Three more smart choices for under-fives

An Indian Ocean island escape on a grand scale, Mauritius is an excellent choice for a tropical adventure with small children. You won’t feel hemmed in here – as well as straight-out-of-paradise beaches, there is jungle, a volcano, indigenous villages to visit and unusual wildlife. The sea is clear and the reefs teem with marine life to spot on boat trips; or pop the kids on your paddleboard for a sea safari. It is a 12-hour direct flight, there are bags of family-friendly hotels, and you can do it more cheaply than a Maldives holiday. June is a great time to go – warm and sunny, and not too hot or rainy.

Classic Collection

(0800 047 1066; classiccollection.co.uk) offers a 10-night holiday staying at Preskil Island Resort (southerncrosshotels.mu), for £4,851 for two adults and one child aged two to five in June (August price: £8,934), including half board and direct flights with Air Mauritius.

BEACH BABES

Beach holidays with smalls couldn’t be easier in Menorca. There are no long journeys, an abundance of villas to rent, and plenty of clean, sandy bays with safe shallows warm enough in June to splash about in. Get there before the crowds and have it largely to yourselves.

Oliver’s Travels (0333 888 0205; oliverstravels.com) has a bunch of affordable villas in Menorca that are drastically cheaper in June than in August. Can Congre is a lovely three-bedroom villa in the village of

Binibeca, and near a perfect beach; from £1,792 a week in June (August price: £3,459). Or gather your NCT chums and take over six-bedroom Menorca Solecito, set in countryside outside Mahon, from £4,618 a week (August price: £7,305).

CORNISH PIXIES

If yours is not a great sleeper then the idea of a long-haul, or indeed any flight, may fill you with dread. But there is always Cornwall. And actually is there anywhere in the world more wildly, dramatically beautiful? Easy, too, with lots of fun things for youngsters to do between beach days – farms, boats, crabbing, castles, miniature trains. Its popularity (and accommodation prices) skyrocketed during the pandemic, and though still much in demand, outside the school holidays you can find rentals for all budgets and get good hotel deals.

June is Cornwall’s finest month; the headlands carpeted in wildflowers, the weather gorgeous and evenings light for hours. By August the weather is more changeable and temperatures have already begun to dip.

Newly refurbished Fowey Hall Hotel (01726 833 866; foweyhallhotel. co.uk) is superb for babies and young children – it is elegant yet homely, with a crèche and playground, indoor and outdoor pools, wellies and beach toys to borrow. Doubles with cot/ child bed from £255 in June (August price: £375).