Family adventures can be tailored to any age group, finds Katie McGonagle
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While most parents wish their little ones could stay little for longer, kids can’t help but grow up fast. The Disney Princess dress and Spiderman pyjamas that fitted them perfectly at age five are soon outgrown – and the same could be said of their holiday styles.
That’s why family adventure holidays come in all shapes and sizes, from toddler-friendly trips with plenty to keep short attention spans engaged, to action-packed adventures tailored perfectly to teens.
Under-eights: introduction to adventure
Who says parents have to abandon all sense of adventure when they start a family? Sure, the practicalities of pushing a pram up a mountain might rule out babies, but Explore has ‘tots’ tours’ for those as young as two, featuring toddler-friendly activities and accommodation, and many other adventure operators accept kids from five. That’s the starting point for Imaginative Traveller on all but African overland and teen trips, and for The Family Adventure Company, which incorporates easier activities and slower paced itineraries for younger guests.
KE Adventure highlights family-friendly Morocco for kids six and over. Its eight-day Les Petits Caravanniers tour mixes French and English families in a Berber-led camel-trekking adventure, sleeping in the desert and hunting for fossils (from £895 land-only ex-Santander). On The Go Tours’ 1001 Berber Nights also covers camel-trekking in the Sahara, the souks of Marrakech and two nights’camping under the stars.
An agriturismo stay kicks off a new eight-day Sicily Family Adventure from Exodus, followed by cycling on Favignana Island, pizza-making in Palermo and every boy’s dream: an off-road adventure around Mount Etna (from £1,099 per adult and £999 for kids, including flights).
Sticking close to home, Iceland is just a three-hour flight and easy to get around, so it’s no wonder it scores highly with young families. Throw in a tour called The Viking Challenge from Taber Holidays, and little ones’ imaginations will be fired up in no time. The seven-night trip features riding through lava fields, whale-watching, a bike ride to the lighthouse on the Seltjarnarnes Peninsula, a treasure hunt in Reykjavik and free time as a family (from £2,070 per adult and £680 per child six-11, including flights, departing daily June 1-August 31).
Regent Holidays also maximises flexibility on its Iceland Family Encounter Fly-Drive, an eight-day tour tailor-made for different ages. Stops include Hraunfossar waterfall, a holiday park in Husafell for swimming, mini-golf and, for older children, riding and snowmobiling, then Slakki zoo and Thingvellir National Park. Prices start at £1,280 for adults and £390 for under-12s, including flights and car hire.
But the biggest draw for this age group is seeing Santa Claus in snowy Lapland. Transun runs trips from regional UK airports between November 14 and December 20, including a three-night Sleigh Bells Ringing tour which features husky sledding, snowmobiling and a private meeting with Santa (from £799 full-board, including flights).
8 to 12-year-olds: family fun
With longer legs come cycling and walking holidays. Clients can take their own bikes on Jet2holidays’ new Majorca cycling breaks (bike carriage is £30 for 30kg), or hire bikes on Inntravel’s self-guided trips, where routes include the new Danube Explorer. This scenic journey covers 50 miles over eight days, exploring fairytale-like castles and wine-producing villages along the way (land-only from £898 or £698 for under-14s).
Parents who like being on the move but hate the hassle of packing can try The Family Adventure Company’s sailing trips in Italy, the Caribbean and Thailand. Youngsters studying the Romans at school will be fascinated by Pompeii, part of the Italian Amalfi Coast tour, though they may equally enjoy sampling real Italian pizza and ice cream.
It’s a similar case in Jordan: is its popularity down to its incredible history or boys’ (and their dads’) desire for Indiana Jones-style adventures? Either way, Discover Egypt’s Classic Jordan Tour obliges, featuring ancient ruins in Jerash and Petra, a 4×4 desert tour and floating in the Dead Sea (a week costs from £5,654 for four with flights, accommodation and private car with guide).
