Fancy holidaying in Dubai this summer but worried about the cost of taking the kids?
Then you might want to take up this Emirates airlines offer if you can travel before 20th September 2009:
• Free flight to Dubai for one child under 16 (when traveling with both parents)
• Free accommodation and meals for two children (again when traveling with both parents)
• Free entry to 9 of Dubai’s top children’s attractions:
o Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo (Dubai Mall) with over 33,000 aquatic animals
o Dubai (Olympic sized) Ice Rink
o Magic Planet – with rides, bumper cars, soft play area and video games
o SEGA Republic Indoor Theme Park – the middle east’s largest Sega park
o Ski Dubai – complete with chair lifts, button lifts and toboggan run (the largest indoor snow park in the world)
o The Lost Chambers (Atlantis Hotel – the Palm) – explores the story of how the citizens of Atlantis might have lived with a maze of underwater halls and tunnels
o The Montgomerie Dubai – golfing destination
o Wild Wadi Water Park – with 30 rides and slides
• Discounts for some shops in the Dubai Mall
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Want an unusual, eco-friendly, but comfortable camping holiday? The Really Green Holiday Company have set up three luxury Mongolian-style yurts (and two bell tents) in the Afton Park apple orchard at Fairwater Bay on the Isle of Wight.
Yurts are more spacious than regular tents, with solid wood floors, a wood-burning stove, lanterns and pine furniture. There are two family yurts that are 16ft in diameter that will accommodate up to 5 (on a double bed, a sofa bed and a single fold-away bed) and a smaller yurt sleeping 2-3 (a double bed and fold-away). The 16ft bell tents have low beds, ethnic furniture and sheepskin throws, and have either a stove or gas heater. All are equipped with tea and coffee making facilities.
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There are many many Christmas fairs and markets that take place all over Europe to get you in the festive mood. I’ve listed just some of the main ones. If you can recommend (or otherwise) a particular market please leave a comment.
France
The French markets are famed for their cakes, pastries, chocolates, pates and meats, in addition to arts and crafts and gifts. Most of them start late November, but check dates of individual markets before you go.
Amiens – said to be the biggest Christmas market in northern France and specialised in produce from the Picardy region
Grenoble – starts in December and has more than 50 chalets with chocolates, candles, gingerbread, wooden toys and more. They also have fireworks, clowns, games and jazz bands
Lille Market
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Unless you have been a hermit for the past week it probably hasn’t escaped your notice that Atlantis (the hotel on the Palm in Dubai) opened last week on the 24th September. Newspapers, magazines and supplements have been awash with articles and reviews about the themed spa resort hotel.
Aimed strongly at the family market the hotel does stretch its theme’ing’ to the limit, even suggesting that it is an educational experience for children regarding the (fictional) Atlantis.
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My partner (Kevin), 5-year old son (Ryan) and I went on a week-end break over Easter to the ‘Jurassic Coast’ in Dorset. As our son has recently developed a huge interest in dinosaurs and fossils we thought it would be a great idea to foster that interest by taking him fossil hunting on the beaches and my partner had done as a child.
As we booked the trip at fairly late notice, and being over the Easter period, much of the accommodation in the area was already booked. After quite a bit of calling around I managed to get a room in the Kersbrooke (Bed and Breakfast) Hotel in Lyme Regis for a couple of nights before checking the place out on TripAdviser, where the comments weren’t wholly complementary. We found the proprietor to be extremely welcoming and friendly and the cooked breakfasts excellent. OK, the room wasn’t the largest, especially with the addition of a put-up bed for Ryan, and the shower room was in which is best described as a cupboard, but it suited our requirements, was perfectly clean and only a few minutes walk down into the town.
The Kersbrooke Hotel
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