Parenting

Tropical weather, luxury accommodation and relaxing rituals make this island the perfect babymoon destination to visit when pregnant, says travel editor Laura Mulley

Looking for a holiday destination for one last trip as a two before our baby arrived, we found our options surprisingly limited. We didn’t want to chance potential bad weather in Europe off-season, and with the risk of mosquito-borne virus Zika – which is particularly dangerous to pregnant women – ruling out most of the Caribbean and Asia, there was a clear frontrunner that ticked all of our boxes: Mauritius.

Emirates proved to be the best airline to fly with from our nearest airport – Manchester – with the most flight options available – and the staff were exceptionally helpful at making a six-months-pregnant woman feel as comfortable as possible during the journey.

Once we landed, our aim was simple: to enjoy all the things we’d probably struggle to do once our baby arrived, on what would potentially be our last relaxing holiday for a while. And it certainly delivered.

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Le Méridien Ile Maurice

Our first stop was the huge, open, colourful Le Méridien Ile Maurice on the island’s northwest coast. One of Mauritius’s leading family hotels (perfect for showing us what to expect from our future holidays), its hidden gem is its adults-only section, Nirvana, at the end of the kilometre-long beach, which has its own rooms, reception, restaurant, beach area and infinity pool scattered with squishy floating beanbags.

Our Hideaway Suite here was truly one of the biggest we’d ever seen, with a massive distance between the patio doors at the front to the heated plunge pool out the back. Guests get access to a ‘butler’ via WhatsApp, and lots of thoughtful touches from the friendly staff make staying here feel extra-special, from the complimentary cocktail (or mocktail) by the pool at sundown to the petal-strewn bath we found waiting for us after dinner. One night there was even a pregnancy pillow laid out on the bed, something we hadn’t requested but made our stay even more comfortable.

The food at Le Méridien

There are four restaurants at Le Méridien, and it’s worth making your way around them all: Nomad’s buffet is popular with families, Waves serves Mediterranean-style fish and grilled dishes, Kumin gives guests a taste of Mauritius’s strong Indian influence, and – our favourite – Nirvana’s Jade does excellent Asian cuisine, including sushi and teppanyaki (take breakfast here too if you want to savour the child-free moments for as long as possible). All are included in half-board and all-inclusive packages, although booking is recommended for the à la carte restaurants.

What to do at Le Méridien

Keen to enjoy as many grown-up activities as possible, we took part in sunset yoga on the beach, took kayaks and pedalos out into the lagoon’s clear waters, and enjoyed treatments in Le Méridien’s spa, including a heavenly head massage using warm coconut oil, and the perfect pre-natal full body massage. The therapists here are all incredibly skilled – you’ll really feel the benefits.

St Regis Le Morne

The second half of our trip was spent at sister hotel St. Regis Le Morne, formally the JW Marriott, and which joined the historic St. Regis hotel group – founded by American tycoon and Titanic victim John Jacob Astor IV – following a major renovation last year.

On the island’s southwest point, this is a quieter, more secluded part of the country, and St. Regis sits under the shadow of Mauritius’ iconic Le Morne mountain surrounded by miles of beautiful beaches and shallow waters.

Although we spotted plenty of multi-generational families here too, St. Regis definitely has a more elegant and luxurious air to it. With a colonial-style design and elegant rooms set amongst lush vegetation and trickling water features, it has a slight ‘White Lotus season three’ vibe.

There’s a huge pool here, but we found that most couples chose to spend their days on the loungers under palm leaf-umbrellas that line the beach, which are peaceful, always available, and serviced by bar staff at the touch of a button.

The food at St Regis Le Morne

Out of St. Regis’s five restaurants, our favourites were INDYA, serving a modern take on Indian cuisine with the friendliest service, and Japanese Atkuso, where the chef veered from the menu to whip up some of the best maki rolls we’d ever tried to cater to our vegetarian diets. Each restaurant also does its own signature cocktails and ‘mindful mocktails’ with certain health benefits.

What to do at St Regis Le Morne

St. Regis is proud of its history and heritage, and a key feature are its three ‘rituals’, found in all its properties around the world, and all – pleasingly for our purpose – highly unsuitable for children: Bloody Marys, sabrage and afternoon tea.

