Best family holidays for 2022 - Times Travel (2024)

If the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that children are not designed to spend months cooped up inside with just their parents for company (likewise for parents and their kids). That’s why 2022 calls for big lungfuls of fresh air, exploration of countries unknown and a giant dose of action for the youngsters to remind everybody what quality family time looks like. Not forgetting the importance of a kids’ club too, of course…

Main photo: Sandcastle building in Turks and Caicos (Getty Images)

1. Tropical treats 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 two-week guided Costa Rica adventure family holiday 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.

Price ££
Flexible Y

2. Learn the ropes on Rhodes

Best for active families
Next summer let your children take control as they learn to master a sailing dinghy at the Kamari Beach Resort in Rhodes. New to Mark Warner, the resort is a giant playground for busy, active families, with free childcare, tennis, cycling and watersports all on tap — as well as a fleet brimming with beginner-friendly dinghies for ages six and above. With a little help from the bay’s gentle morning breezes, it should be the start of a lifelong love affair with boats.

Price £
Flexible Y

Best family-friendly cruises

3. A Hebridean adventure

Best for deer tracking in the Outer Hebrides
Want your children to hear the call of the wild? You don’t have to leave Britain for that. Take them to Harris in the Outer Hebrides and they’ll discover a brave new world of secluded beaches, magnificent wildlife and mountains that rise straight out of the sea. This week-long self-catering break is based in a comfortable, unfussy cottage, and includes one full day and two half-days of personalised guiding to help you unlock the island’s secrets — whether it’s golden-eagle-spotting or tracking red deer.

Price £

4. Wild about Halkidiki

Best for sun and survival skills
In summer 2020 the Sani Resort on Greece’s Kassandra peninsula added the Bear Grylls Survival Academy to its energetic mix of sports and activities. Everyone aged six 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 (£34pp a day). Not that they’ll need them much. Back at base a luxe suite at the Sani Club awaits, and 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 the spa and childcare to raise parental spirits.

Price ££
Flexible Y

5. Saving turtles in the Maldives

Best for learning about sustainability
Got a budding Jacques Cousteau in the family? Then enrol them for a week at the new Turtle Ranger programme at Fairmont’s Sirru Fen Fushi resort (£150pp) on the Maldives. In the company of a marine biologist, they’ll monitor endangered hawksbill turtles, release hatchlings and reseed the coral reef. And when they’re not supporting the resort’s conservation projects, they’ll be snorkelling — seeing for themselves what biodiversity means amid schools of tropical fish. There’s plenty for parents too, including the resort’s own art studio, if you can stir from the luxury of your beachfront villa.

Price ££

6. By train to the French Alps

Best for mountain highs
No-fly family holidays don’t come much more dramatic than this. You hurtle down to Bourg St-Maurice, via Paris, on a high-speed mix of Eurostar and TGV (summer prices to be announced in April; oui.sncf), 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, several outdoor pools and enough activities to fill an entire summer. On top of all the hiking, climbing routes and via ferratas, mountain bikers get 92 miles of way-marked trails and ten bike-ready lifts, and there’s white-water rafting down in the valley too. Thrill-seekers aged five and up can also make an exception to any no-fly pronouncements by strapping in for a tandem paragliding flight (£94pp; spirit1950.com).

Price ££
Flexible Y

7. Oman odyssey

Best for sandy adventure
Sculpted by the wind into giant 300ft dunes, the shifting Wahiba Sands of eastern Oman offer a taste of the desert just as you imagined it. On this multifaceted, self-guided Ultimate Oman Road Trip, you’ll explore them in a 4×4 before sleeping under the stars in 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, snorkelling with dolphins in the sheltered waters of Bandar Al Khayran will take some beating.

Price ££
Flexible Y

8. Diving in the Turks and Caicos

Best for Caribbean immersion
The Turks and Caicos are 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 try scuba diving on a £75 Bubblemaker course and begin their PADI Junior Open Water certification from the age of ten (from £155pp). And that’s on top of all the other activities in this all-inclusive beachfront family resort, which include heading to the water park, Xbox play areas and children-only hangout zones — as well as more than 50 grades of accommodation, designed for every possible family permutation.

Price ££
Flexible Y

9. Van-tastic Portugal

Best for family surf trips
VWs are Siesta Campers’s 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 surf lessons start at about £25 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.

