So you’ve taken the plunge and booked a family ‘get away from it all’ Christmas break… but now you’re realising exactly what you will be ‘away from’ and are wondering how you’ll move the ‘family Christmas at home’ experience to another place!?
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 children in the travel experience. Get out a map and show them where the family is going. 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 mince pie and a little tipple (or perhaps a local equivalent!) at your arrival point. He’s sure to be hungry after the extra trip from your house!
3. Find out if the larger online retailers deliver to your destination. You can even get deliveries gift wrapped. Don’t forget to plan for how you’ll get them home! Perhaps try to keep a suitcase or fold away bag empty and keep everyone’s luggage to a minimum (at least you won’t usually need swimming gear at this time of year!) Try to plan gifts that are lightweight and small to pack.
4. If you can’t bring all the gifts, talk about how kids in Europe receive theirs on Epiphany instead. Maybe Santa will accommodate your travel plans and leave smaller than normal packages, or perhaps leave some but with a letter saying that there are some more surprises at home under the Christmas tree.
5. Try to create the same ‘Christmassy’ atmosphere they’ve left behind when you get there – most properties will provide a tree, decorations, etc for Christmas guests.
6. Take some CDs of Christmas songs and stories along for the journey to keep the festive spirit alive en route.
7. Investigate the local Christmas markets or make plans 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 for your tots to decorate your holiday home. Or pop to the local supermarket on arrival to stock up on the makings of some batches of Christmas biscuits or cakes (though you may need to pack a jar of anything exotic 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 that being away from your home environment brings – no racing around visiting friends and family, no sale shopping, no ‘let’s use the time off to decorate the spare room’ – just chill out and enjoy time as a family!
