How do you like to spend your holidays? We love exploring our local area when we go on holiday with the boys. On a trip to Hamburg in July 2017, we spent 24 hours in Berlin. E and M loved the Intercity Express from Hamburg to Berlin, where we booked a centrally located hotel and spent our time visiting the zoo and taking in the sights on a sightseeing bus.

We love to explore new places as a family, and I love that as the boys grow older, they will have visited so many places and seen some amazing sights around the world. But one thing I have mentioned I would like to do as a family is to take an all-inclusive holiday. There are times when we have come home from our holidays exhausted as we have done so much. It would be nice to have a more relaxing break where everything has been taken care of for us.

There is something appealing in knowing that all your flights, accommodation, transfers, and food have been organised and paid for before you set off. While these holidays automatically bring up images of lazy days around the pool sampling the all-you-can-eat buffet and local alcoholic drinks, that doesn’t necessarily mean that is all you have to do.

There are so many different things you can focus on and try out safe in the knowledge that everything else is taken care of. Like most kids, E and M love splashing in the pool, so by booking a break at Mark Warner, we get to take advantage of not only a pool to relax around but also to take part in some fun activities as a family to get the most out of our holiday.

Planning Activities as a Family

There are lots of different activities to try out together as a family, from watersports to dry sports. I have compiled a list of things we can try out together. Whilst I think a nice relaxing holiday sounds ideal, there is no harm in trying out a few different activities to stop us getting bored depending on our choice of holiday and the area we visit.

• Kayaking
• Surfing
• Snorkelling as the boys are too young for scuba diving
• Windsurfing
• Jet Skiing
• Dolphin Watching
• Water parks
• Historical places/places of interest (region-specific)
• Exploring the coastline.

What are your favourite family holidays? Do you make sure to plan activities and fill up every day whilst you are there or do you prefer to relax and see what happens day to day?