With a wide range of activities on offer, Central America is fast becoming the number one choice for family holidays that will keep children as well as mum and dad on their toes and entertained throughout their stay.

Below are some of best locations and activities that can be enjoyed by the whole family in Central America.

A haven of biodiversity, rainforests and world-famous beaches, Costa Rica is the travelling family's most popular playground.  The Monteverde Conservation Area and the Santa Elena Cloud Forest, located 22km north of Costa Rica's capital San Jose, offer a wide range of fun-filled activities suitable for children and adults. Snaking around trees and dipping in and out of the forest, canopy tours in the Monteverde Forest are made up of a system of trails, zip lines and suspension bridges that will see visitors admiring the country's biodiversity from a bird's eye perspective. The tour lasts between two and a half and three hours and does not present any physical difficulty which is why it is so popular amongst family holiday makers.

Bordering the Monteverde Conservation Area, the mystical Santa Elena Cloud Forest is a revelation of luscious trees, vines sweeping across trails and a huge variety of endemic species such as the three-wattled bell bird, keel-billed toucan, white faced monkey and howler monkey as well as the three toed sloth and the jaguar.

Host to some of the most extraordinary archaeological sites in the region such as Tikal National Park, Guatemala is best described as the heart of the Mayan world. The ancient Mayan civilisation and culture is kept alive in Guatemala and visitors can get a taste of this thousand year old culture in the many historical Guatemalan sites such as the UNESCO World Heritage site Antigua Guatemala, and the world famous archaeological site Quirigua. 

Panama is also fast becoming a popular destination for families due to the country's famous cultural heritage mirrored in the many museums that can be found across Panama City and also because of the attraction of the historic Panama Canal. Visitors can take an easy relaxing boat ride along the canal and stop at one of the many points of call along the way such as Panama Bay where the city's many modern buildings will amaze tourists, the Bridge of the Americas which spans the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal and Miraflores Lock, the name given to one of the three lock's that make up the Canal.

PACKAGE FAMILY HOLIDAYS IN CENTRAL AMERICA

JOURNEY LATIN AMERICA

Journey Latin America is offering a 14-day Family Guatemala and Belize: Ancient Temples and Caribbean Isles tour. This is a two week private family holiday that takes visitors on a discovery tour of the Mayan culture in Guatemala's Tikal National Park through to Belize where spotting howler monkeys in the jungle, climbing over ancient pyramids and snorkelling off the second largest barrier reef in the world will enchant both children and parents. The trip is priced from £1,999 per person excluding international flights. www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk/destinations/guatemala/holidays/family-guatemala-and-belize-ancient-temples-and-caribbean-isles

For the more adventure-oriented families, Journey Latin America also organises an Active Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Rivers and Volcanoes tour. This 16-day holiday is an activity filled trip that includes climbing volcanoes, rafting down rivers and swinging from trees in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The tour is priced from £2,866 per person, excluding international flights. www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk/destinations/costa-rica/holidays/active-costa-rica-and-nicaragua-rivers-and-volcanoes

STEPPES TRAVEL

Steppes Travel is bringing Central America closer to Europe in 2016 with some brand new tours across a range of Central American countries. On 27February 2016 a new group tour focused on the mysterious world of the Maya will depart for the first time travelling through Guatemala and Honduras for 14 days. The Maya World Tour focuses on discovering the legacy of the Maya in Guatemala and Honduras by travelling through the historic colonial city of Antigua through to Lake Atitlan and on to Copan where the group is joined by Maya expert David Sedat. The tour is priced from £3,595 including international flights. www.steppestravel.co.uk/guatemala-and-honduras-the-maya-world/overview

Steppes Travel has also relaunched its tours to Costa Rica in 2016 to include different regions and activities. The Surfer Paradise Tour is a 15-day self-drive holiday that takes travellers across some of the best places in Costa Rica as well as two of the top surfing destinations in the world. Prices of the tour start from £3,695 including international flights. www.steppestravel.co.uk/costa-rica-a-surfers-paradise/overview 

COX AND KINGS

Cox and Kings has released a brand new tour for 2016 called Splendours of Central America Tour, which is a 19-day and 17-night tour through Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala with an option to extend to Belize. The tour takes travellers across Central America with highlights including; volcanoes, tropical landscapes, lakes and mysterious Mayan cities. The group tour is priced from £2,995 including international flights. www.coxandkings.co.uk/latin-america/tours/grand-tour-of-central-america-group .

WORLD EXPEDITIONS

World Expeditions has launched an 11-day Guatemala Encompassed tour that takes in the country's most spectacular highlights. Travellers will be taken through the exciting streets of Chichicastenango to one of the world's most beautiful lakes, Lake Atitlan.  Visitors will also be able to take in the sights of Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and travel through to the mysterious ruins of Tikal, the heart of the Mayan empire. The tour is priced from £1,150 per person including international flights. www.worldexpeditions.com/uk/index.php?section=trips&id=3789323    

EXPLORE

In 2016 Explore will launch a new 15-day Volcanoes and Tropical Forests trip which takes its guests through Costa Rica and Nicaragua, visiting volcanoes, remote waterfalls and rainforests. This tour is a moderate graded walking tour to discover the Isla Ometepe in the middle of Lake Nicaragua and explore the cities of Leon and Granada. Travellers will also be able to hike in the tropical rainforests around Arenal Volcano and Braulio Carrilo National Park. The trip has departures in November and December 2016 and costs from £2,087 per person including international flights. www.explore.co.uk/holidays/costa-rica-nicaragua-walk

For more information on Central America visit: www.visitcentroamerica.com

-Ends-

CATA – the promotional agency for the seven Central America countries (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Nicaragua) – is represented by Lotus.  Please contact Georgina Oakley or Lucy Keenan at Lotus– georgina@wearelotus.co.uk /lucy@wearelotus.co.uk  / 0207 953 7470