April is nearly upon us and the days are getting longer; with that, summer 2022 is fast approaching. This is the perfect time to book your next family holiday together which will help to make up for lost time. Summer 2022 is the perfect time to go on an adventure with your loved ones. So, we have picked six of our Family Travel Expert’s favourite summer adventure holidays to offer you some inspiration.

Portugal – Surf’s Up on the Alentejo Coast

The Alentejo coast is Portugal’s best-kept secret. With stunning scenery that ranges from dramatic, rocky cliffs to expansive sandy beaches, there is plenty of space for an amazing family getaway. This is the ideal location for surfing enthusiasts, with the gorgeous coastline creating the perfect conditions to achieve great surfing waves. It is an area known for its delicious local cuisine and extreme natural beauty, with the Mira, Europe’s cleanest river, running close by. The Alentejo coast offers a great combination of sun and activities that are perfect for a family adventure holiday.

We know Easter weekend will be a little different for us all this year and although our original plans will have changed, there’s no reason why we can’t make new traditions together as a family! 

Here is some inspiration from family traditions across Scandinavia...

For years, the Algarve has been the destination of choice for UK families visiting the stunning Portuguese coast. However, here at Activities Abroad we think that in order to experience a truly memorable family holiday, you need to visit the locations away from the tourist trail and uncover the hidden gems instead. It’s in these special destinations where you can enjoy authentic and unforgettable experiences that you and your family will cherish for years to come.

Our Product Manager Amy has plenty of experience visiting our winter destinations and it’s always extra special when she gets to experience the magic of Lapland with her family! Here she gives her expert advice on how to dress children for a family winter holiday. 

Though Brexit is official, in the world of travel we know that friendships and the opportunities for great family holidays are much stronger than borders. In fact, Visit Portugal wants to remind us of just that.

Here at Activities Abroad, we pride ourselves on our team of Family Travel Experts. We have visited all of our destinations, tried and tested the activities and carefully crafted our itineraries to create unforgettable family activity holidays.

We've had an absolutely fantastic response to our #MyActivitiesAbroad competition, with so many of our clients sharing their wonderful family photos with us from their holiday - and now...the results are in!

At Activities Abroad, we absolutely love to see what you get up to with your family on your adventures away with us. Whether you’re enjoying a husky safari in Swedish Lapland, meeting Father Christmas in Finland, or going in search of the Northern Lights - we want to be a part of the action!

Here at Activities Abroad, we always strive to offer our families the best experiences and though our Family Travel Experts remain proud of our carefully crafted and tried and tested locations, it’s nice to see that other people think the same! That’s why we were thrilled to see that a number of our holiday destinations have been featured on Big 7 Travel’s reader’s poll of the 50 best islands in the world. 

Though Father Christmas may call it home, when it comes to experiences in Lapland, the man in red has some fierce competition!

Having watched Dame Judi Dench embark on her wonderful adventure to Borneo, we’ve been having some serious wanderlust thoughts about travelling in her footsteps!

Whether it’s sailing from island to island, setting foot in a winter wonderland or tackling ghyll scrambling together as a family, a short break doesn’t mean you have to be short on experiences.

You may not have heard of it before but Malta’s sister island is a small but mighty location that’s perfect for your next family adventure. With its impressive coastline, clear waters and rich history, Gozo offers something for the whole family.

These days, it can be difficult finding time for the whole family to get together, which is why we’ve always championed holidays as a brilliant opportunity for some precious family time. What can make this even more special, however, is a multi-generational trip where Mum, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa and the kids are all invited – you could even extend the invitation to Aunts, Uncles and cousins!

When you consider the bucket list moments, bonding opportunities and quality family time that travel can bring, a multi-generational holiday is something we think everyone should experience.

You could travel to Finnish Lapland where adventures include meeting Father Christmas by day and standing under the Northern Lights at night. If you prefer warmer destinations, you could explore the Atlantic islands of Madeira or São Miguel in the Azores, where you can go whale watching and snorkel alongside wild dolphins. No matter what your preference, we have the holiday that will suit the whole family. And remember, our Family Travel Experts are always on hand to help, simply call 01670 789 991 today to get started.

A family whale watching trip is one of those memories that lasts a lifetime. Nothing compares to hearing the excitement from your children as they see the spurt of water from a whales’ blowhole or a flick of the tail as these mighty animals dive down into the water. During a whale watching experience while on holiday in the Azores, you’ll explore the surrounding waters of the incredible volcanic archipelago and look out for the many different species found here.

As one of the world’s largest whale sanctuaries, you’re in with a great chance of spotting whales during your holiday in the Azores. In fact, whales and dolphins are seen on 98% of the boat trips. What’s more, you’ll be following in expert footsteps as even the BBC and National Geographic have visited the Azores due to its whale watching potential!

View our holiday in the Azores complete with whale watching here.

There are few better ways to create lasting family memories than by going whale watching during a holiday in Madeira. Having explored the impressive volcanic landscape, complete your visit by getting out onto the surrounding waters of the Atlantic Ocean and go on the lookout for the variety of marine animals found here.

With over 20 different species, you and your family will have a very good chance of seeing a wave from a tail, a splash from a blowhole or even a spectacular breaching display during your whale watching day out in Madeira.

What’s more, due to the depth of the water, you could see a whale as close as 5km away from the shore!

