It's a fine art planning a perfect family trip, balancing all the diverse needs, providing just the right amount of stimulation, working in some decent downtime, and fitting it all into your time frame and budget. The following destinations provide would-be adventurers with a host of options a world away from that five-star hotel and the lacklustre kids club.
Working ranch vacation, USA
In need of a perfect family trip that provides just the right amount of stimulation and adventure? Take a trip to the Wild West for an authentic glimpse of the cowboy lifestyle. You’ll get big skies, dramatic scenery and plenty of time in the saddle at a variety of ranches across the USA, where you can learn to ride or improve your skills, take on some rodeo training or trek high into the hills. By night you can learn to line dance, stargaze around a campfire, and sleep in a teepee.
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Lofoten Islands, Norway
Sheer cliffs topped by jagged peaks rise dramatically out of the water in Norway’s remote Lofoten Islands. Outdoor adventure is a given here and since the islands lie inside the Arctic Circle you’ll get incredibly long summer days to explore the traditional villages, take boat trips up narrow fjords, visit bird and seal colonies, discover a Viking longhouse or wander around artists’ galleries. You can hike or ride the lonely hills and virtually empty roads, kayak to deserted beaches and uninhabited islets, enjoy the numerous summer festivals, and if you’re lucky, even see the Northern Lights.
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Horse-drawn caravan holiday, Cumbria, England
Long celebrated in children’s fiction, running off to a life in a gypsy caravan has to be the ultimate childhood dream. It’s impossible to measure the value of a trip like this, but the colorful bow-top caravan, placid horses and open fires are guaranteed to induce wide grins and spark imaginations in young and old. Meander down country roads, hike in the hills or just enjoy the rhythmic clip-clop of the horses’ hooves and the unhurried pace of life.
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Cultural discovery, Thailand
Thailand’s idyllic beaches are a major draw, but along with sun and sand this diverse country offers families the opportunity for a far more exotic adventure. Enjoy the beach and the glittering temples, but then head north to see the country’s beautiful national parks and immerse yourself in the daily life of a traditional village. Go trekking and rafting, visit craftspeople and shamans, and provide your children with lifelong memories.
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Cappadocia, Turkey
A surreal landscape of honeycombed hills and conical rock formations, Cappadocia will make any child’s imagination run wild. ‘Fairy chimneys’ litter the landscape and are carved out into ingenious homes, while below ground whole cities lie hidden in the soft stone. Churches and monasteries hide in the canyons, cave hotels provide a place to rest your head, and spectacular hot air balloon rides give a sense of the vast scale and staggering beauty of the region.
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Gobi Desert, Mongolia
The vast, harsh landscape of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia probably won’t be your first thought when planning a family holiday, but if you enjoy wild open spaces and the whiff of adventure, it provides the perfect setting for an unforgettable trip. The birthplace of Genghis Khan and home to breathtaking landscapes, the Gobi offers the chance to stay with nomadic tribes in ger camps, see dramatic ice canyons and spectacular dunes, and visit one of the world’s largest dinosaur graveyards at the flaming cliffs of Bayanzag.
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Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain
Forget Lanzarote’s cluster of coastal resorts and head inland to discover an otherworldly volcanic landscape home to the works of visionary architect César Manrique. A fantasy voyage for children and a cultural fix for adults, his ingenious designs include a subterranean amphitheater set inside an enormous lava tube, a spectacular lookout, and a surreal house built into a series of lava bubbles. Kids will also get a kick out of the eerie landscape of Timanfaya National Park where steam billows out of boreholes and your lunch gets cooked over a red-hot fissure.
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The national parks of Madhya Pradesh, India
India’s hectic streets and crowded markets can pose a daunting challenge for families, but retreat to the national parks of central Madhya Pradesh and you discover the inspiration behind The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. Eleven national parks preserve the dense bamboo and saal forests of the area but it is Kanha which is easiest to access. Home to healthy populations of Bengal tigers, langur monkeys, swamp deer and antelope, it provides an exhilarating destination for 4WD jeep tours or guided walks.
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Herm, the Channel Islands, Great Britain
Remote yet accessible, exotic yet affordable, diminutive Herm was made for old-fashioned adventure. There are no cars or even bikes here, the school has just eight pupils and kids can enjoy that increasingly rare pleasure of complete freedom. Stay in a pre-pitched tent at the Seagull campsite, explore the beaches, rock pools and coastal paths, and discover mysterious Neolithic tombs.
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Stay in an atypical accommodation
Sometimes the place you stay is so special that it’s enough to make the whole trip unforgettable. Imagine your kids’ delight when you tell them they’re going to sleep in a lighthouse on a craggy cliff, bed down in a medieval castle or kip high in a tree house? Guaranteed to spark imaginations and a whole host of fantasy games, it’s well worth looking for accommodation a little less ordinary.
By Etain O'Carroll | LonelyPlanet
