The best Family holiday you have been on & where you stayed?

[MorningCoffee]

Looking for our summer 2013 holiday, What is the best Family friendly holiday you have been on & the nicest hotel/apartment you have stayed in?

FC Holiday Village Manar in Tunisia was excellent, loads for the kids (not teens), fabulous pools, lovely clean beach and top notch food.

We loved Morocco a couple of years ago, the place we stayed at was OK (Caribbean Village Agador), but the food was pretty rank. We ate out a lot and fell in love with the place. So are looking again for this year.

Jungle Aqua Park Hurghada was DDs favourite. Loads of pools, a waterpark, large rooms and lots to do. The food was hit and miss but we didn't go hungry. Being able to walk out of our room and 'fall' into a pool made up for lots!

triplets just in case this is any help, there's a thread on cruises.co.uk which has quite a lot of people's experiences of getting travel insurance with pre-existing medical conditions including cancer:
www.cruises.co.uk/513-insurance/1542-insurance_pre_existing_medical_conditions_compilation.html
and another for those who have had cancer:
www.cruises.co.uk/1061-disabled_cruising/24592-travel_insurance_people_who_have_had_cancer.html

catnipkitty Tell us more about the Flotilla - it sounds amazing :)

Marking my place...looking for a lovely toddler friendly hotel in UK which won't cost the earth.

Anyone been to The Sands in Cornwall?

Vagaceratops Hi :) We use Sailing Holidays, a really great company, had a 3 berth yacht to ourselves and sailed with a group of about 12 boats. We'd have a lovely breakfast meeting where the lead crew would chat about our destination for the day and then set off at our own pace to arrive at the specified harbour on one of the islands by about 4pm. moor up (with lots of help from the others if needed) have a swim and a scrummy meal and beer in a little local taverna.
DH is an experienced sailor, the rest of us just did as we were told! Our DDs took to it immediately. The only negative thing was the long delay coming home from the tiny airport with about 100 seats for about 500 waiting passengers!

www.sailingholidays.com/?gclid=CP_TpJrs1bQCFSHHtAodmRkAeA

Thanks :)

Longfufu - I havent, but I am on their email list and it looks amazing!

Do you have to have had sailing experience catnip?

Someone asking where in Austria - we have stayed at Hotel Seitenalm. We have also stayed at Hotel Sonngastein. Both really excellent and with a choice of rooms from all being in together to two bedroom apartments. But I think a lot of the other hotels are similar especially Kinderhotels for younger kids. They all run programmes for the children throughout the day such as volleyball matches, riding in some cases etc.

I suggest Salzburgerland as a good area because there is lots to do and you can buy the card I mentioned - I wrote the price wrongly - it was EURO140 for all 4 of us (2 adults and 2 children) not just for one adult - for 12 days free entry into loads of activities - so even though the hotel is quite expensive - you get all meals included and you can do all your activities for free. There are loads of outdoor swimming pools and lakes, lots of the skiing cable cars operate in the summer onto great hiking trails - plus at the top of some of the mountains there are playground areas and activity areas for kids. The weather has been around 25-30 degrees when we have been there in August. If you can live without the beach then I would really recommend it.

For a cheaper option, we absolutely LOVED campsite near Venice last year, and are going back this summer. (I never go back somewhere twice!) For pure laid back, chilled, everyone happy kind of holiday it was lovely. We stayed in Thomson Alfresco mobile home, with air con which was essential as very hot out there in August, and you walked along one tree lined path to the pool complex, or turned left for the beach........ everywhere walkable, we don't bother hiring a car, just use public transport eg for going to Venice. I barely got dressed beyond swim wear and sarong for 10 days. This year is costing £400 for 4 flights, Ryanair to Treviso, about 150 euros for airport taxi transfer, and £1500 for 12 nights on the site. Oh, and we can use up to £500 of Tesco vouchers. I tell you, it was the most relaxing holiday I've ever been on with the DC, with a bit of culture too.

St Ives is my favourite place in the world. We went on the train which DS thought was an adventure in itself (aged 5) and stayed in a little cottage. We went in January and had a real fire, fish n chips and windy walks along the coast. DH and I went there for our honeymoon in May and I would like to take the kids at this time of year so they can see the seals and play on the beaches.

We also took the train to London this summer and stayed in a Premier Inn for a few days, visiting the museums and doing the tourist bits. The underground might not be so exciting for grown ups but too a 6 year old boy it's amazing.

I love camping and luckily live in Devon so thats easy, however DH hates it...

If people are contemplating a theme park holiday, such as Disneyland Paris, I would implore you to consider going to Europapark instead. You can fly to Badrl Mulhouse airport and be at Rust, where the park is located, in an hour.

You'll have so much enjoyment for 1/3 of the price, proper food (by that I mean each theme restaurant has it's own menu, and not the same fast food repeated over and over), great service and the hotels are amazing from 120? a night. They also have cabins, wagons and Western style camp accommodation.

All of the hotels have heated pool, spa and gym access, soft play areas, children's entertainment and character breakfasts.

The choice of rides is great for all ages and thrill seekers and their themes are always interesting and well though out e.g Halloween.

My ds never wants to go back to Disneyland. The Bell Rock hotel is ten times better than the Disney Hotel for a fifth of the price.

minxthemanx which campsite near Venice? And who do you book through to use Tesco vouchers?
We've done lots of French campsite holidays but keen to try Italy.

