Here's our guide to help with what's hot for family fun in the sun. All prices are for one week at the end of July for a family of four with children under 12 and include air travel unless otherwise stated.
1. Try package holidays where even the ice cream comes free...
Harry Potter mania has prompted Thomson (0870 550 2555) to add a magical mystery activity to its kids' clubs for six- to eight-year-olds, which have been overhauled as part of a £4 million revamp of family holidays this year, with new activities ranging from a pop stars section to a dinosaur hunt. A self-catering apartment in Majorca costs £609 per adult, £139 for the first child and £179 for the second.
First Choice (0870 750 0001) is introducing swimming lessons for children at its resorts at a cost of £17 per 30-minute group lesson. It has a week's self-catering holiday for families in Gran Canaria for £1,199.
Although package operators have free places for children and two kids travelling for £1, such deals are few and far between in the peak season. However, Airtours (0870 608 1940) is testing the market this year with its first inclusive family product in Lanzarote in which even ice creams are included in the price. It also includes free and reduced child places. A family stay costs £1,775.25, including one free child place and a reduced second child place.
In recognition of an increasingly sophisticated family market, Airtours has also grouped together its more upmarket family centres under the new Super Family First label.
2. Asked to pay one-parent supplements? Forget it
Some mainstream package operators are homing in on the greater number of single-parent families by charging one adult travelling with children on exactly that basis, rather than the traditional method of counting the first child as an adult. A spokeswoman from Thomson Skytours (08705 133500) said: 'One of the major groans from single-parent families is that they are penalised on price. We work it so they can get the best deal.'
The operator, which this year is introducing ice-breaker evenings for single parents, has a week's self-catering in Ibiza for one adult at £534 and one child at £189. One Parent Family Holidays (01465 821 288) a non-profit organisation that aims to provide fair prices for single-parent families, says it has discounts of up to 76 per cent off the adult price for bookings to St Jean de Luz in the south of France, with a week for an adult and two children at £756, travelling by train.
3. Going camping with teenagers need not be a chore
New activity clubs for teenagers have been added to some camping specialists' holidays this summer in recognition of a growing number of families staying in tents or mobile homes with teenagers.
A spokeswoman for Eurocamp (0870 366 7552) said: 'People have wider age gaps among their children - they may have a second family and come with both teenagers and toddlers.'
Both Eurocamp and Keycamp Holidays (0870 700 0750) have added a 'cool' club for teenagers with more informal social activities and sports, as well as splitting up their free kids' clubs into three different age groups. A week under canvas in Brittany with Eurocamp costs £711, including ferry crossing. Keycamp has a week in Spain staying in a mobile home for £1,011, including ferry crossing, and can also offer fly-drive deals.
4. Sip a Chardonnay in the sun while someone else looks after the kids
Perhaps the ultimate childcare luxury - having your own nanny on holiday with you - is no longer confined to those with a full-time Mary Poppins. More and more villa operators are providing nannies for families who want the flexibility and privacy that come with their own property but crave the benefits associated with children's clubs at hotels.
Simply Portugal (020 8541 2207) provides a British-registered nanny for £130 for five half-days or £250 for five full days at properties on the Algarve. The nanny brings her own box of toys and prepares the children's meals. One week in a villa at Monchique including pool and car hire costs £590 per person, adults and children.
Scott Dunn Villas (020 8682 5040) has even incorporated the price of eight hours' daily childcare with qualified English-speaking nannies into the holiday cost, with a two-bed villa in Andalucia, Spain, costing £1,545 per adult and £400 per child. The nanny isn't the only accessory; all villas come with pools, six-day maid service, a housekeeper and cook.
If you fancy help on the flight out as well, Meon Villas (01730 268411) can find a nanny from a British agency to go on holiday with you. It will cost you £90-£188 on top of the fee to be paid to the nanny. A villa in Majorca, plus car hire for four, costs £654 per person, with £20 off for children aged between two and 15.
5. Take a cruise where the childcare is included
As the average age of cruise passengers falls dramatically, with the traditional blue-rinse brigade no longer so dominant, more and more cruise companies are targeting families and offering facilities for them.
Island Cruises (0870 750 0414) is a new joint venture between the mainstream operator First Choice and Royal Caribbean International. Aimed at holidaymakers who normally book a three- or four-star hotel with child-care facilities, the company says it has taken the regimented lifestyle out of cruising with a relaxed dress code and ad lib dining. Child prices are low too, with a one-week Mediterranean cruise from Majorca costing £199 for the first child and £249 the second child, sharing their parent's cabin. Adults pay £809 each.
