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Share your fun family holiday stories with TUI - chance to win a £300 voucher

(125 Posts)
LucyBGransnet (GNHQ) Wed 18-Dec-19 09:50:50

Most people spend their time counting down the days until their family holiday as soon as the flights and accommodation are booked. Family holidays give us a chance to escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, but most importantly allow us to let loose and have fun. Maybe you’re an adrenaline junkie who heads for the biggest slide at the waterpark or perhaps your idea of fun is basking in the sun at the poolside with a good book in hand. With this in mind, TUI wants to hear about your most fun family holiday.

Here’s what TUI have to say: “At TUI, we know that your family holiday is a time to reconnect and have fun. That’s why we’ve designed hotels especially for families to make it the best week, or two, of the year. From allowing you to take your car seat or pushchair with you free of charge, to offering baby changing facilities, kids’ clubs and children’s buffets in resort, we’ve thought of every little detail to give you a hassle free and family-friendly holiday. We’d love to hear from Gransnetters about their favourite holiday moments with their family.”

If you were asked to name one family holiday that is most memorable to you as being “fun”, what would you say and why? What type of holiday do you feel you can get the most fun out of? Would you rather spend your time in good company, basking in the good weather or eating good food? What kind of activities do you do to make memories with your children on holiday? Perhaps you all jump into the pool the second you arrive at the resort? Or maybe you’d rather go on a family excursion to see the local sights and scenery?

Tell us about your most fun family holiday on the thread below and you will be entered into a prize draw where 1 GNer will win a £300 voucher for a store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!
GNHQ

Insight T&Cs apply

lillyofthevalley Wed 01-Jan-20 13:48:20

Hello lovely Gransnetters ! My most memorable family holiday was camping in the South of France, for 3 weeks in the school holidays in the 1970s. I felt so cultured at school saying I was going to France.
My day drove his escort estate down, I don't remember much of the journey - but I do remember the car rattling with pans kettles, tent poles and food.
I remember hot weather, trying to use my schoolgirl french in the local pâtisserie for our bread and cakes, using francs, my mum and dad drinking local french wine, and me and my sister being allowed to try a watered down version. It was relaxing, inspiring, unforgettable and I treasure the photos of that wonderful time together, My parents loved to travel and inspired my to travel, see sights and cultures. Thanks Mom and Pops

Xxjanexx Wed 01-Jan-20 21:38:26

My most memorable holiday and only one,was when hubby and I went to the Christmas market in Germany last year.
It was beautiful, couldn’t fault the hotel we stayed in.
The markets had the wonderful smell off all different food and I even tryed mulled wine....yuck!
The little gift stalls had so many little trinkets and Christmas bits.
We even went to the chocolate factory ?

Feelthefear Thu 02-Jan-20 00:14:24

Our most recent holiday was really fun. We went to Florida (flew with Tui, incidentally, and the flights were excellent). What made it the most fun was that we went with our friends, and we had a great time, lots of laughs! The company really made the holiday.

angieblt Thu 02-Jan-20 11:53:51

Always having to go swimming with the family is the first thing everyone wants to do, so much fun with flukes and slides, we go every day and laugh a lot, the food is always good to try, especially if it involves someone else cooking, we love to dress up and eat out and go to some sort of entertainment, you just can't beat the family bonding time together in relaxed conditions

Quercus Thu 02-Jan-20 15:49:37

One of our best family holidays was in Cornwall. We bought the children wetsuits and bodyboards and they spent lots of time bodyboarding on beaches with lifeguards present, as well as the usual sandcastle building. A local outlet sold 'hedgehog' ice creams which were a daily treat (covered in chopped nuts).

robyn297 Fri 03-Jan-20 16:09:31

I grew up in South Africa, one Christmas my parents planned a holiday to the coast. We lent my grandparents caravan, my mum somehow managed to hide all the Christmas presents in the caravan without us finding them. It rained the entire time, we spent most of the time crammed into the caravan playing board games, its one of my most special memories. It should have been a disaster but it brought us together.

Sararose Fri 03-Jan-20 18:14:56

We had a lovely holiday in an converted barn in mid Wales. - three generations with the youngest being my 7 year old great grandson. We explored the area during the day and particularly enjoyed the RSPB reserves as my great grandson is an avid birdwatcher. We rarely watched television but played a variety of games every evening. It is great when all the generations get on well together.

