With honest advice and insider tips for travelling with children, the well-travelled Citizen Enfants team and contributors share their favourite family-friendly holiday destinations.
Including luxe beach resorts with excellent childcare, family-friendly chic getaways, ski resorts that tick all the boxes, and many lesser-known hotel recommendations, our globe-trotting mums give you the lowdown on the places they have loved – and why.
There’s no better way to get advice on a destination or hotel than from mums who have been, and this is all the inspiration you need for your next trip avec enfants.
Sheena Bhattessa, Founder of Citizen Femme and mother of two
I love Ibiza as a family destination. It’s very often overlooked, but it’s a real treasure trove of family-friendly experiences. Yes, the beaches are great, but it’s also very laid back, the hotels are welcoming and the old town, water sports, boat trips and plenty of other activities are accessible for kids. The Seven Pines Resort is a great hotel, very welcoming of children. The rooms near the family pool are great to book as you can roll out of bed and jump straight in, no matter what time they choose to wake up. Not to mention Kio House of Kids! And while a little further away from the town, you’ll spend plenty of time here with a great spot for cocktails after the kids sleep. Older kids – and their parents – will love OKU Ibiza with it’s chilled out beach club vibes and excellent service. Or Can Talaias (locally grown veggie purees and warm milk are available at the drop of a hat), for a bohemian vibe and Nobu Hotel Ibiza Bay for creative kids activities and interconnecting rooms.
For a city break that easy to manage with very young children I love Paris. I recently stayed at the Le Bristol with my little ones and they were so friendly and accommodating despite being one of the most sophisticated five star hotels in the city. The kids’ club is created in partnership with luxury French children’s brand Bonpoint and is available for children up to 12 years old. Little ones can spend a few hours here in a very stylish play room with tipis for a secret hideaway, huge floral patterned cushions, chalkboard walls, electric car tracks, dolls houses, books and a menagerie of stuffed animals. And while trusted chaperones watch the children, grown ups can enjoy the rather fabulous Spa Le Bristol by La Prairie. A win win!
Morag Turner, Editor of Citizen Enfants and mother of three
We spend our summers at our beach house in North Devon, one of my favourite places for a family holiday. Long sunny days filled with swimming, surfing and BBQs on the beach with friends. This means we mainly travel abroad in the winter and for a holiday on the slopes, it has to be Lech in Austria. Beautiful, varied runs make it perfect for all abilities. You can ski all the way to St Anton (via Zurs) and back in a day and the scenery is outstanding. The village itself is chic yet charming and packed with great family hotels. Try Post Lech Arlberg or the Sonnenburg for five-star ski-in/ski-out. Lech is where I’ll be skiing with my gang every year.
A great place to escape the cold UK is the Bahamas. We’ve had wonderful family holidays there. One of my favourite hotels in the world is The Dunmore on Harbour Island. It’s just fabulous and oozes old-school style with its candy stripe beach umbrellas and rattan furnished suites – all thanks to the clever Amanda Lindroth who is the interior designer. Very family-friendly, it’s the ideal place to take children who can play on the stunning pink sandy beach. The concierge can organise the most wonderful experiences too – we swam with dolphins, snorkelled with turtles and visited a tiny island of iguanas, there’s so much wildlife to see. Harbour Island itself is a tropical paradise and you can explore the whole place on a golf buggy (no cars allowed) which is always fun for the kids. Back at the hotel, dress up for dinner in the Dunmore’s elegant restaurant and order one of their signature rum punch cocktails for yourself and non-alcoholic Shirley Temple for the kids. Perfect.
Lucy Halfhead, Head of Content and Partnerships at Citizen Femme and mother of one
Our little one is only six months old but already we have taken her on some great holidays. For a top luxury hotel, Four Seasons Surfside could not be more accommodating for little ones. Arrive with a baby and you’ll find a cot, baby food, nappy bin and baby bath in your room, and down by the beautiful outdoor pools there are mini-sized sun loungers and a whole area for outdoor lawn games to keep active kids entertained while you take a dip. It’s a wonderful place. Another hotel we loved for the hotel and the stunning location is the Six Senses Zighy Bay. With not one, but two magical kids’ clubs that will keep your gang occupied from dusk till dawn, this amazing resort allows parents the chance to fully relax and enjoy the resort’s excellent facilities, from the serene spa to the fabulous swimming pools. With time on your hands, why not try paragliding off the top of the mountains that surround the resort, before recovering with a cocktail on the sublime stretch of beach. It really does tick all the boxes.
