2 teens and a baby short haul recommendations summer 2019

[1Wanda1]

Family holiday for next summer. Will have 2 teens (15 and 17) and a baby (about 6 months).

We want to keep it short haul and I don't want to be in one hotel room with a baby - as need more space for the sleepless nights.

Ideally we don't want to go self catering villa/apartment because it's boring for the teens. But "family rooms" or suites at hotels in school summer holidays are SO expensive and well beyond our budget.

Budget is max. £8k. I thought that was a lot but package holiday sites seem to think otherwise. I'd like the budget to cover 2 weeks but 10 days would be ok. Keen on Greece, Portugal or Italy. Less so on Spain as have done it to death.

Any suggestions?

what about cyprus? it has something for all ages.

www.holidaygems.co.uk/flight?id=ei18-11754

Lagos in Portugal has great beaches and a relaxed surfing vibe, water sports , cafes and restaurants.

Or Croatia, some lovely hotels and following Made in Chelsea, quite cool at the minute.

I was going to say Cyprus too - we took our then 15 and 17 year old to Paphos last year and they both really enjoyed it, admittedly we didn't have a baby but everywhere was so clean and child friendly so I'm sure you'll be fine with a baby. Slightly longer flight time though.

Campsites are great for teens because there's so many kids from across Europe - we stayed with carisma who had teenager programmes. Three bed lodges/mobile homes and plenty of restaurants on site if you don't want to cook. Before food expect to pay about £2k including ferry. We've gone as far as Italy by car - not with a baby (though I did take my youngest in a 3000 mile road trip at 6 months!) another suggestion is northern Spain, stayed in a wonderful hotel complex 2 hours from ferry, less driving, around £120 b&b per night for 2 room suite. I'm guessing you are looking at very expensive all inclusive resorts, but our teens find cities far more interesting - give them the opportunity to explore, Madrid was a big hit, they even went to museums without me!

We always do SC villa/apartment; as long as there's a pool or the beach very close, our teens have never been bored.
We too like to explore cities for 2 or 3 days, then a small resort nearby,
Dubrovnik and Cavtat, loads going on, water sports etc. Or Palma and Soller, Barcelona and Sitges,
We usually spend around £2,500 for 10-12 days (flights and 2 or 3 bed accommodation)

Thanks for all replies so far.

sleepismysuperpower and venetian25, Cyprus could be good - I remember a lovely holiday in Paphos when I was a teen. I looked for this year and found the flights were quite expensive but was looking later on so might be better this time.

anniehm will look at Carisma. I love northern Spain but we've had a few holidays there with awful weather inJuly/Aug, and I really want guaranteed sun. This year we did have a city holiday and the teens did love it, but with the baby next year I really want to arrive, flop, and not have to move too much. Ideally we would be somewhere close to some restaurants and shops so wouldn't even need a car.

3catsandcounting interested in Dubrovnik but really know nothing about it. Have you booked flights and villa separately, or as a package?

yes the flights can be expensive, may be worth waiting if you do decide to go there as sometimes the prices do drop or whatever. i think there are websites that let you know when to book your flights

www.maistra.com/family-hotel-amarin-rovinj#top

This may give a range of activities for your family.

Wanda We book flights and accommodation separately.
Last year we flew from Manchester to Dubrovnik, stayed in an apartment in Cavtat (10-15 mins drive from the airport) and took the ferry (45 mins) into Dubrovnik probably 3 times over 10 days. It's quite a mystical place, walking the walls in the early evening was wonderful.

I used HolidayLettings for the Cavtat apartment - very few have private pools but I found one 10 metres from the water - was perfect.
There are some lovely hotels in the area too.

The sea was amazing, we kayaked, hired a boat to see little islands and snorkelled. DS particularly enjoyed seeing all the mega-yachts in the harbour (and googling them to see what they were worth, and who owned them). DCs and DH are big Game of Thrones fans, so enjoyed seeing locations.
Lovely restaurants and bars and the sunsets were the best I've seen.
We're going back to Croatia next year.