In homage to the first ever spicy tomato juice cocktail as we know it, reportedly invented at the St. Regis New York in the 1920s, our charismatic bartender Vymal demonstrated how to make this hotel’s own version, the L’Île Mary, using Mauritian rum infused with curry leaves and topped with turmeric foam. The self-appointed Bloody Mary connoisseur out of the two of us declared it to be one of the best he’d ever tasted.

Next up was learning sabrage – the art of opening a bottle of champagne with the swish of a sword, and supposedly how Napoleon liked to celebrate his victories. Although initially unconfident, following expert instruction we were thrilled to deftly remove the top of our bottle of fizz in one smooth swipe.

Afternoon tea was a more genteel affair, and is a reference to Lady Astor’s daily habit of gathering family and friends around in the afternoons to share wisdom. Here it involves Mauritian tea and viennoiserie from the hotel’s kitchen, taken under swaying palm trees on the beach – just heavenly, and the perfect last few moments of calm before we became a three.

How much does it cost?

Rooms at Le Méridien Ile Maurice start from £220 per night on a B&B basis based on double occupancy. Rooms at St. Regis Le Morne start from £585 per night based on double occupancy (two night minimum stay required). Returns flights from Manchester to Mauritius were with Emirates start from £775.

Choosing this option when you book your flights could help you save hundreds of pounds, and it’s especially useful during peak seasons such as half-term or the summer holidays

When it comes to booking a flight, we all want to save money, especially when we need to travel during peak times such as the dreaded school summer holidays.

Luckily, there are still some hacks that can help you cut the cost of flights, and Laura Lindsay who works at SkyScanner has offered up some of her expert travel tips. She said: “Last-minute doesn’t have to mean bad value. Whether you’re staying at home or going abroad, the travellers who take the time to shop around and compare deals will get the best prices. Being a little bit flexible could make a big difference in cost, as well as opening up options for destinations and accommodation you may not have considered.”

One of her clever tricks? Look at the school holiday dates for the counties and regions on the border of your own; these dates can differ, which means you might be travelling in your county’s own peak season, but your neighbouring towns might be ‘off peak’, causing a price difference.

For example bargain hunters who live in the north of England can often bag a cheap flight by flying from a Scottish airport. This is because school holidays in Scotland tend to be slightly different, for example, the six-week summer holiday begins early-July and ends around mid-August.

That means if you have a Scottish airport within reasonable travelling distance, you can save a lot of money by flying from Scotland in the last two weeks of August. And on the flipside, Scots can pick up cheaper flights by jetting off in early July from English airports.

In the meantime, check out more of Laura’s money-saving hacks below…

Search ‘everywhere’ for the best prices

Not fussy about where you want to go? On sites such as Skyscanner you can select ‘everywhere’ as your destination and will be able to find the cheapest destination for your dates. This will give you a number of options from city breaks to beach destinations, and you may be able to find an inexpensive hidden gem.

Skyscanner also have a cheapest destinations tool, where you simply choose the month you want to travel and get a list of the ten cheapest destinations for that period. For example, in March the cheapest flights can be found to Milan and Tirana in Albania for city breaks, while those seeking sunshine could find deals for Lanzarote and Marrakech.

Search nearby airports

Another feature on flight comparison sites that’s worth trying is including nearby airports in your search. On Skyscanner you simply tick the box under your destination or departure airport.

If you live close to London, for example, don’t just look at your nearest airport. Searching for nearby airports looks up the cheapest options around the capital, so a short tube journey could save you a lot of money. This works in any area where there are airports nearby, for example, comparing flights from Birmingham and East Midlands, which are just 45-minutes apart.

You can also choose to search nearby airports at your destination. Just make sure you work out how far away the airport will be from your accommodation before you book. Some airports with city names can still be miles away from the destination. For example, Paris Beauvais Airport is actually about 90-minutes from the French capital, so best avoided for a short break.

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Drayton Manor has launched a K-Pop themed takeover for half term, and while it had some fun moments, our favourite attraction was worlds away from the glittering world of K-Pop music

If you have a child of primary school age, the soundtrack to your life is likely to be the cheery sounds of K-Pop. K-Pop, which stands for Korean Pop, has been on many music fans’ radar for years now, but 2026 is likely to be a big year for the genre.

Not only has K-Pop Demon Hunters become the most-watched original title in Netflix history with 500 million views – quite a few of which have come from my house – but K-Pop bands have been all over the charts. In August 2025, a record seven K-Pop tracks made the top 40 singles chart, including BLACKPINK and Stray Kids. A recent tour announcement by BTS saw a Taylor Swift-style clamber for tickets and UK dates sold out in 30 minutes.

