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Oct half term family holidays: 21 ideas for 2021
Round upward the troops and visit ane of these 21 destinations in October one-half term 2021, from short-haul blasts of sunshine to far-flung tropics
October half-term is a bright excuse to upwards sticks and swap blustery U.k. for a holiday to balmier climes. Whether you lot want to take hold of the last of the dominicus'south rays in Europe or fly further afield – for a beachy hit, or an escape to the mountains, or an fauna-spotting safari adventure – you'll demand to book quick smart for you and your brood. Here are our favourite destinations and hotels for October half-term. For more ideas, see our roundup of the best family unit holidays in Europe.
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Crete
Downward in the deep s of the Mediterranean, Greece's largest island is a delightful 24ºC in October. Its white-sand-swirl beaches, backed with herb-scented scrub and olive trees, are quieter and sleepier, and so too its ancient aureate-stone sites, the settings for so many Greek myths: King Minos and the Minotaur, Icarus and Daedalus, stomping ground of Zeus and Apollo, Hercules and Odysseus. History will never exist tiresome once more.
Where to stay: Elounda has become a destination for upmarket family resorts. Daios Cove (two-sleeping room villas from around £1,045 in half term) is the 5-star failsafe, beloved of West London mothers who need a proper holiday. New kid on the coast is Design Hotels' Cretan Malia Park, recently reopened after a dreamy redesign and sustainability overhaul, with a teens club so stylish you'd (nigh) want to hang out in that location yourself.
Best for: Everyone, from babies to teens
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Lisbon and the Silver Coast
Anybody loves Lisbon. Even teenagers will love Lisbon (highly Instagrammable). Its Bairro Alto labyrinth of excellent confined and restaurants and shops, its steep cobbled streets with trams photogenically zipping up and down, its bright dazzler in quondam compages and new pattern, street art and lively social scene. Pair a urban center interruption with Silvery Coast surfing – the region'south mild Octobers average 22ºC, and one-half an hour north is the line-fishing town of Ericeira, surf capital of Europe.
Where to stay: Ericeira's knockout Immerso is a new 5-star hotel aimed at surfers, and has interconnecting family rooms (doubles from €250). In Lisbon, Martinhal Chiado is designed for families, with kids' menus, playrooms and things to clamber on (studios from effectually €260).
Best for: Active families with older kids (buggies and those steep cobbled hills don't mix)
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Mauritius
Few things are more exciting for small boys than lava, pirates, sharks, crocodiles and bats. Mauritius has all these, along with tropical jungles, desert-island beaches, an interesting African-Asian-French fusion culture and a bunch of family-friendly resorts with warm, limpid Indian Ocean shallows for paddling, pond, SUPing or diving. Oct is springtime, which ways hot and sunny (rather than wet and humid) days and an isle unfurling into flower.
Where to stay: At Shangri-La Le Touessrok, on a quiet white-sand shore, free kids and teens clubs entertain all ages from 4 to 17, from 9am til night, when they can become on treasure hunts or scout films (and parents can drink cocktails in the embankment social club). Interconnecting family unit suites have balconies overlooking pale Indian Ocean shallows; rangy thatched embankment villas have three bedrooms, pools and terraces. (Doubles from £480)
Best for: Easy wintertime dominicus from toddlers to teens
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Transylvania
'The end of October is magnificent in Transylvania, with beautiful autumn colours and very few other travellers,' says Oli Broom, founder of the Slow Cyclist, who knows green-listed Romania well. 'The fruit harvest is amazing – and means the puddings are especially succulent.' Broom's trips-on-ii-wheels take sustainably-minded travellers through wildflower meadows and tumbledown hamlets, at a gentle pace that allows them to detect the region'south pocket-size pleasures. In that location'southward also great walking, equus caballus-riding, truffle-hunting, wildlife spotting and equus caballus-and-cart rides.
Where to stay: This summer, Bethlen Estates (from £150pppn) opened the first pair of the collection of houses they're restoring. Sleeping 4 or viii, both are exquisite, with rural-chichi interiors and artisan-made effects; local insiders are on hand to tailor experiences for each family.
