Thinking about booking a holiday? Here are our best holidays as a family

We have been on many different holidays with the boys over the years. Some have been amazing and others have been a bit more of a challenge. I thought it would be fun to share what worked and what didn’t.

Our first holiday as a family of 5 – Brittany

Our first holiday with all three boys was to stay in a gite in Brittany. We took the car and drove over to Brittany via the Eurotunnel. Our boys at the time were five, three and a baby so we thought taking the car would mean we could load up with everything three young boys would need. We took far too much!

The gite was amazing we had loads of space, lots of gardens and grounds to wander, animal to feed and a swimming pool. The location was great as it was near lots of historical towns to wonder, near the coast for beautiful beaches, an aquarium. We went to a mega impressive alligator park and to Mont St. Michele.

It was a lovely holiday where we had lots of great days out, but it wasn’t a relaxing holiday, three young children required constant watching and entertainment. And the gite was a good 6 hour drive from Calais.

Haven Caravan Holiday

We have been to Haven in Norfolk many times as a family, normally for long weekends with friends. It’s not the most luxurious of holidays, you are staying in a caravan afterall, but the kids love it. There is so much for them to do, from all kinds of sports to bikes to a swimming pool. Again its right next to the beach for days out. We normally go as a big group of friends and the kids all tend to look after each other in the evenings (at the arcade!) whilst the adult sit in the clubhouse having a drink and some pizza. The biggest disadvantage is the amount of money you shell out to the children for the arcade!

Cornwall

I am from Cornwall so we have been back as family to visit family many times, this also means that we have somewhere to stay for free. There is so much to do in and around Penzance from Paradise bird sanctuary to Flambards theme park to Gweek seal sanctuary. There are so many beautiful beaches, Porthcurno and Sennen being my favourites. If it’s good weather Cornwall is as good as flying abroad, just look at Porthcurno beach here!

Alas its very far away, Penzance where my family lives, is a good six hours drive. And five extra people staying at my sister’s house can get cramped. Particularly as the boys get bigger. Also if it’s raining and you need to entertain with going to places then it can get expensive.

Spain – San Juan De Los Terreros

We have been to Spain twice as a family with another family. We went once for ten days and then again for 14 days. Both times we booked our accommodation and flights and car hire separately. The accommodation is a great price, the last time we went was 2015 and we had a huge, air conditioned Wi-Fi apartment with a beautiful swimming pool area all for around £1000 for two weeks. And it was a 100 meter walk to the beach. We have always gone in August in the Summer holidays and the flights were a lot, coming in at £230ish each. For 5 people that hurts! We use Clubcard vouchers to help pay for car hire to save some money.

We have had two lovely holiday and the benefits of going with friends is that there are more children to keep each other amused. The dads are happy to have a drinking partner and love taking the kids off to swim and explore. The mums are happy as we got time to lie in the sun and read books! Two weeks was possibly too long, we were all ready to come home after ten days. By then you have eaten in your favourite restaurants, gone to the attractions and been to the beach lots (too many) of times.

Corsica

In 2017 I took my children to Corsica by myself, they were ten, eight and five. It was the best holiday I have ever had. We went for a week to a resort that had so much, literally so much for the children to do, from sailing to windsurfing to football to mountain biking to tennis and everything was included. There was also childcare available so I got plenty of time to myself. The food was lush and the island of Corsica is just stunning. The seven days away was also just the right amount of time.

If you are thinking of going on holiday this year where are you going, have you already booked it or do you leave it until the last minute?