2 weeks abroad in Aug with small children; A&E within 1 hr drive

[ReceptionMum]

Hi, would appreciate some recommendations for a quiet-ish destination (abroad; near sea) for our long waited holidays this Aug (hopefully) with 6yo & 4 yo.

Wish list/MUSTs:

1. A&E hospital within 1 hr drive. My DS is finishing his long chemo treatment this month. He is ok, no mobility/etc issues, doesn’t need an everyday medical support but we need a proper hospital nearby just in case. We will, obviously, only go if he is OK-ed by his Doc here.
2. Flight 4 hrs max
3. Cannot book anything in advance, will be a last minute decision depending on how well/quickly DS recovers after his last treatment.
4. Don’t want an “all inclusive”. Self catering apt/small villa is what we are thinking about.
5. Somewhere with walkable restaurants/town centre, easy walks/drives nearby that children would manage.

Many thanks in advance.

There's a town called Girona which is near Barcelona and is a good compromise between city break and non-city holiday. It is a walled town with ramparts and plenty to explore, museums for when you need shade, nice restaurants to choose from, lovely to walk around. Lots of windy streets which offer shade. It's 20 minutes from the beaches and close enough to Barcelona for you to go for the day and for access to the A&E. One of the budget airlines airports for Barcelona is near Girona so very easy to get to!

My other suggestion would be Collioure in the South of France. Airport at Perpignan. Another medieval town but this time right on the sea. There is a sheltered shingle cove in Collioure itself and a huge long sandy beach at Argeles which is walking distance or there's a bus. Nice restaurants, beautiful walks in the hills behind the town and enough to look at in the town. I'm not sure what the hospital in Perpignan is like though as it's not a big city.

"on a plane"

Internal flight? Beaches are beautiful in Northern Ireland, the only area of the UK to have a hose ban in place at the moment. How long the weather can last, though....

fly to in the UK? Exeter, the Channel Islands or Dublin?

I am constantly surprised by the ignorance within the UK, around the boundaries of the UK

Fly to Cornwall? Newquay or Plymouth (actually in Devon, but serves Cornwall).

There is no airport in Plymouth. Nearest in Devon is Exeter.

Sorry! My mistake! There used to be, I have been there, but obviously before they closed in 2011!

My son was seriously ill in Malta. The hospital in Valletta was new and the treatment far better than in my local hospital in UK. Staff all spoke English.

Please be very careful regarding insurance , read all the small print and make sure you are covered for everything. Think about if your son needs to go to hospital and has to stay after your holiday has ended . Does it cover all of you for extended accommodation? I speak from an awful experience my DD and I had.

I needed serious hospitalisation in Barcelona and it was a nightmare , they refused to provide an interpreter, even when the Embassy got involved.

I hope you find somewhere and have a fab holiday, sounds like you deserve one X

angst - was that the Mater Adrian Hospital?

Mater Dei, not Adrian!

Yes, they were great. All I had to do was get the ehic card scanned and was not charged at all.

Good evening all, thanks so much for all your comments- i have read them all.

Must admit today i don’t feel as confident as last week about this holiday prospect. Chemo has been delayed, he hasnt recovered to the needed blood count level...

It will really be a last minute decision, last week in Aug.

You can definitely do something even if it’s only a few days in the uk. Go last minutes to uk beaches and get a bargain or Center Parcs.
Don’t loose hope of the holiday you want - plan 3 different options in your head - high, medium and lower risk/doablity then decide the week before. Fingers crossed he can beat this thing.

I'm so sorry.

I agree with applesandpears56... don't write the idea off just yet. It sounds like you all really need and deserve this break. Sending your DS lots of get well vibes.

Dunreill in Holland, very nice and sounds perfect. Lots of clinics and doctors nearby, big hospital very near.
It’s a beautiful village, is near a beach and you can stay with eurocamp or rent a bungalow, there’s a water park and theme park just there, not too hot and everyios free. Flight only one hour 20 minutes.

Also a campsite in the north of France might suit you, short flight, not too hot, and hospital nearby. You can take a day trip to Disneyland also.

I hope you have a great time x

Good afternoon All,

Just to give you an update and to thank you again for all your suggestions at the time....

We got OK-ed by doctors on 30 Aug and booked the flight/hotel the next day - surreal experience, never booked any holidays for the next day departure.

We ended up in Minorca. Went on site to book for Malta, but lots of ads on the page were for Minorca, so we clicked to check and got carried away. Glad we ended up where we did.

Had such a nice time ! Kids thoroughly enjoyed it. Luckily, didn't need to use any hospitals. DS coped very well, came back suntanned and very happy to start his school the next day after. The school was very supportive and approved our 4 day absence for 2 children.

This might be useful to know for those in a similar situation. We tried to book travel insurance which would cover DS's condition, but a few quotes came nearing £2K for 1 week. We decided (on the basis that insurance doesn't solve the medical problem, and you have to pay anyway - all you are getting via insurance is compensation of the costs ) to buy a general cover with DS's medical condition specifically excluded. This way we were covered for broken legs etc but not say for any hosp. admission due to an
infection that could be arguably linked to his low immune system. We took that calculated risk, knowing that £2K (that we saved on insurance) would cover quite a few nights in hosp should we end up there.

DS is doing very well, we are not out of the woods yet and will be having many tests for many years ahead. But, hopefully, this is beginning of the end of that nightmare.

Wishing you all the best

That's great OP. I'm glad you had a lovely break. Here's to a continuing recovery for your son.
The insurance cover information is useful. Thank you.

Majorca, particularly Pollenca/Puerto Pollenca - beautiful beaches and ticks all your other boxes. Only a couple of hours on the plane too.