18 of the best family holidays

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1. Learning survival skills in Halkidiki, Greece

££ | Best for sun and survival skills

At the vast Sani Resort on Greece’s Halkidiki peninsula you’ll find the Bear Grylls Survival Academy — alongside an energetic programme of water sports and tennis and football coaching. Everyone aged eight and up is welcome and, as they explore the resort’s extensive seaside woodland, they’ll learn how to make shelters, build rafts and even fashion their own spears. Not that they’ll need them much. Back at base, a luxe suite at the Sani Club awaits, along with the chance for the family to catch their breath before the next activity. Mountain biking, high-ropes courses, sailing, football and tennis are on the menu — as well as a spa and childcare to raise parental spirits.

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2. Taking the plunge in the Pyrenees

££ | Best for soaking up the scenery

Even in summer the Noguera River is fast and wild — because it’s fed by daily releases of water from the Camarasa reservoir. So whitewater rafting is guaranteed on this action-packed week in the Spanish Pyrenees. Your team of young adventurers will also hike to waterfalls, kayak down a gentler section of the Noguera and try canyoning and abseiling in the narrow Estaron Gorge. Optional extras include riding and mountain biking. Thank goodness accommodation will be in a premium spa hotel in the village of Sort. Parents are going to need a bit of pampering after all that rough-and-tumble.

• Discover our full guide to family holidays

3. Cruising in the Med and beyond

££ | Best for finding your sea legs

There’s an undeniable sense of adventure that comes from docking in a new harbour each day — and the Liberty of the Seas has a busy schedule as it sails from its summer base in Southampton. Spain, Portugal and the fjords of Norway are all on the menu, you just need to choose where you fancy going. This is a Royal Caribbean ship and the company prides itself on its family-friendly facilities — so your kids are likely to be buzzing when you’re at sea too. Alongside kids’ clubs, video game competitions, cup-cake classes and teen zones you’ll find a revitalised pool area with three-storey slides and a children’s waterpark.

• Great all-inclusive Mediterranean cruises

4. Skiing in the French Alps

£££ | Best for speed freaks

Why save all your adventures for the summer? Pack yourself off to Club Med’s big, bustling resort hotel in La Rosière and you’ll turn an average winter week into a blaze of bright, white excitement. You’ll also get state-of-the-art support and convenience thanks to its piste-side setting, on-site childcare and the platoons of willing ski instructors waiting just outside the boot room. The restaurant is a thing of beauty too — not just because of its stellar mountain views; the vast, freshly cooked buffets will encourage your brood to be more adventurous with their food.

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5. Cycling round Lake Constance, Germany

££ | Best for a first-time biking adventure

If your children love their bikes, why not give them a bigger challenge than cycling to the park? This seven-night Highlights of Lake Constance tour will have them pedalling through three countries (Austria, Switzerland and Germany) and — very nearly — circling an entire lake. No stage is longer than 28 miles and almost the entire route is on Constance’s flat, car-free bike path. Luggage is transferred ahead of you, so taking extended breaks is easy too, whether it’s to swim in one of the lakeside lidos, scoff another ice cream or let rip in a local playground.

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6. Surfing and van life in Portugal

££ | Best for family surf trips

VWs are Siesta Campers’ stock-in-trade. The Portuguese camper-van specialist even has its own fleet of classic Type 2s in Faro, complete with pop-up roofs for an extra bed and built-in hippy vibes. But for a summer family surf trip, it’s best to rent a bigger Grand California motorhome from Lisbon. Beginner-friendly beaches beckon: at Foz do Lizandro in Ericeira and Cantinho da Baia in Peniche, where you can have surf lessons and your camper’s shower will come in handy when it’s time to wash the sand out of your ears. After a week, you’ll have just about mastered the art of catching green-faced waves. Best book a fortnight to be sure.

siestacampers.com

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7. Sailing a traditional Danish schooner

£ | Best for escaping 21st-century tech

There are all sorts of ways to sell this trip to your family. First of all, it’s a proper adventure, on board the Aron — a traditional schooner that sails between harbours and secluded anchorages around the Danish archipelago. Second, the waters are sheltered so your voyage is very unlikely to make anyone seasick. But most exciting? You’ll be learning the ropes together as you go — helping each other out and bonding in a way that barely exists in ordinary life. One thing you won’t be doing, however, is retreating into your devices for hours on end. With cabin space for ten guests and a galley that cranks out three hearty meals a day, this ship has many virtues but wi-fi is not one of them.

venturesailholidays.com

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8. Soaking up history and sunshine in Egypt

££ | Best for would-be Indiana Joneses

How do you prepare for an Egyptian adventure like this? By watching The Mummy on repeat — or with mini-lectures about the pharaohs? Either way, you’ll be giddy with excitement as this ten-day group tour from Explore! whisks you from the pyramids at Giza to a boat trip by felucca and on to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. En route, you’ll spend a night in a traditional courtyard house as guests of Nubian family before the final splashdown at the end of the trip — snorkelling in the Red Sea.

• Discover our full guide to Egypt
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9. Beach club activities in the Peloponnese

£ | Best for active families

In theory, dinghy-sailing is the main attraction at the Messini Beach Club on the south coast of the Peloponnese. And yes, the all-day access to its modern and well-maintained fleet of boats, combined with free tuition, make it a joyful place for wannabe sailors. But there’s so much else going on here that it’s hard to keep your focus. Yoga, fitness classes, tennis lessons, wake-boarding, open-water swimming and road-biking all beckon — and parents are free to try them all while their kids disappear into the energetic kids’ clubs.

