Top ten family holiday destinations for 2016

Angie Kelly finds new ways to have fun in our favourite family holiday spots

The 10 best family holidays for 2016

THERE are a lot of people to please when selecting the perfect family holiday destination — even grandparents are getting in on the act with multi-generation getaways one of Australia’s fastest growing travel trends.

And nowadays adult kids are joining the “ski” set according to tourism bosses — meaning spending the kids’ inheritance, once the domain of retired couples, is also becoming a family affair.

Cruise lines have been on to this for some time, offering an affordable container-load of entertainment, activities and dining for everyone from the under-twos to seniors. Back on land, we think these constantly renewing holiday spots deserve a gold star when it comes to catering to tots, teens and in-betweens.

Dubai

Winning when it comes to dazzling ways to have fun, the tiny Emirate’s size belies its commitment to big ideas in entertainment. When the new IMG World of Adventure opens next January it will be the world’s largest indoor theme park. A new Legoland and Bollywood Park will open, with hotels attached, by then end of 2016. Child-city KidZania, in Dubai Mall, is a world of fantasy with its own fake currency, Sega Republic a teen adventure heaven and the new Bounce trampoline centre, a hit with babies to big ones.

Between them, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, The Palm Atlantis and the Burj Al Arab hotels offer private beaches, sprawling pools, kids clubs, astonishing buffet spreads, toy libraries, pint sized pjs, boat rides and shopping.

And the new hop-on, hop-off Dubai Trolley is a great way to get around the sky-scraping city, free.

London

Do not hit this sprawling and fun-packed city without Guy Fox London Children’s map. It shows royal landmarks, parks, tube stations, key sights and 20 experiences — many free — to tick off.

The Athenaeum, the Milestone and The Rubens at the Palace are up-market hotels that cater to children with thoughtful menus and kids’ concierges without compromising on comforts for parents.

A week is hardly enough: the London Eye (don’t miss the impressive 4D pre-ride movie), Hamleys four-storey toy temple (parent payback is on the doorstep with shopping at Carnaby Street) a West End show (Back to the Future opens early 2016) and a visit to Warner Bros Studios to see the new mega-expansion of Harry Potter World including the recreated Platform 9 ¾ and original Hogwarts Express steam engine.

Gold Coast

Aussie families have been pointing the car towards Queensland’s glitter strip for decades for good reason. With holiday precincts spread along 70km of coastline, groups can stay in villas attached to luxe hotels like the Versace, swap a waterfront family home on the canals with yours (lovehomeswap.com), have an each way bet at the Hilton apartment-hotel or hire a flat in towering blocks like the Q1.

Beaches, bike riding and affordable dining at surf clubs and pubs attract families, as does its status as the unrivalled theme park capital of Australia.

New this summer: Nickelodeon Land at SeaWorld complete with the coast’s first mini rollercoaster.

The Red Centre

Now you can do The Rock and the Red Centre’s many other attractions including Kata Tjuta on a tour designed by parents for parents.

The new four-day AAT Kings Uluru Family Shindig includes a camel ride, dot painting workshops with a renowned local artist, dreamtime stories, dinner under the stars, educational walks to see cave paintings and plenty of free time to cool off in the pool at Ayers Rock Resort hotels.

Well organised, informative and fun, doing the centre with a guide brings the ancient region to life in a way that would be much harder on your own.

Tip: This may be the central Australian desert but don’t forget your hoodies for the chilly dawn viewing of Uluru.

Canberra

There are many good reasons so many school excursion groups head to our nation’s capital beyond seeing Parliament in action.

The Australian War Memorial offers kid-friendly experiences alongside the homage to fallen heroes. Interpretive and interactive exhibits educate and enthral youngsters at The Discovery Zone, where they can experience a World War I trench, take virtual control of an Iroquois helicopter and peer through the periscope of a Cold War submarine. The National Science and Technology Centre, Questacon, dazzles with constantly updating and innovative versions of smart fun with new shows and demos held every holidays, while the National Dinosaur Museum is a pint-sized paleontologist’s and geologist’s fantasyland.

The number of new apartment hotels in Canberra has boomed in recent times, with East Hotel in Kingston an impressive location with specially decorated kids’ rooms, a pool and a range of eateries on the doorstep.

Orlando, Florida

When the new Star Wars attraction opens in 2016 it will be the biggest expansion seen in the park ever, with Disney imagineers promising the most immersive, awe-inspiring ride to another galaxy that will raise the bar on theme park experiences everywhere. New magic wrist bands make WDW a cashless experience as well as replacing hotel room keys.

A city of four different parks plus a sprawling, inventive water world, themed hotels, parades, Broadway standard musicals, laser light shows, and enough dazzling educational immersions in space, history and American culture to force even the biggest cynics to crack a smile, even if the kids have never heard of Mouse who started it all.

Here technology meets old-fashioned fun with thrills and spills to suit even the tiniest tot.

Vail, Colorado

Go in Aussie summer and enter a wonderland of fairylights, outdoor ice-skating, hot tubs in the snow, sleigh rides and dangling icicles. Kids (and let’s face it, grown ups) will feel as if they are walking around in a magical, real-life snow globe. With so much off-mountain entertainment (bowling alley, cinema, glow stick and torch tours by sleigh) Vail and it’s nearby sister resort Beaver Creek, must be two of the most family friendly ski resorts on earth.

new gondolas are heated and Wi-Fi-connected, there are dedicated ski school slopes, an app to monitor your day-to-day progress (Epicmix), on-mountain photographers to shoot and upload your happy snaps and even freshly made, warm cookies handed out free to all comer’s at day’s end.

Split the cost of lodge accommodation with another family, Snowcloud Lodge, Bachelor Gulch is a standout; while Vail’s The Lodge family villas win for mid-resort position a short walk to the chairlifts.

Not cheap, but a worthy bucket list trip.

Switzerland

Nature’s great European theme park may not be on the holiday radar like Italy or France, but it should be. So much to love here for outdoorsy Aussie families — ski, toboggan, zip line, hike, sail and sun yourself from mountain tops to beaches with a triple-culture bonus of Italian, French and German food, language and lifestyle.

Switzerland is also a train nuts’ paradise with modern, Wi-Fi-connected, huge-windowed, fast trains the perfect way to get around this picturesque nation (see raileurope.com.au to plan and book).

Famous for its efficiency and also some of the world’s best chocolate — combine the two and catch Zurich’s on-time bus number 165 to the Lindt chocolate master class in Schooren.

Ibis hotels are clean, spacious and centrally located.