Family Holidays: Travel Tips For Your 2011 Family Vacation

Booking a family holiday can be a nightmare, with hours spent searching online for the ideal destination, only to find you’ve been too slow and everything is fully booked. Family-friendly travel company, Tots to Travel, is taking the stress out of holiday bookings by offering to do all the leg work for parents.

With your bespoke requirements in mind, the Tots to Travel team will sift through its 300+ safe, child friendly holiday properties to compile a shortlist that they think will perfectly suit your family. They’ll also research all the travel options for you – flights, route, approximate costs, what weather to expect, what to do in the area and what you’ll need to take.

“This will save parents a huge amount of time, energy and stress, plus it ensures that they’re ahead of everyone else so they don’t miss out on the best properties,” explains Tots to Travel founder Wendy Shand. “And best of all, it means that the holiday exactly meets a family’s specific needs, rather than being pot luck.”

Wendy also has these tips for parents who want to do their own holiday research:

1. Start by writing a list of all the things you are looking for and your approximate budget.
2. The younger your children, the more attention you should pay to the property itself. You’ll probably be spending more time at the property that you will with older kids so make sure it’s the kind of place you’re happy to spend a good chunk of time in.
3. Ask friends for recommendations of companies that they have used.
4. When reading reviews, go for the grounded middle view. There will always be detractors and excitable cheerleaders. The reviews in the middle are likely to be the most accurate.
5. Pick up the phone. By talking to someone – rather than just looking online – you can ask more questions to ensure the place you’re considering genuinely does suit your family requirements.
6. January is peak summer holiday booking season. Don’t faff! The situation changes hour on hour so avoid disappointment by making a swift decision once you’ve got the facts. If you need July & August availability this is even more true.
7. There’s little or no truth in the last minute bargain holiday for peak weeks in the summer. Availability is very limited and you will be scratching around to find something that suits, flights or ferries are more expensive and car hire is limited.
8. Pay by credit card so that your purchase is secure.
9. Organize your travel insurance at the same time so that for any reason you can”t go then you’ll get your money back.

Plan a holiday that exactly meets your family's specific needs

To get a Tots to Travel personalized shortlist and travel plan, call 0845 26 941 26, go to www.getmyshortlist.com or email getmyshortlist@totstotravel.co.uk. To view the Tots to Travel properties, go to www.totstotravel.co.uk

Tots to Travel is the parent company of Tots to France, Tots to Italy, Tots to Spain, Tots to Portugal and Tots to the UK. The company specializes in providing accommodation to meet the very specific needs of families with babies and young children. All properties are fully equipped with a range of child-related equipment and safety features. The company also provides English-speaking babysitters and home cooked meals. All properties are personally visited and vetted by a team of mums trained to Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) standards.

© Wendy Shand won the Mother@work Best Mumpreneur Award 2007, the Enterprisenation Home Business of the Year Award 2007 and the BT Essence of the Entrepreneur Award 2007. Wendy has been named Practical Parenting’s Inspirational Business Mum of the Year 2009 and was a runner up in the Remote Worker Awards 2009.

Discuss this article with other parents on Facebook and Twitter.

Family Holiday Resources:

• Disney World Vacation And Savings Travel Guide – You don’t have to be rich to have an extravagant Disney World vacation. Have a Disney World vacation for a fraction of what others pay. Ex-Disney employee reveals insider secrets. Includes insider’s tips for getting to Disney World, staying at Disney World, dining at Disney World, and more.
• Safe-T-Informant: Receive GPS Alerts Of Approaching High Crime Areas – Arm yourself with information and provide safe travel for you and your family – know the high crime areas. An easy to install TomTom GPS add-on that provides both audio and visual alerts when traveling toward or in a high-crime area.
• FREE Budget Travel Report: Save 80% To 100% On Your Next Vacation – Learn how to travel the world and have incredible adventures, and pay just a fraction of the regular prices on airline tickets, vacation packages, hotel rooms, cruises and more.

Tips for making the most out of your family vacation

Holiday Family Vacation Planning – Family Holiday Travel Ideas

Photo source arrynes

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 SEO & More