Self - catering in Europe. Ideas for car free holidays

[Findthehappy]

Our children’s passports have finally arrived and we are so excited to book a holiday in the summer holidays - we’re in Scotland so July - mid-August.

This will be our first holiday as a family of 5 (9 year old and 5 year old twins). We don’t want to drive or hire cars but the kids are desperate to go on a plane! Max budget is £3000 (tight I know 😏)

So, can you hit me with any suggestions of good value self-catering holidays within reach of an airport (taxi or east public transport)? Ideally not based in hotels. Or which websites to look at for holiday homes/villas?

Absolutely no preference for countries but would be nice to have some access to a beach/lake, cycle hire, places of interest.

Thank you for any inspiration and top tips!

You can book any number of package holidays from Scotland to self catering properties where the transfer from airport to accommodation is included in the package

Have a look at Jet2, EasyJet, Tui holidays for the dates you want, filter for self catering properties or villas

Is the £3k just for flights and accommodation or need to include all activities, food etc?
Either way, it's very low for peak season and 5 people. Have a look at flying out of Newcastle or Manchester as it can be much cheaper if you go at the start of the Scottish school holidays before England break up (usually the first 2 weeks of scottish hols).
You mention wanting places to visit and bike hire so I'm getting the impression you're not just wanting a package holiday, lie by the pool type week?
What about Eurocamp? There's accommodation for around £1k for a week at the start of July and you can filter the websites by sites which are "car optional".

Depending on what you're after, flying to Nice might work. You could stay in Nice itself or get a train somewhere along the coast. There's a train station (Nice St Augustine) very close to the airport, although the local trains can be hellishly busy during the peak summer holiday season. I thought of Nice because it's the kind of place that doing self catering is relatively easy due to being a city with plenty of supermarkets and places to eat but also things to do that can be accessed by public transport and it feels like a holiday destination if you want sun and beach.

How about Italian lakes? Can fly in, train to several different eurocamp style sites and good public transport to get around

Thank you for the suggestions!
@MiddleAgedDread definitely not looking for a package holiday although the ease is appealing. The thought of attempting to just sit on a beach and keep 3 kids entertained is not!
@samlovesdilys italian lakes is definitely on my list of places I want to go. Just apprehensive about transfers and dragging 3 kids around not knowing quite where I’m going myself. Perhaps I just need to go with it a bit more 😂
@Bandol I had not considered Nice at all but that sort of mix of city near a beach and ease of access to public transport sounds ideal!
Lots to think about!

Between us we might have cracked this @Bandol !! You just need to find flights, it's 8km to the airport so a taxi isn't going to break the bank.
Green Park Campsite | Riviera | Eurocamp

Hope you find somewhere OP.

Just wanted to say that a package holiday is just one where the flights transfers and accommodation are included. Not necessarily all inclusive on the beach. I have never done all inclusive on the beach but many of our holidays are booked as a package to take the travel hassle out. Then when you get there you organise activities, days out etc that you enjoy for your holiday

Fly to Salzburg (but from Scotland you might need to get to Manchester or Stansted to do this) and then stay in an apartment in the Austrian Alps.

There are plenty of ski apartments that are rented out for the summer at reasonable rates. Many towns offer special discount cards to tourists which give free use of the cable cars, outdoor pools, buses etc. and public transport throughout the State of Salzburg is free in the summer for tourists. This includes trains and buses to the resorts.

Look at airbnb, VRBO or the Tourist Office websites for places such as Saalbach, Maria Alm, Zell am See, Seefeld

I would second flying to Nice, then train down the coast to Antibes. I did this for 4 of us with a three bedroom Airbnb for about £1400 for a week for flight and accommodation (booked EasyJet flight the morning it came out on the cheapest day possible in August)

You can fly with TUI to lanzarote in budget, transfer included to a 2 bed apartment but out of Manchester in early July (school holidays haven't started yet there! There's an extra £215 off if you book through the app, code saleapp.

Alternatively look for affordable flights to France and book self catering separately, France is usually decent value however I personally have always driven from the U.K.

Sitges is great for not needing a car. Train from Barcelona airport and to Barcelona for day trips. No Need for car whilst on Sitges as you can walk everywhere. Flights to Barcelona are very. Cheap

Nice is a great idea, Barcelona also. Or fly to Venice/Treviso and get a transfer to one of the big holiday parks on Venetian Riviera like Union Lido or Porto Felice. Loads to do for the kids and huge sandy beaches. We've also done Siblu - La Carabasse without a car - very close to Beziers airport.

definitely not looking for a package holiday although the ease is appealing. The thought of attempting to just sit on a beach and keep 3 kids entertained is not!

A package holiday just means that you have your flight, transfer and accommodation included in the one booking. You can stay in a hotel, apartment or villa. A larger hotel with pools and activities would just mean that there are things to keep your children occupied. You can still head out and see things.

Have you considered Duinrell in the Netherlands? It may be a bit expensive booking for this summer but may be an option for the future.
It has a theme park, a waterpark and is within reasonable travel of a beach.

Not sure if you’ll get it under your budget but Bella Italia in Lake Grada sounds like it suits your needs/wants. We’ve booked to go in June with a 3yr old & 4month old.
Only a 40min transfer from Verona airport. Right on the lake, loads to do for kids. Can walk into the nearest town & can get the ferry to other towns around the lake. Can also get the train to Verona, Venice & Milan to explore further away.

La Rochelle? Lovely town, lots to do and all sorts of accommodation. Great beaches, aquarium, easy to access the Île de Ré for day trips.

We loved union lido eurocamp near Venice. You need a transfer which you could rebook (we drive from the uk). But once on site there is a great supermarket and plenty of eating options (roast chicken takeaway, pizza).

Plenty for the children to do and bike hire. Direct to beach and a day trip to Venice.

We are a family of 5 and do a fair bit of eurocamp as we want 3 bedroom accommodation which starts to get really expensive.

I recommend a campsite (Yelloh are good. Do not book Eurocamp, go direct through the campsite, you'll get a better deal and the chalets are on a sliding scale of cost + comfort. Go for the best you can afford. You'll have sports facilities for all age groups, pools, clubs and other kids to entertain plus the support and advice re public transport from reception staff)

We spent last summer training around France and Spain. We booked trains through Trainline and each had a backpack only. It was fun and interesting (though probably more for the adults than the dc who spent the train journeys with heads in phones).

Western France (La Rochelle North and South directions) has fabulous safe cycle paths so you can get around easily. When our dc were small were cycled to and around the Ile de Re. Eldest was 9 at the time. Great campsites around there too.

I’d definitely recommend having a look at The Netherlands. You can fly Edinburgh to Amsterdam and there are quite a few places that are accessible with public transport. Duinrell is fab, we went when our kids were 12 and 9 and there’s loads to do on site as well as in thr surrounding area. Little Clogs website is a great starting place for other options and I think you can search for places you can reach without a car.