One base, no transfers: ten nights at a family hotel on the calm west coast near Holetown, with turtles off the beach, a catamaran day, Harrison's Cave and the wild Atlantic side at Bathsheba. A direct flight from London.
Open any day for the detail. Everything here can move: add a night, swap a hotel, change the order.
A direct daytime flight from Gatwick lands in the afternoon, so children arrive tired but not wrecked. A driver takes you across the island to the west coast for a first swim before dinner.
The Caribbean side is calm, so small children can paddle safely. Let them try the kids club, learn to paddleboard, and go looking for turtles with a mask and snorkel just off the beach.
Sail down the coast to Carlisle Bay to snorkel over shipwrecks and swim with turtles, with lunch on board and a rope swing off the back.
Ride the tram through the limestone chambers of Harrison's Cave, then drive over to Bathsheba on the Atlantic coast, where the surf breaks around mushroom-shaped rocks. Lunch at a rum shack on the way back.
Go to the Oistins fish fry on a Friday night for grilled fish and music, and spend the rest of the time on the beach. Holetown has enough cafes for a change from the hotel.
A private transfer to the airport for the overnight direct flight home to London Gatwick.
Book two interconnecting rooms instead of a family suite, which gives parents their own bathroom and a door to close.
Upgrade the flights to premium economy for more legroom on the long daytime flight out.
Planned for December to April, when Barbados is at its best. Outside those months it still works, with different trade-offs; ask us.
When to go to BarbadosTell us your dates and who is travelling, and your specialist will send a tailored version of this route.
Three nights in Athens for the Acropolis and the museums, then a drive west via the Corinth Canal to seven nights on the Messinia coast, where a kids club, an aqua park and ancient Olympia keep every age busy.
Two nights in central Athens below the Acropolis, four on the caldera cliff at Oia, and three at Megali Ammos, close enough to walk into Mykonos town for dinner. Island hops by ferry, with a Delos day included.
Ten nights for active families: hot springs and hanging bridges below Arenal Volcano, night walks and ziplines in the Monteverde cloud forest, then four nights on a Pacific beach in Guanacaste with a private driver between each stop.
