May 2, 2009

May half term

Make a night of it at the Alton Towers Resort (www.alton towers.com), home to the Alton Towers Waterpark. Rooms for four at the Splash Landings Hotel cost £99 a night, with breakfast. Theme park and water park entry is £29 for adults, £22 for children. Visit a different theme park every day, including Thorpe Park and Legoland, with the Merlin Annual Pass (www.merlinannualpass.co.uk), £480 for a family of five.

Summer holidays

Learn to kitesurf in the waters off Zanzibar. Conditions are ideal over summer, with wind speeds reaching 30km/h and water temperatures around 26C. Seven nights’ B&B at Bellevue Guest House costs from £200pp with Farside Africa (0131 315 2464, www.farsideafrica.com), which can also arrange flights from about £600. Instruction costs £82 for three hours for adults and children over 10.

October half term

Tiger trek in the Pench National Park in India, where Rudyard Kipling spent much of his youth and was inspired to write many of his Just So stories. Wildlife Worldwide (0845 1306982, www.wildlifeworldwide.com) has a nine-day trip for all ages, which includes Kanha Tiger Reserve, home to sloth bears and leopards. It costs from £1,925pp, including flights, most meals and guided activities.

Christmas

Visits to Santa and sledging in Lapland are part of a three-night holiday in the Snowy Wilderness Lodge with First Choice (0871 6649011, www.firstchoice.co.uk). Also on offer are husky dog sleighing, snowmobile trips and reindeer safaris. Leave from Gatwick on December 20.

The trip costs from £875 per adult, £574 per child full board, based on a family of four sharing.