Holiday ideas with 1 and 5 year old. Somewhere a bit different.

[Lamby80]

Hello.
We always go away in May school holiday, lower cost and not too hot. We went to the Balearic islands this year but next year fancy somewhere different. Was thinking Italy but just not sure where to start. We still want decent weather, a pool and preferably walking distance to a beach. We don't like all inclusive, tend to hire a car and do.out own thing. Other places people have recommended are Corsica, Sardinia.

Thanks!

We haven't decided where to stay yet in Valencia - I'm looking at anything really from the old town, the area around the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, to the Malva Rosa area on the beach. I'm not sure which to go for, so any recommendations would be welcome.

Teds re: Bilbao. Our DSs were 5 & 8 at the time. We got some extraordinarily cheap flights with Easyjet and stayed at the Melia hotel which was right on the river and had a lovely park next door. It was an easy walk to the Guggenheim and a walk/tram ride from the centre. There's a lovely playground next to the Guggenheim and some fun pieces of art outside (Louise Bourgeois' 'Maman', which is like a giant, metal spider, and Jeff Koon's giant 'Puppy' covered in flowers). Aside from that, the riverside is lovely to walk along and shady under the trees, the old town is very Spanish and unspoilt, full of pintxos bars (Basque tapas) and nice for wandering. There's a funicular railway, which our boys enjoyed, and a park and more restaurants at the top, and there are funky bridges and some industrial looking pieces down by the maritime museum. Bilbao is an old industrial city which has been cleaned up and made into a showpiece for innovative modern art and architecture. The coast is also really pretty too. We drove from Bilbao to San Sebastian and I really liked the look of Getaria and Lekeitio - lovely little fishing towns with sandy beaches.

Thanks Juneau!

What about interrailing? Just been sent a deal where kids travel free, so could get sleeper train to Italy or southern France or Spain?

If you want lots of near-deserted lakes, southern Germany has loads. Plus very clean, good roads and excellent cakes and ice-cream!