Thoughts on these countries?

[BarbieKew]

I’m trying to find a Mediterranean type beach holiday for August, but I really fancy trying a new country, so have ruled out (for now) Greece, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Turkey and Cyprus.

Not got a massive budget, and want some opinions on the places that are coming

up reasonably priced. Last year we struck lucky and paid 3.5k per family for a fortnight s/c in a 4 star in Crete. Huge pools and plenty to do. Happy kids = happy parents. Not so lucky this year.

MALTA - I like the historical vibe of it, but am struggling to find big hotels with big pools and stuff to do nearby (got 4 teenagers to keep happy)

BULGARIA - cheap and cheerful or just cheap and a bit shit? Sunny Beach coming up a lot but it doesn’t sound right for us.

CROATIA - really fancy this but it seems so expensive, with a lack of big family sized hotels. Defo don’t want a villa. Which are the best resorts for restaurants, shops etc.

MOROCCO - not the Med but seeing some nice hotels come up in my searches. However, I think I’d rather go for a few days in Marrakesh than two weeks in Agadir.

Anyone got opinions on these places?
Anywhere else obvious that I’m missing?

Thanks!

Really? Like an Adriatic one or something? I’ll admit I can’t think of much worse than being stick on a boat in close quarters to everyone, but you think this could work for all of us?

Madeira is beautiful

Well it does not work for me but you want a big resort. Cruise ships are big resorts that move. I don’t stay in big resorts either.

When dc were younger we did a couple of cruises so they could meet other dc. They quite liked them. They definitely found a lot to do and you get off the ship. You can always start a thread and ask about them. Plenty of people are enthusiastic.

My thought was that your budget is very tight.

Yeah I’d be amazed if the budget allows for anything decent! I do love the idea of visiting different countries, but a few hours onshore would never be long enough to see a place. I will look into it.

Treat it as a sampling exercise. Where you might go back to. You could try 1 week!

Bulgaria - you should check out Varna and surroundings - Golden Sands, Albena, St Constantin and Elena, Balchik, the North coast is way better than Sunny Beach for families. Sunny Beach used to be lovely 10-15 years ago.

True! I think maybe it’s something I’d enjoy more when I’ve got a bigger budget and I’m not confined to school holidays!

I googled Sunny Beach and one of the first things that came up was reasons not to go there 😂

It is actually great! We went post covid as it was one of the first places to open up and my impression had always been it was for old people (and yes there is a lot of that) but it is also great for families. Funchal is brilliant - so much to do.

Croatia is lovely. Marrakech is a completely different sort of holiday and you said you wanted a beach holiday, so I wouldn't do that.

Just another thought, how about the canaries? I know technically they belong to Spain but they do have a totally different look and feel to mainland Spain or the Balearic islands. Lots of resorts on Lanzarote, Tenerife, gran canaria etc to suit all budgets and enough to do for adults too (I mean not as awesome as some of the other places mentioned but a reasonable compromise while you have kids to consider).

Malta is truly horrible. Cruise is perfect with teens

Watch the Stacey Dooley documentary about Sunny Beach.
A colleague of mine went to Dubrovnik and said it was lovely. Until about 10am, when the cruise ships arrive.

A cruise with older teens was our first step away from the big resort hotel. It was brilliant, every day in a different place with an AI hotel at the end of it. We did Marella which is at the cheaper end, informal, no stuffy rules and yet plenty going on. Did a Med one and Adriatic. The latter from Corfu and calling at Split, Dubrovnik, Montenegro, Venice.

@RosemaryDill just looked at Marella - what an easy website to use and some tempting destinations! Sadly though, because we are limited by exam results day, we’d be looking at around 16-20k for the eight of us. Dammit.

Why horrible? It does seem like it’s a marmite destination!

Tunisia

My DS and I did this last year. We had 10 days in Lignano Sabbiadoro, then drove over to Novigrad via Slovenia. (more straightforward for us because we drove from another European country not the UK.)

We found the roads great, if you can plan in a trip from Trieste visit Grado. It's one of the cutest islands. We stopped in Kupfer, Slovenia, for lunch and a stroll around the town and then onto Novigrad. We used this as a base to explore further towns like Porec etc.

Lots of sea activities to do. Again beaches quite rocky/stoney, but the sea is gorgeous.

Croatia have Tui hotels but also their own chains. Look for Valamar, Maistra and Arena. There's a range of budgets across all those chains.

Ibiza
Menorca
Mallorca

Sicily is beautiful but stupidly hot in August.

Does Madeira have nice beaches?

Try the db seabank resort in Malta. Loads to do but you can also do the historical sights. Valletta is stunning, one of my favourite capital cities.

Malta is very marmite. It is very hot in summer the grass is brown with the heat few sandy beaches and it is quite a small island. Also different resorts catering for different types of holiday makers. But I loved it 20 odd years ago.

We were the other way around to you we holidayed independently pre children, when they were little we stayed in the UK for hols, then we had two years of resort/AI holidays they were easy and the kids loved meeting other kids, unlimited drinks, AI buffet and trying different activities etc. Then we did s/c apartments with a shared pool. Then when they were at secondary we found an apart hotel in the Algarve it had the best of both worlds a breakfast to please us all, a breeze to keep us cool, stunning views, a beach down below, other kids, pool games for the kids, we could read and relax and we could walk to different restaurants on a night and take part in an occasional quiz on an evening or watch the odd entertainment act in the hotel.

Cyprus Is lung busting hot in August so avoid there!

Canaries are relatively good value in summer as it’s their off season. We love Lanzarote, particularly Playa Blanca. Tenerife also good as they have a huge water park. Not too hot in August either.

I have never been but Simon Calder the travel expert raves about the beaches on the coast in Poland. Supposed to be very reasonably priced. The places you mention would all be very busy in August imo, which is fine if you don't mind that.

My parents used to to to Malta a lot in the 80's and they loved it, they returned recently and hated it. They said everywhere was so busy they couldn't find anywhere to park and they can't walk far because of disability. So they were basically stuck in their hotel.