Best holiday destinations with a toddler?

[Kel95]

Looking for recommendations on a first time family holiday abroad with a 19 month old around May/June

Preferably short flight & transfer, nice clean resort with lots to do and places to visit with kids club/crèche etc?😊

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MNHQ update: If you’re short on time, here’s a summary of the best options Mumsnetters are recommending on this thread:

😎Zafiro, Cala'n Bosch, Menorca

😎Kaya Palazzo Resort, Belek, Turkey

😎Mousses, Lefkada, Greece

😎Royal Son Bou, Menorca

😎Landmar Costa Los Gigantes, Tenerife

😎Tui's Holiday Village Resorts

😎H10 Suites Lanzarote Gardens

😎Ikos Resorts

For more inspo, check out our guide to the best hotels with kids' clubs, featuring more recommendations from Mumsnetters.

Tbh, for me, none! I know plenty people seem to manage but I just hated holidays with kids until they were about 5. All the usual challenges without any of your usual comforts or things that help make it bearable. Sorry not helpful, and maybe you have an easy child.

Menorca. We loved Zafiro in Cala n Bosch with DS when he was 3, nearly 4.

Very few resorts have kids clubs or creche facilities for toddlers- what is your budget?

@anothernamechangeagainsndagain I know it’s difficult, there’s not a lot out there fitting most criteria & I’ve looked for weeks! Don’t really have a budget we’ve saved for years last holiday was 2018🙂

@Beginningless Thank you! I know I was worried about that, just want to make it as easy as possible as toddlers are difficult and my OH definitely just wants abroad unfortunately

@HalfasleepChrisintheMorning Will have a look thank you!

Greece is good for kids, they spoil them. It was unusual for my kids to go to the toilet and come back with ice-cream

In my experience Italy in general is quite kid friendly. With a toddler that young I'd probably be looking at a private villa with a pool and garden. Somewhere your kid can run around, play outside with toys, have a splash etc, and where you have your own space as a family to cook, eat, watch TV, or whatever. Find a lovely spot that is reasonably close to cute towns or villages in case you want to get out for a wander or lunch.

Kaya palazzo resort in belek turkey . Longer flight but the resort is wow for adults and kids

Mousses in Greece. Small resort, you get your own mini villa but there is a great kids club that takes tinies. It gave us a real break when we had two non sleeping DC.

If you want something bigger check out Royal Son Bou in Menorca, often recommended on here but I’ve never been (I’m not a big hotel person)

Avoid May half term or you’ll be paying school holiday prices

Most kids clubs start from 3/4 yrs old. Easiest place imo is Tenerife, short flight same time zone. Greece is great but a 4hr flight- depends on the toddler.

No resort suggestions for you as we have family in a hot country so that’s our ‘sun’ holiday- but it really is worth spending a bit more for a family room or suite with a divider.

We do regulars city breaks with a young toddler and even though she co sleeps past midnight, it’s great to be able to pop her down somewhere dark and quiet whilst we have some beers and some alone time! It’s no fun tip toeing around a sleeping toddler. We always spend the extra on a junior suite for this reason. A balcony or patio in a resort might do the job though in this situation.

However- you won’t get kids club that young though unfortunately, but you might be able to use a resort nanny but this will be £££. The youngest kids club I saw was aged 3+ and this was on a cruise.

So this answer is a little outside the box but...

The best destination is anywhere YOU like! :D At that age they're still pretty portable and don't have too many demands. As long as our son had outdoor space to walk he didn't seem to mind what we were doing.

We stayed in an apartment in Bologna and took various train trips around Emilia-Romagna when our son was 18 months old. We had a fab time! We ate out for every meal bar breakfast but the kitchen in the apartment gave us the option of staying in if we wanted to.

All you need is a good travel buggy really!

We then did Granada a few months later and that was just as nice, though a little more challenging as we had to use a launderette to wash our son's nappies because we went for an apart-hotel that time which came with breakfast but no washing facilities.

Now that son is three we have to factor a few more child friendly activities into the holiday but ultimately we still haven't changed the type of city breaks we like to do :)

We didn’t go offsite so to speak only for a walk but Further a field but Tenerife - landmar costa los gigantes. 2 different toddler pools and two big family pools, all heated, a bigish soft play, breakfast opens at 7.30 and has a baby club for 6MO - 4 Years that you can pay for but it’s not expensive maybe €5 a hour I think it was? Transfer is an hour though on a shared bus but private transfer / taxi is 30 mins. There’s a snack bar that opens so food available pretty much all day.

yes self catering is ok but sometimes you don’t want to cook and want a holiday yourself!

Try Tui's Holiday Villages. They have kids clubs from age 3 and they also have a crèche that I think takes kids from newborn. They have them in different locations all over Europe I think.

@Fran91 Self catering just means you sort your own meals. We eat out at restaurants so no cooking involved. The only washing up is a bowl from breakfast cereal :)

I'm not sure why everyone seems to think that staying in an apartment means you're cooking and cleaning all the time 😅I've seen it on a lot of threads now and it always baffles me.

@TheBirdintheCave oh agree for an apartment or somewhere really central but a lot of villas etc have limited options for eating out so often you end up cooking but agree apartment for city breaks / lots around to get out and we prefer apartments to a hotel but sometimes for first holiday as the OP has said it might be worth looking at a good all inclusive to take away needing to look around for food, some toddlers (or just mine maybe) are quite impatient whilst they wait so food that’s ready and waiting can be helpful in these scenarios.

@Fran91 Ah yes I didn't think of villas. I've never considered them because of how remote they seem.

And yes, it probably does depend on how the toddler is. My son has been dragged to restaurants for most of his life so is well versed in waiting for food 😅

ikos offer creches for young ones. all inclusive but pricey

There's a H10 in Lanzarote that has a creche for younger children, I'm pretty sure it has a soft play, toddler pools etc

Yes it depends on your child.
We took our DD to Greece when she was 22 months. Quite a remote Greek island. Took 3 flights to get there. No kids clubs, just beaches and quant greek villages.
She loved it. Happy enough putting rocks in a bucket on the beach.
The Greeks love kids too.

We went to Majorca with DD when she was 20 months. We stayed near Can Picafort, the beach is great for small ones.

But, we had a villa as hotels and DD as a toddler didn't work, she was an early riser, hated going to sleep in a pram in the evening and we all needed space from each other.

Kids clubs normally don't take toddlers unless you stay, not sure if that's what you are after.

I loved going on holiday with her from 9 months onwards, yes, a lot is the same at home but I find it always great just to be away from home and see and do different things. And DD loved going around places.

We loved taking our toddler on a cruise. We drove down to Southampton so no flights, just straight on board and straight into our holiday. Not for everyone but something you might not have considered.

Came on to suggest the same place! H10 Suites Lanzarote Gardens. One of the few places we've found where the crèche is free which is a bonus. We had a fab holiday there with our toddler and would happily return.

We took our LO to Montenegro last year and loved it. We stayed in an Airbnb with a pool so didn't get the kids clubs perks you mention but we hired a car and went to the beach etc, great sightseeing and I found it quite accessible with a pram etc too