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10. Mountain biking in the French Alps

££ | Best for mountain highs

No-fly family holidays don’t get much more dramatic than this. You hurtle down to Bourg Saint Maurice, via Paris, on a high-speed mix of Eurostar and TGV and then ascend to Les Arcs on a funicular railway. Here, at Arc 1950, you’ll find a pretty, wraparound development of inexpensive, off-duty ski apartments, with an expansive spa, kids’ clubs, indoor and outdoor pools and enough activities to fill an entire summer. On top of all the hiking, climbing routes and via ferratas, mountain bikers get waymarked trails and bike-ready lifts, and there are whitewater rafting and paragliding opportunities too.

• Read our full guide to Les Arcs
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11. Theme park adventures in Orlando

££ | Best for a whole lot of fun

Some parents might balk at the idea of a week in Orlando but it’s unlikely their kids will. Just be sure the youngsters are tall enough to get on most, if not all, the rides. Book a two-bedroom suite at the central four-star Floridays Resort Orlando (complete with a big outdoor pool), budget for skip-the-line passes, and reconcile yourself to spending most of your time in Universal Epic Universe and the vast Walt Disney World complex.

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12. Wildlife-spotting in Costa Rica

££ | Best for bonding with the kids

The youngsters’ eyes will be on stalks from start to finish. Whether it’s a green turtle hauling itself out of the Caribbean, capuchin monkeys leaping from tree to tree or the rainbow colours of a toucan, this 14-night guided Costa Rica adventure serves up a never-ending sense of wonder. But there’s more to the trip than looking. Aimed at families with children aged nine and up, it’s liberally sprinkled with beach time and hands-on activities. The chance to zipline through the forest canopy near the Arenal volcano is sure to be a highlight.

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13. Learning about turtles in the Maldives

££ | Best for a crash course in sustainability

Got a budding marine biologist in the family? At Sirru Fen Fushi, Private Lagoon Resort resort in the Maldives, children can join guided turtle encounters, as well as dolphin safaris and snorkelling trips in the local lagoon. They can also discover how island resorts like this can lighten their impact at Sirru Fen Fushi’s on-site Sustainability Lab: the first recycling facility of its kind in the country. In between times, the art studio and cooking classes beckon, though it’s likely your brood will be just as happy splashing about in the lagoon or settling in to enjoy a movie at the outdoor cinema.

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14. Diving in the Turks and Caicos

££ | Best for Caribbean immersion

Turks and Caicos is home to some of the best diving in the Caribbean and, if you’re certified, you can explore the clear waters and plunging reefs free of charge as a guest of the Beaches Turks & Caicos resort. Don’t worry about the children missing out: those aged eight and up can join (for an extra fee) Bubblemaker pool programmes. If they’re ten they can take a short, pool-based Discover Scuba Diving course which qualifies them for one open-water dive. That’s on top of all the other activities in this all-inclusive beachfront family resort, which include a waterpark and the Kids Camp programme, with activities for all ages. You’ll find a huge range of rooms to fit every size of family.

• Best things to do in Turks and Caicos

15. A 4×4 road trip in Oman

££ | Best for sandy adventure

Sculpted by the wind into giant dunes that can reach 100m (over 300ft) in height, the shifting Wahiba Sands of eastern Oman offer a taste of the desert just as you imagined it. On this nine-day, self-drive Ultimate Oman Road Trip, you’ll explore them in a 4×4 — before checking into a tented Bedouin camp. Then it’s time to lie back and count the stars together, while a deep silence settles around you. Chances are, parents will love this bit of the itinerary the best. As for the children, swimming through clear river pools at Wadi Shab, en route to a secret waterfall in a cave, will take some beating.

originaltravel.co.uk

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16. Exploring the beach and city in Thailand

££ | Best for expanding the kids’ horizons

There’s no point rushing through the tropics — especially with kids — and this well-balanced Thailand family adventure tackles the country at a measured pace, with a languid four-day beach break in Krabi to finish. On the way, you’ll explore Bangkok by tuk-tuk and learn some of the secrets of Thai cuisine with a Chiang Mai family. There’s a wide variety of accommodation to try too — including both a tented camp on the River Kwai and a chic seafront hotel at Krabi.

audleytravel.com

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17. Meeting the locals in Namibia

££ | Best for a great African road trip

On this trip, named the Hartebeest Self-drive Safari, the adventure starts the moment you take the wheel of your hire car. The open road beckons, and with it a Namibia itinerary that offers pinch-me moments at every stop. It’s not just the black rhinos, lions and leopards that create the sense of wonder. It’s the people too, and the crucial question of how they live and interact with the wildlife. You’ll join a hunting party of San bushmen, meet the ochre-painted Himba tribe, and learn how conservationists are managing the fraught relationship between farmers and elephants along the Ugab River.

expertafrica.com

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18. Visiting Buddhist monasteries in the Himalayas

££ | Best for cultural immersion

Perfect for a family with teens who want to escape the heat of summer, this 12-day Ladakh Family Holiday itinerary explores the high, dry and mysterious land of this Indian region — and offers a taste of the Himalayas well off the tourist track. You fly into Delhi, then on to Leh, for nine full days of high-altitude adventure, rafting on the Indus, visiting medieval Buddhist monasteries, and riding the Silk Road on a Bactrian camel. Not all the travel is so testing, though: a private, chauffeur-driven car is on hand throughout the trip to whisk you to the next hotel.

corinthiantravel.co.uk

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What’s you favourite place for a family adventure? Please share in the comments below