Multi generational family travel guide

Adventure has no age limits, something perfectly evidenced by the rise of multi generational family travel. This kind of vacation has never been more popular. We all want to spend quality time with our families, but on vacation time somehow feels different to the occasional weekend get together at home. It doesn’t just move slowly, but more significantly, often more happily. Family travel experts understand this, creating tailor made vacations ideally matched to your needs. Or you can join a small group tour, to make friends easily with like-minded families doing the same activities.

The best multi generational family trips offer a mix of culture, thrilling activities, comfortable accommodation and plenty of free time to relax. In fact that last bit might be the most important ingredient. Sometimes it’s those little moments of peace and quiet, or sitting around the table sharing a joke, that you remember most clearly of all.

Many families have had to endure forced separations for months on end, so it’s no surprise that interest in multi generational family travel is on the rise. We’ve come to appreciate the importance of spending time together, but even so, work, school, distances and busy lives can still make it difficult.

A family vacation, arranged months in advance, is something to really look forward to. You can use it to celebrate milestones like graduations, retirements and birthdays, and, with vacations usually at least a week in length, the time away together will take on much more significance than regular family festive occasions or the odd Sunday lunch.

You may also find that basing yourselves in one place, such as you can in Greece or Andalucía, makes it easy for those wanting a quieter day to take a time-out.

Responsible Travel’s own Krissy Pentland is an aficionado of just such a style of vacation: “It’s a great way to have a chilled out vacation but also for the grandparents to spend time with our kids. We tend to go to very basic, rustic, rural houses, where we can all unwind together.

“In Portugal we took turns cooking, playing with the kids in the pool or taking the children for little walks, meaning the other adults not 'on duty' could read and relax. We took day trips to nearby towns, rivers and local markets – it was insightful sharing different perspectives on a place.

“My parents were able to excite the kids about the local architecture and history and in turn, the kids' curiosity and universal ability to engage with people from different nationalities offered my parents a different view of the markets from that which they'd have had traveling alone.”

The long summer vacations lend themselves ideally to family trips, though Easter is also popular. Having a larger window of time is crucial in getting the schedules of kids in school to match up with working parents, and grandparents either still working themselves, or retired but a long way from being couch potatoes. Ceri Jones from our partner Rickshaw Travel agrees, “Costa Rica, Borneo and Sri Lanka are good most of the year but summer vacations tend to be busiest of course as you have the widest time frame, also Easter. Christmas not so much, as it’s natural that families want to get together at home around then.”

Summer is also ideal for multi generation family vacations in Sri Lanka, as Helene Cooper, from our partner Stubborn Mule, affirms: “I would say summer is best for Sri Lanka, from an ease point of view because you just go up to the north-east coast. Christmas, the hotels get very booked up in advance and also they have enforced Christmas Eve and New Years Eve gala dinner supplements, so the price bumps up. October half term is not great, as it is on the cusp between the monsoons. But the summer vacations are an easy blanket, a two month period of lovely weather in the north.”

That being said, if you want a winter getaway then destinations such as Iceland and Finnish Lapland offer up a host of memorable, magical activities that will appeal to kids, parents and grandparents alike. If you’re not too keen on snowmobile safaris or husky sledding, you’ll still love building snowmen with the children, soaking in thermal hot springs, petting reindeer or watching for the Northern Lights during an evening in a wilderness cabin.