to want a holiday suitable for me and DH and a 2 year old??!

[iloveberries]

i don't know if this is a no win situation but we would like to go holiday somewhere ideally start of march 2012.

Must be

• 25 degrees c min
• suitable for a 2 year old
• I would do long haul but only one long flight, so thailand would be a yes but oz probably a no.
• Non malarial
• not just a beach! DH isn't much of a sunbathing fan so it would be nice to have stuff to do, a bit of culture etc. I'm not thinking of dragging DS round museums but he likes to wander and at this age he's not old enough to say 'boring'!!
• not a really popular tourist resort. I know our time will come but at the moment we are steering clear of disney, centerparcs, etc

We could go in april or may which might give some places time to heat up.

Thanks!!

Luxor. No beach but plenty of places to wander around

Turkey - beaches near Istanbul?

Was going to suggest Lake Garda and Italy, but might not be quite warm enough for you until April/May.

will have to research luxor - thanks!

turkey i love but we went there this april. lovely time of year but fancy somewhere different next year.

i'm desperate for someone to post on here about an intrepid tour of the amazon on a boat designed for toddlers! hmmmm, could i be onto something here?!

The interesting (less dull) part of Cyprus. Malta has got some interesting history.

Morocco. Tunisia.

Just thoughts.

Majorca, Minorca, the nice parts of Ibiza , Crete

Cape Town.

Cape Town is a good shout (if you can face the flight with a toddler).

Oman

You can get some great deals to the Caribbean

Lanazrote was our favourite holiday, beach was 20 mins walk from our hotel but loads of rock pools at the hotel which was great fun. We got the boat to Fuertaventura and went to the sand dunes which were just wonderful. Had lots to do and our hotel was focused for the spanish so not your usual brit place which was upsetting other brits in our hotel that there were no chicken nuggets for lunch or tea (yipeee) kids loved the pancake counter which were freshly made and the pasta counter where fresh pasta and sauces were created to order. We went on a submarine but ran out of time for the other places as we loved chilling.

Sicily
Mainland Greece or Crete
Jordan

A friend went to Cuba with a 1yr old this year. It helps to have a devil may care attitude to 'elf n safety for that trip though as the cars, planes and buildings are all falling to bits.

Nice is lovely. Small City, on the coast (pebbly beaches iirc); streets, markets and shops to wander round. Short flight, and a quick bus ride from airport to city centre. On South coast of France so fairly hot in summer.

I'd second Cuba- we went early 2010 (although without child), and there were loads of families with small children there. We spent half the holiday in a beach resort, and the other half in Havana and had a brilliant time! Would def go back with DS.

cape town i think would be great, all sorts for a child to see and we've always wanted to go there. I guess if you're sensible it's safe? (MIL would be horrified at us taking DGS there i know!)

cuba - again always been on my hit list - i will investigate just how much everything is falling aoart ;)

think the canaries and balearics will be great in a few years but maybe not for our 2012 jaunt. ditto carribbean.... i'd be worried there wasn't enough to do except beach stuff (fine for me i could lie on a beach for a month but DS and DH would hate that!)

N.Africa - guess it depends what the situation is like there?? though i read triopli was going to be the destination to watch so who knows!!

Oman i will read up on this! DH has irrational hatred for dubai (irrational as he's never been there)

thanks folks! more ideas welcome!

Dubai?

Cuba is amazing but a minimum 8 hour flight.

Lanzarote is lovely and there are volcanoes to explore and some lovely beaches (I'm not a beach person either). Plus you can take a trip to Fuertoventura.

Sicily is lovely, fab walks, food, culture.

I second oman. Fab temperature in march, lots to see and do, and gorgeous beaches.

Decide on what the max length of flight is (build in delays there always are some!) and work from there. If you going somewhere off the beaten track then plan for it to not be as child friendly as if you went to a resort type place. can you really cope with that (be honest what is your tolerance to rooms with balconies that kids can fall out of especially an adventurous 2 year old?) With our first we tried loads of holidays like this - the sort of thing we did when it was just 2 of us and i ended up a nervous wreck. good luck if you are the sort of person who can cope - i know now that i am not.

We are doing Tunisia next July with a 7 yr old with adhd and a 2 yr old with possible asd. It's only 3 hour flight loads of culture as been before and nice beaches. We going all ibclysive

What about Spain or Morroco?

Loads to do in Cyprus, was there in Feb with 2 year old. Went to beach a bit, but saw loads of other things

cruise round carribean p/o azura and ventura really child friendly different island every day loads to see each island or lay on beach. gambiawarm yhat time of year or cape verde

"i'm desperate for someone to post on here about an intrepid tour of the amazon on a boat designed for toddlers! hmmmm, could i be onto something here?!"

South America is child friendly, all the restaurants have high chairs, not the big plastic ones here, ones that are made as part of the dining furniture.

It is also seen as 'bad form' to mug a family with young children e3ven in the 'mugging' places