I was in love the scenery was spectacular the food was delicious – it was a gorgeous holiday

I was in love, the scenery was spectacular, the food was delicious – it was a gorgeous holiday.Favourite place in the British Isles?I really love Cornwall. This spring we rented a lovely cottage just outside Polperro, and all the wild flowers had just started to come out. The coastline around Fowey is just gorgeous and we walked our dog there.What have you learnt from your travels?Take enough credit cards.Ideal travelling companion?A lover, otherwise you get bored.Beach bum, culture vulture or adrenalin junkie?I enjoy all three, depending on what mood I’m in. First holiday memory?

A caravan holiday in Blackrock Sands on the North Wales coast. I remember it raining all the time, sitting in the caravan bored and hitting my sister on the head with a snakes and ladders box.
Best holiday?The Amalfi Coast We went to places like Positano, Ravello, Amalfi and Capri. Alternatively, you could fly to Mexico City with BA (0870 850 9 850; www.ba ) and pick up a connection on Aeromexico (020-7801 6234; www.aeromexico ) to Merida or Cancun.For more information on accommodation and activities in the Yucatan Peninsula, contact the Mexico Tourism Board (020-7488 9392; www.visitmexico ).Send your family travel queries to The Independent Parent, Travel Desk, The Independent, 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS, or e-mail crusoe independent.co.uk. Arriving outside the peak hours of 11am-3pm minimises the problem of hot sun and irksome tour groups.

Your choice of accommodation will be able to organise day trips to either site.There are no direct flights to Tulum or Merida from the UK. The nearest airport to Tulum is Cancun, which is served by charter flights: Thomsonfly (0870 1900 737; www.thomsonfly ) flies direct from Gatwick and Monarch (0871 225 3555; www.flymonarch ) from Gatwick and Manchester. The downside of staying on this side of the peninsula is that the beaches don’t compare to those on the east coast. However, the small island of Carmen, around an hour and a half’s drive south of Merida, near Campeche, boasts several rival beaches around Ciudad del Carmen, as well as a lagoon inhabited by a host of freshwater species. Another easy day trip from Merida is Chichen Itza, the staggering archaeological ruin, and perhaps the most famous symbol of Mayan power, which lies between Merida and Tulum.

But the remains at Uxmal, south of Merida, boast the spectacular 128ft-high Piramide del Adivino, with its unique oval base. A further US$23 (£14) gets you the larger cottage with a separate bedroom for the children. The extensive grounds provide plenty of room for the children to roam and there’s a pool to cool off in.The smaller cottage is available for US$199 (£117) per night in December, including breakfast. Hacienda Santa Cruz (00 52 999 910 4549; www.haciendasantacruz ) is a good, child-friendly option around 14km south of the city.Guests have the option of staying in one of two casitas (small cottages), which once housed the hacienda’s labourers.Each has one double bed and two singles so they are ideal for families.

Airport (Merida) pick-up and drop-off is included in the room rate, and transport to local sites can be arranged, as can meals cooked by the amiable owners. Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula is home to the garish party capital Cancun and a wealth of white sand, and is a magnet for package tourists and North American spring-break students. But scratch beneath the surface and you’ll find rich Mayan history, flora, fauna, indigenous culture and miles of stunning beaches.
Last October, the peninsula was battered by Hurricane Wilma, a category-five storm, and Cancun bore the brunt of the damage. Q. I would like to take my family to the Yucatan Peninsula this winter, possibly somewhere on the coast although I would be prepared to look inland.

I’m not too keen on the all-inclusive-resort concept but would like to stay somewhere child-friendly within a reasonable distance of activities suitable for a 10- and 13-year-old Where would you suggest? J Barber, via e-mail

A. If you want to travel earlier than that, the standard price for the school summer holidays next year is £6,368 (£1,854 for each adult, £1,430 for each child) including flights, transport, accommodation and all but one meal.. Accommodation comprises five nights in hotels, five nights in chalets and five nights in “full service camping”; the operator, Exodus, says this means “no need to lift a finger”.The company (08702 405 550; www.exodus.co.uk) is so confident about the trip that it is already selling departures through to the end of August 2008. For slightly less than this, two adults and two children aged between six and 11 could fly from Gatwick to Windhoek, capital of Namibia.Once there, you can spend a fortnight seeing wildlife at Etosha National Park; exploring beaches and climbing the highest sand dunes in the world in the planet’s oldest desert. We recommend against walking alone on beaches or at night.”The Rough Guide’s The Caribbean paints a more optimistic picture, saying that “you are more likely to be mugged in New York than Montego Bay”. But anyone attracted by “some of the finest marijuana in the world” is warned that “the possession, use, export or attempted smuggling of any quantity of ganja is against the law in Jamaica and carries stiff penalties”.Destination of 2007: family NamibiaA two-week holiday in Florida next August could easily cost a family of four £1,600 per person.