Cheap holiday with a baby??

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DH and I want to go on holiday in May with our DS who will be 18 months by then. We would like to do it really cheaply so I have been looking at package holidays. I have never been on one but DH used to as a child all the time. I see how they are great for slightly older children because they can meet other kids and play in the pool etc while you read your book from a nearby sun lounger. But for an 18 month wouldn't a week just by the pool be a bit boring? I am sort of envisioning somewhere that is a hotel with a pool (or campsite maybe??) but that there are nice walks/bike rides/possibly a beach and a town or something nearby. At the moment DS needs to be doing activities all the time so it would be good if the holiday contained a few little outings (nothing special) as well as being by the pool.

Any ideas? Is Pierre & Vacances the kind of thing I want? Have seen it is popular with MNers!

What is your budget? Do you want to fly or drive? To be honest when dd was that age she was perfectly happy on the beach/in the pool all day. Throw in a playground and a carousel /stroll in the evening and sorted.

Pierre et Vacances is fine - get bigger accommodation than it recommends though. Mobile home holidays in South of France or Italy equally good. I have been recommending Siblu - La Carabasse on here a lot. Lovely pools and town/beach in walking distance. It should be quite quiet in May.

We also did Union Lido in Italy when dd was a baby. Right on the beach, and you can get a bus/boat to Venice. The site is huge and we did not get bored in a week. Canvas and Keycamp go there, and they have bungalows etc you can book direct. http://www.portofelice.it/en/home.aspx Portofelice also gets recommended here a lot.

Another idea is a gite complex - where you get all mod cons eg tv, washing machine etc - with a shared pool/garden.

Portofelice

We've done a Thomson holiday at one of their family resorts every year since DD was 6mo (she's now 3.5) as they're so easy. There's a creche run by English qualified nursery staff which they can go to for a couple of hours a day which gives us a wonderful break and a chance to actually read a book by a pool or have a game of tennis, most days (at a time outside the creche sessions) there's a stay & play session or story time or similar which is an activity for the DC to do and we now do it so one of us takes the DC to the activity whilst the other parent has some downtime, there's often a playground, there's always a mother & baby room which you can access 24/7 and which has a few toys & books in it & at some, such a Protur Aparthotel Bonaire in the Canaries, there are ride ons all over the place which you just help yourself to and then abandon when you've got bored. And then there's the pool.
Actually, Protur Aparthotel Bonaire with an 18mo would be fab. You get a self catering apt so your DS can go to bed in the evening & you can be in the sitting room or on the balcony (or your DS can go to the creche & you can go out ), about a 5min walk from the hotel is the little down with a lovely wide promenade for your DS to toddle along, there's the beach for paddling etc.

Second the Bonaire...we've been there at least once a year since having DS, he's now nearly 4, and we've never tired of it

jsut a thought, pool in May?? European pool wont be warm till June unless its heated.

I agree with getting a little suite or apartment. We went to Florida with DS1 when he was about that age and as he needed to go to bed at 7pm we needed another room in which to be, while still close to him. A hotel room is not ideal for this unless it's a place that has a child listening service that you're happy to use. A fridge is also very useful as hotels don't always provide the kind of food your child is used to eating and at the times he's used to eating it.

What I'd be looking for would be a place with: indoor playroom or ideally soft play area (my 18-month-old loves ball pits, slides, etc), outdoor play area, toddler pool, possibly beach, possibly playroom, children's high tea, possibly child listening service in the evenings.

Sorry - the second 'playroom' in my post was meant to say 'creche'