Footloose Families Pages

Over the years many families have realised that the Footloose style of tailormade travel is ideal for relaxed but exciting family adventures. We have organised trips for families travelling all over the world, and the care and personal attention we can offer has resulted in memorable trips.

After their travels, families have come back and asked "where next?". So rather than inventing the wheel every time, we have put together these pages of our most popular trips.

Footloose offer two types of trips - tailormade and groups.

Tailormade: These trips are all private departures and tailormade for your family. This means that you can start on any date, and make any changes so that the trip suits your family exactly. Click on the countries on the left to see what is possible.

Groups: We also have a selection of group trips organised by other companies that we have worked with for many years. With a group trip you are restricted to a fixed departure date and a fixed itinerary, but with four or five other families travelling with you, they are more sociable and can be great fun. Click on the groups on the left to see the range of trips.

Go to a section:
Style
Hotels
Safety
Private Trips
Flexibility
Prices
Flights
When to Travel
Booking
Adventure Travel
Child Care
Culture
Transport
Activities
Food
Health
When to Visit

STYLE

These holidays are designed for all the family to enjoy. They will provide stimulating experiences for all ages, and give an insight into other places and other cultures. There may also be some challenge and certainly a lot of laughter. But there will not be kids clubs, welcome drinks parties or fancy dress competitions.

These trips are scattered across the world - Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Indian Subcontinent. Each area offers a variety of cultures, activities and attractions.

Each itinerary has a slower pace than the "grown-up" version. There is a rest day when you arrive, and there are several times in the trip when you stay in one place for a few nights. We have made the trips varied and included activities that should appeal to children. Long drives are kept to a minimum and the trips are mainly quite short, but with a variety of extensions so that you can choose the type of trip which suits your family.

HOTELS

We hope that those travelling on these holidays set off with a sense of adventure, but we do not expect you to put up with discomfort or inconvenience. The hotels have all been chosen to give reasonable comfort and are usually about 3-4 star, however, in some areas the best available are basic with poor facilities.

We try to use those that have character, local interest and are suitable for families. They are usually not international chains and are often family run. If you want (or don't want) specific hotels we will always arrange this for you. You should be aware that some hotels may not meet UK levels in health, safety and fire standards. Electricity and plumbing safety may be less than perfect. You should supervise your children in these situations and be aware of swimming pools, balconies and drops beneath opening windows.

SAFETY

At Footloose we pride ourselves on our local knowledge, and this has been used in designing these trips. We also use our network of our local agents, built up over the twenty we have been operating this style of holiday. Many of these are family businesses, and so they understand the finer points of organising your trip. Using experienced local guides, backed up by the local agents, you are in capable and responsible hands from the moment you land.

We are aware that many of these trips take you to countries where safety is of concern. With many years experience of sending hundreds of people to these countries, the worst report we have had is losing a camera that was left behind on a café table. We do however take safety very seriously and receive regular updates on all countries from the Foreign Office. Our local agents always have an ear very close to the ground and so we know the local situation.
If you have any concerns about safety and security we are always pleased to discuss these with you.

PRIVATE TRIPS

All the holidays in this brochure are private tours and not group holidays. They are organised exclusively for your family and you will have your own guide and vehicle. This gives you the opportunity of stopping when you like, making small diversions, and generally being in charge of your own trip. For some of the hotel and airport transfers you may be sharing a minibus with others.

FLEXIBILITY

The itineraries in this brochure are all ones we have used many times and know they work well. But families often have different ideas, needs and priorities, so please ask us if you would like any changes, as we can always adapt the trips to suit you. Most of the trips have suggested extensions, but others are possible. Many flights give the opportunity of stopovers - Kuala Lumpur when flying to Borneo, or the Caribbean when returning from Peru - so please ask if this option appeals to you.

PRICES

Then price shown are based on a family of four using two twin rooms. We know that families come in all shapes and sizes, and so triple rooms, family rooms or other configurations may suit you better. Let us know your requirements and we will organise the rooms to suit you.

FLIGHTS

All the trip prices do not include flights. We would be happy to quote for these as well, but we have found that increasingly people like to organise their own flights for different reasons, such as local deals, internet deals or a favourite routeing. We are pleased to incorporate your own flights into these tours, but be wary of some cheap deals as they may involve long transfer times or greater flying distances.

WHEN TO TRAVEL

Most families will want to travel in the school holidays. It is a fact of life that these are usually the busiest and most expensive times. We have shown when you can expect the best weather, and there are destinations to suit every time of the year. When planning your trip it is also worth considering the half term breaks as flight prices are often much less.

BOOKING

Please remember that if you are travelling at the popular times you need to book well ahead - for instance many of the safari lodges are fully booked six months in advance, and permits for the Inca Trail in August have usually gone by Easter. All the booking information can be found in the "How to Book" section.

ADVENTURE TRAVEL

With this sort of travel, much of the adventure is obvious - confronting a lion at close range or hanging on to a raft in raging whitewater. But the challenge is often less obvious - long drives in uncomfortable vehicles, strange food, basic hotels in remote areas. Whilst Footloose will spend time with you ensuring you understand the reality of the trip you are planning, and arranging everything on the ground to the highest standard, it must be understood that these are not package holidays. The nature of travel to remote areas is that you may occasionally be tired, bored, fed up, uncomfortable or scared. Your family needs to be flexible, patient, tolerant and have a sense of humour. In return you will have some of the greatest experiences of your life - and not always the expected ones!

CHILD CARE

You and your family will be in experienced and responsible hands while you are away, but you need to be responsible for your children at all times. This is especially the case in free or leisure time, or during any time you are making your own arrangements. Our local agents well go to great lengths to help and advise, but they cannot be responsible for your children.

CULTURE

These trips visit remote and undeveloped parts of the world. You will often be in close contact with customs, traditions and behaviour which is different to that at home. Children are often the centre of attention and you should be prepared for a culture shock.

TRANSPORT

In some countries transport facilities are of a low standard. We always ensure, as far as possible, that all vehicles comply with all local regulations, but you may find that comfort and reliability is less than perfect.

ACTIVITIES

Many of the trips include activities. It is your responsibility to ensure that the activities are appropriate for your family. Safety equipment and precautions may not be up to UK standards and it is your responsibility to check these as far as is practicable. All the activities are optional and participation is entirely voluntary and so if you feel that any of your family would not enjoy them please do not join in.

FOOD

Experiencing different cuisines is an important part of travelling, but children may sometimes find this difficult. There will always be more basic food available, but often with less variety.

HEALTH

We find that health problems whilst travelling are much less common than parents often fear. We will give guidelines to help you have a trouble free trip, and there are several books available to give more information.
For travelling to many countries there are health advisories and precautions and you should visit your doctor for advice well before travelling.

WHEN TO VISIT

The Weather around the world seems to be more unpredictable, but the seasons below will give you an idea of the best times to visit.

B = the best time to visit but remember that these are usually the busiest and most expensive times. These are not necessarily the best times for specific activities - for example the best time to see the rhododendrons in the Himalaya is during the wet season.

O = OK. The weather is generally good but rain and/or cold is possible.

N = Not a good time. Usually this means heavy rain or very cold.