Cobweb01 Sat 04-Jan-20 10:47:50

My parents both passed away a couple of years ago after I had been looking after them for 4 years, so this question immediately made me think of the time they came with my husband and two children to Tunisia. We had told them of our plans to book this holiday and they said they would like to come with us. It was a lovely family holiday where we had the indoor pool all to ourselves so my son (who was 7) learnt to swim in one day and grew in confidence each day, as did our 13 year old daughter. My daughter was a little self concious and moody but my mum talked her around on the first day and we all had so much fun together. We went out exploring, took some trips to Roman ruins which we all enjoyed, walked, swam, shopped (just a little), went on camel/horse rides and every evening just sat and chatted (out of season so no entertainment) and laughed so much. My son and mum narrated every journey which made us all laugh and it was a real bonding experience and such a special time that we have all treasured ever since.

susiesioux Sat 04-Jan-20 11:01:40

We went in our first family holiday with my son and his wife and our two granddaughters ages 1 and 4. The look on the older ones face when she saw the sea for the first time was a picture and filled me with Nott. I shall never forget her running full pelt into the sea then straight out again when she thought the sea (waves) were chasing her ???

inishowen Sat 04-Jan-20 11:08:39

It would have to be Disneyland when the children were young. My dear mum had died and left me some money. We were all so sad I decided to spend some of my inheritance on a fantastic holiday. We did all the parks, Gatorland Zoo and The Kennedy Space Centre. My son learned to swim in the hotel pool. I know my mum would have approved of us taking that amazing trip.

Sheenae Sat 04-Jan-20 13:25:27

a week in Turkey for my 60th with my three sons (including one who lives in Japan) and their girlfriends. Great fun and a special occasion and I never thought we would all be away on holiday together again when they left home!

cassia16 Sat 04-Jan-20 17:39:36

As a child we had an annual holiday in Dawlish Warren,Devon. When my daughter was born we took her there too. Now we go with my two Granddaughters. It's an annual event we all love and has been "fun" for over 50 years. We go to the same caravan site which has evolved from a touring caravan site to chalets and lodges over the years. We rarely miss a year and if it does happen we are very sad. No matter where else we go our Dawlish Warren holiday is the one we try not to miss.

Seakay Sat 04-Jan-20 17:49:45

my most fun memories of childhood family holidays were when we rented a house for a week in Southwold. I spent overcast days playing on the common on my own or with my brother, crawling about finding paths through the gorse and secret hiding places to read in. We were taken to the beach on sunny days (there were a few!) and huddled behind windbreaks building sandcastles or paddled in the sea. The house had a stack of old Eagle Annuals which I loved reading.

CatterySlave1 Sat 04-Jan-20 18:36:27

About 6 summers ago 10 of us- our children, partners and 2 DGC went to Playa Blanca in Lanzarote for 2 wonderful weeks of fun and sunshine. Although we’d agreed to spend the days doing whatever we individually wanted and only eat out together each evening, we often spent hours in the day together too. We spent a lot of time just relaxing by the pool and it was lovely to see the teen/adult kids interacting together once again in the water having fun like they used to with competitions and pranks between them. So much fun and games! We also had quality time with the young DGC just playing, reading stories, sandcastles etc and all the stuff as young grandparents ourselves we struggle to have normal time to do at home. It was wonderful to get to know the partners better too and see different sides to them. Just walking around, sitting at pavement cafes or around the pool, and having a relaxing fun time together meant so much to me and I will cherish those memories. Logistics and distance means that now we’ve grown to 14 of us and so it’s unlikely that we could all get together to repeat it but it would be absolutely wonderful! Now where’s that winning lottery ticket when you want it?

jaynewhitehead1 Sat 04-Jan-20 19:57:38

A villa in Cyprus with plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms, an amazing private pool, seating areas and a bbq. Nana on breakfast duty for the family then rest of the day fun sun and relaxation.. children in the pool morning noon and night, family meals in, family meals out. bts of free time for us sisters and the boys went out to visit a castle ( I believe hahha) a boat trip gave us the best views of the island coastline. Playing games, chatting, odd glass of wine and lots of jokes. Paphos some evenings, wine tasting excursion into the mountains in our hire cars, children entertaining us singing round the pool, fabulous meals in the harbor, we all loved the holiday. The men cooked the evening bbq, everyone had their own little jobs but it wasn't work it was blissfully warm and felt incredibly safe, and easy to drive as Cypriot roads were the same as ours.

