Travelling alone with your child or children can be a scary prospect, especially if you have recently separated or been bereaved and have never done it before. Nevertheless, almost a quarter of families with children are single parent families - that’s about 2 million parents – and you are as entitled to a holiday with your kids as anyone else. In fact, it could be argued that you are more entitled, because you have to do everything on your own.

When it comes to holidays for single parents it is always possible that you could perhaps rope in some family or friends to make a group which would mean that, if you go self-catering, you wouldn’t have to do all the cooking yourself, and you would have some help at the airport and at the resort when one child goes one way and the other goes in the opposite direction and you have your hands full of baggage.

However, it may be that you would prefer a quiet week away with just your child or children and there are plenty of self-catering holidays that you can book in the UK which are a lot less expensive than a week in a hotel. For instance, there is Thanet Well Lodge Retreat in the Lake District where you can take a log cabin style lodge and admire the stunning views across open moorland towards Carrock Fell. There are lots of lakes within a half hour drive, and the market towns of Penrith and Keswick are close by where there are plenty of cafes, restaurants, and pubs.

You might prefer to go to the Isle of Wight, and there is another lodge retreat here called Woodland Bay. It is close to the harbour town of Ryde, and only ten miles from Cowes. There is a beautiful shingle beach and the site is surrounded by glorious woodland. Not only are there lodges here, there is also tree house accommodation if you prefer - great fun for the kids. There is a bar and restaurant if you don’t feel like cooking, free wi-fi, hot tubs, and the site is pet-friendly, so you can take the dog.

However, you may have the budget, and the desire, to go abroad, and where better than Fuerteventura in Spain? This is the Canaries beach and water sports paradise, with the beaches stretching for 20 miles in both directions. Naturally, there are plenty of hotels here, such as the Iberostar Playa Gaviotas which has stunning views of the sea. The hotel has two family sized pools, and a toddler pool, a bowling alley, tennis court, squash court, playground, bowling alley, games room, and clubs for kids and teenagers. Close by are several water sports centres which provide kayaking, sailing, and paddle boarding. The hotel won the Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence for 2018.

Then again, you might prefer to go to Cyprus, and there is a hotel here providing holidays for single parents near to Paphos. The Athena Beach Hotel, as you might expect from the name, is set in beautiful gardens directly on the beach and has just about everything that you could want. There are several pools, a kids’ pool, a water slide, a games room, kids club, fitness room, playground, bowling alley, table tennis, a floodlit tennis court, crazy golf, and a spa with a pool, steam room, and sauna.

There is also a choice of water sports available on the beach, and if you want to see more of the local area you can hire bikes right outside the hotel. Buses and taxis are available here as well.

If you have never been to Morocco, you might consider a holiday in Marrakech where the Iberostar Club Palmeraie hotel is located. This is set in an area of thousands upon thousands of palm-trees and has stunning landscaped gardens with two pools, and splash pool with slides, water jets, and a waterfall. There are kids and teenage clubs, archery, tennis, dance classes and fitness classes, and there are lots of things to do such as taking a ride on a dromedary.

So yes, as a single parent you have plenty of options, whether you want to stay in the UK or fly to somewhere more exotic. It is well worth saving up the pennies for that week away from home.