Jersey, Guernsey anyone been, i know nothing about it please come & tell me..

[ScoobyDoo]

Trying to find a holiday, dp mentioned these places, has anyone been? is it nice? where is nice to go?

We like sandy beaches & nice food have 2 kids one who is 5 other is 2 years.

Is it expensive there?

Looking for a caravan or something like this.

any advice welcome

it is lovely but expensive to get there IRRC. I would do brittany over the Channel Islands

See i was saying brittany, may have to stick to my idea as on a budget, may even just stay in the uk if we can find somewhere nice.

I've been to Guernsey, and there are some lovely beaches.

I think Jersey (from what I've heard) is slightly more attractive, but it's swings and roundabouts in many ways. The climate is quite similar to here. It rains a lot, so chose your month carefully. I would avoid the monsoon season in early July!

It takes a hell of a long time to get there by ferry ... it depends on your sea-legs and how the kids are with travel. Guernsey is closer.

There was certainly plenty of good food to be had in Guernsey. I was impressed with the quality and the portions.

Whatever you do, though, don't turn up on a Sunday. They still have Sunday trading laws over there, and everywhere was closed. All the bloody pubs were closed too .

You could have a drink in a hotel, providing you had food as well.

Thanks Desi, you have put me off already with the journey my kids would do about 2 hours 3 or 4 would be a major stretch with dd & even ds.

Hmm may have to rethink about this..

Hi, I grew up in Guernsey and go back a couple of times a year to see family. It is ridiculously expensive to get there- have just paid £450 for ferry in August (car + 2 adults + 2 under 4) and then the accommodation is expensive too. No caravans that I am aware of, there are a few campsites but I think they aim at the retired couples market more than the trad. bucket and spade brigade these days and much of the accomm. is in privately let houses (not so good with kids?)

The beaches are nice, the food is great and there are some good events on in high summer (harbour regatta, battle of flowers etc) but the weather is not much less unpredictable than elsewhere in the UK. I used to work in a hotel in the uni holidays and saw many families who spent 2 weeks inside because of rain.

Although it saddens me to say it about my childhood home, I wouldn't bother going without the family connections. France or maybe Devon/ Dorset would get my vote.

Any more specific questions, feel free to ask

you can get a fast ferry to Guernsey from Poole (2 1/2 hours)

I think it's out of our budget to be honest as we are moving house soon as well so thats using alot of money.

We did Devon last year & have done cornwall about 3 years, we did go to Majorca in 2005 so maybe France would be good, have no clue about France though but will have a look on the net.

Thanks everyone.

Try SelectCamp. You can have a luxury tent, for a week, for under £100.00 (depending on where you go).

I've just booked a week's holiday in early May to Lake Garda, Italy. The tent, and return flights cost, £286.00 all in .. that's for a family of three.

Wow desi that sounds fab just the sort of thing we are looking for off to have a look, is that who you booked through?

Desi do you have to book the flights seperate? where did you get your flights?

We are looking at spain on there, have you been to one of these before? Do you have seperate wash facilities from your tent?

Sorry for all the questions

Scooby doo - find a camp[site you like - post you absolute requiremenrts on here!!! Then research and find who is the cheapest - most offer similar facilities!!! Alternatively you can book French Life (Camping/Canvas Life) or Siblu (Foreign sister of Haven so very British!) with Tesco vouchers. If you ahve enough it makes it very cheap!!!

camoing Life have a holiday to Lake maggiore ina chalet - for a family of 4 (without flights) staying in a chalet it was less than £600 - that's in August - peak season!!! Really cheap out of season. We're going to campsite north of Venice - £1000 for the 4 of us. Flights were £300 for the 4 of us. Not bead considering the faciliites there - looks bit too big n bus for me if I was boking for me but I'm looking at keeping kids happy!!!

Hi, Scooby. Sorry, I've been working tonight, hence the late reply.

OK, we booked the flights separately. We booked with RyanAir from Bristol airport (we live three miles away), and it only cost £201 return for the three of us. So, with the tent hire, the whole thing was £286.00.

I think the toilets will be elsewhere, but for that money I'm happy to go in a bucket outside

SelectCamp are a Dutch based company, I believe. The Dutch are soooooo good at this sort of thing, and the recommendation came from Custardo. Now there's a gal who knows her onions.

We're flying to Milan/Bergarmo and hiring a car. That will be an additional cost of £150 (in the region of), but we've got a few months to look for a cheap deal ... and then, of course, there's the spending money because it's all self-catering.

Any way, sorry for the long post, but I think you'll find it's cheaper than a week in Guernsey, all things considered.

Thanks for the info & help, am finding it so hard, i am not very good at finding holidays, my sister is better, we were going to go abroad but it all seems so expensive, dd is 2 now so we have to pay for her on the plane too, i did speak to my sister who thinks she can find it alot cheaper than what i said so we will see.

We have been saving in one of those holiday tins for ages now so am using that money with a little extra.

Will have a good search when the kids are in bed, would like to get something booked so we have something to look forward too.

I did get 2 brochures on france from travel agents so going to look through them, see if i can find a nice place then see where i can get it cheapest.

Thansk for all the suggestions.

If you consider the channel islands again, I'd recommend the Merton Hotel in St Helier, Jersey, the meals are fantastic and they've got offers on at the moment. We flew with BMI baby. They've got an excellent pool with a new surfing thing going on at the moment. I'm not booking it this year as there's all four of us going and it works out too expensive really. Also we went in august last year and the weather was a bit rainy at times (warn rain though)

I've just spent 3 weeks looking for a place to stay in France in August so I know what you're going through. I've booking now, for 3 days in Bordeaux city (going to post a Q shortly about this) and then out to the seaside at Pierre Vacances at Lacanau beach for 8 days self catering. Flying with BMI baby.

The flight is the most expensive part (£175 each) as we'd missed the cheaper flights for the return journey and then bits and bobs are added on. Think most people drive there but we can't be bothered.

The accommodation is around £236 for staying in Bordeaux for three nights at a big hotel with bed and breakfast in a family room and £668 for the stay in Pierre vacances self catering, appartment for 4/5 (it was £582 for 7 days). There were cheaper place in Bordeaux city (£180 for the 3 nights), but we wanted somewhere with a cooked breakfast as well as a cold buffet for hubby and son

Anyway, hope you find something. I actually found that the prices for camping were quite expensive.

SK