Where should we take our young child for their first holiday?

Simon Calder answers questions on family vacations, New Zealand and trains to the south of France

The Dorest coast is a particular favourite of Simon Calder (Getty)

Q My partner and I are looking to take our son on his first holiday this summer – probably in June, by which time he will be nine months old. Can you recommend a warm holiday destination that isn’t too far to fly and inexpensive?

Kirsty B

A Congratulations on your relatively new arrival, and how lovely to be planning a first trip. For anyone who is not constrained to school holidays, June is an excellent month to travel. In term time, you can expect sunny skies in many parts of Europe, relatively quiet resorts and lower prices.

My first question, though: are you really keen to go abroad? Your son will neither know nor care where he is. If you are going overseas, you will of course have to procure a passport for him, adding to the cost and hassle. Southern England has plenty of (usually) warm and sunny locations, with the Dorset coast a particular favourite.

If you are determined to leave the country, I am first going to suggest an alternative to the airport. When my daughters were very young, ferries provided an excellent alternative. If you have a car, you can pack in all the essentials for an infant and head for one of the ports – of which my favourite is Newhaven, departure point for Dieppe. You can find family-run hotels on the French coast that will be ideal for a first trip abroad.

For sunnier climes, I would venture no further south than northern Spain in order to avoid overheating the young ’un. San Sebastian, easily accessible from either Biarritz or Bilbao airport, is an excellent first resort. The shell-shaped bay is protected against the Atlantic and is wide, sandy and shallow. You can choose from plenty of good hotels and are guaranteed to dine extremely well. Take it from me: make the most of travel while children are basically very delicate cabin baggage – when your son starts having opinions, holidays will be much trickier.

Oriental Bay in a suburb of Wellington – capital of New Zealand (Getty)

Q Next December we are travelling from our home in London to Wellington in New Zealand, then to Melbourne and onwards to Perth. Might it be worth going around the world westbound? I normally book my Australia flights direct with the airline, but for this kind of trip should I use a travel agent?

John R

A Were you to be travelling Perth-Melbourne-Wellington, circumnavigating the globe eastbound would make good sense. The total travel time around the world is typically five hours less than going west due to the west-to-east jet stream. Going west is worthwhile if you want a bonus North American stopover: New York, Los Angeles or Vancouver are the obvious options, since they have non-stop flights to Auckland – itself a short flight or an all-day train ride from the New Zealand capital, Wellington.

You might also want to consider a South Pacific pause in Tahiti or Fiji (I strongly favour the latter). One more factor: United Airlines often sells UK-Australasia flights via the US at very attractive fares in order to fill some seats, and that may appeal. Otherwise, the obvious route to Wellington is via a Gulf or Asian airport to Brisbane and then the 3 hours 30 minutes hop across the Tasman Sea to the NZ capital. This is a more direct route than the other east coast hubs, Sydney and Melbourne, with a slightly smaller impact on you and the planet.

For the Australian component, there are plenty of flights from Wellington to Melbourne and onwards to Perth, from where you can choose either the Qantas non-stop to London Heathrow or a cheaper one-stop option via an Asian or Gulf hub. A complex itinerary needs a good travel agent to find the optimum solution. They know which airline combinations will offer the best value and offer additional stopover possibilities. In your position I would ask Traifinders and Travel Nation to quote, then choose between these experts.

Whichever routing you choose, the total fare will be heavily affected by timing. Fares soar in the second half of December and the first week of January. If you can swerve the most extreme pressure, reckon on £2,500 each in economy for a basic trip on decent airlines; aspects such as that handy non-stop from Perth to London could add considerably to the final bill.

Eurostar said their focus for the near future is on the ‘European market’ (PA)

Q Will direct trains from London to Avignon and Marseille ever return?

John P

A Your question took me back to the heady days of 2019, when Eurostar regularly served southern France from London St Pancras International to Lyon as well as Avignon and Marseille. The journey from the Thames to the Mediterranean took around six hours (but annoyingly longer on the way back due to the need for a security and passport check at Lille before the Channel Tunnel transit). Fares fell as low as £45 to Lyon and £49 to Avignon and Marseille.

Once Covid hit and Eurostar’s finances were traumatised, the prospect of direct trains to the south of France was put on ice. The next unfortunate step was when the Brexit agreement took effect, making it mandatory for British travellers to have their passports closely examined and stamped at St Pancras. Today there is insufficient room for the task even for the basic service to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, let alone additional “non-core” trains. That is why Disneyland Paris was abandoned as a destination last year.

In addition, Eurostar has merged with the Continental high-speed rail organisation, Thalys, and is focusing its attention on expanding connecting services – for example from London via Brussels to Cologne. I asked Eurostar for a response to your question and was told: “We remain completely committed to growing our business and to providing more high-speed rail offerings for UK travellers to reach mainland Europe. Our focus right now is the new Eurostar since our union with Thalys in October 2023, and providing customers access to one combined, sustainable, high-speed network across our markets in Europe.”

The company added: “For connections down to the south of France, a simple change is required in Lille or Paris.” Having made the connection from Paris Gare de Nord (where Eurostar arrives from London) to Paris Gare de Lyon (from where French TGVs depart for the south), “simple” is not how I would describe the change. Better to transfer in Lille, though it is not a pleasant station in which to hang around.

Incidentally, the firm is launching a “Eurostar Sun” service from Amsterdam and Brussels to Provence this summer, but firmly within the European Union. There is no benefit to changing in Brussels – it will be slower and more expensive than the Lille option.

Email your question to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder