A unicorn one plz

[MollyRover]

Desperate for a holiday where some childcare is available for much needed r&r. We're looking for mid to end October, within Europe, sunny as it can get at that time of year. DC are 2 and 7. Can be a bit spendy but budget isn't unlimited, would like to avoid Ikos prices if possible. Where do we start? Is there a travel agent we should know about?

We've just got back from the Elysium in Paphos and they had excellent childcare. The kids club starts from age 3 but they do have a crèche too for younger children. They are open 10 - 13.15 & then 2.45-17.15. My 3 year old really enjoyed it. We also went to Paphos last October half term & the weather was lovely.

Another company I can recommend is Neilson holidays and their beach clubs.

They have plenty of activities and also kids club and a creche as well:

https://www.neilson.co.uk/beach/family-holidays/articles/guide-to-kids-clubs

They're not quite as expensive as Ikos, but their costs including flights and transfers from London are heading up towards the cheapest prices at Ikos without flights (if that makes sense?).

How much childcare are you looking for?

As much as possible to be honest. I even looked at hiring a nanny to bring with us for a week somewhere but it feels weird. I think dropping off and picking up a couple of times a day, maybe a night out for dinner would be fine for us. They're well used to daycare so something along those lines.

This looks IDEAL!! We're not in the UK though, I'll still contact them to see if we could book without flights.

My husband has a long term mate who is a multiple award winning travel agent, she was amazing when we went away last year. Do you want me to dm you her details? Really couldn't recommend her enough!

Can someone not mind them whilst you go away?

Norland do something called Holiday Hands, which is trainee Norlanders who parents can book for short term work and holidays whilst the complete their studies at Norland. My DD is a Norland Nanny and does quite a lot of holiday contracts. They will work from, say 8am til 6pm and can do extra babysitting. Might be worth considering. You'd also have to pay for them to fly and accommodation etc but it'd give you a very chilled holiday and the Nanny will help on the flight too.

Someone posted on here that one of the cruise lines offers free childcare, not sure if a cruise is up your street. Think it was MSC.

In mid-late Oct for sun you need to go further than the Med really.

If you like the Neilson idea, Mark Warner are very similar to Neilson but have a resort in Turkey - which has more chance of sun in Oct than the Med based locations. Personally though I feel Mark Warner/Neilson are best value for ages 8-teens, when they have outgrown the standard kids clubs available elsewhere and want something more sporty.

There’s also a lot of resorts in the Canaries with decent kids clubs which take little ones eg the Ritz Carlton Abama, Roca Nivaria. Canaries should have a very good chance of sun.

Or Cyprus has a fairly good chance of good weather (probably less than canaries). Almyra hotel might be very suitable, kids clubs start from baby age and there is a heated pool.

Suggest a chat with Tots Too agency who are all over this sort of thing although they do specialise in pricier resorts (not all as ££ as Ikos though).

No

Yes please!!

We've been to Cyprus in October before and the weather was good enough for us. I'm not overly fond of Turkish resorts.

Thanks for all the suggestions, this is so helpful, keep them coming!!

If you like Cyprus, we had a lovely holiday at Columbia Beach Resort, our kids enjoyed the club a lot. The one snag was the pools were chilly (sea was warmer) - hence suggesting Almyra upthread which I believe has a heated pool (but we haven’t been).

@BeEasyonYourself can you drop me a PM when you get a chance about that travel agent you know?

We went to a Mark Warner in Sardinia years ago. We didn't use the childcare much as they wanted to be with us but they did a bit and there was lots of fun stuff on offer.

Agree with PP that Neilson and Mark Warner both provide exactly what you are looking for, and the kids clubs are great.

You can definitely arrange your own travel with Neilson, although I don't think it's a big discount off the advertised prices. Not sure about MW.