New Years Resources

So you’ve taken the plunge and booked a family ‘get away from it all’ Christmas break… but now is dawning on you exactly what you will be ‘away from’ and are wondering how you’ll transport the ‘family Christmas at home’ experience to another country!?

Here are our top 10 tips for family friendly holidays at Christmas, to make sure you all have a wonderfully relaxing trip…

1. Involve your kids in the travel experience. Get out a map and point out where the family will be staying. Talk about how far you are travelling - just like Santa himself! Let your children help pack their suit cases and even choose Christmas gifts for members of the family with whom you’ll be holidaying.

2. Make sure they leave a letter behind letting Santa know of their temporary home so he can be sure to find them on Christmas Eve. If Santa will be unable to hop down a chimney, let the kids leave suggestions as to an alternative method for their delivery. And of course, remember to leave out a little tipple and a mince pie (or maybe a local equivalent!) at your journey’s end. He’s sure to be hungry after the extra trip from your home!

3. Find out if the larger online retailers deliver to your destination. You can even get deliveries gift wrapped. Just remember to plan for how you’ll get them home! Perhaps try to keep a suitcase or fold away bag in reserve and keep everyone’s bags to a minimum (at least you won’t usually need swimsuits at this time of year!) Try to plan gifts that are lightweight and small to pack.

4. If you can’t transport all the gifts, discuss how children in Europe are given theirs on Epiphany instead. Maybe Santa will build in your vacations and leave smaller than normal gifts, or maybe leave some but with a note that there are still some more surprises at home under the tree.

5. Make much of creating the same ‘Christmassy’ atmosphere they’ve left behind when you arrive - most properties will provide decorations, a tree etc for Christmas guests.

6. Take some Christmas songs Cds and stories for travelling to keep the festive spirit alive throughout your journey.

7. Check out the local Christmas markets or plan to visit a theme park that opens during the holiday season. Train rides, tours of lights and visits to see Santa are some of the things you can expect to find no matter where you go on baby friendly holidays at Christmas.

8. Pack a small bag of supplies so your tots can make decorations for your holiday home. Or pop to the local supermarket on arrival to stock up on the makings of some batches of Christmas biscuits or mince pies (though you may need to pack a jar of mincemeat from home!)

9. Before you leave, read about how kids celebrate Christmas in other countries.You can perhaps introduce some new traditions during your child friendly holidays, to take home with you for future Christmases.

10. Enjoy the relaxation - no racing around visiting friends and family, no shopping, no ‘let’s use the time off to decorate the spare room’ - just relax and enjoy time as a family!