Purpledaffodil Sat 04-Jan-20 20:28:13

Family camping holiday in France in 1983. Borrowed leaky tent, little equipment and two small sons. Nevertheless we had such fun, bbq every night on small French bbq, beach and sea every day with the sun shining. Had confirmed I was pregnant with DD the day before we left so no lovely wine or cheese for me. But such lovely memories.

hellymart Sun 05-Jan-20 14:13:08

Best family holiday we had was an activity holiday in Greece some years ago now. We got an amazing deal, as we booked it with just days to go and it included all meals and wine. There were 2 swimming pools, tennis courts galore and a private beach, which we had to ourselves most days. Fabulous holiday. We recommended the place to others and both my parents and my brother and his family went there after us and loved it too. Happy days!

twirlywhirly Sun 05-Jan-20 14:34:32

My most memorable holiday was this year with my grandsons to Dorset to the Jurassic Coast fossil hunting, was an amazing walking hunting adventure, will cherish the memories of the excitement of my grandchildren’s faces when they found their first fossils & learning the history of sea creatures & the history behind the Jurassic coast

Fereshtay Sun 05-Jan-20 22:44:07

My most memorable holiday was Ireland. I had spent a lot of time researching my family tree.
Took my Mum, sadly passed away now and her brother to stay in the village where her ancestors came from. Nine of us rented a house in the village.
Just to see my Mum's joy to walk in the footsteps of her ancestors was amazing. Everybody in the village were so friendly and welcoming, we felt like royalty.
We had the advantage as well as travelling around County Wexford and beautiful Southern Island.
I have had many holidays in different places but this was the holiday I will always remember. It was special. It will always be the top of my list

jacalpad Mon 06-Jan-20 06:55:04

My most memorable holiday was in 2012, when we went to Florida with my daughters and their husbands and our two grandsons who were aged 8 and 10. We hired a wonderful villa with a pool, and a giant people carrier. It was very hot, as it was August to accommodate the school holidays. We had great fun at the theme parks, and drove to some wonderful beaches. The children made it for me - they were a lovely age for enjoying the magic of Disney. The water parks were amazing too - relaxing or exciting, depending on what you chose to do. Eating out in Florida was amazing, and the supermarkets were something else. This was a one-off holiday, the memories of which will stay with me for ever!

Jmack Mon 06-Jan-20 13:01:22

We all went on a family holiday to Spain, Great Grandparents, Grandparent, Dad, Daughter and Auntie plus a few others. We had a whale of a time as it had a small waterpark around two of the pools, loads of sunbeds available and entertainment at night for the kids and adults. Fun all week long smile

MaggieMay69 Mon 06-Jan-20 22:27:56

When my son in law was discharged from his job on medical grounds, he used his pay-out to take us all to America for 8 weeks. We drove around in a camper van, spent Christmas watching Beauty & the Beast in a Disney pool, met Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future and the kids had so much fun. We went to Las Vegas and stayed at Circus Circus, watched a sitcom called Mamas Family which was terrible but we loved it for its sheer American daftness, ate at restaurants who bought out food on plates the size of planets....We won't ever be able to afford to do that again, it was a once in a lifetime trip, and it certainly was as the children still talk about it now.

SuzC Tue 07-Jan-20 14:19:14

Our most fun holiday would have to be what I'd dreamed about - taking the kids to Lapland. We had massive snowball fights, carol service in the local church, sledged, snowmobiled and went on a husky mush at night across the frozen lakes. The highlight though was meeting Santa - seeing the elves scoop my 3 year old out of the snow drifts she'd ran in to to get to him was priceless - and the sight and memory of it will stay with me forever!

Tricia247uk Wed 08-Jan-20 13:22:34

Being very recently bereaved (Aug. 2019), my daughter and son-in-law invited me to spend this Christmas holiday with them and my 18 month old grandson. We went skiing in Austria and had a fabulous time. At age 61, it was my first ever winter holiday. I've spent a wonderful time with my family and have made wonderful memories; the best one being taking my little grandson on a toboggan (a first for both of us).

Moocow Wed 08-Jan-20 16:57:01

Definately one when the children were young but at an age when they were independent and so less of a worry and more of a help so we could all join in deciding what to do and not to join in if anyone wanted to do their own thing so no worries about others going elsewhere or just staying in. The more remote the more fun it has seemed for us.