Get Choosing a destination for a family break

Your family breaks are meant to be a great time to chill out and relax but if you choose the wrong destination it can have quite the opposite.

So what holiday is right for your family? Despite the rewards of a relaxing break the thought of planning a family holiday often fills people with dread and they cave in planning a break. It is actually quite easy following out observations.

Categories of vacations
First off you must think carefully about what your family members want to do on your holiday. For some relaxing by the sea is all they want to do. Other prefer a more active holiday and want to include activities, and others will want to explore.

It is possible with some forethought to satisfy everyone. Just pick a location that is close to some or all of the desired facilities. Cities are popular with their bountiful different breaks in easy reach to your holiday accommodation.

Beach holidays.

Chosing a hotel near a beach is a safe bet filling many different needs. Our top choice of sea side destination is Le Touquet, with wonderful sandy beaches and lots of sporting facilities from golf to swimming.
Other great coastal towns Calais St Malo and Dieppe for other coastal attractions.

City Breaks.

Pretty much every city in Northern Europe offers a wide selection of activities and provides a simple way to get around with fantastic transport networks.
You really should visit Paris the city of romance and explore the rich history of it's attractions.

Activities Sport/cycling

France boasts many sports centres with with the most popular sport being cycling, there are also climbing centres offering zip wires and other fun family activities.

Theme parks.

France is famous for many quality large themed parks such as Disneyland Resort Paris, Futuroscope, Parc Asterix and more offering a fantastic fun day out. Ask your tour operator for details and suggestion on the best theme parks near your chosen area.

How to get there.

Options from England are many and varied due to the close proximity of continental Europe and the available of a large array of transport options. It is worth noting at this stage that there are very good public transport systems around France, Belgium and Holland and all major cities and towns are very good at catering for the travelling public.
With this in mind we recommend that you consider the following 2 options of travel from the UK. First off is the various ferry services from ports along the South Coast and the second is using the channel tunnel high speed link with terminals in the South east.

Ferries, there are many ferry services from ports along the south coast of the UK. Carriers such as P&O, Seafrance, Condor and Norfolk line. Ferrys come in two varieties, a traditional ferry which has many onboard facilities and a capacity for 100's of cars and passengers and a slower crossing time or the smaller catamaran ferry which has a smaller capacity for cars and passengers and doesn't have as wide a choice of on board facilities as the Ferry but will make the crossing in a much shorter time.
Travel by Train is another popular option eversince the channel tunnel opened. The two carriers from the UK include Eurostar and Eurotunnel and it is worth noting that the two offer very different services.

So Eurotunnel is only for cars and trucks, passengers stay inside their vehicles for the duration of the journey (or can get out and wonder the carriage they are in). You travel from Folkestone to Calais only with no stops on the way or beyond these destinations. Travel is fast and convenient with trains running at least every 30 minutes running all day and night.

Eurostar is more akin to a flight, where foot passengers only are taken. Journeys can start from London and Ashford and go directly to Paris and other popular European cities in very short journey times. For those wanting to use the superb public transport around cities this is an ideal option and gives one the freedom and a hassle free way to explore northern France. Once in a main destination you can easily get trains to other French destinations. Even if your hotel is a distance away from the station there are excellent and helpful passenger services by car or bus. Eurostar runs normal working hours and early evening and times vary from each hour to an off season four trains per day, depending on your destination selected and the season you travel in.

So how can you guarantee great prices and a trouble free vacation? The cheapest deals sometimes come from sourcing a hotel and travel deal separatelyonline, but these can be a major headache should either the hotel or travel booking get cancelled. Sometimes hotels overbook or industrial action can also mean delays in travel or even cancelled travel and it is really hard chasing a refund from all parties in this situation. However using a travel provider with a guaranteed bond gives a degree of security and protection. In difficult situations they can advise and provide alternatives without you having to worry about phoning yourself. Prices are actually generally very cheap, as the larger tour operators bulk buying of travel and room allocations mean price reductions and in times of trouble extra leverage over the transport and hotel aspects of the booking.
When it comes to getting the cheapest price we suggest that you get quotes for different times of the week and on different days. An low peak travel tarrif can be substantially cheaper than an on peak rate. A good tour operator is able to provide advice on the most cost effective times to travel in. With so many travel options it also proves to be much cheaper the further in advance you wish to travel. Book at least a couple of weeks in advance for the maximum discount.

We also think that you take out travel insurance which protects you in the event that due to illness (your party)either for you or your close family you are unable to travel.

About the Author

Andy Holiday is a travel writer and researcher providing coverage and exposure to sites like Family breaks by train and Paris family breaks.

Author (Entrypointarticles). Submitted on Fri, 1 Jul 2011 Time: 3:51 PM

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