Holidays with children and grandchildren

We do family holidays, usually where DS can do his astrophotography eg no light pollution. We have been to Scottish islands, mainland Scotland and France. We are travelling to France again this summer and we always rent a villa so that the children can have freedom and DS is not disturbing other guests with his late night outdoor activity. We will be six adults this year which means plenty hands on deck when it comes to supervising swimming etc. Mummy and Daddy also get to have the odd lie-in because the oldies always wake early and are happy to make breakfast.

Last year for May half-term we took two children, their OHs, and four grandchildren 3,4,6 and 7 to a huge holiday house on a Devon farm. We did the catering (we both love cooking) and our children bought the booze. We got through quite a lot! We all had such a wonderful time that we are doing it again in the same place this year.

The safely enclosed garden gave the children a climbing fort, a huge sandpit, a little stream, room for bikes/scooters and two delightful farm dogs who would play fetch for hours!

The TV didn't go on all week, but that was partly because the sun shone the whole time so outside play was constant fun.

Yours sounds great MrsJamJam, wonderful for the children.

for many many years now we have rented places in a village in the Algarve. It has evolved that I fly out for the school holidays taking the grandchildren and the parents fly in and out as they are able.
It works so well. The children all chatter in Portuguese and have grown up with Portuguese friends.
i have asked when I am very old and gaga they actually take me out if I cant make it.
The nicest thing was when my 22 year oldgrandson. met his serious girlfriend the first holiday was in our village.
26th July I fly out with my 5 year old grandson for 6 whole weeks . Imagine what we can get up to in 6 weeks.

First time I've used Gransnet - not sure if I can ask a question on an ongoing thread!

We're looking for a quiet camp (tent) site near the seaside in Dorset or North Devon for 2 grandparents, our daughter and 2 grandchildren(aged 5 and 7), which isn't too expensive.

Does anyone have any ideas, please?

Holiday cottages - a warning

Having just spent a week in a farm cottage in Dorset with daughter and family (2 girls age 3 and 6 months) we realised we had made the same mistake as once before - like many farm conversions it was an 'upside-down' cottage - i.e. the bedrooms were downstairs. This meant that after the children were in bed we 4 adults had to tiptoe around and not scrape chair-legs etc.as downstairs it sounded like the crack of doom, and being an old building the floors were creaky. Not conducive to a jolly evening! It was a very nice cottage in a lovely setting, but we shall hopefully not make this mistake again. (If anyone in pedants' corner objects to 'hopefully', I'm sorry!)

We`ve only ever taken grandchildren away twice, and each time it was the same 2, we took them to a small hotel on the seafront at Weston-Super-Mare, and each time it went down quite well, but we never repeated it with the other grandchildren because we aquired a touring caravan with only 2 berths and holidayed in that ever since. To tell the truth, I think that hubby is well pleased that it`s a 2 berth and that he can`t be asked to take anyone else!

gillifer - I can't answer questions about Devon / Dorset because I don't know them well, but suggest you google camping guides, of which there are many.

And although I think it's fine to ask a question in an on-going thread, I think you will get a better response if you start a new thread with a header making your request clear.

What I do hope is that you will tell them the story of Lorna Doone as you pass by Exmoor!

Lorna Doone, that brings back memories. Recommended my daughter to read it, but she said it was "boring"!!

And there was me, thinking that being shot whilst making your vows at the altar one of the most dramatic moments in literature!

"story telling" is a great tradition in our family and I am looking forward to having grandchildren old enough to enjoy it. Wherever we travelled, I'd look up local stories to tell - lots of books & pamphlets to help if I didn't know any. The children remember them fondly (so they kindly say!)
My father loved telling tales of Hereward the Wake, and as he he got around a bit (Hereward that is), I would often find myself telling one of the tales - DH moaned on our first family holiday to France, as we drove of the ferry I began "When Hereward arrived in St. Omer, there was a great Provencal beauty who was already living there...."

Does holidaying with all the family really work? I would love to try it some time with my son, daughter in law. and children but wonder what problems other members have encountered?

We have not encountered any problems from three generation holidays. Last year we went away twice with son and his family. This year our daughter and SIL are joining us too. The children get six adults to play with them and supervise the swimming pool and everyone gets to have some time on their own if they want it. Our holidays are taken in a villa and the children keep to their bedtime routine so there are no frayed tempers or tiredness tantrums.

