Family Holidays

It is always comforting during the bleak days of January and February to start thinking about and planning the family holiday. With every year bringing more and more choices and offerings on what to do and where to go it is useful to spend a bit of time deciding exactly the type of holiday to suit your needs. This will also make it much easier when you come to plan your holiday.

Travelling there
Often the hardest part of the holiday is the travelling there. Your choice of destination will be influenced by whether or not you wish to fly, drive or take a boat or train. Flying gives you the choice of more exotic destinations and shorter travelling times to some European destinations but can work out expensive as have to pay for each person over age of two, may involve hiring a car, you need to get to and from the airport and you are restricted on the amount of luggage taken.

Driving is obviously more direct door-to-door, can be cheaper if you have lots of children and gives you room to take more luggage. It is also more flexible being able to stop and start when you like but total travelling times can be long and tiresome. Train, Boat, Ship can be fun for young children with the whole family being involved but you still need to get to and from station/port and luggage will be limited to what you can reasonably carry,

UK or abroad?
For some, it doesn’t feel like a proper holiday unless you are abroad for others, exploring a UK destination is perfect – no language difficulties, recognisable food and the comfort of good medical advice nearby. For those with very young children or elderly/sick relations it is reassuring to be able to get home quickly if need be. For others, guaranteed weather, the opportunity of experiencing different cultures makes holidays abroad the choice for them.

Childcare and Kids Clubs
A family holiday should try and suit all members of the family. This may mean some childcare options for very young children or kids clubs for active and easily-bored older children. Do you require babysitting services for a well-earned romantic night out? Think carefully about your family needs when choosing your holiday destination.

Hotel or self-catering?
If a holiday for you means not having to cook, clean or wash-up then consider a hotel. If you like the flexibility of providing meals yourself to suit your family or like to eat out and different places then self-catering may be the answer. Going self-catering also gives you more family space ie. sitting room, kitchen which maybe useful if you have young children or you do not plan to go out so much in the evenings. Even if you don’t plan to cook much a kitchen is useful for the kettle and fridge facilities alone. Hotels will offer additional facilities such as a health or leisure club, bars and restaurants and a baby-listening or babysitting service. The owners of self-catering establishments will know local contacts for babysitting, catering and cleaning staff so plan ahead for these if you feel you may need them.

Remote location or everything on your doorstep?
Again think about your family’s needs. Remote is great for a complete getaway but remember you will need to have or hire a car, it can be a nuisance to have to drive 5 miles for a pint of milk. It may also be restrictive if your children like the idea of making new friends with other children. Being in the centre of the action can be great during the day but may be a bit hard to bear when you can’t get to sleep at 2am. Of course, there are a lot of options between the two.

With so many options available, define your criteria carefully and hopefully you will find a holiday destination that all the family will enjoy.