Without wishing to dampen your spirits I must point out that a family hiking holiday is one vacation that really does require a lot of preparation and consideration in advance.
You will need to think about where to go, when to go and whether that destination is suitable for the whole family? Are you intending to move somewhere else each day and walk to the next overnight or will you choose a base and make day hikes from there, returning again at the end of a days walking? Will you need to carry all your belongings or is there an outdoors pursuits company you can book with who will have your bags moved on by road to the next stopping place?

If you intend to stop overnight in hostels or campsites or guests houses, are the distances you will need to walk each day realistic for everyone in your party?
And are the places you intend to spend the night suitable for the whole family too? Will you prepare your own food or do you want to spend the night somewhere with a bar or restaurant? All this can be looked at in advance.

Did you have hiking holidays before you had your children? You'll find it different now. Before there was only yourself to think of and maybe you weren't so cautious. With kids in tow it would be a good idea to go through a basic first aid course before you go. Sounds alarmist but it might just come in useful. In the good old days you could march all day and still spend the evening drinking with fellow hostellers but now you have the kids to think of. You may just want to put your feet up but children will also need some kind of activities to focus on outside of walking time.

Your children will also want activities to engage them while you walk too; try to plan these in advance by doing a little research on the some of the wildlife or historic sights you might see where you are going. That way, when boredom or fatigue start to set in you may be able to distract them long enough to get to the end of the days walk.

Try, also, to loosely timetable in some "treats" in case the childrens' enthusiasm starts to flag. Planning a route in advance will no doubt flag up some interesting and fun diversions that the kid can be "bribed" with and should see them finish the walk with less moaning.

In essence, the key is planning and research; do you homework and it will reap rewards.

Learn more about this author, Fiona Thompson.
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