In recent years, our lives have changed drastically. The arrival of Lucy and Leo has been, and it increase every day, an experience. Time is no longer measured as before and months pass according to the schools calendar. Decisions are based on them, and once you get you to it, it turns out to be quite comfortable. Holidays are holidays and all the past complications to choose the holidays dates are over.

Travelling, as I have mentioned before, is one of our passions and, after the birth of the children we decided to make an effort and maintain our passion intact, making not one, but all the holidays that we can reasonably afford. For the time being we have managed to do a few. The majority are discrete, within Spain, and another has been quite a journey, hoping our children get used to travelling the world!

[/captionSo, yes, we are a family of keen travellers and as such, we have known better and worst holiday destinations… Where would I not return? Mmmm, I think I would always return to all the places we have been (I strongly believe that everyone deserves a second chance) but there are certainly places more interesting than others, especially when travelling with children.Fuerteventura, for example, I found to be a fantastic place, a dream island for Caroline and myself and an amusement park for the little ones. We choose a good hotel for families (rule No. 1 to survive a vacation with children) and a very comfortable destination: Playa de Jandia, where there was a little of everything. Sports, hiking through the dunes, parks, zoos, and a lot, an incredible amount of beach. I especially liked the atmosphere, ideal for children, but with a something unexplainable that made it different to other family destinations we’ve tried before. I guess that the magic of the island had much to do…

The hotel we stayed at in Fuerteventura, the first child stays for free, so on top of all, we got a very good deal. The offer, very common in many family hotels in Spain, is exceptional, as the programme of activities for children is very complete and leaves plenty you plenty of free time while they are enjoying themselves. In Playa Jandia there are two other similar hotels that is also managed my the hotel chain Iberostar (very recommendable as they always choose qualified professionals to look after the kids, both of mine were delighted with theirs!) A hotel with an adults only area and another hotel for children. We have no stayed at them, but if they are only half as good as the Playa Gaviotas Park, it is well worth it.

Another place that we have become fans off lately, is Majorca. Before we had kids, we always stayed at an adults only hotel in Ibiza with our lifelong friends, but now we have changed the bustle of the -white island- for that of the -island of the calm-, where you have absolutely everything. There is even a Toys’r Us! Our favourite beach? Playa de Muro and Ses Covetes, next to the famous beach of Es Trenc, just a little more quieter and cozy.

For a sun and beach holidays, I read some good reviews on a couple of hotels in the area of Palmanova: it is one of the most touristic destinations on the island, with a majority of British tourists, and we were thinking of spending next years summer holidays discovering the island and give our children the possibility of spending some days learning English while they are swimming on the beach. Does it sound good? It is true that it is not the most -authentic- part of Majorca, but everything has its moment.

We are planning to return to Ibiza. We have friends that have recently have moved to live there and we want to see for ourselves if what they are saying is true, that there is an Ibiza for all ages… I’ve been researching and, to my surprise, I found some interesting hotels to go with children. Here is a list of those that I have been collecting:
Hotel Hawaii Ibiza
Hotel Tanit Ibiza
Tropic Garden Ibiza
Sol Pinet Playa
Hotel Miami Ibiza If I remember correctly, they all have mini club and are close to the beach. Also, I have tried to include all those that have something different that can make your holiday a little special. Spa, activities and excursions outside the hotel, guided tours, facilities or discounts to rent a car (this is very important and, don’t forget to ask if there is the option for renting children’s chairs !)

Traveling with children is an adventure and I think the best way to live it is to share with them the maximum number of activities and decisions. Although they are young, they know what they want, even better than we do!