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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Does this holiday exist anywhere other than Valencia?

34 replies

Colinthedog · 14/08/2019 09:57

I’m looking for suggestions! I want to go on holiday next June with my DH and DSs, who will be 4 and 11 months when we travel. I think we have very particular travel requirements which are hard to fulfil in a single place, but we don’t want to travel around to different locations while our kids are so small. Here’s the list of requirements (brace yourselves!):

  • within 3 hour flight
  • warm in June
  • self catering
  • plenty of things to do nearby with the kids (we are not a family who like to spend the entire holiday on a beach or by the pool)
  • BUT access to a beach within half an hour walk or public transport would be ideal
  • no car required (neither of us want to drive on holiday)
  • ideally in or very close to a decent size town or city (that we could access on foot or via good public transport links)
  • places of cultural/historical interest nearby
  • plenty of bars and restaurants within walking distance

Last year we went to Valencia, which we both absolutely love and have visited twice. I think it fulfils all of the above requirements, and we’ve stayed in fantastic apartments in the city centre both times. It also has loads for the kids to do: a really good city beach, a great zoo, aquarium, museums, the Turia, a lovely old town, great public transport etc. It’s brilliant. My husband wants us to go there again in June as it will be our first trip abroad with both boys, and with DS2 going to be at a tricky age he thinks it would be easier to go somewhere we know. I’m not averse to this plan, but would like to consider other options before we book. I like to explore new places and feel like we’ve ‘done’ Valencia!

Can anyone suggest an alternative that meets our very specific requirements? Or is Valencia our best option?

OP posts:
kidsdoingmyheadin · 14/08/2019 10:00

Malta or Palma?

TinyTear · 14/08/2019 10:02

Lisbon?

kidsdoingmyheadin · 14/08/2019 10:04

Lisbon

user1474894224 · 14/08/2019 10:04

Barcelona

kidsdoingmyheadin · 14/08/2019 10:05

x post or Barcelona.
Of all the ones I’ve listed Lisbon was my fave.

boredpanda84 · 14/08/2019 10:05

Barcelona?

Teddybear45 · 14/08/2019 10:08

San Sebastian
Marbella / Malaga
Copenhagen if you’re going in August
Anywhere along the Amalfi coast in Italy
Dubrovnik
Cannes

OliviaBenson · 14/08/2019 10:14

Malaga fits your bill.

Original poster
Colinthedog · 14/08/2019 10:18

Sorry, forgot to say that we live in Leeds, so ideally travelling from a northern airport if possible. Just to make it harder!

OP posts:
Teddybear45 · 14/08/2019 10:20

Use Google.

Original poster
Colinthedog · 14/08/2019 10:20

I didn’t expect replies so soon! Thanks everyone. We’ve done Barcelona a few times, but I was wondering about Lisbon. Would you stay in the city centre or in Cascais? And I’ll also look at the other suggestions.

OP posts:
kidsdoingmyheadin · 14/08/2019 10:24

I stayed in the city centre but went with friends and no dc.

Original poster
Colinthedog · 14/08/2019 10:24

@Teddybear45 I’ve been googling for weeks but am struggling to rival Valencia, hence my post! But thanks for all your suggestions, I’ll take a look Smile

OP posts:
SpuriouserAndSpuriouser · 14/08/2019 10:29

The Amalfi coast or the Algarve if you’re happy to take the occasional taxi

user1474894224 · 14/08/2019 10:33

We went to Oslo a few years ago. It was amazing. We stayed in a fabulous air BnB. Massive apartment. All facilities. Walking distance to a beach. Bus right outside to get to city centre. Loads to do. Weather lovely - there was a bit of rain but equally we needed suncream at the outdoor pool. Supermarket 5 minutes walk from apartment. Admittedly we didn't go out for loads of meals but all the beaches have bbq's you can use. Our apartment had a gas BBQ on the veranda. We took picnics for day trips. We went to museums, on trams up mountains, to different beaches, on boats to islands. It was fabulous. Flight was a couple of hours and cheap - less than £200 each in summer holidays.

LIZS · 14/08/2019 10:41

Pisa/Lucca, Tuscan coast - Fly into Pisa, train to towns including Florence.

Starisnotanumber · 14/08/2019 11:04

If you can fly from Manchester then consider sicily. Ryanair fly to palermo and easyjet to catania. Its 3.15 minutes on flight so not too far.

skunkatanka · 14/08/2019 12:05

South of France. You can fly into Nice from Leeds. The weather will be great in June, lovely beaches but nice places to visit too. Trains are very accessible along the coast.

halulat · 14/08/2019 15:09

La Rochelle?

Cecilandsnail · 14/08/2019 19:04

La Rochelle?

Cecilandsnail · 14/08/2019 19:05

Haha I didn't read to the end of the thread and just noticed the last reply 😂 great minds!

MaggieFS · 14/08/2019 19:06

Mallorca, near or in Palma

Branleuse · 14/08/2019 19:06

Malta. Nice

Winsomelosesome · 14/08/2019 19:11

Palma fulfills all those requirements. Very short transfer too.

Churchillian · 14/08/2019 19:17

Lisbon - you could stay in Cascais on the coast and the train into the city is about 30 minutes. You’re also close to Sintra for palaces and hills. In the city centre you could stay somewhere on the metro - I would recommend parque das nacoes which is a modern bit of the city on the metro with waterfront parks, an aquarium, cable car and a kids science museum. There’s lots of restaurants and supermarkets and a shopping centre so everything is close at hand and apartments are modern and child friendly. it’s near the airport but you can also be in the city centre in 10 minutes. We have family in Lisbon so we are regular visitors.