Half term walking breaks: Kid free or free kids?
Walking tour operator Upland Escapes has half-term solutions for all: kid-free holidays, and free holidays for kids. Whether escaping with the children, or from the children, Upland Escapes has the prefect break to offer. Escaping With Children
Skip to France or Italy with your family, and base yourselves in charming rural accommodation in a traditional village. Explore the beautiful National Parks of the Majella (Italy) or Mercantour (France), and choose from a wide range of walks to suit your family, whatever their ages and fitness levels.
Your own (carbon-neutral) hire-car will give you the independence to explore as you wish, and the lavish daily packed lunch that is freshly prepared for you ensures that your family savour plenty of local delicacies and never go hungry!
An Upland Explorer Activity pack invites your children to learn some words of the local language, explore the village, spot animals and birds, flowers and trees. It also suggests walks and activities that they might enjoy, local specialities to eat, photographs to take, things to bring home, and tips on how to be an Eco-Hero.
In between walking, paddling and ice-cream eating, you could go mountain-biking, try a range of water-sports in France or visit an otter sanctuary in Italy, and at all times enjoy the fresh air, sunshine and magnificent views of some of Europe’s most stunning upland scenery.
Best of all, if your family party consists of 6 people or more, one of you will receive your holiday completely free, and on all bookings babies under 2 also go free, while children under 12 receive a 25% discount. In addition, your Upland Escape costs the same whenever you travel: there are no school-holiday supplements.
A mother returning recently from a family Upland Escape told us that her boys wolfed down the picnic lunches and loved exploring on the walks and hunting for lizards and insects, although introduced an imaginative variety of methods to persuade their parents to carry their knapsacks on the uphill sections!
Escaping From Children
You may however, be choosing to travel at half term because you work in education in which case a peacefully child-free week might be more your thing. If so, you can join an Upland Escapes Group Departure in Slovenia’s beautiful Julian Alps, for 7 nights starting 26 May. Stay in the pretty little town of Kobarid, close to the turquoise Soèa River, at a family-run hotel with one of the best restaurants in Slovenia.
Airport transfers from Ljubljana are included, as is dinner on the first evening when you get a chance to meet your fellow travellers over an exceedingly fine meal. Spend a week alternating escorted walks with self-guided walks, with a choice each day to allow you to walk as much or as little as you wish.
Discover a frescoed chapel, woodland waterfalls, a sculpture festival, the burial place of Slovenia’s greatest poet, some extensive WW1 fortifications, some charming villages, meadows of wildflowers, peaceful beechwoods, gentle rivers, a mountain summit on the border with Italy, and magnificent views.
Tuck in to the lavish packed lunches that are prepared for you daily, and finish the week with another delicious dinner with your companions. 7 nights costs £695 per person based on sharing a twin room, excluding flights. Single room supplements at £125 for the week.
For more information, visit Uplandescapes.com.