So, it wasn’t a huge surprise to see that Drayton Manor, a theme park in the West Midlands, would be hosting a K-Pop Takeover for February half term. My daughter was thrilled to be going to a K-Pop themed day and wore her favourite HUNTR/X hoodie for the occasion. And of course, Spotify was cued up with an appropriate playlist on the way.

While the park isn’t fully open during February half term, in addition to the K-POP activities the ticket price includes Thomas Land, a handful of rides, plus the zoo. With tickets starting at £19.90, the price reflects that you won’t get the full theme park experience.

We arrived just in time for ‘K-Pop games’ on the park’s main stage, and a very enthusiastic entertainer was leading some kids in a game of red light, green light, followed by some singing along to the tune of Golden. There was also a K-Pop themed dance workshop later on, with excited kids dancing in front of the sparkly stage.

Other than some Korean fried chicken being served in the burger bar, and some Korean souvenirs in the gift shop, there wasn’t a huge amount of K-Pop theming throughout the park. However, the end of day K-Pop concert definitely brought in the crowds and seemed to be widely enjoyed.

Three entertainers, dressed as a K-Pop girl group, sang songs by HUNTR/X, Saja Boys, and Rosé, bringing the day to a close with a water show in the park’s lake. Kids and adults were bopping along to the tunes, and I was impressed that the group’s lead singer managed to tackle the high notes in Golden.

But the real draw at Drayton Manor is Thomas Land. While it took the silver award for Best Theme Park for Toddlers in 2025, people of all ages seem delighted when wandering around the Sodor-themed attraction. Even grown adults were posing for photos with Thomas, showing the nostalgia around the show never went away.

It seemed to be a good time to visit. Queues were pretty minimal on most of the rides, although we did unfortunately wait half an hour to get on Winston’s Whistle-Stop Tours only for the ride to break down. However, quite a few of the smaller rides had no queue at all, and it meant we got a couple of turns on Toby’s Tram Express and some other favourites.

Thomas Land also had regular shows, and we got the chance to meet Sir Topham Hatt, or depending on your age, the Fat Controller. The performer was great, and I noticed he could communicate in Makaton – a type of sign language often used for children with learning or communication difficulties. It would be great to see more theme parks train staff in this way to make the entertainment more inclusive.

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So, is this review Golden or is it a Takedown? Overall, I’d say it’s worth visiting the park for the K-Pop Takeover. Outside of the main stage, there’s not a whole lot of K-Pop theming, but enough to keep fans happy. The end of day concert was definitely a highlight for my youngest and she hasn’t stopped talking about it, and concert only tickets are available if you just want to visit later on. But Thomas Land is always worth a day out. Just make sure you bring your big coat.

You can find out more on draytonmanor.co.uk.

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Parents who are looking to get away during the six week summer holidays could potentially save hundreds by booking during a certain week instead of planning their holidays at the start of the break

The six-week summer holidays are still a long way off, but many families will be booking their annual holiday in the coming weeks, and no doubt looking for ways to bring the price down a little.

Travelling during the school holidays is never going to be the cheapest option. Last year, research showed that a family of four will pay an additional £716 on average if they travel during a school holiday, and the big six-week holidays in July and August are when prices are hiked the highest.

But according to travel specialists, being a little flexible with your departure dates can make a big difference. Dawn Morwood, co-director of Cheap Deals Away UK, previously shared her insider knowledge: “Most people assume all summer flights are expensive, but there are specific days that offer much better value.”

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She added: “The summer flight market follows predictable patterns. Prices peak during school holidays in late July and early August, but there are pockets of opportunity both earlier and later in the season.”

The priciest days in the summer fall on July 22, 23, and 29, when flights can cost up to 40% more on average. Therefore, if you can avoid these peak dates, you may find your holiday costs less overall. Dawn said: “If your travel dates are flexible, shifting even a day or two could save you a significant amount.”

Parents should double-check the term dates for their child’s school on GOV.UK. Some schools will place inset days in the days leading up to the school holidays, meaning it may be possible to get away a couple of days before the rush when prices rise.

Many parents are keen to get away in the first couple of weeks of the school holidays, but if you have patience, you can often get cheaper deals by booking in the last week of August. Around August 28, flight and package holiday prices tend to take a dive, but if your child isn’t back until September 4 or 5, you may be able to sneak in a few days of sunshine before the autumn term.

