The best post-Covid holidays to keep the kids entertained so you can relax
AFTER months of home-schooling, parents and kids need a holiday . . . from each other.
So, when we can travel again, choose a holiday resort packed with exciting activities, sports facilities and adventures for all, on top of the traditional fun. Trisha Hardbord has selected all-budget breaks here and abroad, giving youngsters fun and adults some rest.
Great outdoors, Worcestershire
THE name Boundless Outdoors lets you know there is no shortage of exhilarating pursuits for youngsters.
At its Worcestershire centre, kids can hike through the Malvern Hills, do abseiling and grass sledging. Water sports include canoeing, kayaking and raft building.
If your youngsters have a head for heights, there are zip wires and high ropes, trapeze jump, rock climbing and a balance beam to enjoy. There is also orienteering, bushcraft and problem solving.
Families can stay in a bell tent with fairy lights and bunting, sleeping six people, with bathroom and kitchen facilities. Prices from £100 per night and activity days from £40.
There is also a centre in Bell Heath, near Birmingham.
Swimming, Lanzarote
KIDS missing swimming because of pools being shut can glide through the water on a holiday in Lanzarote.
The Tui Blue Flamingo Beach offers lessons in one of three pools, alongside full-day programmes of activities and entertainment for youngsters.
With a team keeping the children happy, it offers so much more than a traditional kids’ club. Activities include a football academy, fitness training, tennis and darts.
Adults with free time can visit the marina of nearby Playa Blanca, buzzing with restaurants serving fresh seafood, cocktail bars and shopping. Or take a ferry to the island’s Canaries neighbour Fuerteventura.
Seven nights’ all-inclusive, flying from Gatwick, costs from £502pp, based on two adults and two children sharing. See tui.co.uk.
Action sports, Mexico
The 5 star resort has a skate park, pump tracks, foam pits, trampolines, mega-ramps and a Ninja obstacle challenge.
Add to that a rock-climbing wall and water park with 23 slides, plus paddle-boarding, kayaking and ball sports.
The Music Lab teaches kids instruments, lets them sing in a rock band and try DJing.
The Roxity Roxtars are colourful characters on hand to offer fun, interactive educational activities.
Families can cool down in one of five pools, enjoy white sandy beaches, play a round of golf or be pampered at the Rock Spa.
Seven nights’ all-inclusive, including flights from Gatwick, is from £853pp based on a family of four sharing. See ba.com.
Watersports, Club Med
BRAVO to all those who have been supervising teenagers during home schooling.
Now it’s time to let them loose on a holiday, with someone else making sure they don’t get up to mischief.
All-inclusive Club Med resorts have cool, custom-made spaces at Passworld, where youngsters can get involved, or not, with activities including film design, record mixing and DJing.
Watersports such as sailing, wake-boarding and waterskiing are complimentary.
Children from four months are catered for with activities at Club Meds around the world, including in Europe, the Caribbean and Asia.
Seven nights’ all-inclusive at Club Med Palmiye Hotel in Turkey, for two adults and two teenagers flying from Gatwick is from £3,668. See clubmed.co.uk.
Football, Dominican Republic
FOOTIE-mad kids will thank you for ever if you take them to the Caribbean and throw in a Real Madrid soccer camp.
At Casa De Campo in the Dominican Republic, top-class coaches train children from seven to 17 on a Fifa-class pitch with turf that Real’s Karim Benzema would be happy with.
The 7,000-acre resort also offers activities including table tennis, billiards and air hockey tournaments, horse-riding, fashion shows, kayaking, plus arts and crafts.
There are supervised kids’ clubs also offering nanny and babysitting services.
Seven nights’ all-inclusive, flying from Heathrow, for two adults and two children, costs from £888pp. See ba.com.
A five-day football camp including a Real kit, backpack and water bottle costs £475. See casadecampo.com.do.
Aqua Play, France
IF you are longing for Mediterranean sun but don’t want to fly, then drive to a French holiday park.
The teams at Sunelia sites have been entertaining British families for years.
Le Domaine de la Dragonniere, between the beaches of Languedoc and the Canal du Midi, is a 5 star park.
The highlight is a vast aqua playground with four zones including a simulated lagoon.
There are kids’ clubs, a range of sports including football and tennis, climbing frames, bike hire and more.
Guests can also make use of a free shuttle bus to the beach.
Seven nights’ self-catering in a two-bedroom chalet, sleeping four, costs from £277. See sunelia.com/en.
Eurotunnel costs from around £160 return. For details see eurotunnel.com.
Bear Grylls, Greece
BEAR GRYLLS’ survival academy opens this year at the Sani Resort in Halkidiki, Greece.
Experts take youngsters into the woodlands to build shelters and fires, make a raft, forage for food and navigate their way out.
The resort has academies for children and adults.
Tennis has been taken care of by clay-court legend Rafael Nadal and football by Chelsea FC. Biking, triathlon, water skiing and scuba diving are included too. There are clubs for kids of all ages and the list of activities is almost endless, from beekeeping to zip-lining.
A day at Bear Grylls’ academy starts from £36. Seven nights’ full-board in a seaview junior suite for a family of four, with Gatwick flights, costs from £4,679.
For details, see classic-collection.co.uk.
Cycle skills, Sardinia
BIKE-loving kids will never tire of VOI Tanka Village on Sardinia’s south-east coast.
The resort has opened a cycle school with an obstacle track for games and skill improvements.
The 4 star VOI Tanka Village, in lush gardens overlooking Simius Bay, is a fantastic place for adults to relax, too.
Pamper yourself in the spa or play a round of golf while the children learn photography or dance.
There are nature workshops and sports courses – from tennis lessons to windsurfing – as well as kids’ clubs.
The entertainment continues in the evening with shows and parties and there are restaurants just for children.
Seven nights’ half-board, with Gatwick flights, costs from £649pp. See ba.com/sardinia.
Camping, Yorks & New Forest
KIDS love camping but can get bored if they are just sleeping under canvas in a remote field.
So pitching your tent at an activity centre, with instructors on hand, is the perfect solution. Pitchup.com has centres with fantastic on-site fun, such as Hatfield Outdoor near Doncaster.
Along with kayaking, canoeing and swimming in the lake, there is a new aqua park with giant inflatables to scramble up.
On dry land, there is orienteering, den-building and hiking. The nearby Doncaster Dome has an ice-skating rink, water park and sports arena.
And Avon Tyrrell centre in the New Forest, Hants, offers tree-top aerial adventure with high and low rope courses.
Electric pitches at Hatfield are from £25pn, Avon Tyrrell from £20. See pitch-up.com.
Go, Active!, Hoseasons
A Go! Active break is just what energetic kids need.
Hoseasons has holiday parks all over the UK offering activities galore as well as supervised kids’ clubs.
At Hemsby Beach in Norfolk, there is a programme for three to seven-year-olds, soft play, archery, sea scooters, crazy golf, bowling and a climbing wall.
And youngsters will love zorbing – rolling downhill inside a plastic orb – along with an all-weather sports court and an indoor pool.
Enjoy entertainment in the show bar, and the beach is 350 yards away.
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Older kids can head to the Pleasure Beach at nearby Great Yarmouth.
Accommodation ranges from caravans to lodges with hot tubs.
A three-night weekend break for up to six people in July costs from £429. See hoseasons.co.uk.
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