Holiday advice please

[Newstartplease24]

advice please as I have never been on holiday -

is there such a thing as a relatively budget all inclusive sunny resort which is a bit chill and not too noisy? Somewhere where there might be a bit of history, culture etc not too far away

Im a tired introverted middle aged lady who likes to chill, read, walk and wander, swim. My teenaged daughters are fairly quiet too but less keen on the history / walking side of things - theyd be happier left by a pool.

is there anywhere that might suit us or is not-too-expensive all inclusive always going to be a bit of a shouty crowded affair?

thanks

What time of year? I would recommend this resort in Portugal. https://rochabrava.com/en/?gadsource=1&gadcampaignid=23601250934&gbraid=0AAAAAD1t-psOZ-QWtBKL8s1GiwdvQjD&gclid=CjwKCAjw7vzOBhBxEiwAc7WNr5FJBE7JxnaHcJDkOWzXAGecb8WTUcRZdTVOWDOxCtd25AdlsIybVhoCPMIQAvDBwE

I actually live here, and there is a great mix of long term, short term and holiday makers. Lovely pools, plenty of room. Tennis and pickle courts, table tennis, crazy golf ... Shuttle buses into town, but there are several local restaurants within a short walk as well as the onsite restaurant (you can have breakfast included but there are supermarkets on the resort), and the beach is about 15 minutes walk. Very safe for teens to wander around. As far as history is concerned, you will need to take an uber. We have the famous Benagil caves close by and the seven hanging valleys trail in our area. https://www.walkalgarve.com/algarve-walking-sightseeing-birding-routes/seven-hanging-valleys-trail-lagoa-western-algarve

Why do you want all inclusive?
i always fine the food pretty bland and they only make sense if you want to drink cheap alcohol all day unlimited

The cheaper option is usually if you can get somewhere with just breakfast with a hotel style small complex with pool and on site restaurant and room is a small 2 bedroom apartment. That way you have bedroom each and apartment facilities to self cater sometimes to keep costs down. And can choose to eat out or in hotel restaurant as and when it’s suits.

pick areas you would like to explore for history and culture and then look around.
There’s some lovely more like guest houses in Italy or Croatia for example where you have room and breakfast, they often have a pool, and they have option to eat in evening if you like. Hire car and you can explore all local towns and areas as much or little

Ok that’s a good suggestion. I just don’t want to be cooking dinner all the time (shopping for it and washing up as much as actually cooking) but eating out can be so expensive… I guess I was thinking that all inclusive you can’t “see” the money. But - are there still nice inexpensive restaurants in other countries? Every family restaurant in this country is shit and extortionate

That place looks amazing ! Thanks

Yes, there are nice, inexpensive restaurants in other countries. Plus with teens, they cook, wash up and shop too, or else they don't eat. They want drinks, snacks and ice creams, they know where the shop is and you just lay on your sun lounger.

Second @Caspianberg suggestion about an apartment on a complex. If you went half board it's usually hardly any more cost than B&B so you could have breakfast and sometimes dinner in the hotel, but if it's not high end, it's pretty dull and repetitive, so you'd probably not want to do it every night, but it's easy and 'free' as you've already paid for it. Lanzarote has lots of bungalow complexes, so might be a good place to start looking. Pick somewhere that's walking distance from amenities so you can go for a wander to eat out, beach or bus to other parts of the island.

Then you can eat out sometimes, or have lunch out while you're out and about and perhaps just have a bit in the restaurant in the evening.

Thank you for the advice I have received so far.

does anyone else have any particular resorts or destinations thy could recommend?
places to definitely avoid?

If you’ve never been abroad before I’d probably start somewhere like Mallorca. It has a variety of resorts to suit everyone, it’s small enough that you could get around with public transport (the buses are tap on/tap off ones) to see cultural sites amd the tourist infrastructure is good. It’s a relatively short flight too.
Have a look at Jet2 Holidays for somewhere in your budget.

When are you going and what’s your budget?

Are you tied to school holidays with your teens? Or can you go in September when places are quieter and cheaper. How about one of the greek islands. Hospitality in greece is amazing and fairly cheap. So no need for All Inclusive. If you want somewhere quieter and less developed, maybe Kefalonia. Although my favourite is crete, which has plenty of less developed places too. Whichever part of Greece you go to though, historical and cultural sites are never far away.