If you live close to the Scottish border or are willing to travel to a Scottish airport, you could potentially save money by travelling outside of the country’s summer holidays. Scottish schools break up around June 24-29 and return around mid-August in 2026. Therefore, if you are looking for a break mid to late August, departing from a Scottish airport could be a lot cheaper.

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As an example of how much prices can fluctuate, we looked at prices for a TUI package holiday at Zante Plaza Hotel & Apartments on an all-inclusive basis for a family of four. If they departed London Stansted on July 24, the cost would be £1156pp, but a free child place brings the total down to £3466.

However, if the same party travelled on August 28, returning September 4, the total would be £3076, saving just under £400 on the holiday cost.

For parents who are willing to risk term-time fines, Dawn says: “Early June hits that sweet spot between good weather and good prices.” However, you’d have to take into account the cost of fines, which are applied per parent per child, meaning a family of four can face four lots of penalties.

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This offer means families could enjoy an entire year of theme park thrills across more than 20 Merlin attractions in the UK ensuring that the kids are kept entertained throughout the school holidays

February half-term is coming up soon, and as all parents know, this is just the first of many school breaks where you’ll be scrambling around to find something to keep the kids entertained. While taking them to theme parks may seem like a pricey option, there is a deal that means you enjoy many more days out during the school holidays in 2026.

Merlin Entertainment, who own huge attractions across the UK such as Thorpe Park, Alton Towers, Chessington, Warwick Castle, and LEGOLAND, is offering a deal they call ‘Stay for a night, play for a year’. Families who book a short break this February for certain spring dates can get a free Essential Merlin Annual Pass (MAP) for each guest, giving them free access to its theme parks throughout the year.

Bookings need to be completed before March 1, and stay dates for this offer include:

• LEGOLAND and Alton Towers – stays between March 14 and June 26
• Chessington – stays between March 20 and June 26
• Thorpe Park and Warwick Castle – stays between March 27 and June 26

Look for a banner next to the hotel name that says ‘Merlin Pass Included’ when booking to see if it’s eligible for the offer.

Depending on which resort and hotel you choose, guests can enjoy facilities such as themed accommodation, breakfast included in the price, plus two days of fun at the theme park of your choice. You’ll also find perks such as access to the 9-hole golf course at Alton Towers and access to the SEA Life centre at Chessington.

And once you check out, you still have a year of fun family adventures to enjoy. You’ll get a Merlin Annual Pass delivered to your inbox when you book, offering 339 days of experiences and fun, which includes access to family-friendly days out like the London Eye, Madame Tussauds, and The London Dungeon. Simply activate the pass and it’s valid for 12 months with a few restriction dates.

Other attractions where the annual pass can be used include SEA Life centres across the UK, Cadbury World, Shrek’s Adventure! London and LEGOLAND’s Discovery Centres give plenty of options for days out.

Passholders can also nab 10% off Fastrack passes for days when you want to skip the queues, plus 10% off food and drink at the parks.

You can even redeem your pass before your stay and start using it elsewhere, so if you book now, you could use it on weekdays during the February half term to take the kids to one of Merlin’s attractions.

So, how much could families save? It depends on which hotel stay you book and how much you use the pass. A family of four could book a night at the Chessington Safari Hotel on Saturday, March 28 for £418 and get four free passes included. Buying Merlin Essential passes would usually cost £139 each, adding up to £556 for four people, so this is already a cheaper option if you’ve been considering buying the passes anyway.

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Day passes to Alton Towers, as an example, cost £32 online and as much as £68 if you buy on the gates, so if you plan just a handful of theme park visits, this offer could save you hundreds over the year.

Full list of attractions where Merlin’s annual pass can be used

• Alton Towers Resort
• Chessington World Of Adventures Resort
• LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort
• The London Eye
• Thorpe Park
• SEA LIFE London
• National SEA LIFE Centre Birmingham
• SEA LIFE Manchester
• SEA LIFE Blackpool
• SEA LIFE Brighton
• SEA LIFE Weymouth Adventure Park
• SEA LIFE Great Yarmouth
• SEA LIFE Sanctuary Hunstanton
• SEA LIFE Scarborough
• SEA LIFE Loch Lomond
• Warwick Castle
• Madame Tussauds London
• Shrek’s Adventure! London
• LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre Birmingham
• LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre Manchester
• The London Dungeon
• The York Dungeon
• The Edinburgh Dungeon
• Cadbury World

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