What makes a great UK family holiday?

Family Friendly

All families are different, but we believe that there are some basic requirements for a good family holiday. Most family breaks run smoothly when the children are entertained and occupied - child friendly days out make for happier kids and parents. Here's what we think.....

• Make it an experience - the style of family holiday can be an adventure in itself. Staying on a farm, camping in the woods or right by the sea all offer a great alternative for families looking for a 'different' holiday experience.
• Holiday on a budget - the credit crunch has meant that many families are on the look out for budget UK holidays. We have some budget break ideas coupled with free day out suggestions that may help.
  
• Remove the stress - there are the obvious advantages of holidaying in the UK (or the Staycation as its increasingly being referred to), no airport delays, strikes, parking fees lost baggage and related hassle. From this perspective Wales is very accessible, being a little over two hours from most of the big UK cities.

Activities and Outdoor Adventure

Gentle family walks

Want to give your family some fresh air and stretch their legs? Then take them on a walk along the coast, under waterfalls, through rolling trees or even up a mountain.

Here are a few ideas:-

• Walk the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path or at least part.
• Hike through Snowdonia National Park.
• Nature trails around Lake Vyrnwy
• Walk the gentle and historic Usk Valley route
• Walk with the wildlife in the Brecon Beacons National Park

Family Friendly Beaches

A Family Experience

Take the kids to stay on a farm

Going on a farm holiday is fun. The kids can feed the animals and see how they live. You may even be able to collect your eggs for breakfast. You get to stay in the beautiful Welsh countryside in a rustic farm house with wonderful views. Wales has a range of farm stays to suit families, go self catering or take the B&B option.

The first place to check for a farmstay is Farm Stay Wales, here are some examples of the range of farmstays available:-

• Tyddyn-du-Farm (Porthmadag)
• Nannerth Country Holidays (Wye Valley)
• Parc-le- breos (Gower)
• Pentretai Farm (Cardiff/Newport)
• Knock Farm (Pembrokeshire)

Traffic free cycling & mountain biking

Wales has 331 miles of traffic-free rides, perfect for children. Take them on a day out to cycle one of Wales’ forest trails or coastal paths. We even have trails in our capital city.

First things first, you should visit our cycling and mountain biking websites. For more details cycling breaks there is more to be found on Sustrans.

The cycling and mountain bike websites will show all routes available but here are a few to get you started.

• Cycle along Swansea’s seafront
• Gently introduce yourself to mountain biking at Coed y Brenin's Yr Afon forest trail
• Cycle the beautiful Elan Valley alongside reservoirs
• The Celtic Trail offers traffic free cycling along the Millennium Coastal path
• Find more family friendly rides in Wales.

Beaches are always firm family favourite

• Find your perfect beach
• Blue Flag beaches in Wales
• Keep Wales Tidy Coastal Awards

Take the Kids Surfing

A day out surfing can be loads of fun for all the whole family. Wales has some great areas for surfing like the Gower Peninsular, closely followed by much of the Welsh coastline. If you’d prefer not to swallow all that sea water after a wipe-out there’s an indoor surf centre in Swansea too.

Here are some awesome places for swell:

• LC2’s BoardRider (Swansea) 
• Gower Surf School (Gower) 
• Welsh Surfing Federation Surf School (Gower) 
• OFFAXIS (Llyn Peninsula)