ideas needed for end of sept: sea, sun, 4 hr flight max?

[bakedpotato]

we're getting in a frantic muddle trying to sort out a final week away before bump prevents me flying. it'll have to be the last week of september. so we need to find either a great family-friendly hotel or decent self-catering property somewhere close to a nice sandy beach for our toddler, maybe on edge of village/town (ie we're not after isolation)... flight can't be longer than 4 hrs. preferably less. has anyone got any genius recommendations? have we left it too late to catch some southern european sun?

cyprus? malta (but no sandy beaches as far as I know)? canaries?

thanks bundle.... yes, the canaries has sprung to mind (i'm not sure whether we'd be safe with the weather in cyprus... am i wrong?). but oh lord where to start looking?

If you can get booked up, I'd recommend Puerto Pollensa in Majorca, and especially properties on the Pine Walk. It's beautiful, and very child friendly.

cyprus v close to middle east & sheltered in med, unlike the canaries.
here's a few facts on cyprus, including when to go - sept looks good

Greece? Laskarina are a v good company, good service, and they have some late deals.

Slovenia. W've just come back from there. 2 hour flight, Easyjet, so it's cheap. Incredibly child friendly, beautiful with lakes, beaches and caves and generally very cheap overall, e.g. 3 star hotel with balcony and lake view around 30 Euro.

so many good thoughts, thankyou.

it's all going to boil down to the safest bet weatherwise, i think. though my dh wil fling himself into north sea in march, me and dd are not quite so gung-ho. we want WARM SEA.

does anyone know what weather is like in sardinia at very end of Sept?

I was just going to say Sardinia

I was there in early October 10 years ago and I was in the sea but in a wooly jumper at night. Fantastic food as well

Majorca or Menorca will be nice and sunny, so will Greece. How about Crete?Try Babygoes2.co.uk, they are v good for getting holidays for people with kiddies.

Echo what Beety says.

Canaries are a good bet. We just booked for Tenerife for mid-October and the general weather patterns even then look great, and the water is at it's warmest after a summer of soaking up sun. A colleague of mine mentioned that the best beaches are in the south, but the best towns/culture are in the north, so maybe you'd consider a place up north if you're not only after a beach holiday.

just bumped into neighbour who urged us to go a place called Ocakkoy in turkey, with tapestry she said it's v childfriendly, weather should be good. aargh, we've just booked. feeling very wild and reckless. but it was nice to have someone spell it all out for us. a bit perturbed by cheapness, we seem to have got a special deal but i take comfort from fact that she has v groovy furniture.

fear not, i have sent countless families to ocakkoy in turkey - it's brilliant - very pretty old deserted Turkish village. great for kids - they have the tapestry creche there is you want half or full day creche. it's about 20 minutes to the sea though they have courtesy shuttles buses 2 or 3 times a day. and the weather in turkey end of september (when i went 2 years ago|) was gorgeous. you'll love it i'm sure.

I have to agree with donnie - Menorca is particularly great for kids - lovely sandy beaches and very gently shelving seas. Most restaurants have kids' menus and the locals all seem to love children. Weather should be warm and sunny but not too hot at the end of September.

We've also just got back from Puerto Pollenca in Majorca which I agree is lovely, but I think Menora just pips it for families