Price ££
Flexible Y

10. Egyptian field trip

Best for would-be Indiana Joneses
Yes, it’s nearly 100 years since Tutankhamun’s tomb was opened; and 200 years since Young and Champollion decoded the Rosetta Stone. But in the year of anniversaries ahead, why not introduce your teens to a different Egyptian story? On one mind-expanding Field Trip excursion they’ll meet the Zabaleen, a thriving Cairo community that’s been the city’s self-appointed rubbish collectors since the 1940s — recycling about 80 per cent of what they find. It’ll offer an eye-popping contrast to the rest of the tailor-made luxury tour which includes Aswan, the pyramids and Luxor’s newly restored Avenue of the Sphinxes.

Price ££
Flexible Y

11. Wet and wild in Crete

Best for seeing two sides of Greece
First, you catch your breath at the sun-bleached, all-suite GK Beach Hotel east of Chania — lounging in the poolside garden while your kids run riot on the beach, courtesy of the summer kids’ club (for children aged 5-11). Then, you transfer to the remote Asterousia mountains for a week on the island’s wild side. Here, the rough-hewn Thalori retreat is your base, cobbled together from 20 restored village houses and commanding magnificent views across the Mediterranean towards Libya. Complimentary activities such as horse riding, cookery classes and a guided sunrise walk deepen the sense of discovery.

Price ££

12. Self-drive in Iceland

Best for explosive scenery
Iceland needs no bells and whistles. It’s mind-blowing however you see it — and this Family Explorer itinerary serves up the kind of bare-bones self-catering trip loved by the locals. Your first stop is on the Snaefellsnes peninsula, where geothermal swimming pools, teeming seabird colonies and guided whale-watching trips beckon. Then it’s on to the waterfalls and black-sand beaches of the southwest coast. En route, you can divert to the Thingvellir National Park, to walk the rift valley between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates.

Price ££
Flexible Y

13. Meet 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 an 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.

Price ££
Flexible Y

14. Beach and city in Thailand

Best for expanding the kids’ horizons
There’s no point rushing through the tropics — especially with kids in tow — and this well-balanced Thailand Family Adventure tackles the country at a measured pace, with a languid five-day beach break at Koh Samui to finish. On the way you’ll explore Bangkok by tuk-tuk, learn some of the secrets of Thai cuisine with a Chiang Mai family, and kayak through the Sri Lanna National Park. Well-chosen accommodation adds to the sense of place — and includes both a tented camp on the River Kwai and Thai-style beachfront cottages on Koh Samui.

Price ££

15. Prince and princess of the seas

Best for Disneyland-on-sea
Just reading the list of innovations on board Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship will leave you breathless. Making its maiden voyage on June 9, Disney Wish comes with Disney’s first cruise-ship water ride — as well as two new stage shows, the first Marvel Super Hero Academy and a new Frozen-themed theatrical dining experience. Availability for 2022 is already tight, and a five-day voyage is the longest available, with October half-term the obvious target. Book an ocean-view veranda cabin if you can, so that everyone can sit outside occasionally and take in the ocean.

Price ££
Flexible Y

16. Taste of the Himalayas

Best for Indian hospitality
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.

Price ££

17. Orlando at full tilt

Best for rollercoasters and Disney
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 (at Universal Studios 48in — 4ft or 122cm — qualifies them for all but a couple of rollercoasters). Book a two-bedroom suite at the central four-star Floridays Resort Orlando (complete with big outdoor pool), budget for skip-the-line passes, and reconcile yourself to spending most of your time in Universal Studios and the vast Walt Disney World complex. After two years boxed in by Covid restrictions, your kids deserve a proper thrill.

Price ££
Flexible Y

Need to know

The trips above feature multiple departures unless stated. At time of publication, those marked “Flexible booking” had a refund or future-credit policy for those customers prevented or prohibited from travelling due to Covid-19. Cancellation policies vary between tour operators and are subject to change. Please check with your travel provider before booking.

Other family trips to try

Here’s a selection of some of the best family itineraries from our Times Travel partners.

• Egypt Family Holiday or other family adventures with Intrepid Travel
• Peru Family Experience or other family-friendly tours with G Adventures
• Family Slovakia Adventure or other family experiences with Explore!
• Borneo Wildlife Family Adventure or other family discoveries with Exodus

Click here to return to the full selection of 100 ultimate trips for 2022