Forget donkey rides on Skegness beach; think camel treks across the Sahara.
Forget rock-pooling for shrimps in Cornwall; think scuba-diving with sharks
in the Caribbean. Forget dodgem rides in Blackpool; think chariot-racing in
Jordan.
Family holidays are becoming ever more sophisticated, with an explosion of
choice as family brochures are launched by all manner of surprising
specialist tour operators.
Safari adventures, trekking expeditions, cruise trips, even five-star spa
breaks – all are available to you and your offspring, tailor-made to suit
the whole family.
So, chuck out the lilo, grab your whitewater kayak and join us for a spin
through some thrilling new family-holiday options for 2008.
GO BY TRUCK
Overland exploring by converted truck used to be the exclusive domain of
backpacker types – but why make them wait until their gap year? The
road-trip specialist Dragoman (01728 861133, www.dragoman.com)
now offers family adventures across India, East Africa and Namibia. Some are
classic camping tours, but most journeys also come with touches of comfort – riads
in Morocco, beach hotels beside the Indian Ocean – as well as opportunities
to mix with local youngsters en route.
The company’s thrill-a-minute Moroccan itinerary has a bit of everything,
including time soaking up the souks in Marrakesh, a traverse of the High
Atlas and the Tizi-n-Test pass, a camel expedition into the Erg Chebi sand
dunes and a stint by the sea at Essaouira. The trip is suitable for children
aged seven and up, with prices starting at £985pp for 14 nights (children up
to 16 £797), including several meals and activities, but not flights.
EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) and Ryanair (www.ryanair.com)
fly from London to Marrakesh.
GO BY BOAT
The idea of small children and a big, blue, fathomless ocean may trigger alarm
bells rather than a rush to the suitcases. Choose the right cruise liner,
however, one that really loves children, rather than just invites them along
for the ride, and you’ve a holiday that should please two, even three,
generations.
Four ships in the P&O fleet (0845 355 5333, www.pocruises.co.uk)
cater for youngsters – Aurora, Oriana, Oceana and Ventura, the company’s new
superliner. Each sails with an experienced “youth crew”, who run assorted
kids’ clubs that operate from breakfast to bedtime, and offers
cabin-listening facilities and a night nursery (open 6pm-2am) for children
aged six months to five years.
The Ventura is the really exciting one. It promises to “take care of families
like no other British ship afloat”, with a full-size Noddy among the crew,
and facilities that will include a mega Scalextric layout, circus workshops
and a rock school. The 14-night Riviera Romance cruise, which sails from
Southampton on August 17, takes in Vigo, Lisbon, Palma, Barcelona, Cannes
and Gibraltar; prices start at £6,224 for a family of four sharing.
DITCH THE TWIZZLERS AND GO POSH
“Family hotel” conjures images of Turkey Twizzler menus, wipe-clean decor and
wall-to-wall highchairs. But what if you’re after a high-quality holiday on
which you can take the children too? Expressions (020 7433 2665, www.familyexpressions.co.uk),
which has spent 20 years tailor-making luxury trips for grown-ups in Europe
and the Caribbean, now aims to take the fear out of “family-friendly” with a
special brochure pulling together top-notch properties that are kind to
kids.
These are not exclusively family hotels, but they “understand that catering
for all members of a family is important without losing their quality edge”.
The superelegant Le Telfair resort on the south coast of Mauritius, for
example, has sugar-plantation architecture and a Six Senses spa, but offers
interconnecting rooms, children’s clubs, special dining arrangements and a
prearrival menu of family services. A week starts at £5,579, half-board, for
two adults and two under12s sharing, including flights from London.
WHO’S BRAVER – YOU OR YOUR KIDS?
Slovenia is now squarely on the tourist map, but Activities Abroad (01670
789991, www.activitiesabroad.com)
avoids the burgeoning Bs favoured by other UK adventure operators – Bovec,
Bled, Bohinj – in favour of Tolmin, in the Soca Valley, home to the
country’s number-one river for sporting action, which is as yet remarkably
unclogged by tourist rafts and kayaks.
With sole access to its unspoilt canyon, the company has compiled a programme
of shared family activities, from whitewater rafting to night canoeing,
canyoning to salsa dancing. There is also a gastronomic evening designed for
all ages at Hisa Franko, recently recommended by The Times as a rising star
of Slovenia’s gastronomic renaissance. A week in Tolmin during the school
summer holidays costs £880pp, B&B, including three activities (and
options for more), flights from Stansted and transfers.
FOR CASH-RICH, TIME-POOR LITTLE ONES
Original Travel (020 7978 7333, www.originaltravel.co.uk),
the company that pioneered the “big short break” for cash-rich, time-poor
professionals, is going the family way. Its new website, Original Kids, will
offer a bunch of quick-hit family trips during school holidays, many to
glamorous long-haul destinations, with breaks suitable for everyone from
toddlers to teens. You can go dog-sledding in Lapland, commune with giant
tortoises in the Galapagos or learn bushcraft and animal-tracking with an
expert guide on an African safari.
