What makes for a great holiday with small kids?

The view from our veranda

We just came back from a week in divine Shoal Bay. It was our third time there and it has become a January holiday tradition for our family. It is slow and easy and all about old fashioned things like fish and chips on the beach.

While we were away I was thinking about what makes a great holiday with small kids. After all you're basically just doing the same things in a different location!

So, to make sure I get a holiday too, here's my must have holiday list ...

- It must be no more than 2.5 hours from home.
- It must be on the water.
- It must be a small place. I don't want to go somewhere that is crazy busy and a small location naturally caps the number of people who can be there at any one time.
- I want to be able to walk to most things. Putting my kids in and out of the car is not my idea of a good time so I want most places to be close enough to walk to. Plus somehow having everything close makes your holiday feel longer!
- The place that we stay has to have a nice view - we are still in the day sleep stage and so we spend a reasonable amount of the middle of the day stuck inside. I want a view that screams 'you're on holiday'.
- I want to eat food that I haven't cooked so there needs to be a selection of takeaway options ... all within walking distance.
- It has to have a good pool.
- All linen needs to be provided. Doing 15 loads of washing when you get home tarnishes that holiday glow pretty quickly!
- It needs to have a kitchen in the apartment and a grocery shop within walking distance.
- Ideally there will be a park with a BBQ nearby (not even I want to eat takeaway every night). In the case of Shoal Bay there are BBQs on the grass next to the bay ... divine!

I sound like a complete fuss pot, I know. And we do go on lots and lots of mini holidays that don't have all that stuff. But for our 'summer holiday' I want to go somewhere that gives all of us a holiday, including me.

In case you look for the same things that we do, I'd highly recommend Shoal Bay Resort and Spa. And no this blog post wasn't sponsored ... I WISH!  

What do you look for in a family holiday?