Best for: Agile multigens and nature lovers aged 8+
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Turkish Coast
Locals beloved October on the Turkish Coast. It'southward quieter, days get-go cool and hazy, but the skies and seas are still warm. The laidback lifestyle is all about the ocean – sailing, SUPing, swimming, eating the most delicious fish and seafood at simple blue-painted tables at the shore, beneath the shade of pink bougainvillea. At that place'due south history, also – rent a gulet and explore the aboriginal remains forth the coast. Hard to find a amend-value beach pause anywhere in the Mediterranean.
Where to stay: Bodrum Loft, located on a steep border of the Bodrum Peninsula. Designed past Tabanlioglu Architects (responsible for the nearby Macakizi'southward Embankment Club), it's fashionable simply its all-villa set-upwardly is bully for families, with paths winding down through the trees to the water. (Two-bedroom villas from €393 in half term)
Ibiza has had many guises over the decades: crackpot-maverick isle, banging-techno island, and now holistic-healing island. Only off-season, when prices and temperatures drop to something more palatable, Ibiza and neighbouring Formentera are a utopia for families. All those turquoise bays to choose from, so many splendid restaurants with tables under the stars, where children tin play until long past their usual bedtimes and teenagers can slip abroad and practise things they shouldn't. If yous want your kids to desire to holiday with you forever, these Balearic Islands will do information technology.
Where to stay: A villa, if you lot're a crowd – Ibiza has bags of truly incredible ones, such equally OneFineStay's six-chamber Villa Wendy (sleeps 12 from £4,569 at one-half term). Or find 2-sleeping accommodation houses from £150pn on Airbnb. For more recommendations, come across our selection of the best villas in Ibiza and Formentera.
Best for: Teens will be in heaven, simply younger ones love it likewise
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Iceland
Not all kids love beaches. Many adopt grittier, outdoorsy adventures – and for this Iceland has go Europe'south ultimate playground. Its epic and otherworldly landscapes – lava caves, smoking volcanoes, snowy slopes, steaming lagoons – will thrill children's imaginations and give them some of the about memorable experiences of their lives.
Where to stay: All over. Make a road-trip of it, via wilderness digs such equally Torfhus's eco cabins. Or take the ultimate journey of discovery with Blackness Tomato's Accept Me On A Story To Iceland, a family trip inspired by Jules Verne'southJourneying to the Middle of the Earth, which has anybody descending into volcanoes, sailing across glacial lagoons and swimming into the world's crust. (Six nights from £5,375pp, excluding flights.)
Best for: Adventurers aged eight–14
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Naples & Ischia
Italian republic'south gritty southern city might not be the obvious place to accept children, edgy and visceral as it is. But at that place is much to intrigue teenagers: street art, mafia tales, the cloak-and-dagger cave of skulls, the ash-preserved bodies at Pompeii, smoking Vesuvius. And the food! In Naples, where it is elevated to an art form, let them eat pizza. Then hop on the ferry to Ischia for beaches, healing thermal springs, and pastel-painted fishing villages with restaurant tables at the shore – and, in autumn, the marvellous feasts of harvest. This year, the island is extending its season, with restaurants and hotels staying open after.
Where to stay: Mezzatorre, if your children are the well-behaved sort, is Ischia's most fantabulous hotel, set in a Saracen tower, its crenellated rooftop once a lookout for pirates. It has its own thermal spa and a beautiful pool set up into the cliff, and cottages in the forest for families (sleeps upwards to 6, from €2,129 a night; until 26 October).
Best for: Curious travellers aged 13+
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Kenya
Republic of kenya is the birthplace of the safari, and remains i of the all-time destinations in Africa for wildlife-lovers. Also every bit ample opportunities to spot big cats and the Big V roaming in their natural habitat, there are rich and varied landscapes, Maasai villages and local schools where travellers tin can immerse themselves in the civilisation, and knockout tented lodges which requite back. Happily, Kenya has at present been taken off the red list and its isolation requirements lifted, which means a safari holiday is dorsum on the cards for half term and beyond.
Where to stay: Giraffe Manor in Nairobi is a trip for kids, giraffes craning in through the windows at breakfast. Abercrombie & Kent does an viii-night Family Safari to Republic of kenya, including stays at both, from £9,175 adult, £2,175 children under 12.
