If you are one of the growing number of single parents, or your partner is too busy to come with you, take your child anyway and share some good times and new experiences together.

Holiday time again? Time to plan a family holiday? Complicated enough at the best of times but there are special hurdles to overcome if you are a single parent.

I took a straw poll among the single parents I know to see how they have dealt with this situation. First of all I was inundated with advice about what not to do! Mothers, and fathers too, told me of holidays which had ended in disaster because it had not occurred to them that a parent alone with children meets quite unexpected difficulties.

Janie: ‘After my divorce I decided to take the kids for a break. Bookings made, flights arranged, but what I hadn't reckoned on was that I couldn't lift the suitcase to get it down the stairs. My kids were only two and three and needed masses of stuff. It was then the fact of being a single mum really hit.' So watch out for heavy luggage!

Check out our Packing guides - remember the more you travel the less you pack !

Several parents told me that they had planned holidays at big hotels because they thought that there would be plenty of activities for their children.. (Well, yes, there often were plenty of children to play with.) But the evenings could be very lonely.

Jack: ‘I stuck out like a sort thumb as the only single man. The signals I got from some women, and their partners, meant I took a book to dinner and then long lonely walks in the evenings.'

Many single parents gave me warnings about safety, and about making sure rooms really were interconnecting. Celia: ‘I arrived to find that the room I had booked for my son and which was supposed to be next to the one I was sharing with the girls was on the other side of the hotel and on a different floor. He was only ten at the time.'

So what is a single parent to do when holidays roll around? Again, advice from those who have ‘been there': Caution about your first holiday on your own! Don't be too ambitious, and don't go where all the other adults will be in couples.

Where to go? The most successful holidays seemed to be those linked to a theme - a holiday where there were plenty of activities for you all, and which were likely to attract other single parents too.

You may find it helps to pair up with another single parent and their children for a trip. But make sure you know the other parent very well before you suggest it. Nothing can bring about a rift quicker than different ideas about bedtimes or how much freedom the children are allowed.

Check out Where to honey? - Staying with friends and relatives

Another alternative is available if you are lucky enough to have a parent or relative who really does want to welcome you all with open arms for a holiday. The kids can be spoilt for a few days and you can share the responsibility of parenting. That way you may get a bit of cosseting and being looked after yourself, which always goes down a treat with any parent on their own I know.

Copyright jill curtis

Parking

If you are travelling alone with children, use valet parking, a stones throw from the departure doors, it's well worth it.

Luggage

Find a porter to help carry your bags. At London Heathrow the Skycaps porter service is free for lone parents travelling with small children.

Affordable Holidays for Single Parents

Travelling as a single parent allows you to choose when, where and how to go without endless debate.
Nevertheless, travel as a single parent can be more stressful and, despite the fact that there are now nearly 2 million single Mums and Dads in the UK, most family holiday prices continue to be based on two adults travelling.

Many operators do, however, offer programmes for single parents. And some, at certain times of year, will waive single room supplements. Staying at resorts with childcare will provide you with some stress free time and it can be easier to meet other parents. A few ideas Our recommended adventure travel operator recently noticed that around 20% of parents traveling on its Family Adventures are single. The company has now created dedicated Single Parent departures on trips to some of their most popular destinations.

Small Families - escorted trips in groups of 5 to 15 single-parent families HELP (Holiday Endeavour for Lone Parents)
Tel: 01302 728791
Administration Assistant
57 Owston Road, Carcroft, Doncaster DN6 8DA.
A national charity offering low-cost and subsidised holidays with major companies throughout the UK and Spain for lone parents and their children. Membership is £3 a year. Send an A5 self-addressed envelope with two first-class stamps.

And do, of course, feel free to share your requirements with us and we'll do our very best to find the right holiday for your family.