As every parent knows, holidaying with toddlers and babies may not be the most relaxing break you've ever had. Those days of lying by the pool for hours on end soaking up the hot sun may not seem to be attainable anymore, but all may not be lost. Holidaying abroad with your newly extended family is not an impossibility and could actually be more relaxing than you thought possible. We have some top tips for travelling with toddlers and things to think about when looking for your next summer holiday.
Martyn family review - child aged 1yr ''We have had one of the most relaxing holidays I can remember having. Within hours of arriving we felt very at home. Our son has absolutely loved the garden and all the toys and we feel we've seen him developing before our eyes during our visit. The teddy bears picnic was a real highlight for him. Wendy and Chris put a lot of effort into making sure everyone has a good time and their boys played tirelessly with our son and even baked us delicious cakes ! Never thought a holiday with a toddler could be so relaxing''
When to travel -
when most people think 'summer' holiday they are talking about travelling in July and August. This may be possible when there's just the two of you but now you have a toddler and a baby it may be worth thinking about other times of the year. You have just 4 years before you'll be forced into travelling in the 'peak' season, so while you can (assuming you arn't a teacher) it makes more sense to travel in June or September when prices are lower for not only accommodation but for your travel too. Competition at this time of year is fierce so you can get bargains but its worth signing up for updates from your preferred travel companies and holiday accommodation as often they have offers well before the January rush. For example, in October, Brittany ferries always increase their standard ferry discount of 20% (when booking one of their accommodation advertisers such as ourselves) by at least 5% and sometimes 10% giving you up to 30% off the standard ferry price - definitely worth thinking about your holiday early.
Anywhere in Europe south of the Loire gets fantastic weather from at least May onwards and often well into October. Our own area of the Charente Maritime enjoys the second most sunshine hours after the Mediterranean coast in France - after all we are just an hour away from the world famous vineyards of the Medoc and Bordeaux and we are surrounded by the vineyards for Cognac - so it must be great weather !! It is also a consideration not to go anywhere too hot - Greece and Portugal can be sweltering, even in June. When you are constantly trying to keep a hat on your two year old and slathering suncream over your baby, that 'hot' weather you were craving doesn't seem like such a great idea . June in France is beautiful, mid 20's with still mild evenings and nights, so it's not too hot to sleep and the days don't get so hot you have to stay inside during the day to prevent baby and toddler from overheating.
Sharpe family review ''We have 4 young children and this was our first overseas holiday with them. By providing a safe, fun environment with plenty of other children to befriend, La Grange du Moulin gave us all a wonderful holiday. The kids loved the pools and with so many playmates for them my wife and I had a surprisingly large amount of time to relax and unwind. Wendy and Chris are great hosts and really looked after us. Chris gave exert and generous guidance to the local wines and spirits. We all had a very special 2 weeks. We very much look forward to returning next year !!''
How to travel - plane, train or automobile ? Well in my opinion the car is the way to go when you have young children. We travelled back and forth often to the UK when our two boys were very young and we always found that the car was the best all round. When they are small, children tend to sleep in the car, so you can really get some miles under the belt while they are dozing and use your petrol / loo breaks to let them have a run / crawl around to stretch their legs (a great advantage of having toddlers still in nappies is that you don't have to stop for the wee breaks so often !) Another advantage of taking your own car is that you can take 'everything' and more importantly bring back lots of wine ! As the children get a bit older the stops may become more frequent and the thought of travelling hundreds of miles may seem daunting but gone are the days when I was young, of staring at the clouds or spotting number plates - in car dvd players are brilliant - beg or borrow one if you don't have one, mp3 players with kids headphones and packed full of stories is another great invention ! We also always made sure we had a ready supply of 'non sticky' snacks like packets of raisins that my two would spend ages eating as they picked them one by one out of the tiny box and rice crackers were a firm favourite and sticker books and colouring books with a small selection of crayons (not felts if you value your car seats)
I will admit though that the car isn't for everyone, every family and child is different, we were lucky and no one suffers from car sickness, ferry phobias or drive for a living so just want to leave the car at home. Also France is really the only sunshine destination that it is feasible to drive to. Flying is a great alternative option, particularly in this day and age of cheap flights and if you just have a baby or young toddler who travels for free it can be a very economical way of getting to your destination. Again, sign up for notifications to the airline operators so you don't miss out on their sales. When staying at our own family holiday accommodation, you will need a hire car, we really are in the countryside, but I would recommend hiring a car wherever you are, even if only for a few day trips out; it seems a shame to me that families travel all this way and then don't take advantage of visiting the local area and experiencing the local culture. Try a comparison site when you are ready to book, whether it be for flights or car hire as all the big companies have deals going on at some time or another, in our experience none are any better or worse than another, its more a question of who you can get the best deal from at the time.
Wall family review ''We have just spent a fabulous week in the Papillon gite, our first holiday with
children. It is a wonderful setting in the rolling countryside with nothing but open
fields as far as you can see. Wendy and Chris have tried to think of everything and anything they can do to make your holiday with young children as stress free as possible- and they have certainly achieved this. There are some lovely touches
which make this place 'stand out from the norm', from boxes of toys in each gite, to a dvd library and the evening taste du terroir and seafood bbqs were fantastic and
a must do. It is in a great location with plenty to see and do, the zoo, aquarium and great beaches all found within an hour or so. I cannot rate this holiday highly enough, but as a family we only have one regret - that we didn't book two weeks !''
