To ask for toddler friendly European holiday destinations...

[superwormy]

Dcs will be 2 & 3 next year and we're looking at going away but it's our first family holiday overseas and in all honesty I'm worried it's going to be more stress than it's worth. Our UK trips so far have been eventful to say the least Not sure if we should leave it another year or so before braving sunshine and air travel.

I'd be very grateful for any suggestions. We're thinking more coastal holidays vs cities but open to anything really. Just somewhere we can pretty much revolve the holiday around keeping the dcs entertained.

We have done lots of holidays with DS and all were very stressful (Florida with an 18 month old - fantastic idea!!)
Then we found Eurocamp! It was actually relaxing! Been back to the same one near Paris twice now & looking at a coastal one for next year.
Really good pools, lots of playgrounds.
Lots of your own space around the caravan for them to run around / make noise.
Seems like every family has young children so everyone is in the same boat.
Then in the evening when they go to sleep you can sit on your veranda in peace

I was going to say Eurocamp too! We did loads in Spain and Italy, stayed in site owned accommodation sometimes too. The sites we went to all had fantastic playgrounds, pools etc.

Menorca - super child friendly. Have been going with ours since my DD was 8 months old, they’re 14 and 11 now. Short flight, friendly people who are all so welcoming of children and all resorts are focussed on families, not targeting clubs/drinking culture

Majorca, the canaries, there's loads

Portugal- short flight and no time zone change to contend with! We've been with our DS twice and he's just turned 2.

Toddlers are treated like royalty in Italy. You won’t pay for an ice cream for them all week.

Any resort that has a kids club will have a good pool , play area etc? We’ve taken DS and DD to Lanzarote recently, loved it. Flight was fine.
I’d go for any resort rrally to be honest!

We stayed in a TUI Family Life hotel in Cyprus this year with two three year olds and a baby. It wasn’t the sort of holiday that I would have preferred pre-children, but it was so well set up for families. The food choices were extensive, lots of (terrible) entertainment that the children loved, and loads of shallow pools with easy access and a lovely beach over the road. We used the kids’ club for a couple of hours most days while the baby napped so we could have some time to ourselves, and we came back feeling genuinely rested.

We took DD4 & DS1 to Lanzarote this May & it was excellent. Very family friendly, small island so not travelling far for anything, beaches, fascinating landscapes, a water park/zoo, & not a long flight. We stayed in a villa through Tots to Travel with a pool & shopped at local supermarkets. Great holiday.

French campsites! For all the Eurocamp reasons listed above. We went to Sûnelia in Ile de Ré and it was great for that age. And there’s childcare.

I second Menorca
DD is now 21 but we took her every year and it was fantastic!
So safe and so friendly!!

Eurocamp. Flexible, so relaxed, and not so expensive you feel pained if the whole thing is a wash! Plus you can drive, take your time to get there and pack ALL THE THINGS that make life with tots easier.

Ours are 3 and 9 mths. Weve been to Menorca, Lanzarote and Kos. Were returning to Lanzarote in a few weeks and it is definitely child friendly. We're also off to Portugal next summer

Beekse Bergen safari lodges near Eindhoven. Only an hour's flight away. Plus there is the wonderful Eftling theme park nearby.

Tenerife is fantastic with small children .
We’ve been to lots of places but really loved it there ,was nice and relaxed and they’re fab with kids

Valencia is lovely took twins when they were 3 and again at 5 There’s a beautiful beach plus
www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g187529-d244246-Reviews-Ciudad_de_las_Artes_y_las_Ciencias-Valencia_Province_of_Valencia_Valencian_Country.html
And this
www.tripadvisor.co.nz/ShowUserReviews-g187529-d1064281-r158037529-Bioparc_Valencia-Valencia_Province_of_Valencia_Valencian_Country.html
Kids loved it everyone was really friendly plus the traditional paella was big hit with all of us.

I recommend Eurocamp too! We have stayed in the Beekse Bergen one recommended above which was fab. We have also stayed in one in Germany and Luxembourg. All brilliant. My children's favourite site is Sudsee in Germany x

If they're into it Lake Garda has a Peppa Pig land

Another vote for TUI family life. We went to one in Corfu and it was fantastically set up for us with our 1 year old. Again was t my type of holiday destination pre kids but it was great and I'd definitely go back.

Some amazing suggestions, thanks everyone!

Off to google them all

We've done Greece, Menorca and Gran Canaria with our 2 year old.

Its not so much the destinations but the hotels. All inclusive companies all have 'family friendly' hotels so aim for them

We took our kids to Greece, each island is different but they're all child friendly. I can't count the times they were taken into the kitchens and came out with some sort of treat.

Canaries. You can find a half board package in a hotel that has those apartment type rooms with tiny kitchens. I find a package least stressful as no need to worry about transfers etc and half board means only lunch to think about. Term time prices are usually pretty good.

The places I've been to with DS that I wish I'd taken him to when he was little are Germany and Holland. Children are soooo integrated into life in the German cities, in particular - the beer gardens all have play parks! People are friendly and the cities are clean, everything works like clockwork, public transport just works... We did a Eurocamp thing in Holland it was all lovely, everything based around a lake, loads of cycling (easy to get seats or trailers for wee ones) and again, just all set up for happy family lives.

We loved Ibiza when ours were roughly the same age. We first went when our eldest was almost 2 2. We used to go in May and would stay in Santa Eulalia.