Most families seem to be under the impression that taking the kids on holiday is a little like rolling the dice with fate – nobody knows how it will turn out or what results to expect. In reality however this is not the case as the success and harmony (or otherwise!) of any family holiday is in fact only about 1% to do with fate and 99% to do with the decisions and actions of those in charge of the trip.

Of course, there is no fixed blueprint for a perfect family holiday – Lord knows we could do with one – but there are certain lessons that have been learned over the years to help set things on the right path, including the following:

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Keep it Simple

If you make the decision to organise a family holiday with any number of complexities to keep track of – multiple destinations, accommodation changes, complicated transport connections and so on – you’re immediately setting yourself up for a hard time. You have to remember that the attention span and tolerance of a child is so much shorter than your own and therefore anything that has the potential to go wrong and p*** you off will have the same effect on them, several times over. Even if they aren’t your “thing”, you might want to keep it as simple as possible with a package deal – especially in the early years.

Keep it Close to Home

Kids love holidays and hate travelling – a few exceptions aside. It really doesn’t matter how incredible the holiday will be when your finally get there, stick a couple of kids in a car or on a plane for 18 hours straight and you can pretty much write-off your first few days due to the tantrums and trauma guaranteed to be thrown your way.

Keep it Obvious

When it comes to younger children, there are certain holiday types and ideas that are obviously infinitely better than others, so use a little common sense. For example, fully- approved and award-winning toddler friendly holidays in Cornwall are 100% guaranteed to fit the bill better than a week in a resort packed to the rafters with rowdy stag parties and drunken teenagers. Everyone has their preferences and there are no rights and wrongs in terms of personal tastes, but there are some very big wrongs when it comes to place to holiday with kids.

Keep it Real

Perhaps the most important tip of all is that of knowing what to expect from the trip – or rather knowing that you really don’t know what to expect and therefore must expect nothing and anything…are you following? Roughly translated , if you expect everything to go perfectly smoothly and have the most sickeningly sweet and perfect trip from the moment you set off, your dreams will quickly be shredded at the first hiccup. On the other hand, accept that there WILL be complications and occasional upsets and not only will you be better equipped to deal with them, but they won’t ruin your trip!

This post was brought to you by Lisa Morton on behalf of: Crylla Cottages who provide wonderful cottage holidays in Cornwall.