidays is that they’re usually a family friendly resort that offer entertainment for the kids both night and day, a really kid friendly pool and other family excursions that can be arranged on site. Everything from the food to your room is aimed towards families of both older and younger kids. From the UK all main airports flight to various destinations in Europe that are famous for all inclusive family resorts such as Spain, Greece and Turkey.

Self Catering Caravan Holiday Park
And now for the opposite end of the scale. You want family friendly resorts and entertainment but you don’t want to go far from home, well there are some amazing places in this country that you can visit as I found out this week. The British coastline is absolutely beautiful and there is a vast choice of caravan parks dotted all around the country, you need not go abroad for swimming pools with flumes, and kids clubs, or even beautiful beaches. I live right on the North East coast, 3 miles from Scotland and this week we visited the beach directly below our holiday park and it was like being abroad. It was a little cove meaning it was sheltered from the win and the water was crystal clear. We saw groups from the holiday parks with a guide exploring the caves, cliffs and rock pools, we even saw dolphins! I know you can visit similar places down south like Brighton, Devon and Cornwall that offer similar resorts and lets face it, they’re a fraction of the price. Caravans are usually self catering meaning you could even bring your food from home which is perfect if you have a fussy child.

Cruise
Now we’re back to all inclusive, or at least half board with a cruise. These days a cruise is basically a resort that floats on the sea, but you have an added bonus on visiting new places each day. Although I’m not a fan of boats and open water, I’ve always been drawn to the idea of a Mediterranean cruise because they always have fantastic itineraries visiting some beautiful places in Europe. For me that’s the biggest draw as I’d have the all inclusive price, entertainment for Little Miss but I’d also get to do some sight seeing which is what is incredibly important to me when choosing a holiday destination. It would be like combining the all inclusive resort element that is important to a family with young children when it comes to keeping them entertained with my love of exploring and adventure, it’s definitely something I’ve considered!

Disney Holiday
Lets face it, you all wondered when the “D” word was going to pop up, well here it is.. a Disney holiday. It is the ultimate in child friendly holidays. And I would know as in just over 4 weeks I’ll be taking LM on her 3rd Disney trip. The reason why as a single mother I choose to take LM to Florida on my own is because I knew she would never get bored. Yes, for Florida it’s a lot of money and a long haul flight to take into consideration, but how about test the waters with Disneyland Paris. I did it last year (and I will be doing it again in October) and the one hour flight was perfect, the hotels were all kid friendly and even had characters to meet and for the most part the food was just like she’d eat at home. If you feel like your kid has the right temperament for a Disney holiday and you can afford it, I really can’t recommend it enough. I’ve never seen my daughter happier.

Holidays shouldn’t be something you fear as a parent of a young child, even as a single parent, they should be something you plan, save for and enjoy together as a family. In my opinion travel is one of the best forms of education and they make lasting memories. I hope that LM and I have the ability and means to explore together for many years to come.