Typically action-packed is the five-night trip to Jordan, which includes a
chariot race, a night with a Bedouin family in Wadi Rum, a 4WD and camel
safari, riding in Petra and a night on the Dead Sea. Prices start at £4,500
for a couple with two children under 12, including flights from Heathrow,
private transfers and some meals.
FAMILY ATLANTIS
A scuba holiday with the sprogs? It sounds tricky to organise, but the
specialist operator Family Diving (01285 869679, www.familydiving.co.uk)
will do all the work for you. Whether you need childcare for little ones
while you hit the water or family-friendly trips where you can all dive
together, it can tailor-make a package – and it features destinations in the
Med, the Caribbean and the Red Sea. Learning to dive with your kids is a
brilliant bonding experience, and those aged 10 and up can take the plunge
alongside you.
A week in Egypt, with three nights sailing around the tip of the Sinai
peninsula on a six-bed cruiser, then four in Sharm el Sheikh, where the
company crèche employs qualified childcare staff, starts at £661pp (children
aged 5-12 £606), including flights from Gatwick, transfers, all meals on the
boat and up to four daily “dive packs” for the adults.
VOLUNTEERING YOUR CHILDREN
If you have kids with a conscience – or you’re keen for them to develop one –
check out the trips introduced for this summer by Imaginative Traveller
(0845 077 8803, www.imaginative-traveller.com).
The company’s volunteer holidays for families (minimum age 10) combine work
on a wildlife project with more conventional sightseeing and soft adventure.
There are two itineraries on offer, Kenya or Thailand, both involving
elephant conservation work. You will assist with bathing and feeding the
jumbos, take an overnight elephant safari and – a real treat – help to make
paper out of pachyderm poo.
There are various departure dates: a 12-night, fully escorted trip to
Thailand, with four days at an elephant nature reserve in the north,
followed by time in Bangkok (longtail-boat trips, sightseeing) and Chiang
Mai (jungle walks, bamboo rafting), and a beach break at Krabi, costs
£1,139pp (children £999), including breakfast, some meals, flights from
Heathrow and all activities.
ULTIMATE WATERSPORTS
It’s not too tricky to book a sporty resort holiday with your clan – there are
plenty of options. The BeachPlus centres run by Neilson (0845 070 3460, www.neilson.co.uk),
however, go the extra mile to make sure everyone in the family is happy,
whatever their passion. The company has seven resorts in Greece, one in
Turkey and one in Dahab in Egypt, on the Red Sea, each offering a raft of
watersports – sailing, windsurfing, yachting, kite-surfing, waterskiing,
wakeboarding, kayaking and diving. They also have tennis, mountain-biking,
aerobics and volleyball, with instructors, as well as supervised clubs for
the kids and a spa for puffed-out parents. A week at Syvota, on the Greek
mainland, starts at £469pp (children £375), including flights from Gatwick,
transfers, most meals and all activities.
GO CAMPING... IN AFRICA... ON SAFARI
Nearly half of all bookings made with the Africa specialist Aardvark Safaris
(01980 849160, www.aardvarksafaris.com)
are now from families, thanks in part to the availability of junior doses of
Malarone and to the growing demand from affluent parents who want
ever-wilder family holidays. In response, African safari camps have become
more child-friendly.
A two-week trip to Kenya with Aardvark might start with three nights in a
classic tented safari camp at Kicheche in the Masai Mara, followed by three
at Ol Donyo Wuas, which lays on a number of other activities, including
riding, walking, swimming and fishing. You could finish with five nights at
the Peponi hotel, on the waterfront in Lamu, with optional snorkelling and
sailing trips. That itinerary would start at £12,449 for a family of four,
including flights from Heathrow, all transfers, all meals and safari
activities.
...OR JUST GO FOR A (VERY LONG) WALK
Fear not – this doesn’t have to involve hiking boots and blister pads. The
first families-only brochure published by the walking specialist Inntravel
(01653 617906, www.inntravel.co.uk/families)
also includes pony trekking, riding and cycling trips, and is aimed at
active families travelling independently to France, Spain, Italy,
Switzerland, Austria, Norway or Greece. Options include a riding holiday
based at a 17th-century farmhouse in southwest France, suitable for everyone
from expert to novice; and a self-catering stay in a highland cabin in
Norway, with pony treks, fishing, mountain-biking, guided walks and elk
safaris.
Or there’s hiking: a sevennight Coast of Catalonia walking trip, with luggage
transported between hotels, starts at £520pp, based on two sharing a twin
room; children go for £470 and get their own room. Flights are not included:
Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) has return
flights to Girona from several UK airports, including Stansted, Manchester
and Glasgow Prestwick, departing on May 25, from £138pp.
Browse
travel offers at Times Selects
Also, you could try combining family adventure travel with volunteering. Tropical Adventures (http://www.TropicalAdventures.com) is a non-profit which combines adventure travel with volunteering. Children of any age are welcome and programmes are catered to the individual family.
Jo, London, UK