BABES IN ARMS
Families Worldwide
(0845 0514567, www.familiesworldwide.co.uk)
This new company is an offshoot of Walks Worldwide, an old hand at arranging
family walking holidays. The team is well versed in organising family
travel, and a significant proportion of its holidays are suitable for
infants. An eight-day tour in the Rif Mountains of Morocco — at the other
end of the country from the better-known High Atlas — offers beach and
gentle hiking (no altitude issues) with mule or four-wheel- drive support
for infants.
Eight days with flights and most meals cost from £739 per adult, £659 per
child and £95 per infant.
The Adventure Company also offers infant adventures and Freewheel Holidays
(01636 815636, www.freewheelholidays.com)
has cycling adventures with baby seats and tag-along bikes.
WILDLIFE
Naturetrek (01962 733051, www.naturetrek.co.uk)
Naturalists have been among the greatest adventure travellers, and
Naturetrek’s family wildlife adventures are not for the faint-hearted. But
the rewards — such as close encounters with brown bears on the Just Brown
Bears short break in Finland — are excellent. The trip is best suited to
children from
about 9, who enjoy exploring outdoors with like-minded parents and are capable
of sitting quietly in the hide at night. Other activities include gentle
walks, moth trapping, pond dipping, bird, butterfly and wildflower
identification, mammal tracking, walking, paddling and swimming.
Four days leaving on July 30, including flights and meals, cost £795 per adult
and £475 per child.
Peregrine Adventures (01635 872300, www.peregrineadventures.co.uk)
has ten-day trips to Borneo to see orang-utans, go on a jungle canopy walk
and plant trees in a reserve for £655 per adult, £435 per child over 6,
land-only.
OVERLAND TRIPS
Dragoman Overland (01728 861133, www.dragoman.com)
Dragoman’s family trips mix learning experiences with fun time and/or beaches.
With an overland company, there is inevitably a certain amount of drive time,
but the classic Dragoman overland trucks are comfortable and have their own
water tanks, camping equipment and roof seats for children to enjoy.
The highlights of the company’s Overland India Family Adventure include a farm
stay in Jaipur, and Corbett National Park, famous for tigers, monkeys and
crocodiles.
The price for ten nights, land only, leaving October 17, is £450 per adult and
£382 per child. There is a kitty contribution of about £250pp.
INDEPENDENT TRAVELLERS
Exodus (0870 9500029, www.exodus.co.uk)
Exodus’s new independent family trips follow the same itineraries as its
escorted groups and use the same guides (subject to availability), but can
be booked by single-family groups. For example, its Chopsticks and Coconuts
trip in Vietnam combines relaxing activities — cycling, swimming, the beach
— with exotic experiences such as a water-puppet show, floating market and
outstanding food.
The land-only price for 14 days, with B&B and some other meals, is £799
per adult and child. There is a local payment of about £100.
Headwater (0870 0662650, www.headwater.com)
has nine-day independent canoeing trips in the Dordogne from £699 per adult
and £489 per child, over-8s only.
BEST NEW TRIP
Imaginative Traveller (01473 667337, www.imaginative-traveller.com)
As a relatively new holiday destination, Madagascar is not generally
recommended to families (it is dusty and malarial).
But with its friendly people and extraordinary flora and fauna, including
chameleons and lemurs, it has a lot to offer families with an interest in
wildlife and who don’t want to follow the crowd.
Imaginative Traveller has 14-day escorted tours, including a visit to the
island of Ile Sainte Marie, with its pirate graveyard and coral-reef
snorkelling. The land-only price is £1,155pp, plus about £185 local payment,
including B&B and some meals.
Reef and Rainforest
(01803 866965, www.familytours.co.uk)
offers family trips to Madagascar.
BEST SAFARI
Aardvark Safaris (01980 849160, www.aardvarksafaris.com)
A specialised children’s guide can make all the difference to a family safari,
and this company works with some of the best. In Botswana these include
Charles Sebaka, who learnt his bush skills from his parents in a remote
village, and Lisa Reed, one of the original family specialists. Then there
are Grant and Brent Reed, brothers who run a mobile camping operation and
will entertain children with games of rounders or finding and identifying
snakes.
The price for a week for a family of four travelling in March is from £12,860,
including flights and full board.
WITH TEENAGERS
Explore (0870 3334001, www.explore.co.uk)
Explore’s family escorted trips are ideal for children who love to make new
friends. With new teen departures, they are even better for older children
who prefer to travel with others the same age. Discover South Africa
combines animal spotting in the Schotia Game Reserve with hiking along the
Garden Route and activities in Cape Town.
The price for 15 days, leaving August 11 and including flights and B&B, is
£1,601 per adult and £1,411 per child. There is a local payment of about
£150.
The Adventure Company (see below) also offers teen holidays.
BEST WORLDWIDE
Intrepid Travel (01373 826611, www.intrepidtravel.com)
Intrepid, joint overall winner of the 2006 First Choice Responsible Tourism
Awards, offers family adventures all over the world, including some in
Europe and several in Asia for those who want to introduce their children to
long-haul travel. Its China Family Adventure explores ancient and modern
sites in 14 days, travelling from Beijing to Hong Kong. Highlights include
Beijing, the Great Wall and cycling in Yangshuo.
The land-only price is £785 per adult and child, including 13 nights in
hotels, guesthouses and trains, most breakfasts and some other meals. There
is a local payment of about £100.
Intrepid recently merged with the Africa specialist Guerba (01373 826611, www.guerba.co.uk),
which offers family adventures in Morocco, Egypt, Kenya and Tanzania.
FREE SPIRITS
Discover the World (0870 0603288, www.discover-the-world.co.uk)
It isn’t marketed as a family company, but Discover the World offers several
holidays to northern wilderness areas that are ideal for families wanting to
try something new.
Family Adventure, a self-drive summer holiday in Iceland, is aimed at children
(10 and over) with inquiring minds and a love of the outdoors. The company
supplies a four- wheel drive and an itinerary with notes. Activities include
horseback trekking on purebred Icelandic horses, whale-watching, rafting and
snowmobiling. Of course, you can do as much or as little as you want.
The price for 14 nights from June to August, including flights, is £2,351 per
adult and £411 for the first child sharing parents’ room, in B&Bs.
KE Adventure Travel (01768 773966, www.keadventure.com)
has a trip to Jordan that includes riding camels and swimming in the Dead
Sea from £595 per adult and £550 per child over 6, land-only.
RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL
The Adventure Company (0845 4505316, www.adventurecompany.co.uk)
Each holiday description contains a section showing how responsible travel
theory is put into practice. For example, on the Arabian Sands family
holiday in Oman, much of the time is spent with Bedu people, ensuring that
money stays in the local economy. A visit to a dhow-making yard helps
workers to remain in their home community and keep their craft alive.
Similarly, a turtle-watching expedition encourages conservation.
Nine days, with flights and some meals during the October half term, costs
£1,399 per adult, £1,319 per child. There is a local payment of about £86.
Intrepid, Exodus and Tribes
(01728 685971, www.tribes.co.uk)
also have a strong responsible travel bent.
