Our Story - The Active, Adventure & Luxury Family Holiday Experts
We founded Take the Family because we believe a family holiday is your opportunity to do something extraordinary together away from the demands of daily life. Since 2004 we’ve inspired families to enjoy a week or two of active fun, a once-in-a-lifetime adventure or some well-earned luxury – or to mix up the activity and adventure with a spot of unadulterated relaxation and indulgence.
"We explored the Garden Route in South Africa when the children were four and six. From safari to zip-lining to sleeping in treehouses, there were new adventures every day. More recently we joined a small-group adventure trip in Vietnam – what a wonderful country to explore as a family!" – Prue Traynor, editor and family travel advisor
Why book your family holidays through Take the Family?
For our incredible expertise: Our highly experienced team of travel advisors are avid travellers and parents. Between us, we’ve visited a vast number of the places and resorts we highly recommend.
Because we have a fantastic reputation: We’ve built an incredible 4.9/5 Trustpilot score by finding the best possible trip to match your family’s unique needs. And as well as being highly reliable, we are known for being super-friendly, committed professionals you’d happily invite over for a coffee.
To save time: Finding the right holiday at the right price is notoriously time-consuming. We take all that hard work away from you by finding the best possible match for your wishes and needs. And then we also take care of all the admin, to save you time and stress.
For the best value: We always strive to secure you the best prices and give you the benefit of our insider access to fabulous and exclusive deals.
For security: In the unlikely event that a travel provider stops trading, our ABTA bonding means your money is safe.
Active Family Holidays – for families wanting more than a sun-lounger
Our active family holidays let you strike the right balance between relaxing and being energetic in all kinds of ways. We’ll find you the best resorts in the Med for sailing and windsurfing, on the Atlantic for surfing, and in the Alps for skiing or hiking, for example. Or if you want tennis, padel, horse-riding, cycling or golf, we’ve got those covered too.
We know and will compare and price-match the best resorts, advise your family on how to get the most from an active break, and take away all the hassle when it comes to holiday prep and admin.
Adventure Family Holidays - for families keen to truly explore
From visiting elephant sanctuaries in Thailand to trekking to Machu Picchu in Peru, to visiting the ancient city of Petra in Jordan to helping out on an environmental project or an African safari of a lifetime, there is literally a world of possibilities when it comes to family adventure trips. Whether you want culture, history, wildlife or geological wonders, or a mixture of some or all of these, we can tailor-make the perfect trip.
You’ll want to decide, with our help, whether a small group-tour or an intimate family trip appeals more. Small-group adventures can be more cost-effective and bring the benefit of sharing your discoveries with other parents and kids and making new friends. But we recognise they aren’t ideal for all families and we cater for solo-family requirements equally happily. Whichever option you choose, we’ll be with you on every step of the journey, from planning to the actual trip, taking care of every last detail.
Luxury Family Holidays – for families wanting to indulge
Our luxury holidays combine spectacular destinations, near and far, outstanding service and the highest level of attention to detail to make your trip with kids as effortless as possible. We’ll hand-pick the right five-star resort or villa within a resort. We’ll find out how important a superb kids' club or other requirements such as flight duration and time difference are to your family and match accordingly. We’ll also, of course, make sure you’re getting the best possible value.
We’ve been delighting families with luxury holidays since 2004, with feedback from parents testifying to the fact that we’ve curated some of the very best family holidays in the world.
Why Advertise with Take the Family?
We allow a select number of hand-picked companies to advertise on our site if we feel they can truly meet the needs of our discerning UK-based clients. To learn more, visit our advertising section.
Meet the Team
Andy Cook, Director
Andy has lived, worked and travelled across the globe. He has extensive travel industry experience and also helps companies across industries realise their potential. In 2002, he was unable to find inspiring ideas for family holidays in one place on the web, and less than a year later, Take the Family was born. Andy has three sons who still can’t wait for their next adventure.
Best Ever Family Trip: Venice, Rome and the Naples area by train
Favourite Destination: Northern California
Top of Bucket List: Whistler
Hottest Travel Tip: Get kids excited about other cultures by showing a strong interest of your own in your destination.
Rhonda Carrier, Travel Writer & Editor
Rhonda writes for an array of prestigious national and global media, including The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times, National Geographic Traveller and Condé Nast Traveller, and she has also edited and/or written for every major British guidebook publisher. Based in Manchester, she travels frequently with her three sons.
Best Ever Family Trip: Iceland, for the in-your-face natural wonders
Favourite Destination(s): So hard to choose, but I have a big thing about Scandinavia
Top of Bucket List: Japan
Hottest Travel Tip: Let the kids have as much gadget or screen time as they want while you’re en route – by the time you get there, they’ll have it out of their system and be happy to go without for a while.
Tracey Burke, Family Travel Advisor & Account Manager
Based in Lincolnshire, Tracey has worked in the travel industry for nearly 30 years. She spent a lot of time in the Caribbean contracting hotels and also many years managing a reservations team specialising in selling Caribbean holidays, so she has a vast knowledge of most Caribbean destinations. She also spent 10 years as a regional sales manager working for a Croatia/Bulgaria specialist for summer and ski.
Best Ever Family Trip: Exploring the fantastic resorts and islands of Croatia
Favourite Destination: Barbados
Top of Bucket List: A South Africa safari
Hottest Travel Tip: Get everyone a UV rash/vest or long-sleeved swimsuit so you don't need to spend so much time applying sunscreen.
Prue Traynor, Family Travel Advisor & Editor
Prue has worked in the travel industry for nearly 30 years, explored countries all around the globe and travelled regularly with her children since they were tiny. Now based in the Malvern Hills, she used to live and work in the Alps and has a great love of skiing and activity holidays, which her children now share.
Best Ever Family Trip: It's so hard to choose, but South Africa or Vietnam
Favourite Destination(s): Austria and New Zealand - beautiful destinations with loads to do
Top of Bucket List: the Galapagos Islands
Hottest Travel Tip: Choose accommodation with separate sleeping areas. Sharing a room may seem like an okay idea when you book, but in reality, it may result in lost sleep all around and really affect your holiday.
Rebecca Howes, Family Travel Advisor
Rebecca's love of travel began as a child, with regular visits to Walt Disney World and holidays around the world: to New Zealand, New York, Cuba and more. On leaving school, she did a two-year travel and tourism apprenticeship and has never looked back. She now has 10 years' experience in the travel industry and loves everything from small-group adventures around the world to luxurious all-inclusive holidays. Having travelled widely, she is now is enjoying introducing her young daughter to the joys of family holidays, and has lots of plans in the pipeline to show her the world.
Best Ever Family Trip: Lapland - the most amazing, magical experience
Favourite Destination(s): Maldives for the 'wow' factor and Bali for adventure
Top of Bucket List: Beaches Turks & Caicos
Hottest Travel Tip: Use labelled packing cubes for all of your children's things. These keep their case super-organised and are great when you need to find something quickly.
Sam Cartmell, Director
Following four years in journalism, Sam moved to Hong Kong, where he became an advertising copywriter and helped relaunch Cathay Pacific Airways worldwide. Back in England and a dad to three girls, he is now Executive Creative Director at the Ogilvy advertising agency.
Best Ever Family Trip: Northern California and Kenya
Favourite Destination(s): San Francisco
Top of Bucket List: New Zealand