View our family holiday in Madeira with whale watching included here.

Following the announcement of the winner of our Junior Expert Writing Competition, we’re thrilled to share the entries from our runners up.

When we asked our clients if they had any budding writers in the family who might want to enter our Junior Expert writing competition, we didn’t expect to have some future JK Rowling’s, Charles Dickens’ and Jane Austen’s on our hands!

With ‘Blue Planet Live’ airing last night, here at Activities Abroad we’ve again been enthralled by the wonderful wildlife we share the planet with.

Due to the success of our Christmas and New Year family holiday competition, we decided that we wanted to see more #MyActivitiesAbroad photos – this time from your February half-term adventures!

Here at Activities Abroad, we know travelling is different for every family. That’s why we know there is no ‘perfect holiday’ to suit everyone. However, there are a few tips and tricks we’ve learned during our 16+ years’ experience in family travel that can help you perfectly plan your family holiday.

With the summer holidays often dominated by a family getaway in the sun, and the Christmas break filled with frantic shopping, present giving and vast amounts of food, February half-term is usually far quieter and often forgotten about when it comes to planning a family escape.

If your family is anything like ours, then you’ll have been thrilled to welcome the king of nature documentaries, David Attenborough, back to your screens on a Sunday night.

There can be a lot of pressure deciding how you want to celebrate the new year, especially when you have the whole family to think about. That’s why we’ve carefully designed family new year holidays to take the worry away.

There really is nothing better to get you into the festive spirit than an appearance from good old Saint Nicholas but with all the times he’s come to us, isn’t it only right we visited him?

No matter what your age, Christmas wouldn’t be complete without the famous man in red. What’s more, we know that for the little ones a meeting with Father Christmas can be a truly magical experience. That’s why we’ve carefully designed a selection of holidays that include personal and memorable meetings with Father Christmas, right on his home soil.

Sadly, the school holidays are over and it’s time to get back to reality. But why not give into some wanderlust thoughts and start thinking about your family winter break!

Here are Activities Abroad’s 10 unmissable winter experiences you need to have this year:

Lapland offers so much to families wanting to revel in all the joys that come with an escape to a winter wonderland. With so much choice, we understand that it can be hard to narrow down exactly what you want to do on your family break. So, in order to help you plan your next Arctic escape, we caught up with one of our Travel Experts, Laura to get her top three experiences to have this winter with your family:

Here at Activities Abroad, we know that most families can’t wait to tick husky sledding off their bucket lists. However, when you and your children actually get the chance to experience it for the first time, it can be quite daunting. So, in order to help prepare your family for one of the Arctic’s most exhilarating experiences, we have put together our top tips for any husky sledding beginner!

Former television presenter and journalist Eleanor Findlater was looking for a holiday to suit her family's love of nature and adventure. After contacting Activities Abroad we knew there was only one place we could send her and the family - The Azores! We caught up with Eleanor to find out what she and her family thought about these incredible islands and the adventures that they enjoyed:

Sitting 563 miles west off the coast of mainland Ecuador, the Galápagos Islands are no doubt one of the most famous archipelagos in the world. The very name conjures up images of exploration, adventure and incredible wildlife, found nowhere else in the world. From Charles Darwin, to his famous ship the HMS Beagle, and an amazing array of unique animals, that helped the famous scientist come up with his theory of evolution, there is something very special about these incredible islands that puts them on many a bucket list.

Now although the amazing wildlife is certainly reason enough to make a trip to these wonderful islands, they are not the only reason you should be planning your next family holiday here. With so many good reasons to travel to these islands we have chosen just five of our favourites to encourage you that a trip to the Galápagos Islands is the ideal adventure for your family of explorers!

With our time becoming increasingly more valuable, as more and more things seem to eat away at our time, it is perhaps unsurprising that more and more families are choosing to use holidays as a way to meet up and spend time together as families.

In 2018 it has become more and more common to find grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, parents and grandchildren all enjoying a well-deserved family holiday together. These multi-generational or ‘3G’ holidays have lots of benefits too!

From the moment I landed in Essaouira and stepped off the plane into the warming sun of Morocco, I knew this was going to be a fantastic trip.

A short transfer away, we arrived at Rebali Riads, our home for the next two nights; and what a home it was. The peaceful, luscious gardens are filled with colourful flowers, which drape from the riads and down to the refreshing swimming pool below… a place I spent much of my time in!

As a travel expert at Activities Abroad, i’m often asked for holiday inspiration... Here are some great ideas for family winter holidays.

For younger families there may only be one chance to meet the ‘real’ Father Christmas in Lapland.

Credit: Marko Junttila & Hotel Gulo Gulo

Our Father Christmas and Arctic Animal Encounters ensures a memorable and magical experience for both children and adults alike. The focus of the holiday is of course the Santa visit......Travelling as a family by snowmobile pulled sleigh through the snowy Lappish Forest, the trail leads to a cosy cabin where you will be welcomed by Father Christmas himself. If you like the idea of a private Santa Claus experience, this is perfect, with the children getting around 20 minutes to talk with him about his most important of jobs!

Jo and Amy our Product and Sales managers are currently in Finland checking on preparations for our family Christmas holidays.

As they touched down in Rovaniemi it was clear winter had arrived and there was even a couple of inches of snow on the ground making everything look extra special!