Can you help a school holiday novice?

[TheABC]

We haven't been abroad since DC1 was born (various reasons). I want to show them a different culture & enjoy a bit of the world, but I'm not sure where to begin.

Criteria are:

• very active holidays. We do cycling, swimming, surfing and hanging halfway off bloody trees at home.
• no hotels. All four of us in one room without escape is a recipe for trouble.
• Kids are primary school age.

Recommendations? Tour operators? Places? Where do I start? All tips gratefully received!

We had a similar sounding holiday in an Airbnb in Slovenia. We were based near Bovek which is a hub for walking / cycling/ mountain biking/ rafting, and there were loads of day trips possible to castles, caves ect.

Thank you @Violettaa . Where did you find out about Bovek?

An Alpine holiday would work. We went to France with Simply Morzine and there were loads of activities.

Agree with Alpine and would also suggest a campsite. Somewhere like La Ravoire near Annecy?

Thank you - will take a look. @DentalCare, how easy is it to drive there?

Eurocamp are fabulous :) all over Europe in cities, lakes, beaches and countryside.

Sorry to hijack but @rookiemere I’ve been looking at Simply Morzine for next summer. Would you recommend? What age children? Did you stay somewhere catered and if so, how was the food…? Sorry for all the questions! Can’t seem to find many reviews of Simply Morzine.

I agree an Alpine holiday sounds like it would suit you OP. Or Eurocamps have lots going on but might be a bit too hotelly for you.

You could also take a look at companies like Activities Abroad, there are others too, who run small group adventure/activity holidays - probably you plus another couple of families and you travel around a bit and do various active things. Watch the minimum ages though as a lot are for 8+.

Eurocamps is a definite contender; there are waterparks! Thank you for suggesting Simply Morzine: we both snowboard and we've just been waiting for the kids to get old enough to risk ski school. Activities Abroad will be ideal in a few years time.

Southern Germany, Lake Constanze, French German Border near Strassbourg.

Lots of self catering options so you can have all the space you want.

We normally drive and stay overnight en route but also flew and had a rental car.

Look at Bavaria, I think it might tick all your boxes

@minipie we went with Simply Morzine in Summer about 5 years ago with DS and his pal both aged 11.

We stayed at the hotel La Chaumiere because it had a <very small> pool. The food was very good - they had two choices each day, one standard and one allegedly child friendly. DS was quite fussy at that age, but actually managed to get enough to eat every day.

You basically booked into any activities you fancied and then got picked up from the hotel. I'm sure you could have organised it yourself , but doing it through the reps made it all easier. You also get a pass that means you can access the municipal swimming pools and cable cars , so you could go on hikes. I thought it was a great holiday and a nice compromise between something like All Inclusive and being totally independent.

We use Eurocamp type sites but don’t usually book through Eurocamp. My kids really enjoyed making friends on site. We have stayed at Lake Garda, near Paris a couple of times, Netherlands, Brittany and Annecy. We mix hanging out on site, cycling/beach, theme parks and cultural old towns/museums. We go for 3 bed accommodation as space is really important to us.

@BeanCounterBabe. Thank you. Could you tell me more about your provess? So you find the route or airport and then the flight? Or is a website you pick from & organise from there?

We always drive so we can take our bikes. Choose location first then look at Eurocamp or similar operators like Canvas for campsites. We usually take our own tent but if we choose a site marketed to UK families the kids are more likely to make friends. We have booked through Brittany Ferries holidays which was brilliant value as crossing is included. I’ve used some recommendations from MN as well. We’ve stayed at Duinrell in The Netherlands twice with a trip to Efteling thrown in. These were the kids favourite holidays. We cycle, swim and bodyboard but that’s as active as we get but the Alps is awesome for really active holidays.