Best holidays abroad for under 4's

[RoseannMatthews]

Hi everyone, I new to mumnet and just wanted to ask mums out there where they may have been on holiday abroad that's amazing for under 4's. Countries, hotels or villas and even specific activies... help!

Majorca, twice when DD was 2 and just under 4.
We had a villa, great the first time, so so great the second but the issue was the location, too isolated. When she was older and napped less she wanted to do more things, wanted to go to a playground.

We love s/c, especially when DD was young as we had more freedom, more space, could stick to our time table and just went along depending on what we felt we wanted to do.

Compared to what lots of people think about the amount of work, we did breakfast, had the BBQ on a couple of times, had bread and cold cuts and I always have a place with a dishwasher and washing machine.

We went to the beach, did boat trips, went to the zoo, visited caves and castles, took a train ride, went on walks, visited towns and markets.

We always used to keep it simple - self catering, not hotels, with a separate bedroom. Beach or pool or both. Playgrounds. Merry Go Rounds on the seafront. Walking distance to restaurants etc. Swimming/day trip, bit of lunch, afternoon nap, wander out for early dinner, or cook. Dc in bed, wine on terrace. DW and washing machine help. We've done all sorts, Eurocamp, French gites, Italian apartments, Pierre et Vacances. Under 4s just need some water to play in and somewhere to run around. I personally would do Eurocamp over AI any day with little kids, especially if you look for the toddler friendly ones where they have all manner of stuff laid on.

logisdupressoir.com/ thinking of recommendations. This place is a bit quiet and remote - but very chilled and plenty of space to run about.

Beekse Bergen in the Netherlands was great with my 2.5 year old and just turned 5 year old this summer. We stayed in the safari resort, there’s also a lake resort with a beach.

We drove (&went on the overnight ferry), stayed in a self catering lodge, there’s plenty to do on site, and the Netherlands is very family friendly.
We are planning to go back in a couple of years.

We also went away last year in the Uk, to a random countryside village with extended family. Again, it was self catering so we could work to our own routine, and we planned things to do ahead of time, trips to local leisure centres with splash pads, a local farm
park, a transport museum, that sort of thing.

On both trips we took a couple of favourite books for bedtimes, some colouring and sticker books, a couple of cars/figures and some play dough plus the favourite cuddlies so if we were all a bit tired, it was a bit too hot or raining we had some things we could do for an hour or two in the accommodation. We also took our iPad because I’m not that wholesome 😄

its a bit dull but I think planning and being organised (and not setting expectations too high!) is key for success.

Thanks everyone, I think you're right keep it simple, water ie pool or sea or both and space to play. If anyone has any very specific place including accommodation to recommend let me know.

How sporty are the adults? Some friends have just done Neilson holidays with children of a similar age and it was brilliant for them - space for them to cycle and windsurf and the childrens team took the kids out on boats each day. They provided lots of ideas for places to go with children locally too. I think theirs was Greece.

This was the most relaxing holiday we had with small kids: villapia.com/

Generally though, we supposed to enjoy, as if it didn't work out, everyone ended up grumpy. And to be honest, lazing quietly on a pool/beach is never really going to work. So we did a surprising amount of just bringing the kids along for city/cultural breaks, just with a more relaxed schedule. But then we're not the pool holiday type.

For a relaxed pool/beach holiday I think the best tip is to travel with people with slightly older children who are happy to play with yours! Having a few extra adults along helps share things out and changes the dynamics compared to normal family life. And I much prefer a self catering cottage/villa to a hotel.

When mine were little, our best holidays were eurocamp caravans. They often had free kids clubs, whuch meant we all got a break.
Lots of pools. Not too expensive

Or, this is a really lovely campsite in France. We stayed in a safari tent. Prices were reasonable at the time compared to alternatives. Our kids were older by then but I think it would work well with a 4 year old. Beautiful setting and atmosphere.

www.cosycamp.com/en/

@RoseannMatthews
We went to Camping de La Baie at Trinite Sur Mer in Brittany. Has everything for a young family. Plenty of days out nearby too.