Best ever holiday was Thailand. We travelled around a bit, but my favourite place to stay was Sensi Paradise on Koh Tao. favourite beach was Thong Nai Pan Yai on Koh PhaNgan, although our accommodation wasn't great here. We went there with a small dd1, pregnant with dd2; not sure what it would be like with three kids, and one of them on the autism spectrum..

Also loved honeymooning in Ischia and Naples, on Ischia we rented a tiny cliff top villa where we had the most amazing view. Had my 30th birthday there, which we celebrated in style with a 5 course Italian dinner. Great way to say goodbye to my twenties :) Hope I can go back for my 40th, then I can feel positive about that too!

Best French campsites we've been to are Le Lac Des Reves and Sequoia Park.

Our best was July 2010, we hired a villa in the middle of nowhere in Menorca.

The villa was surprising gorgeous for the money, huge private pool, huge gardens full of birds, lizards and insects, it was 30 degrees and sunny every day, we found gorgeous new restaurants and beaches we hadn't visited before and best of all for me, a wild Mediterranean tortoise wandered around the garden one day.

Best best ever holiday.

Shame now that that owner wants to sell the villa and had let it get a bit run down.

For anyone who likes Center Parcs, we really recommend Landal parks in Germany and the Netherlands. Cheaper than Center Parcs, food is better and lots of children's activities are free. Fantastic soft play areas and parks too.

weegiemum, can you pm me the details of the house you rent out please?

Triplets sorry you've had such a tough five years
I think in your position, I would think sod the insurance and go on a lovely holiday anyway. If our DH has the all clear for now, what are the chances of a relapse during a few weeks abroad? Is there an added risk with flying (forgive my ignorance)?
Its possible the US don't let you in without insurance (I can't remember), but could you do a road trip in Europe?

Best holidays for us with ds have been:

Almond Morgan Bay resort St Lucia, great childcare staff and atmosphere.
Hotel Playa Pesquero, Cuba
For the last two years we have hired private villas with pools in Tuscany, sharing with friends and these have been the most relaxing of late.

Fabulous thread, have just come to it. Definitely one to keep to refer to in the next few years!

Have flights to Mallorca booked for this summer. Anyone stayed anywhere nice or have any fab ideas where to stay? Someone upthread mentioned Pollensa, looks lovely but I can't see anywhere great to stay. (DCs are 5 and 7 years). Life is pretty busy so ideally I would like NOT to have to cook.

My best holiday? Canada, British Columbia. Taking in the ice Parkway, Jasper/ Lake Louise/Rockies/etc. Absolutely stunning. Fantastic holiday.

Thank you everybody for suggestions, have looked at a lot of them. We have 5 kids ages 16, 15, 11, 11 and a new baby (9 months old in the summer holidays). Really no idea where to go to make this work and budget is a big issue too. Any suggestions much appreciated.

We've been to Sands although it was over 10 years ago and has been upgraded since. Set up really suited us - ds was 2 1/2 - although he caught a tummy bug.

Have had a couple of good Pierre et Vacances self catering holidays in France. Their Belle Dune resort is an hour or so from Calais, close to a sandy beach and small seaside resorts with restaurants and has an indoor pool with chutes and wave machine. Also summer alpine holidays in Switzerland and Austria.

Alfafa we booked through Thomson Alfresco. Really helpful reservations team on the phone and they know the campsites really well. Chose italy as didn't want to hire car/drive and we could fly from Stansted to Venice really cheaply. We stayed at San Angelo campsite - large ish but never felt over crowded in August - pool was busy but separate pool for smaller kids and also some big flumes. Pool bar/cafe lovely - and stays open during the strictly enforced siesta between 1 and 3pm! (Everyone out the pool, no ball games, cars driving around etc. It's actually really nice!) Also liked San Angelo as it has beautiful rose gardens near the pool but not next to it, so you can lie in sun without the noise from pool, and they don't make you wear swimming hats which most Italian sites do. Thomson mobiles are very small, though, so if you need bigger, try their other sites- marina de Venezia is another good one, there are loads in the same area.

But I have to say we were incredibly lucky to get 4 flights for £400 return - I did book back in October. I think it's still a pretty cheap holiday, especially for Italy- there's no way we could ever afford villas etc. And I loved doing pilates on the beach at sunset...............

Italy - we just love it there. We have stayed at a number of places but the best we found is "Alsagra". It is near Tuscany and there is so much to do there. Our kids went to the local waterparks and felt so much at home they really keep asking to go back. It is difficult to get the weeks you want unless you book early as it is so popular. The apartment we stayed in was Papaveri which was great, tons of stuff for our kids including a zip wire, caravan and great swimming pool. only 3 families/apartments there so not overcrowded

Best recent holiday was a Family Activity Break with PGL in Devon.

It was ridiculously cheap (about £850 for five of us, inclusive of all meals and all activities) because they were running a "kids go free" deal.

The rooms were pretty basic, but we had an absolute ball abseiling, raft-building, trampolining, mountain-biking, swimming, fencing, skiing and generally throwing ourselves off high objects for a week. All three DCs loved it (including hard-to-please Mr Moody DS, who was 12 at the time). The food was excellent too.

I cannot recommend Denmark enough - sail to esjberg from harwich and go north for an hour to Jutland area see www.klitferie.dk for accommodation, we stayed in a thatched cottage, near amazing beaches although some of the rentals have their own indoor pools, can cycle everywhere safely, using the car for day trips to explore. It is relatively undiscovered as most of the holiday makers are danes. They have a great way of life and a fat tax so you won't eat as much ice cream as it is blooming expensive!