Family adventure travel guide

“I was never into rugby, cricket or football really. Then I went kayaking in Turkey when I was 12. I was hooked straight away, and I have spent my last two summers helping out on a kayaking summer camp. Kayaking is just cool.” – Louis, 15 years old

“It was brilliant to really have a laugh with my parents on vacation. They usually try and do board games and stuff like that to have ‘family time’ – but mountain biking together and then jumping into a gorgeous lake at the end of the day was so much better. Montenegro was our best family vacation ever. ”
– Kate, 11 years old

“When I told my friends that I had been walking in the Alps with a donkey during the summer, they laughed. Five minutes later, after seeing the photos and hearing the stories, they all wanted to go too.”
– Hugo, 10 years old

“My big sister is always better than me at everything, it drives me mad. Until we went canyoning in Croatia. She was scared. And I couldn’t get enough of it.” – Ella, 13 years old

“I just remember having to hold my mum’s hand really tightly when we saw the bear in Yosemite. She was much more scared than I was. I thought it was amazing.” – Tom, 8 years old

Family adventure vacation organisers know that the key word is vacation. Often you choose the amount of activities you want to take on and also, just how far you want to push yourself. A free day is almost always built in and, if there are early starts, you nearly always finish in time to have plenty of chilling by the pool or at the beach. You will all sleep brilliantly on a family adventure vacation anyway, and often come back feeling more rested than other vacations.

Most family adventure vacations are based in one center, where the organisers can meet you to whisk you off on your various adventures. The centers are carefully chosen to suit families, usually with a pool for chill out time. But as you will be on the move most days, we know that most families just want to come back and crash at the same place each night.

Nearly all family adventure vacations cater for beginners, so don’t think you have to be obsessive outdoorsies to go on one. However, most families also want to learn a few skills, and there is nothing more annoying than being stuck in the shallows playing ‘games’ in a kayak, for example, because that is what organisers think children want. Most families want to stretch themselves a little on an adventure vacation and a good family adventure company will cater for this and gauge your family’s needs carefully.

This is crucial, and your instructors and guides should be very experienced and qualified in their field. A good family adventure vacation company will have profiles of their guides on the website, and it is well worth reading these before booking. You are going to be putting you and your family into the hands of one or two people for an adventurous vacation after all, so it is well worth checking them out in advance.

On some vacations, camping is a feature. Such as camping in the desert with Morocco’s Bedouin, or in the shadow of Yosemite National Park’s great granite facades. But just because the word ‘adventure’ is in the title doesn’t mean that there can’t be luxury too. If white robes, fine wines and a sauna are what you need at the end of a day of exploring by bike or boat, then just ask. There are nearly always options for both.

A lot of family adventure vacations are in small groups, which is great, as there are often children the same age who can hang out together when parents just get too embarrassing, waddling around in their wetsuits or whatever. Feeding the kids is always a concern for parents, even on vacation - where to eat, what they will eat, how often they will eat and so on. A small group vacation often has all of this planned, with packed lunches and snacks all good to go. Your guide will also be able to answer ‘are we nearly there yet’ and ‘what’s for dinner?’, so the pressure is off on all counts.

Safety should always be a priority on a family adventure vacation, and a responsible tourism company will be able to reassure you about the experience and qualifications of your guides and instructors. There will probably be waivers to sign, and wobbly moments to deal with, such as coming off a mountain bike, or capsizing a kayak. But with adventure come instructions and rules. Stick with them, and you will be fine. See our health and safety section for more details

Family adventure vacations are for all families. Nuclear families are so last century anyway. And in fact, adventure vacations are very popular with single parents, who are keen to hang out with other adults and not be the sole person responsible for their loved ones for a while. As long as you are happy to dive in and enjoy the fun, it doesn’t matter if you are single, divorced, gay, straight, granny or granddad. Family adventure vacations aren’t about putting people in boxes. It’s about getting you to jump out of them.