Tiring kids out keeps everyone happy, which is why Explore has introduced a two-week Western Canada Pioneer itinerary, where families go rafting, canoeing, cycling, glacier walking and canyon hiking, then sleep easy in teepees, yurts and trapper tents. Australia is ripe with child-friendly activities too: the Great Barrier Reef, Hamilton Island, Surfers Paradise theme parks and Sydney Wildlife Zoo, to name but a few. Travel 2’s 14-night Australian Family Adventure visits these spots, from £9,649 for two adults and two under-12s, from May 1 to June 19.
Also offering outstanding possibilities for adventure is Costa Rica. It’s a big family seller for Journey Latin America, whose Nature’s Trail includes kayaking in Tortuguero, birdwatching in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, zip-lining and a volcano visit; and for Virgin Holidays, whose 14-day Costa Rica Family Adventure features a cooking lesson, ranch stay, river rafting, canopy walk, chocolate tour and beach stay.
If ecotourism doesn’t do it, wildlife is another sure-fire hit at this age. Family options range from Wendy Wu Tours’ Panda Pursuits, which combines China’s cultural highlights with a finale seeing giant pandas in Chengdu, to spotting orangutans in Borneo or elephants in Sri Lanka – both are featured on Imaginative Traveller’s family-focused tours.
For the ultimate animal encounter, family safaris are a small but significant market. Many African camps offer junior bushranger-style activities; Wildlife Worldwide has introduced family game-viewing tours in South Africa, Kenya and Zambia; while serious adventure operators such as Tucan Travel offer family friendly combinations like pairing the Serengeti with beach time in Zanzibar.
The top family choice from Visions of Africa is Hluhluwe-iMfolozi game reserve in South Africa, which is easily combined with beach time (look out for turtles hatching their eggs), snorkelling and mountain biking.
Teens: independent adventure
Teenage years cover a multitude, from 13-year-olds not yet ready to explore by themselves, to 17-year-olds desperate to strike out solo. This is where teen tours come in.
Karl Bolton, programme manager for Explore’s family adventures, says: “Some of our regular family holidays have departure dates reserved exclusively for families with children aged 11 and upwards. These departures ensure teenagers travel with like-minded people of a similar age, and allow them to take part in exciting activities such as rafting and kayaking with new friends.”
Both those activities feature in Explore’s new Family Adventure in Latvia, an eight-day tour visiting capital Riga, with tobogganing, wall-climbing and high-rope adventures nearby. Teen departures are available on July 26 and August 23, from £897 per adult and £823 per child with flights.
The Family Adventure Company also ups the activity ante on its five teen trips – think scuba diving, sandboarding and hardcore trekking. Its eight-day Active Turkey Teen Adventure tour includes diving, sea kayaking around a sunken city, 4×4 safaris, hiking and mountain biking, plus two nights on a gulet (from £965 or £869 for children, including flights).
Sometimes the activities themselves are enough to make it a teen trip. Grand American Adventures, for example, has a 14-day Canyon Family Discovery tour that encompasses California, Nevada and Arizona, exploring national parks, taking an overnight white-water rafting trip and stopping off at petrolheads’ paradise Route 66 (from £1,659 land-only).
Family holidays aren’t all about exercising the body: sometimes they can inspire the mind too, and nowhere more so than on Rainbow Tours’ Ecuador & Galapagos Cruise. It’s exciting and educational at any age and features a week exploring mainland highlights Quito, the Avenue of the Volcanoes and colonial Cuenca, followed by a seven-night cruise on a carbon-neutral ship with small-group shore excursions. The tour costs from £4,995 for two weeks in August, based on a family of four.
Also offering more than simple family fun, the Zambezi Volunteer Experience from Exodus’s teenage range fosters a sense of responsibility not only for the environment but also for other people. The 10-day tour includes a canoe safari with camping, three days at a game reserve and volunteer work accompanying animal protection walks, visiting a local school or helping youngsters with the school vegetable garden (from £1,749 including flights).
