YOU MIGHT think there's no need to book next summer's family holiday early. Surely the credit crunch, fluctuating exchange rates, fuel surcharges and economic predictions starring four horsemen and the apocalypse mean that more people will stay at home and there will be plenty of availability? Not so.

If you want something more than the standard sun, sea and sand package in peak season, you would be wise to get cracking. It's already too late to book some trips, which are so coveted they have waiting lists worthy of a Hermès Birkin bag.

The eco-trendy treehouses offered at several French campsites by Keycamp are sold out for July and August, and, following Britain's Olympic heroics, if you fancy buying little Jemima some sailing lessons and staying in a house in one of the fashionable bits of the Isle of Wight, you should have put your name down with Wight Locations in January.

Even if your ambitions run no farther than a bucolic break in a posh tent on one of Featherdown Farms, most of 2009's Bank Holidays are full.

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So if you think you've found the perfect villa, teenage-only family adventure holiday or beachfront hotel, don't delay - someone else has, too. And be sure to book flights as well - airlines are certain to cut capacity next year.

Here are ten top family holidays that should be snapped up now.

Mexico

With the British Museum planning an exhibition on the Aztec emperor Montezuma II later in the year, the cultural specialist The Traveller's 15-day family tour includes the pyramids, ball courts and palaces left behind by the Aztec and Maya civilisations - and some beach time at Tulum. The tour is led by Joyce Filer, a specialist on mummification who has taken part in excavations in Mexico. The tour departs on August 15 and costs £2,990pp (ages 17 and over), £2,690pp (12-16 sharing) or £1,990pp (children under 12 sharing with adults). Costs include flights, transfers, 13 nights' half board and tips.

Details: 020-7436 9343, www.the-traveller.co.uk

Greece

The Skala Beach Villas on Cephalonia tick every box for the perfect villa - private pool, right on the beach, great sea views, within easy walking distance of shops and tavernas, and light and airy interiors. They sleep four and cost £1,981 for a week next August through the Greek Island specialist Sunisle. Sunisle promises no fuel surcharges, no currency exchange surcharges and no credit card charges for 2009.

Details: 0800 0911601, www.sunisle.co.uk

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