Royal Caribbean (0800 018 2020), says that last year it carried 160,000 children on its ships, where the average passenger age is just 37. The cruise line has a full-size ice rink, rock-climbing wall and a whole deck for its kids' clubs on its largest ship, Explorer of the Seas. It costs £3,406 for a family of four on a Caribbean cruise departing from Miami, with tips included.
6. Adventure activities in the sun will shut them up
Sun and sand are often not enough. Many people want adventure travel and in particular activities the whole family can enjoy that don't necessarily involve roughing it. Katrina Fox, marketing coordinator for Travelbag (01420 593001) said: 'The growing trend of travel is towards more adventure and people are starting to take their kids too.' In its first family-only brochure this year, Travelbag Adventures has a trip to Seville in which adults and children can enjoy a range of activities including mountain biking, kayaking, whale-watching and walking for £759 per adult and £692 per child. Each trip is graded for age compatibility and most are in groups of 16-20 people.
Manor Adventure (01584 861333) has accommodation in a three-star hotel with family activities ranging from raft building to archery. There are also film-making facilities and French courses for children. A week's full board, including the ferry crossing and activities, costs £539 per adult and £289-£390 per child, depending on their age.
Club Med (0700 2582 633), which includes sports in its all-inclusive price, continues to offer circus schools in its villages, where children aged over four can learn to monocycle, become a trapeze artist and play the clown. Prices in Turkey cost £3,062 per family and even include holiday insurance.
7. Got a houseful of budding Beckhams? Send them to soccer school
The inspiration of David Beckham and other young footballers has prompted some operators to offer professional football coaching for kids on holiday. Haven Europe (0870 242 7777), which has self-drive family holidays to France, Spain and Italy, is introducing a week's football coaching with a Football Association-affiliated organisation. It costs £25 for five two-hour sessions for children aged five to 16 staying at its eight parks across France. One-week's self-catering in a mobile home for a family of four, including ferry crossing in a car costs £868.
Children up to 15 can learn the tricks of the trade from the Manchester United and England player Gary Neville at his soccer school in Malta with Belleair Holidays (020 8785 3266). Holidays are only available in the last two weeks of June, with one week's B&B at a four-star hotel for £471 per adult and £536 per child sharing their own room. The price includes five days at the soccer school, where sessions last three hours.
8. Take a cheap trip to Florida or have a quality Caribbean holiday
If you've ever wanted to take your kids on holiday to Florida - perhaps for a touch of Disney magic - this is probably the summer to do it, with operators reporting price cuts in the wake of 11 September. However, capacity has been cut, so it's important to book early. Airtours has one week in Kissimmee for a family for £1,716.50, with children sharing the adults' room.
The Caribbean also becomes more affordable in the off-peak summer season. The managing director of Caribtours, Catherine Leech, says that there has been a major increase in bookings by families in the region because of the low-season prices in high-quality hotels.
Many luxury properties that do not recom mend visits with children in the main season, such as Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands, are now turning to the family market in the summer months.
Add-on weeks with yacht chartering are also attracting families, particularly as many yachts come with 'toys' such as lilos or waterskiing. Caribtours (020 7751 0660) has one week's room only in Tobago for £3,358, with children sharing their parents' room; one week on Peter Island full board in a two-bedroom villa and four nights' yacht charter, all for £12,536.
The Caribbean Tourism Organisation (020 7222 4335) has a special brochure on family holidays in the Caribbean, detailing safe beaches and children's facilities.
9. Stay in a posh hotel where they love kids
Posh tour operators who once steered clear of the bucket-and-spade brigade are catching on to the trend for family getaways. Spurred on by the greater number of double-income professional families and their higher expectations as holiday time becomes ever more precious, the operators have launched a new crop of upmarket kiddie breaks.
Abercrombie & Kent (0845 0700 610) has branched out from its traditional safari roots with its first family holiday brochure for 2002, listing upmarket hotels around the Mediterranean picked for their child facilities but also with adult activities ranging from spas to golf. One week's B&B at the luxury Reid's Palace in Madeira, which has a creche, babysitting facilities, windsurfing for children and a complimentary children's club, costs £1,250 per adult and £250 per child sharing the adults' room, or £690 sharing their own room.
Powder Byrne (020 8246 5300) runs its own children's clubs offering a variety of activities at selected hotels, with a ratio of one staff member to three children for infants, and one in seven for older children. A week in Elba costs £1,353 per person, adults and children, though one child aged between four and eight can share the parent's room for £695. Children's clubs range in price depending on age and the time of year from free to £200.
