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For more inspiration on visiting Paris, read my Love Letter to Paris, take a look at the Ultimate Guide to Visiting Paris with Kids and then find all the best Hidden Gems in Paris so you can avoid the tourist crowds. If anybody else has been dreaming of Greece, be sure to read our guide to the best Quiet Greek Islands to Escape the Crowds, a lowdown on the Best Greek Islands for Families as well as island guides to some of our favourites which include Koufonisia, Sifnos, Schinoussa, Folegandros and Crete. I rather like the sound of Original Travel’s 11-day family trip to Croatia, which includes a sailing trip around the Elaphiti Islands, kayaking around Dubrovnik’s city walls and a rafting trip down the Cetina River. So I think that some of us will see 2021 as the chance to make up for all the travel we’ve missed by planning a big trip and going on a really special family adventure, perhaps next summer when we’ll hopefully be a lot less cautious about long haul travel.

We started our tour in the grandest part of the palace, the King’s State Apartments, which are those used by King George II and his wife, Queen Caroline, when they made the palace their home from 1727 until the King’s death in 1760. King George II and Queen Caroline held their court in these rooms and you get a real feeling for what life was like in Georgian London as you wander around. the emerald tiara that Prince Albert personally designed for Queen Victoria along with the matching necklace, earrings and brooch; the Kokoshnik tiara that belonged to Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, Princess Louise; and the spectacular Fife tiara (as seen above) given to Princess Louise on her wedding day from her husband, the Duke of Fife. You’ll find Kensington Palace worth visiting for the beautiful gardens, especially the Sunken Garden which is where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement in November 2017.

n’t get any sleep, the tent will fall down in the middle of the night and we’ll have such a miserable time we won’t be talking to each other by the end of the weekend. I fall back asleep only to be woken up by what sounds like Britain’s noisiest children playing on the swing tyre in the oak tree outside our tent. There’s only a basic toilet cubicle and bucket shower at the campsite so by the time I’ve tried to wash my face by cupping water in the palms of my hands and spat my toothpaste out into a bush I’m desperate for a cup of tea. It’s a baking hot day, nearly 34°C ( 93°F) and we’ve booked a couple of single kayaks and an open Canadian canoe for a few hours from The Kayak Coach, a five-minute walk from our field.

But I’m now convinced that a camping adventure will be the highlight of our summer holidays and I find a lovely looking site run by Pop Up Campsites in West Sussex. I tell the boys that we’ll have a Famous Five cum Swallows and Amazon-style camping adventure but decide not to mention that there’s no WiFi and something worryingly called a ‘bucket shower’ for washing. An hour later the canvas is still laid out on the grass, tent poles strewn all around it and my husband is frowning over the instructions. With the tent finally up, we start thinking about all the things we’re going to need.