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Family Luxury Travel

Island holidays that work for families: kids' clubs, family villas, safe swimming and transfers that don't wear children out.

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How to plan a family luxury island trip

With children, the journey and the calendar decide more than the resort does. The right island is the one your youngest can reach without a meltdown, during the school holiday you are actually able to take, with enough to do once the novelty of the pool wears off. Settle those three things and the hotel shortlist becomes much shorter.

Choosing the island by age and holiday

  • Toddlers and young children: the shortest door-to-door option wins. From North America that is often Turks and Caicos; from Europe, a Maldives resort reached by speedboat avoids a seaplane connection and a MalĂ© hotel night.
  • School-age children: Mauritius gives you day trips, varied beaches and a calmer side of the island to choose from, which keeps a ten-night stay lively.
  • Teenagers: look for islands with independence built in, such as watersports, a town to walk to or a second island to visit, not just a lagoon.

What to check before booking

  • Weather in school holidays: July and August fall in the Maldives' wetter monsoon, while Mauritius is cool and dry then; in the Caribbean, the hurricane risk peaks from August to October.
  • Who counts as an adult: many resorts price children over 12 as adults, which can double the bill for a family with teenagers.
  • Compulsory extras: seaplane or helicopter fares and mandatory meal plans are charged per person, children included.
  • Trip length: six or seven nights usually justifies a long-haul flight with children; four or five works only on a short-haul island.
  • Somewhere to go: a mainland island with pharmacies, shops and restaurants is easier to run than a remote one where every need goes through the resort.

Budget signals

The site's two-adult budgets are a starting point: from around US$5,000 to US$10,000 for a week in Mauritius and from around US$16,000 for a comfortable Maldives week, before flights. Add children's transfer fares and meal plans on top. A two-bedroom villa, so that everyone sleeps behind a door, can cost several times an entry room, and that choice moves the total as much as the island does. We'd price two islands side by side before committing to either.

Where to start