Tuesday 10 October 2017

What Do I Look for when Choosing a Holiday?

It's that time of year again! The time of year when I start thinking about our nextholiday. I can't help myself, I like to have something to look forward to once Christmas is done and dusted, it makes the start of a new year slightly more bearable. 

I'm already having pangs for the place I love and adore (the Dordogne, South of France) but we have been discussing the possibility of heading to pastures new, such as Italy. It's a tough decision...... stick with what we know and love or be adventurous and bold and head somewhere that we've always wanted to visit. 

We don't want to limit ourselves to France each year and want to expose our children to as many experiences and memories ........ but we are always drawn back to France, it has so much to offer and each year we thoroughly enjoy our time there.


So with our decision yet to be made it got me thinking about what we look for when we travel abroad. It can be a daunting task heading hundreds of miles away in a Foreign but I promise it's not too bad if you are prepared and find the right destination and accommodation. 

  • Firstly, it pays to do your research. If you are unsure about organising a holiday by yourself it's beneficial to use a trusted and reputable company to help you. Tots to Travel is a great place to start, a family focused company that specialises in child friendly and safe places to stay that are of a very high standard.

  • Decide what you want from your holiday. Do you want a pool? Would you prefer to be close the beach? Do you want to go self catered or maybe a hotel instead. Do you want to be in the hustle and bustle of a city or in a rural location away from it all? All these things need to be decided prior to booking anywhere. We always prefer to go to the rural areas where there's no worries about the kids being too loud or feral!





  • Budget, budget, budget! It is so important to know your spending limits. This makes choosing somewhere to visit and stay within your budget an essential criteria to booking somewhere. 

  • Get recommendations. Can family or friends suggest somewhere that they've stayed before that is a worth a visit? Getting advice from someone who has been somewhere previously is priceless.





  • How will you get there? We usually take the ferry and drive to the South of France as we like the comfort of being in our car and having the freedom to travel when we are away. Of course you can get a hire cat but personally we prefer to use our own. It does also mean we can pack a few home comforts and more toys/entertainment for the kids. 

  • Make sure you are insured! While we were away, our car ended up having to be towed away and have an extended stay in a French garage for almost the whole 2 weeks we were away but thankfully we'd renewed our Green Flag insurance enabling us to continue our holiday with a hire car and all communication was done via Green Flag.



  • Does the place have wifi? Not essential for some but it is for us, we rely on having wifi to we can access things like Trip Advisor (to plan our days out), You Tube for the kids and so I can dip in and out of my emails and blogging as I desire. 

  • Is there local amenities near by? We like to have supermarkets and a fairly reasonably sized town close so that we can stock up on essentials and have the option to be able to go out for dinner should we desire. 

  • Finally......what's the weather like? Hard to fully guarantee of course but when we go away for our Summer holiday we like to think that we're heading somewhere nice and warm. That's usually why we tend to head further down into the South of France where there is usually a decent amount of heat in the stunning and rather beautiful Dordogne. 
So tell me guys, what do you look for when heading abroad?

* Collaborative content.

9 comments:

  1. I always consider the weather first! #BloggersBest

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  2. Haha all I saw on here was Wifi! haha. Some great tips hun and this is making me excited for my holiday now :-) xx #bloggersbest

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  3. We also love France but have loved Italy too. Have you tried the Alps whilst your children are small? You can get v reasonable accommodation in June/early July and it can be lovely and sunny. It’s a 10 hour drive from Calais so quite similar to the South. Try looking near Geneva. It’s stunning. #bloggersbest

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  4. we just got back from 5 days away without the kids and I'm already thinking about where I want to go next year! #bloggersbest

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  5. Hi, great tipps we go on friends recommendations, trip advisor, wifi and budget #bloggersbest

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  6. All good things to think about. My family doesn't have regular holidays, so we tend to think of a place first more often than not and then work on saving money, etc. We're hoping to go to New York again next year.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

    #bloggersbest

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  7. I must admit wifi is something I never consider although reviews are very important some great tips what I would do for a holiday right now! #bloggerbest

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  8. Wifi is essential. Our holiday cottage this year had better wifi than we get at home: it was amazing! We are looking at Wales for next year... #bloggersbest

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  9. Wifi is my number one requirement - I just can't cope without!! #bloggersbest

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