Shit holiday

is there no facility for the baby to go to a kids club/creche?

At the beginning of April?? The local kids will be at school anyway so no "nannies" around.

Sorry you're going through this OP.

Reminds me of many years ago in Portugal when friends kindly let me have the use of their house. Old Portuguese cottage.

It was freezing, no bathroom (= outside in the bush), just a cold tap for washing and I lay in bed with a book for a week. Only venturing out to the local cafe for morning coffee (where the locals were on the cognac at 10 AM).

It was a 2 mile walk to the beach for restaurants. I did make the most of it, catching local busses to the nearest town. Everybody was so friendly and kind everywhere which was a blessing.

Sometimes you just have to make the most of it.

@Papercup the weather has become so unpredictable in the Maldives it’s harder to know when to go! Once it stopped raining it was lovely but it really was horrible- our room kept flooding as did the restaurant. They just aren’t designed for that weather.

This thread has brought back memories of the torrential rain in Marbella (May 2016), Tenerife (March 2022), Rio (March 2024). Only now can I see a pattern!! I seem to have terrible luck in shoulder seasons in destinations.

I'm envious - which bit of the UK are you in? In the SE there have been really strong winds today - this afternoon it reached the giddy heights of 15⁰, but feeling like 11⁰ in the wind - so annoying outdoor pool would have been a bold choice unless in a wetsuit!

I guessed the vibrant city as Barcelona.

I went in April once and it was freezing sea mists every morning. Cold, damp and impossible to see more than a metre in front.
Annoying as the winters can be very dry and sunny (if cooler).
They generally burnt off by mid afternoon but still really affected what we could do.

It is risky going anywhere in Europe in March but I do think you have been very unlucky OP. My friend is there now and she said it is not just wet but cold too. I have been to the Antalya region many times out of season and never known it like this. I hope the weather improves in the next few days.

I tried Portugal in very early May once, it was cheap but put me off doing an out of season holiday ever again.

I’ll be joining you soon, this time for the crappy weather of Madeira, it is definitely unseasonable for the time of year there, they are basically getting all the crap weather we get in the UK, ironic that we chose it to avoid April showers 😂. Oh how we planned to hike with a 6 month old & 5 year old expecting to avoid days that were rainy for our 14 days so I can breastfeed on route 🙈..

I'm sorry OP that's awful for you. Unfortunately the weather isn't predictable, if only.Years ago I went Lanzarote in April and the weather was cold and wet for the entire week, meanwhile in Blighty it was 20C hot and sunny 😒

If you wanted warm and dry, this week, you were a bit unreasonable to book somewhere where the average rainfall in March is more than twice that of London, (and in April is more than 1.8 times). Didn’t you pack any books or games?

Tomorrow is looking better, as usual the start of next week. How long are you there for?

Have you got thin coats with you? I’d go exploring and see what’s about. Our hotel had covered table tennis, pool and mini golf, and if there’s a heated outside pool that can still be fun in the rain.

We got them no problem with car hire in Turkey. We didn't have to pay extra (although it might just have been that particular car hire firm lending them out for free).

I’m with you OP. I wouldn’t have left my 1 year old with a bunch of strangers either

Hire a car seat too

Yes, ask the car rental place to give you one.

Most car rental companies will have them and you can hire them also with the car. I don't remember being charged extra for that but I could be wrong.

Can the car rental place lend you one, OP?

Such a shame. It's beautiful weather all week in the UK currently. Went to an open air pool today ! I would try and get out whatever the weather. Can you hire a car and see some sights ?

i knew you were going to say Antalya😂 friends of mine are there and said it’s been raining horribly

Wet weather is par for the course in south western Turkey in early April. Get the tram out to the zoo? Hire a car and head out to Dudem waterfalls? Hire a car and head to the amphitheatre at Aspendos? Or negotiate a fixed price with a driver if you don't want to drive. Visit the amazing museum at Antalya? Head for the Luna Park and see if any rides are open? Go to the Antalya aquarium? Go shell hunting on Konyaalti or Lara beach, depending on which is closest to you? Ask staff at the hotel when the market is on, and then go? Land of Legends is popular with locals I hear.

OP, I have no advice but YANBU.

I had a week in the Canaries, where apparently it was “guaranteed sunshine pretty much all year round”. Well let me tell you. It hammered it down. All week. Wettest week they’d had on record. Being from the North of England, funnily enough, rain was something I was trying to avoid….

That was about a decade ago now, and I’m still very bitter and cannot even hear the same of the Island without simmering. 😡

There’s the aquarium in Antalya (indoors) and a couple of undercover modern shopping centres, tram rides too…

Almost always a warm indoor pool and sauna/Turkish bath to enjoy.

Oh no! That is my worst nightmare with the Maldives. The kids are desperate for me to book a holiday there but I’ve heard so many horror stories of arriving and having a week of torrential rain and winds that I can’t risk the huge financial outlay. From what I’ve read it can be quite difficult to predict the weather there in recent years.

To those saying it’s just a bit of rain and to get on with it, it’s not that simple.

Sun holiday resorts don’t usually have much in the way of indoor activities, you probably haven’t brought the rain cover for the buggy let alone any other warm or wet weather clothing.

It is wall to wall sunshine here in the se but Jesus Christ the wind is ruining everything and I hate it. Feel like we’ve waited so long for blue skies only to have it sullied by the continuation of frosty wind 🤬

Yes, all of this and the museums, the shops, the restaurants, the boat trip around the island of Manhattan, the tour buses - one for uptown, one for downtown, Ground Zero, the Rockefeller Center, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge for lunch or dinner at the River Cafe, walk around SoHo, Greenwich Village, Tribeca and so much more …