Which holiday

[Twizbe]

Trying to decide on a holiday for this summer.

Basic info;

Family of 4 (children aged 6 and 4) one parent works full time the other is a SAHP. Two weeks during school holidays. One child has a food allergy.

Option 1 - self catering gites or apartment in France
Pros - own pool or limited others to share with. Parents and kids have separate bedrooms. Easy to cater for food allergy. Days out for the kids. DD wants to learn French so hearing us speak it more / give her chance to speak it. Loved this type of holiday as a child.

Cons- the drive. Having to self cater, same shit, different location. Cost of entrances / meals out. Petrol costs. Lack of kids club or time for just us adults.

Option 2 - all inc somewhere
Pros - we've done this twice now and the kids really enjoy it. Especially if there's a water park. No one has to cook or plan meals. Pay everything upfront. We really limit extra spending on these holidays. No driving. Kids club / gym

Cons - hit and miss on catering for allergy. Children live off chips for 2 weeks lol. Usually all have to sleep in one room.

All inclusive holidays leave me cold TBH. I'd rather self cater and go to France any day.

I also don't find the cooking too bad. As easy meals as possible and works for us; we have a child with additional needs and I'd rather know I can buy the food he likes rather than relying on buffet food.

Could you consider fly/driving rather than driving from the UK?

Is there something half way between the two where there would be more activities / kids club but you could still self cater? Something like Eurocamp maybe?? Or fly then hire a car (if needed) rather than driving all the way?

All inclusive get my vote with kids that age. Somewhere with a kids club.

Second a halfway between option.

Apartment, caravan, big tent or small villa on a complex or in a central location with transfers so you don't need to drive all the time - make sure it's walking distance to a supermarket or large convenience store, beach, playpark etc and has a dishwasher if possible.

Perhaps get B&B if you generally eat breakfast. Get lunch while you're out and about. For evening meals stock up on easy food and snacks from the convenience store - drinks, crisps, cheese, olives, break, ice creams etc etc so you can have relaxing evening on the balcony/terrace/round pool then drinks with DH after DC have gone to bed. Or eat in at lunchtime and go out for a walk and early dinner.

Doesn't really count as cooking/same shit if you both pull your weight and resist the temptation to do a load of unnecessary cleaning and organising. I don't count buying some bread, cheese and other bits as 'cooking or planning meals'

Perhaps hire a car or book excursions to go out to a couple of trips to water park or similar.

All the pros of the first option with none of the cons of the second.

Find a middle ground. Personally a self catering arrangement with children is not my idea of a holiday, at least an all inclusive or similar will mean you can rest while they're in kids club.

For me it's AI, more of a holiday that way, i'd do plenty of research on the hotels i liked and email them to see what they can cater for.
At that age the one room thing doesn't bother me, you could try and look for a hotel where you get a room with a separate bedroom, we had that last year in Majorca, we had the bedroom and daughter had the sofa bed.

Love AI with kids. I find it total break. Hate self-catering, it’s all just too much work and I don’t feel like I’ve had a rest. With AI the thinking is done for me, so a proper break.

This is def me on an AI. We're on one at the moment and it's really lovely not having to think about food at all. The only downsides really are the room sharing and limited options for my eldest.

I forgot to mention that hiring a car isn't possible for us really. If we did France we'd probably do a longer ferry to avoid a massive drive.

I'm leaning towards AI though a less busy pool would be nice:

You have 2 weeks, can do both, week each.

most relaxing holidays I've had are AI. No cooking, cleaning, driving: zero hassle and total relaxation. If you choose your hotel really carefully (great food and great location, preferably walking distance to town/shops/beach) it's unbeatable.

When DC were small we used to go to France on Eurocamp / Canvas Holidays type holidays - plenty of kids activities, playgrounds, other kids to play wiht, decent pools, bars, restaurants etc. Don't even have to have a tent - the large caravans are usually better than most apartments, gites etc!

Normandy is really accessible from Caen / Cherbourg / Le Havre / St Malo - longer crossing, but plenty to do on the ferry, and you'd have a short drive the other side.

Brittany really lovely too (very much like Cornwall) and the Loire if you're not worried abut beaches.

I'd do France over AI any day - the self catering is more fun in france, I love the french supermarkets!

Gite in France.

It's more of a family adventure and experience. Eating different places, exploring experiencing the language and culture. Family games in the pool without any one else.

Yes it's more effort but you get more out of it.

Maybe alternate years with a total AI relax type holiday then more of a family adventure.

Everyone says you have to be one type or the other but I say that's rubbish you can enjoy both.

Club la Santa? loads of activities / kids clubs and various catering options. They host sports training camps so i'm fairly sure they'll have something other than chips every day.

Only ever did AI twice pre DC (wasn't a massive fan) but now with young, fussy kids it's all I'd consider abroad at the moment.@ I'm not SC for us all [and yes it would be me]. Fuck that shit.

As things stand we can't afford a holiday abroad so a week on the UK coast in July will have to suffice (family friends cottage, slight discount but not much) and we'll be mainly SC 😪

I would find an in between. AI sounds dreadful these days with the monotonous buffet options whereby food quality low and every meal tastes the same. Similarly France sounds better but hard work with driving cooking cleaning up and full on entertaining.

A hotel with two bed room, bed and breakfast and some low key kids activities so they can meet and play with other kids, have fun and you have some down time. Or a holiday let with decent sized communal pool, fly, do breakfast and light lunch in accommodation and eat out every night.

I wish I had discovered AI with kids sooner than I did, instead of years of S/C.
It's perfect for the age of your DC.

Lots of AI places have two bedroom bungalows.
As far as food is concerned the budget dictates how good it is. The more you pay the better the food. The cheaper end may be poor quality /monotonous but pay a bit more and you can have more choice.
Often people deride AI as repetitive because they fill their plates indiscriminately with everything, pasta, rice, steak, fish all on one plate.
If a child eats chips for a week it won't do them any harm but it's nicer for you if you can eat well.

I find AI more relaxing. Perhaps I am
very lucky that the AI we went to last year and will be going back to this year has food that is anything but bland or monotonous. The hotels also have plenty activities and more facilities in general. Just have to find a good one. No allergies in our family but a friend we met there had a boy with some and they were fantastic, making him his own special meals to order when required.

1. Every time

Sorry, option 1 every time

There are a few options out there that have the best of both IMO. Basically similar to your option 1 but with a restaurant on site or restaurants very nearby.

We love this kind of set up as we can eat in the restaurant for dinner but have snacky lunches and breakfast in our cottage/apartment. Much less hard work than full self catering but more flexible than AI.

Two examples are Eleonas in Crete or Hotel Suites Villa Maria in Tenerife. If you wanted France, I think there are a few gite complexes which offer some catering or have restaurants eg Longeveau or Les Gites Noyers

Also Ferme du Cayla

France but I would look for a eurocamp type of place.

We liked AI when DD was that age as it meant she had other children to play but we still did lots of outings, always had a hire car. 2. weeks only in the resort would. drive all of us crazy.

AL for me but only if it’s a none IGE allergy. But choose your hotel carefully. You can search for allergies within trip advisor reviews. Unless the other parent wants to do all the cooking and cleaning.

I only every consider AI or at least half board. A holiday should be a break for everyone from the every day. With kids even more so. 1 doesn’t sound like relaxation to me

I think that depends. Sharing a room for more. than a night is not relaxing for me and. worrying about food allergies where I can't control the meals is also not easy.