New ideas!

[YourTwinklyDeer]

I’m really fed up of AI holidays and would like to try something different next time. I’d like to explore, eat out but have beaches and swimming pool for the little one.

Is there any suggestions?

How about a cruise, there’s some lovely family friendly ships.

Puerto Pollensa, Majorca. Lovely beach and a Pine Walk on the prom. Lots of nice restaurants to try. We stayed at the Puerto Azul. Great for little ones.

Eurocamp, lots of sites all over Europe. Many sites are great for children, with lots of facilities.

I don’t think I would do well with the sea, I feel funny after lying on a Lilo in the sea 🤣

Thanks, I will have a look at this. I have been to Majorca before but Alcudia part.

Do you need a car for Eurocamps?

Not necessarily. We’ve done 3 now, and always driven. Once in Luxembourg, and 2 in france. We’re looking at flying to Italy next year but will probably hire a car, so we have a bit more freedom. I think on the website there’s recommendation for sites you can do without a car. There’s also a Facebook group called something like ‘Eurocamp unofficial supporters’ which has lots of tips on where is good to go without a car.

A cruise is essentially just an all-inclusive holiday at sea, give or take whether you get a beverage package. The pool is small and often not LO-friendly.

AI, or at least half-board, is nice with small kids because there is always something on the buffet they can eat. With adventurous 10 year olds who enjoy restaurants in general then fine, or if you don't mind cooking on holiday, but with a small child you're on meal duty several times a day.

Aside from wanting to eat at restaurants, I'm not sure that there's anything else about an AI holiday that prevents you doing what's on your list. You can "explore" with a rental car , a taxi, the local buses, or an organised coach excursion more or less wherever you are — especially if you are in a place that has beaches and swimming pools. And when LO is at the beach or pool, you (or DP, at least) can't be exploring...

So I guess I'm just wondering exactly what the problem is, that isn't essentially "Having a small child limits what you can do". 🙏

You make some good points here, we’ve just come back from Greece and I was fed up of AI food by day 2. The whole being tied to certain times and not being able to sit down and eat a meal together. Granted we did have the odd meal out but the hotel was quite far from anywhere but had great pools and waterpark. My little one loves exploring new places and snorkelling etc but will often complain of walking far in the heat.

I’m not overly sure what I am after but I’d just like something a little different to the norm.

You could s/c at an appartment complex which has a pool and a beach nearby. Eating out cuts on the need for making meals and you have the facilities for snacks and drinks.

B&B at a resort gives you the freedom to do what you want, eat in, go out, use the pools etc.

We did AI a couple of times purely for the convenience when DD was 7-11, we often ate out, always had a car and did trips so we may have paid over the odds for it but it was worth it.

Thanks, I’m going to look at these.

We did a lot of AI (or at least full board) holidays when our DC were small and when we got bored with the food we went out.

The key is to realise that you didn't pay a lot for the food, so it's no great loss (plus if you are proper AI with drinks, you can keep the bill down at the restaurant by pre/post-loading, if alcohol is your thing). I suspect quite a few people choose AI mainly for the booze!

You just need to pick a place that is close to a decent number of restaurants (which of course AI places tend to kill off...)