Please find a holiday for me

[DistrictCommissioner]

I’m tearing my hair out at this point.

Trying to plan a week’s holiday in August with 80yr old MIL who currently can only walk 300 yards & can’t do stairs - hopefully this may have improved by then but might not. We also have kids who will be 14, 11 and 7, & like to be active.

I thought I had found a good solution with a water sports holiday in Greece where granny could sit with a book under an olive tree while we splashed about, but it has been vetoed because wrong airport for Granny & too hot.

So now looking for somewhere flying from Southampton & not in Greece. That suits the needs of all the above parties.

Obviously I have suggested to DH that maybe holidaying with MIL is no longer compatible with having a holiday we will enjoy, but he has yet to come to that understanding…

Look at Camping Bella Italia in Italy as it could be perfect for your situation. It had direct beach access and three are five large swimming pools with slides for both children and adults.
For your MIL, there’s a little land train that runs regularly from the campsite into the local town, plus organised excursions that pick up from the campsite. There’s lots of evening entertainment including musicals and circus shows. There’s also a little onsite surgery with a doctor in attendance during certain hours.
There’s a good choice of different types of accommodation.

Would she us a wheelchair?
Cruise?

Cruise 100%

You can get her an accessible cabin so she can use a wheelchair. You can rent them for at sea.

Just sail from Southampton

The Med in August is always going to be too hot so it's a case of Med holiday, August, MIL, pick two because you're not going to tick all those boxes.

I'm now thinking of the Madge-mobile in Benidorm, but if you don't fancy going there, get a villa nearby and get one of the many mobility scooter hire places to bring you one for MIL to use. But it's still going to be too hot in August in the Med.

But yes, can you solve the 'unable to walk very far' conundrum with a hired mobility scooter, but then obviously you want to avoid the sort of place that has lots of steep roads, ramps and unconventional approaches to step free access as that would introduce another problem to overcome.

A cruise was described by her as ‘ghastly’ so think that’s a no go.

I suggested a wheelchair - its not been shot down by DH but he hasn’t relayed it to MIL yet - I imagine she doesn’t feel decrepit enough to accept a wheelchair…

I don’t know if it’s obvious but I am feeling frustrated. I really want a family holiday this year & everything is seeming really tricky to arrange.

I will look at Bella Italia, thanks five

Personally if budget allows I would do a week abroad without her for the kids to enjoy and then have a week with her Cornwall or something.
If that's not an option maybe try and find a really active resort south of France somewhere like Argeles for kids to do beach stuff and MIL to scoot along the front or relax at the apartment/villa.
Having someone with very limited mobility along is really all about them and it has to be so it's up to you as a family to decide if that's fair on you all for your one week of fun.
I don't think it's cruel to prioritise your family you obviously really care about MIL and have had her holiday with you before.

If the flights have to be from Southampton OP, I would look at where you can fly from that airport and take it from there.

In August, pretty much anywhere in the Med will be 30s or even 40s (degrees). Older people do struggle to regulate their body temp, like babies do, so I can understand why she doesn't want to go to Greece.

Portugal, on the Atlantic, tends to be cooler, as are the Canaries and Madeira, so can you fly to any of those from Southampton? If so, I'd then look for resorts that might suit you. I can't recommend any, I'm afraid, but I'm sure if you ask that question specifically, there will be MNers who can.

Yes, I was just coming back to suggest France, but the west coast, somewhere like ile de Rey (I think that's where people go on holiday, sorry I don't know much about it, but I know friends like taking their camper van down that way.

Won't be as hot as Greece, you can probably do watersports etc and hopefully MIL can find a nice shady spot to relax with her book.

Looks like you can fly to Faro (Algarve), but not the Canaries or Madeira. I'm sure there are lots of options on the Algarve though and plenty of MNers who can give you suggestions: www.southamptonairport.com/destinations/all-destinations/

What if you left the organisation of this up to DH? It's his mother, and if he's still under the impression that all of his family's needs can be met by one holiday, then I'd leave it to him to arrange.

I generally think MILs get a hard time on MN, but in this case unless she is paying for your holiday I think you're shortchanging your kids by allowing her veto - a watersports holiday in Greece sounds ideal for active kids of their ages.
As pp said, anywhere in the Med will be hot in August so I would go on that holiday as a family and then spend a week, or long weekend if you don't have leave, in UK somewhere.

I love booking holidays so looked at Southampton for you but the options are quite limited as pp found. We love the Algarve but you'll need to organise your own activities - what will MIL be doing while you're out and about, wherever you go?

There are also flights to Amsterdam, for a different type of holiday and cooler. Our DC really enjoyed Efteling, although we did not go in the summer.

Majorca is an option from Southampton on the Tui website.
Granny sounds quite difficult to please.

To be fair to her Granny in her younger days was an intrepid holidaymaker - she’s been to South Africa and Sri Lanka with us - but now she’s less hale & hearty, it’s proving difficult to combine her desires/abilities with ours… I have been looking at some of your suggestions & feeling more & more that it just doesn’t work. Going to have a proper chat with DH about it & pin him down.

We managed to get my then 90 yo FIL who had limited mobility, to Zermat in Switzerland and up the Matterhorn! However he was more than happy to use a wheelchair. If your MIL could be persuaded to use one the possibilities would be endless.

I 2nd Bella italia, coffee shop etc on site and so much for kids to do. We were there about 8 years ago when it was smaller so there's a lot more to do now. It has some nice restaurants in the town that has a nice flat walk to so could use wheelchair also. It also runs day trips to Venice etc. Could you tell me what one you found in greece please as we are in same predicament but elderly person loves heat!

France —- either west coast near Pyla Dune for kids sports or Ardeche for river sports, climbing, cycling for the kids.
Sea breezes keep the West coast fresher and the Ardeche shouldn’t be too hot. Dordogne / Lot will also have lots of river and lake based sports activities.