Best for: Wildlife lovers five+
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Sultanate of oman
Now that Oman is off the red listing, it's a bright option for half term, offering not only mid-booty wintertime sun at luxury family unit-friendly resorts, simply all-activeness adventures on the Arabian Peninsula. 'October is the ideal time to become,' says good Tom Hairdresser of Original Travel, 'when temperatures hover around 30ºC and bright blue skies are pretty much guaranteed.' He recommends taking a road trip through the country's momentous landscapes – driving 4x4s over epic sand dunes, riding camels through the desert, and stargazing at Bedouin camps.
Where to stay: Talk about making an impression: guests at Six Senses Zighy Bay paraglide from the mountains down into the beach resort, one of Oman's original and best for both adults and children, with a teens' club that takes them canyoning, wadi swimming, raft building and abseiling. Original Travel does a ten-dark gamble from £3,560pp, including flights.
All-time for: Adventurers anile xi+
Borgo Egnazia, Puglia, Italy
A magnificent kid-friendly masseria that doesn't compromise on style while having a drop-in kids' club, fun cooking school and a family unit pool that'southward still blissfully heated in October.
Website:borgoegnazia.com Nearest airport: Brindisi Toll: Casettas from approx £5,878 per week (2 adults, i child) Book now
Read our review ofBorgo Egnazia, Puglia
Find theall-time family hotels in Italia and Sicily
&Beyond Kichwa Tembo, Kenya
Grab the cease of the annual wildebeest migration at this tented camp in the Masai Mara where days whizz by with game drives, hot-air ballooning and the joy of new bush skills.
Website: andbeyond.com Nearest airport: Nairobi, then a 1-hour flying to the individual airstrip Price: Superior Family Tents available from approx. £one,704 per tent per night Volume now
Read why this is the almostfamily-friendly camp in Republic of kenya
Anassa, Cyprus
Ana Lui
The Ritz Carlton, Abama, Tenerife
A cracking close-to-home hotspot with fix-to-go kit for tiny tots, a buttery sand beach and acres of space for teens to let off steam.
Website: ritzcarlton.com Nearest airport: Tenerife South/Reina Sofia Price: Deluxe invitee room available from approx £326/night (3 guests) Book at present
The Ritz Carlton, Abama is included in our guide to Tenerife'due south best bits
Rupert Peace
One & Simply Palmilla, Los Cabos, Mexico
Villa Lena, Tuscany, Italy
Drawing workshops, yoga sessions, alfresco moving-picture show screenings, cooking workshops and a spooky Halloween bash are all slated for October half-term at this relaxed family-friendly artists' retreat in the Tuscan hills.
Website: villa-lena.information technology Nearest airport: Pisa Cost: Apartments available from approx. £2,134/night (2 adults, i child) Volume now
These are the all-time family hotels in Italian republic and Sicily
One&Only The Palm, Dubai
The all-singing, all-dancing Royal Mirage is more frequently touted every bit the one for families, but staying here – smaller, quieter – is a clever side-stride. The soundtrack here is of birdsong and tree frogs on this man-made peninsula that juts out into the Arabian bounding main.
Website: oneandonlyresorts.com **Nearest drome:**Dubai Cost: Premire Male monarch rooms from £five,556/week (2 adults, 1 child) Volume now
Read why information technology's ane of the 10 best family hotels in the world
Verdura, Sicily
Jake'due south, Jamaica
This cool, lo-fi beach hotel with laidback reggae vibes is a dreamy introduction to Jamaica, peculiarly in October when the mild temperatures are more bearable for little ones.
Website:jakeshotel.com **Nearest airport:**Montego Bay **Price:**From approx £141 for a two-bedroom family cottage/dark Volume now
Jake's is one of our nine all-time family hotels in the globe
Beall & Thomas photography
Blackberry Farm, Tennessee, USA
From horse-riding through gorgeous autumnal countryside to huddling effectually a crackling bonfire at night, an October half-term farm stay in the Corking Smoky Mountains is a thrill for all ages.
Website: blackberryfarm.com Nearest drome: Knoxville **Price:**Houses bachelor from approx. £two,335/night (three bedrooms) Book now
Read our full review of Blackberry Subcontract, Tennessee
La Mamounia, Marrakech
Nicholas Sargent
Agua Bar at Ane & Only Palmilla, Los Cabos, Mexico
Rupert Peace
One & Merely Palmilla, Los Cabos, United mexican states
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