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If you’re looking to do something different with the kids when you next go on holiday, have you thought about horse riding in America? How about cycling beside the Danube? Or dog sledding in Lapland? If you want an experience that your children will really remember on holiday, then a family activity holiday may be just the thing for you.

Many parents may be put off by health and safety concerns for these kinds of adventure holiday, but they shouldn’t be. Almost all standard activity holidays will have some kind of child friendly option, and there are plenty of niche operators that specifically offer family activity holidays. If you are worried about safety, it is always a good idea to check out any adventure holiday company that you decide to go with, to make sure it is reputable and provides a good service. Read any online reviews that you can find, and call them up and see how they respond to your concerns.

If you start to look around for a family activity holiday, you’ll be spoilt for choice: here are five ideas to get you started.

Cycling in Europe

Cycling abroad can be a safe and fun family activity holiday, and it is very easy to organise. Make sure you check the difficulty level of any cycling trip before you go, and be sure to let your travel operator know that you’ll be bringing children with you. Sweating your way up a steep mountain pass with an exhausted child in tow is no one’s idea of a fun holiday!

But as long as you pick a route that all the family will be comfortable with, you can have a brilliant time. The Loire Valley and the route along the Danube are two of Europe’s most established cycling routes, and they are also suitable for children on a family activity holiday, being on flat and gently hilly terrain and taking in astonishing views along the way.

Safari in Africa

There’s little that gets kids more excited than wild animals, and an African safari makes for a great family activity holiday. Safaris can include hippo spotting on boat trips, 4×4 drives through nature reserves, visits to farms, animal sanctuaries and orphanages, and many other activities.

The safari business is very well established, and you’ll find plenty of companies that can provide packages specifically for family activity holidays. Kenya is the most common destination, though safari holidays are run in many other African countries as well, such as South Africa and Tanzania.

Riding & Ranch Stay in America

For a real cowboy experience, there’s nothing like a ride and ranch holiday – learning to ride, spending time with the animals and learning some basic cowboy skills are all things that appeal to kids and their parents! Many tour operators accept absolute beginners, though it may be worth getting your children (and yourself!) a little experience in the saddle before you travel abroad.

Make sure you choose the right kind of ranch experience for your family activity holiday. Working ranch holidays (including cattle drives) aren’t suitable for young children, as they require long hours in the saddle and a fair amount of riding experience. Centre based riding holidays, where you stay in a single location with daily riding activities, can accommodate all ages, and some progressive riding holidays (where you move from ranch to ranch over a number of days) are suitable for slightly older children.

Dog Sledding in Lapland

If cutting through the snow with your kids on a husky driven sledge sounds like your idea of heaven, this might be the activity holiday for you! For children, the combination of snow, animals and adventure can be irresistible. The scenery in Lapland is remarkable, and there’s even a chance that you’ll catch a glimpse of the famous Northern Lights when you visit.

Dog sledding can be done as a one day excursion or, if you and your children are feeling adventurous, can be part of a multi-day expedition, stopping off at various lodges and cabins along the way. This is a family activity holiday for slightly older children – check with travel companies to find out the exact minimum age for their trips.

Sailing through the Greek Islands

Sailing can make for a superb family activity holiday, and the Greek Islands are an ideal destination – not only is the scenery beautiful, the steady waters make it a very safe place to sail and swim. Children and adults can learn the basics of sailing, swim in the Mediterranean, visit harbour towns and bask in the sun. No previous knowledge of sailing or yachting is necessary in most cases, with full tuition and assistance available.

Most family sailing holidays will be based on a flotilla, which are medium sized yachts with sails and engines. Flotillas are a very family friendly way to sail, and have become hugely popular in recent years. There are plenty of tour operators that offer flotilla holidays in Greece, and if you have very young children they can provide extra safety precautions, such as safety netting along the guardrails, to help keep your kids safe.

