Sue and Noel Radford are a couple who hail from the town of Morecambe on the Lancashire coast.
Sue and Noel run Radford’s Pie Company and share a home with their family in the town famous for being the birthplace of a number of household names – including comedian Eric Morecambe and the late actress Dame Thora Hird.
Nothing unusual in that you might think, until you take into account that they have – at the time of writing – no fewer than 20 children, with a 21st on the way. And that’s before you take into account three grandchildren as well.
Despite that, the family still manages to spend time away from home on holiday, which goes to show that you shouldn’t be concerned about whether or not you can enjoy a break in the sun just because you have a family larger than the norm.
Let’s be honest. If a family the size of the Radfords can manage to take a trip overseas, then anyone can…
Of course there will be few – if any – families approaching that size looking to book a holiday abroad, but how easy is it when your family exceeds what is still viewed by many as the traditional norm?
Or what if you are travelling with your extended family as part of a larger group?
Well it doesn’t have to be as difficult as you might imagine, although there are obvious challenges that you will need to bear in mind.
For a start, you’ll want to make sure that you plan in advance so that you can benefit from any potential deals that might be available when holidays first go on sale. That can include things like free child places, which can provide the chance to make some financial savings on your break.
However, that’s far from the only reason why you’d be well advised to try and book early when considering a large family break.
For a start, there is the need to consider how you want to pay for your break. By booking early, you’ll give yourself more time to pay off your balance and can add payments off your holiday into your monthly budget.
Whilst that is something that is true for everyone, it’s something that might be even more important for a large family trying to make money go as far as possible.
Depending on just how big your family is, you might also be able to benefit from special discounts aimed towards groups – although such discounts are only available with selected operators and are subject to availability.
Booking early is also key to trying to secure the best possible accommodation to cater for a larger group – particularly if you are looking to book a hotel-based break.
Whilst there are plenty of hotels that offer family rooms, it’s also fair to see that a lot of them are targeted more towards the smaller family that might include two or three children, which won’t work if you have a larger brood.
With that in mind, you’ll be best off looking for a hotel that offers either more spacious suites and apartments, or which has inter-connecting rooms that will allow you to spread your family across a number of adjoining rooms.
Whilst that means using more than one room, they will still be linked together rather than members of the party being located in different areas of a hotel.
Of course, as a larger group, you might also want to consider the alternative options when it comes to accommodation, such as a large private villa that will be for your exclusive use and will provide ample space for everyone in your party.
Its also worth considering the fact that if you are planning to travel overseas with a large family, you would be well advised to book early to ensure that you secure the best deals on your flights.
Again, depending on the size of your family, there is the potential for some group discounts to consider but the more important factor is that you will want to ensure that your family are all seated together.
You will also want to check what rules your airline has in place in regards to the number of adults and children who can fly together to avoid encountering any issues on arrival at the airport.
If you want to book a large family holiday, then simply get in touch with our expert team and we’ll do the rest...