Your best holiday with kids age 9-12?

[Yuja]

Getting ahead for next summer - probably August. My DC will be 9 and 11. The ideal trip would be:

Europe

Near the beach (but we don't like to be on it all day every day)

Near (an hours drive-ish) some fun day trips - water parks, interesting cities etc

Self catering 2 bedroom apartment but near lots of nice restaurants as we would eat out every day.

This year we went to Spain - on the coast about an hour from Valencia. It was lovely but we don't want to do the same place twice. Hot weather isn't an issue. Thank you!

How about Salou? It has Port Aventura theme park and water park and its close enough to Barcelona for a day trip.

Barcelona. Stay somewhere just outside but on the train line for cheaper accommodation and quieter beaches.

We have friends with a place here. Lovely and easy reach for Rome, Naples and multiple water parks.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracina

Mine loved a villa with a pool near Monignac at that age. Loads to see about there, and the river for canoeing etc.

And a chalet in a ski resort (in summer) with Lake Geneva for swimming and boats.

I’m afraid our favourite was a little further afield- Boston and Cape Cod. If you are willing to consider a slightly longer journey, the kids absolutely loved it, and so did we.

Also, would you consider Slovenia? We went this year with slightly older kids and it was wonderful. Swimming in Lake Bled and the Adriatic and so much to see and do. Everyone I know who has been with kids has loved it.

Thank you everyone for these suggestions - they all sound lovely - got some research to do now!

Pine Bay Resort, Kusadasi, Turkey. The only place we ever went twice.
Waterpark on site, two close by and a short trip to Ephesus.

I'd second Slovenia, had a great trip through the country this time last year. I drove us around in Slovenia, it was fine.
Also can't go wrong with most cities in Croatia. Cascais near Lisbon would also fit that description, but the sea is pretty cold all year round. It was definitely cold in May, don't think it's much warmer now.

We love Mallorca...somewhere like Can Picafort or Sa Coma would fit your bill I think - beautiful beaches.

Jumping on to what @Goldencup said about Italy, I'd be interested in going somewhere like that but when I did a quick search accommodation was 'modest' to say the least, not anything above 3 star and pretty pricey. Are there family hotel chains in that part of Italy do you know?

Not near the beach but dd's fave was the Dordogne. So much to see and do - caves, rivers, castles, kayaking, aquarium, mini golf, dinosaur park etc We stayed at Le Banquet just outside Les Eyzies (shared pool) and another time at Les Peneyrals near Sarlat. Another good trip was the coast near La Rochelle. Trips to the islands, the zoo at La Palmyre, beach etc

Our best hol when kids were about that age was Garda. Stayed at Hotel Poiano - it’s got hotel rooms or apartments. We booked direct and flights and car separately. Hotel has massive pool, tennis courts and floodlit football pitch. Garda itself has loads of lakeside restaurants and we went out most days in the car - Sirmione, boat across lake, cable car up Montebaldo etc.