Family adventure holidays
Family adventure holidays can be a fantastic way of having new experiences with your family and improving your children’s understanding of the world and different cultures. Specialist family tour operators such as The Adventure Company provide a tailored service for several groups of families joining together for guided tours in interesting parts of the world or you can also add it at the end of a DIY holiday such as a safari in South Africa. The pace is slower from the standard adventure tour and time off freely available on the itinerary to cope with young people’s needs to take regular breaks. The itineraries are also specifically tailored to interest adults and children alike so they are surprisingly family friendly.
On some holidays, the focus is on the whole family taking part in the activity together and on others, the children and adults will separate with children taking part in a kids’ club.
Accommodation can range from tented camps, youth hostels and activity centres to hotels and guest houses. Adventure holiday operators generally make it clear if there are any minimum age restrictions for the different levels of activity and you should certainly bear in mind the suitability for your children.
The Adventure Company organize holidays for adventurous parents and children aged 2-16 years of age and they have over 60 family adventure holidays worldwide.
Their infant adventure holidays include the pyramids and mummies of Egypt, the mountains and beaches of Morocco, the wildlife coast itinerary of South Africa and family activities in Slovakia.
Teenagers will have different requirements of course, and the Adventure Company’s holidays include desert experiences, trekking in the Atlas mountains, gorilla adventures and trekking the Inca trail.
Top tips in booking your adventure holiday
Check carefully the minimum age for adventure holidays as they vary by operator and by adventure tour. For some adventure tours, the appropriate age would be 4-5, whereas in others where the pace is slower and the accommodation more suitable younger children could be accommodated.
Ensure that you carry a full first aid kit with you and that you all have appropriate immunizations.
Adventure holidays require specific active clothing and you will need plenty of layers including waterproof jacket, breathable and waterproof clothing and good walking boots. Equipment for both adults and children are available with Field and Trek.
Review your tour itineraries carefully before you choose your adventure tour and to make sure that the pace of the tour, the size of the group and the planned activities are appropriate for your family.
Engage your children before the trip in aspects of the tour that are likely to interest them such as reading stories about the mummies and the pyramids if you are taking a trip say to Egypt.
You will find lots of family friendly travel tips and advice in our research and advice section to help you book the right family holiday. Check out also the experiences of other parents and travellers in our parents forum and add your own experiences as we are a great believer in real parent's experiences as the best measure of whether somewhere will suit you for your family holiday.
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