Now that you have planned a wedding/honeymoon adventure, I am going to tell you that a Maui destination wedding is “no ka oi,” which means “none better,” in Hawaiian. In comparison with other destinations, Maui is affordable, exotic yet practical and safe.

Choosing a Maui destination wedding and planning ahead with a good wedding based travel consultant, like you will find at Merry Maui Weddings and Vacations, will reward you will reward you with surprisingly affordable prices. Flight specials direct to Maui abound. Pleasant beachfront condos can commonly be found for as little as $100 per night. Of course, you can spend more to stay in a luxurious world-class resort. An abundance of healthy, exotic or familiar, food can be found for any budget. A good agent can get you great prices on rental cars and activities for your Maui honeymoon.

Maui offers an incredible diversity of cultures on one island. Food, entertainment, clothing and language of Hawaiian, Tahitian, Japan, Marshallese, Portuguese, Mexican, Chinese and Puerto Rican, and more can be readily found and enjoyed by visitors.

But, on the other hand, if you are the cautious type who wants to play it safe, Maui is an American wedding destination… you can easily find familiar grocery stores, fill a prescription or see your favorite television shows. People drive on the right hand side of the road and everyone speaks English, although “pidgin” and other dialects sometimes flavor it and will, hopefully, charm you.

Decent roads, streets signs and an abundance of maps will make traveling much more comfortable than you might imagine a destination wedding and honeymoon could offer.

So, Maui offers the best of all worlds in a destination wedding choice: First-World amenities and security, diversity, economy and ease. You will most probably return again and again. You might even move here. It happens!

To learn more about how easy it is to book your Maui destination wedding, or to see how inexpensive a Maui Wedding package can be, please contact the Maui wedding vacation experts, “Merry Maui Weddings & Vacations,” toll-free at (888)588-0400.

Renting a holiday villa with a swimming pool or a holiday apartment by the beach can be one of the most relaxing holidays that you will ever have. Renting a holiday cottage next to the beech makes a great family holiday in the sun. Beach holidays are loved all over the world. Beach holidays are great places for a family holiday, romantic holidays, a water sports holiday or simply going on holiday to relax and build up a sun tan.

There are so many good clean beaches all over the world that you really are spoilt for choice when trying to decide where to go on a beach holiday. Holiday cottages are popular with tourists exploring the Scottish coastline and there are some fabulous beaches in Scotland. Northumberland is also a popular place for beach holidays in England. Many tourists stay in holiday cottages next to the sea when they explore the beautiful Northumberland country side.

Devon and Cornwall also have some great beaches and a good choice of holiday homes to rent.

If it is sun that you are after there are some great beaches in France with many tourists choosing to stay in self catering apartments. Portugal and Spain are also popular beach holiday destinations. These two countries have many holiday apartments for tourists to rent from their owners. Some holiday makers prefer to stay in holiday villas on the beech. There are some stunning holiday villas to choose from in Portugal and some sit right next to the beach. There is nothing better than waking up in the morning and see the sea out of your bedroom window. You can then take an early morning stroll along the beach before heading back into your holiday villa for breakfast.

There are also excellent beaches in Turkey, Bulgaria, Israel and Egypt. The advent of the cheap budget airlines have opened up many more new beach holiday destinations. Linked to this is the growth of holiday home rentals and combining the two things has resulted in a whole new market of affordable beech holidays around the world.

The West Indies has some fabulous beeches with holiday villas sat right next to the sea. Florida has soon popular beeches and Clearwater is very popular with tourists. In Florida there are some great value holiday villas with swimming pools available for rental next to or near the beach. Some of the most stunning beaches in Florida are down on the Florida Keys.

Sun lovers flock to Australia and party on some of the world famous Australian beeches. Many rent holiday homes and have a barbeque on the beech.

Beech holidays are great family holidays and by renting a holiday villa or cottage you are able to have far more independence. This enables you to experience the local culture and sample the local food. Many beach lovers ideal holiday is to stay in a beach villa with a swimming pool.