Claire Brayford, writer and mother of two
When I need a break from being a mum but don’t actually want to go anywhere without my family, we visit the Four Seasons Hampshire. It’s a wonderfully glamorous, restored Georgian manor house in 500-acres of glorious English countryside. And, best of all, it’s just an hour from London. It has all the space and grandeur of a country house hotel, with all of the ease and convenience of a five-star resort. Most importantly, they make their mini guests happy, and that always makes mummy happy. There’s so much to do from a beautiful equestrian centre where they can pet the horses or go for a ride, to an adventure-filled pool with slides and a rotating umbrella fountain that offers hours of fun. There’s a high-wire adventure park, falconry – we even popped outside to find a llama petting zoo just waiting for us.
When we visited there was a beautiful ice rink, but there’s archery year-round and a great kids’ club with activities the children actually love. The spa and pool are huge so parents can really relax, whether you have a massage or just lie with your magazine in peace. There is also a great choice of food from the Wild Carrot restaurant and bar to the Southeast Asian café, while the breakfast is a veritable feast. Hotels don’t often understand that children don’t want to just go in the pool between 4 and 5PM, but this one does. They also offer lovely touches such as a treasure hunt of the different floors of the hotel. This is a place where children are truly welcomed and celebrated.
Jes Salter, writer and mother of two
We’ve travelled a lot as a family, and one of the most memorable trips was to Ekies All Senses Resort on the Bay of Vourvourou in Greece. Easy to get to – an hour-and-a-half drive from Thessaloniki airport (which the hotel can arrange) – and once you’re there, you barely need to leave. My children – aged five and one at the time – were in heaven, and so were we. The hotel is a design-lover’s dream, with linen curtains, concrete ceilings, paints that echo hues of the landscape, and locally handmade ceramic tiles. The furniture ranges from antique pieces to modern designs from Vitra, Magis and Arper, which blend in with handcrafted bohemian elements, such as a hammock just off the main restaurant. The hotel looks out over its own private beach and still, extremely shallow waters – excellent for children to play in – and a long jetty with hammocks submerged in the sea for adults to lounge on. Come evening, adults were relaxing with cocktails while children played in feral packs – everyone was happy.
Sarah Leigh Bannerman, writer and mother of twins
Family-friendly getaways have been high on my search list over the past year. I’m relatively new to the parenting scene and had every intention of travelling with my twins from the get-go. In the UK, Atlanta Trevone Bay and The Pig Hotels are my absolute go-to. Find toy boxes and crab fishing lines in hampers at Atlanta, or games cupboards and a range of Hunter wellies at The Pig. Thoughtful touches like these make packing a little lighter and settling in easy. In the London, it’s The Marylebone Hotel that we love. They offer such great actives for kids and the events rota includes things like an Easter Egg hunt to make exploring the local area fun and interactive for children during the school holidays.
In May we’ll be checking in to Six Senses Ibiza – a true example of somewhere equally appealing pre and post-babies. Crucially, we won’t feel we’re ruining the ambiance of somewhere beautiful and while my children will be too young to enjoy the Grow With Six Senses program, this spot has the potential to be our annual go-to. I’m bookmarking kids’ yoga, pizza making and food art for future stays. Plus, anyone under the age of four eats and sleeps for free – something other twin parents are sure to appreciate as much as we do!
Laura Normanton, writer and mother of two
Cornwall, specifically near Polzeath beach on the north coast, is my favourite place for a family holiday. While I love going abroad, it is a huge relief to avoid airports and planes with little children. We rent a house with my parents and sister’s family so it is a busy week with lots of different ages but there is so much for everyone to do. We spend our days digging sandcastles, eating sandy sandwiches on the beach, surfing, looking in rock pools and walking the beautiful coastal path around Pentire Point. We normally rent a house, but I am tempted to try Fowey Hall one year as the facilities look great.
Laura Burkitt, writer, stylist and mother of two
The mark of a great hotel is surely when you don’t want to recommend it! I kept Moar Gut a secret for six months before I relinquished and shared it with Citizen Enfants. We booked this Austrian Kinderhotel after being seduced by a wintry picture on Instagram of the hotel and the promise of great childcare a day. We were blown away. The first big tick is the journey. Just a quick two hour flight to Salzburg and then a one hour transfer to the mountains. In fact, everything about this chalet hotel is so easy. From the Montessori style kid’s club which requires no pre-booking to the familial, welcoming staff. Add a vast spa, an organic petting farm, a five minute drive to the ski resort and a daily afternoon gateaux buffet and it really was magical. The second mark of a great holiday is surely how happy your kids are, and they were ecstatic. Meaning we were too!
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