Give me your best ideas.....need a great holiday

[yogabird]

We want to go somewhere hot, for 10 days from 19th July. A small hotel, no jolly kids clubs cos Dds just not interested and if your kids aren't involved its nice not to have a club going on around you. A pool is essential it could be anywhere short haul but the restriction is budget £2000-2500 all in for 2 adults and 2 children. Is it possible?

Lake Garda. I am biased because I love the place. We don't "do" kids clubs/all inclusive/avoid the foreigners holidays and Lake Garda ticks all the right boxes for us. Other reasons - fab weather, lots to see and do, lots of opportunity to laze by or in a pool, great food, stunning scenery. What's not to like?

Have you thought of Majorca - Puerto Pollensa's lovely; or the Algarve; Carveiro or Alvor - both safe, family-friendly, etc.

Bunbaker we're off to Lake Garda in August! If you have any pearls of wisdom would you PM me? We've opted for Camping del Garda in a large mobile. Our teens are not into group activities and are pretty quiet but do need a little more than a villa and pool this year. Hopefully this site is not as full-on as some, but has tennis, table-tennis, and the lake for boats/pedaloes 5 mins stroll away.
10 nights there and 2 nights in a hotel in Venice including flights from Man-Venice is costing us about £2700.

Which town will you be near 3catsandcounting? Is it Peschiera?

bunbaker Yes, Peschiera - it's around 15 mins walk along the lake apparently.

Lanzarote. I thought it would be grotty but it's actually rather lovely.

We went across to Peschiera for the market. I bought a dress and DD a blouse. It is worth going to. From Peschiera you absolutely must take a ferry to Sirmione. Also Gardone if you have time. Malcesine would be a bit of a slog unless you get the more expensive rapid ferry. Verona is near enough for a day trip. There is Gardaland, but as we don't do theme parks I couldn't tell you what it is like. I think it is worth getting a ferry up to Garda as well because you get to see how much more hilly it gets by the lake. And you can sit in a cafe by the lake for a refreshing Aperol spritz.

Make sure you have aircon in your mobile home as it is too hot to sleep at night without. Also take plenty of insect repellant as mosquitoes are plentiful.

Thanks for the info bunbaker; definitely got a/c, will remember mozzie spray; we'll have a car so looking forward to exploring. I fancy a trip on the cable cars! My teens biggest concern is wi-fi(!) I guess we'll have to visit a few bars!

I can't recommend Llfranc in the Costa Brava enough! It's a lovely small resort with a gorgeous safe sheltered sandy beach, a handful of bars & restaurants fine for a 2 week holiday but it doesn't feel overrun with them & I've certainly never seen big groups or hen/stag type parties. It's a genteel family place (& apparently the destination of choice for the well-heeled Spanish) and hasn't really changed since I first went 25 years ago which can't be said for many Spanish resorts! I love hotel terramar but like most the hotels in the area there's no pool but you literally walk across the (quiet) road to the beach. Sorry no idea on prices

Lake Garda is AMAZING. I loved it. We stayed in Bella Italia. Highlighted visiting Verona and going to the opera there. Day trip to Venice by train is great too.

For the Mosquitos try skin so soft moisturiser by Avon. It works better than any mosquito repellant I've ever tried and moisturises you at the same time!!

Good advice rachy - thanks!!

Dh proposed to me in Sirmione.

"It works better than any mosquito repellant I've ever tried and moisturises you at the same time!!"

It doesn't work for OH. He has to cover every millimetre of bare skin in DEET to not get bitten.

Kalkan in south-easy Turkey - beautiful.

Luxor Egypt. The Nile the valley of the kings. The museums. The food. The sun.

Stay at the Sheraton with the gorgeous pool. Divine!!

Best holiday ever.

Great that's a good start will look up lake Garda now. Is it too scary to book stuff all separately I wonder rather than doing it through an agent. Nothing against agents want it simple and stress free.

Oh and llfranc sounds lovely too. Isn't Egypt a bit scary ATM?

yogabird We always book separately - dead easy! This will be our first trip to Lake Garda but I've done a fair amount of research - do ask if you need any advice!

oh thanks 3cats. Can never think about it til weekends so it'll be on the front burner again on Saturday where we'll be having the circular conversation of 'what shall we do', 'will you sort it or shall I?' I'll keep watching this space and stay in touch :-)

We love Majorca, our favourite part is Cala D'Or. Last year we stayed at the Cala Azul Gardens which is a really small block of apartments, but part of a big complex. They independent in that you have a pool there, with kids pool, snack bar but if you wanted to use the gym and the kids clubs etc you have to go over to another building.

We liked the fact that it was small. We went with DS2 who was 16. There was quite a few families who had young children. We do Self catering because there are lots of restaurants in Cala D'Or that are reasonably priced. Very close to the apartments are 2 supermarkets where we got bread, cold meats, cheese etc for lunch and croissants for breakfast. You can go Half board but again you have to go to another building.

We travelled with Jet2, but Thomson's had a Rep there as did Direct Holidays.

HTH.