We have had three great holidays with our 4 yr old grandson and his parents since he was born, in Pembrokeshire which has fantastic beaches for children - lots of rockpools (grandad loves them, kids or no kids!) and safe bathing, boat trips to islands, etc. We use a good holiday cottage company and have never been disappointed, although the prices have been on the up recently and now that GS is approaching school age, the days of "outside school holiday prices" are dwindling fast. I do think it's pretty shocking that prices of holidays go up so steeply during the school holidays. It does help by splitting the cost though, and a couple of old fogies to keep an eye on tiddler while mum and dad have some down time is always good. I think the key to it all is flexibility.

We have had several 3-generation holidays and enjoyed them all. We have been in villas and hotels but find that a self-catering set-up is much more successful. It is lovely to have so much time with the grandchildren and it gives the parents a chance to go off on their own occasionally. We also get to do things like fly kites & build sandcastles which we wouldn't do on our own!
To be honest, we go prepared to fit in with everyone else. We have other holidays on our own where we decide what to do.

Extended family holidays are great fun - we all go camping, mainly in Wales. For our family it is important that everyone has space to do 'their own thing' so we don't spend all our time together. There is nothing better that all of us cooperating in making the evening meal and then eating together. And what wonderful memories

We try to have a family holiday every other year - 2 sons with DIL's and 5 children plus us 2 oldies. We love it and find that it works very well as long as we don't try to organise them and just go with the flow. I love cooking and am happy to produce a few meals to keep the cost down.

Addition to my previous post on this thread - we repeated the holiday this half-term and it was just as good as last year. Everyone had a lovely time, we did some things all together and some things separately but always got together in the evenings. Only awful news was that someone has already booked the farm for summer half-term next year and the children are devastated that we can't go back!

I think one key thing was that we had plenty of space, all the children get on well and are similar ages, and for a week I can -just- manage not to comment on youngest GSs appalling table manners!

Not sure it would work so well if you had to take account of the needs of teenagers and young ones, not an easy mix.

For about 5years, up until last year we have taken our three grandchildren to majorca.They are our daughters children and our son's godchildren.Daughter and SIL do not come, there would be murder before the end of the week.! We took them to a large complex in Alcudia and they loved it, so much to do, non-stop swimming, mini-golf and gokarts.GD is now 17yrs. so I don't think it would appeal to her now. Our eldest grandson has special needs, so we take him to Cala Bona to stay in an hotel which he loves.We like to holiday in the sun, had too many breaks sheltering form the wind and rain when our children were young!!!
I would add that our son always came with us, don't think we could have managed on our own.

We have just had GS here again for another week and although we love him dearly find things to amuse him and not having any other children around that we know it has been a bit of a strain on my stamina, ingenuity and budget. We are thinking of taking him and a nephew away next summer hols to some kind of holiday park and I will defintely look into the Butlins option. Centr Parcs is very expensive in August so thats out. Looking for something in East Anglia if anyone has any ideas (not Essex)

Agree with you Artygran about the Pembrokeshire coast - used to take our kids when they were small - fab beaches. Just had a week at a complex nr Blackpool Sands, Devon which specifically catered for families - playrooms including one for under 5's, games rooms for bigger kids, outdoor activities and a swimming pool, jacuzzi, gym. Highchair/cot/safety gates and blackout blinds were some of the many items provided in the cottage plus Apple system which provided films online.

Until DH and I moved back to UK I used to collect the DGCs after flying over and doing a UK shop (had to hit M&S) I would take the children back to Spain for the 6 wk holiday,they spent the whole of the time in and out of the pool and on the beach,DH would take them on walk's up the mountain's and they would generally learn some more Spanish from their friend's who they got to know over the year's we lived there,since we have been back in UK we spend a lot of time with them at a cottage in Angelsey as we have relative's there and they go walking and climbing as the mood take's them,as they are now getting that much older soon they will be away on their own,and we will have to think of Saga holiday's ?

We've been as a family to Center Parcs in May time and would certainly go again but save up and rent 2 villas so that DH and I have an escape route at night time

Can anyone recommend a large house (6/7 bedrooms) for 4 couples and 5 children under 4 for May half term 2013? Or a good website/holiday company? It's our 40th wedding anniversary this December and we've decided a holiday with all our 'treasures' will be much more fun than an expensive party!!

Try www.ownersdirect.co.uk.Did the same this October in a great barn conversion in the Cotswolds but only had 5 bedrooms.