Life’s short, get out, cut loose, and make a big holiday splash this year with your family

The past few years have been anything but normal. Plans were put on ice and bucket list-style holidays were put on hold while time marched on. And all the while families with children saw their kids grow up.

Life is short, so why not surprise them with the trip of a lifetime, snap special memories and share new and exciting experiences.

“A lot of parents come to the realisation too late that your kids won’t always be travelling with you, and these kinds of adventure and cultural holidays are the ones you will talk about forever,” says Oroko Travel managing director Brendan Breen.

The world is at your fingertips, especially if you let luxury expert Oroko Travel prescribe an itinerary tailored to your needs. Its travel specialists can arrange child-friendly tours that will thrill but also educate. How about an ancient Greek symposium sculpture class in Athens, the chance to snorkel with sea turtles in the Maldives or experience a sunrise safari in Tanzania.

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Greek island odyssey

Home to turquoise waters, idyllic coves and picture-perfect fishing villages, the Saronic Islands present the perfect route for a luxury yachting holiday, and they offer great value too. Why not spend a few nights aboard a private luxury yacht in the company of an English-speaking skipper and host. Set sail from Athens to the Saronic Islands, stopping off at a different destination each night. With calm sheltered waters, Breen recommends it as the perfect destination for a maiden voyage, the family’s first sailing holiday. After a week onboard, Oroko Travel can tailor the rest of the holiday so that you can mix it up with a few days seeing the sights in Athens or soaking up the sun in a luxe resort on the Peloponnese coast.

A land of contrasts and the rising sun

Journey east to the land of the rising sun for a truly exotic mix of culinary, pop culture and city life. Take in the scale of Tokyo and its legendary fish market, where tuna sometimes sells for more than gold; travel by bullet train to Hakone to cruise the waters surrounding Mount Fuji and stay in a traditional ryokan, offering private onsen and nine-course kaiseki experiences.

While Japan is home to samurai and geisha traditions, kids of any age will love the fact that they’re travelling to the land of Manga and Anime. It could earn you the coolest parent of the year award. A difficult destination to navigate, bespoke Oroko itineraries include a welcome orientation meeting, luggage-forwarding services, reserved bullet train seats and private English-speaking guides. Plenty of recommendations for dining and days at leisure are also available on your bespoke app profile, Breen says. “We also provide a wifi dongle, so families have connectivity for the entire time they are there.”

South Africa

From touring its Winelands to witnessing the Big Five on safari in Kruger National Park, one of Africa’s largest game reserves, the Rainbow Nation makes for an iconic holiday destination, with activities to delight all ages. Breen sees it suiting two distinct types of families. Those with older children or teens, spending three or four nights in Kruger National Park to really make the most of it. For those with younger children, he suggests combining the suburban seaside resort of Camps Bay with a safari experience at nearby Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, in the Little Karoo, an easy drive to the Western Cape where there are lions, elephants and antelope.

Drink in a new day in the twin destinations of Tanzania and Zanzibar

A holiday to Tanzania feels like stepping into a nature documentary; it’s hard to even read the word Serengeti without hearing it delivered in David Attenborough’s voice.

Older kids will never forget staying atop the Ngorongoro Crater where you can watch the animals roam the plain below. At dawn the next morning you’ll be riding out to get close to lion, buffalo, rhino, elephant and leopard – if you’re lucky.

To pack in as much as possible, Breen recommends combining a Tanzania safari with the island of Zanzibar, where you can visit the ancient spice trade hub of Stone Town, skim the waves of the Indian Ocean in a traditional dhow boat and swim with dolphins.

Southern spice of life

Experiencing Kerala, the crown jewel of South India, with Oroko Travel is a comfortable way to introduce your family to its ancient culture and spirituality. Oroko offers luxury partner accommodation, English-speaking private guides, private transfers and tailored experiences such as houseboat cruises and spice farm tours.

“India is like 14 different countries; in Kerala the food is incredible and the sense of hospitality is memorable,” Breen says, fondly recalling his own family trip. The birthplace of Ayurveda also offers a chance to bring Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book to life by travelling inland to wildlife parks and sanctuaries to see elephants, langur monkeys and tigers.

Maldives

This equatorial island nation is the epitome of postcard-perfect paradise, with the softest white sands, coral reefs and clear shallow waters, where you can swim with sea turtles and watch manta rays sweep under your water bungalow through the glass panels in the floor.

There’s a chance for parents to take romantic beach strolls while the excellent kids club facilities at Oroko partner resorts take care of entertaining the young ones. In the evening, gather together to enjoy a cinema under the stars. For the ultimate in luxury, each villa at Niyama Private Islands resort has a personal butler who can arrange all manner of activities.

“What I did personally, and do for a lot of clients, is combine a trip to Kerala, India, with the Maldives,” says Breen. “It’s very accessible from there.”

Whet your appetite for adventure in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is an ecological paradise for nature lovers and, at less than two-thirds the size of Ireland, it’s small enough to fit in a variety of experiences without having to travel great distances. “With beaches, rainforests and volcanoes, you can have three very different experiences in one trip,” says Breen. As well as being the birthplace of eco-tourism and responsible travel, it offers plenty to whet the appetite for adventure; think ziplining, canopy walkways, white water rafting and incredible wildlife watching – from turtles laying their eggs on the beaches to cruising the canals of Parque Nacional Tortuguero and watching for monkeys, sloths and caimans.

To start planning your luxury family adventure, talk to the specialists at Oroko Travel on 01 2600 240 or visit orokotravel.ie