How to book - meaning, whether to go it alone and book direct so avoiding the middle man costs or use an agent whether that be a travel agent or by booking through a company like booking.com, holiday lettings or airbnb. I personally always book direct as I know I can save a lot of money and am not paying the third party fee but you do need to be careful. Make sure you verify a place whether it be by actually calling the owner, finding independent reviews on trip advisor, mumsnet, netmums and booking.com and by asking lots of questions to make sure the place is right for you and your family. We often find where we want to go by searching on the above mentioned sites and then search for the place direct and then book direct, its worked for us all over the world. Using a travel agent/third party does of course take all the organisation away - a bonus for some (but I actually love all the research bit !) but they don't 'know' a place like the owner would and can't answer all those detailed questions like is there a change mat or potty available, how are the bedrooms laid out, are there plastic bowls and cups ?
What sort of accommodation - well there's a host of choices from camping, to stand alone villas, to clusters of holiday cottages like ourselves, to hotels. Wherever you decide to stay you need to think about a number of things when you are taking your baby and toddler:
- Equipment -
does it have a washing machine ? You may be on holiday but with toddlers and babies there's always a need to do some washing. Is it free of charge or will you have to pay for every load - certainly an issue if you are flying and your baggage is restricted. Will you have to get up at 3am to use it because there's only one machine between thousands of campers ? Of course here at our holiday cottages all the cottages have a washing machine or there is a free to use laundry room, plenty of drying racks, rotary dryers and even a machine should it rain.
- baby equipment ? whether flying or driving a car it would be handy if all the bulky equipment you need is on hand and free of charge at your accommodation. Many campsites, mobile home sites charge for the hire of things like cots and high chairs which can add considerably to the cost of your holiday and what about other things like a baby bath, steriliser, changemat, baby chair, plastic crockery/cutlery, handblender ? We can all 'make do' and 'manage' but wouldn't it make your holiday that much more relaxing if those items were all there waiting for you on arrival. Make sure you ask wherever you go if they provide these things. Many properties have jumped on the 'child friendly' bandwagon but only have a cot and maybe a high chair - in our opinion there's a whole lot more to being child friendly than that. For everything we can provide (all free of charge) visit our web site
- Facilities - a heated pool ? even in Greece and Portugal an unheated pool is likely to be far too cold for baby or your 2 year old, they need 30c to be comfortable so even if a heated pool is advertised, find out tow what temperature as often 24c is considered 'heated' . Our toddler pool is of course heated to 30c and our main pool to 28c; perfect for an enjoyable dip with your children.
- babysitting, childcare ? Lots of places have 'kids clubs' which is great for older children and some even offer babysitting but from personal experience, leaving your baby or toddler in the care of complete strangers with lots of other children is not the best way to enjoy an evening alone with your partner - the one time we did I just could not relax and we left the meal early to get back to out little ones ! I am a registered childminder here in France and would always now insist that whoever cares for my children has some sort of qualification or experience, its different when you know someone who babysits for you at home but abroad in a big hotel or complex ? Here at our child friendly properties I offer babysitting to parents who may not of had a night out alone since before the children were born. Since we personally welcome every family, mix and chat daily with all our families and our own two children play together with yours, you and your children will quickly get to know us. Don't forget too, that in a hotel, once baby is asleep in bed you are tied to your room, quietly watching the tv - here at La Grange du Moulin and our other family holiday properties, you can put your little ones to bed then sit right outside with a monitor, enjoying a glass of wine, the evening sky and the company of other parents - a night out without having to go out !
- Safety - a priority with children and more so with toddlers and babies. Does your villa or cottage have stairbarriers on the staircases? Are the swimming pools enclosed completely ? I've seen numerous 'luxury villas' advertising on prominant 'toddler friendly' sites where the pool is completely open - this is often an issue in places like Spain. In France there is a law making sure there is some sort of 'safety' in place but this does not always mean an enclosed pool, so check before you book. With just a handful of cottages on each of our family friendly complexes, you quickly get to know the other parents - all our family properties are let exclusively to families with children - there won't be any groups of adults staying up till all hours next door. You'll be able to relax and let your children wander freely, certainly something you could not do on a campsite or around a hotel grounds.
- Entertainment - when the children are entertained then you'll be able to relax that much more. A family holiday to us is not sending our two boys off to kids club all day and hiring a babysitter for the evening, we love spending quality time with them but it's also great if there are activities we can do together too. Although we offer lots of activities such as pottery and fabric painting, picnics and scuba diving; most children coming to stay with us just love to play. They quickly make new friends and will happily spend all day playing around the garden and in and out of their new friends houses. When your children are just toddlers or babies, obviously you can't really leave them to their own devices entirely but because our play gardens are right in front of most of our cottages, you can certainly allow them space to discover their new environment.
Allen and Bissett families ''La Grange du Moulin is a wonderful safe and fun place for young families. There is nowhere that they can escape with gates gate each end of the property.
The gites are rustic but fully equipped and lovely and cool in the hot sunny days we experienced at the beginning of June . We were in the pool every day. Beautifully kept by Chris and Wendy and there is a baby and toddler pool too. Combine all that with a laundry and well equipped garden to play in and
you have the perfect setting for a relaxing family holiday. As grandparents we thoroughly enjoyed some real quality time with our grandchildren. Will definitely come again.''
