Nearest guaranteed sun/heat with no flying or train

[CapybaraGathering]

I've been tasked with booking a holiday for a very awkward group. One won't do Eurostar/trains and two won't fly. We want guaranteed sun and decent summer temperatures, decent child friendly hotel and nice pool/water park would be amazing.

Where would be nearest? We'll be doing ferry and driving I guess. No one is particularly bothered about site seeing or area, we just require guaranteed sun and a pool and nice hotel.

Caveat: I appreciate you can get rain anywhere and have been in Majorca in August and it's still rained but it's very rare and a one off. I'm talking about average summer temps for guaranteed sun.

Fully prepared to be told this isn't feasible by the way so please don't think I'm being unrealistic but I've been googling and can't quite figure out if it's doable or not and personal experience/others opinions are always helpful when trying to figure this out.

Thank you

Santander? It’s a long ferry tho. Lovely beaches and town centre

Do you have to all travel together? Some go by train, some fly and meet at the destination?

Channel tunnel to France then drive south. You just sit in your car so not a train.

Cruise from Southampton?

We drive to south of France in the summer, it’s always been hot and sunny. But depending on your arrival port and final destination, it’s a good 10-12 hour drive.

We did 2 holidays in the south of France and 1 in Costa Brava when I was a kid - ferry then drove down at a leisurely pace. By leisurely I mean we took 3 days to get down, 2 weeks there and then 3 days home. It was
fab but quite a long time off work for DDad

Ferry to Bilabo and then stay around there or drive up to southern france.

Personally i'd be telling the awkward people to be the ones who arrange the holiday.

Bilbao & Santander are famously wet and cloudy! Brittany is often nice, but not much more guaranteed than Cornwall. You'll probably have to do the Med for guaranteed sun. I'd stick to France for easy driving, then pick somewhere near Marseille or Montpellier that are at the end of the highway

South of France is probably the closest.

the drive really is not fun though.

Overnight ferry to Bilbao then a full days drive to the south, look at Tarragona area as shortest drive

alter overnight ferry to st malo and stay in La Rochelle area of Vendee, has a microclimate

We have had lots of nice holidays in Lot/Dordogne area of France, always been nice in August. Cheapest way is Dover-Calais and drive - can do it in a day (if you live in S.England) or stop in Le Mans or Orleans en route. We did Brittany one year and it rained so much, was similar climate to Cornwall, but much further away! We have in the past hired a villa with a pool and spent the week eating/drinking/supervising the kids in the pool on rotation.

With climate change meaning such frequent heat waves we are gambling on west Wales getting really lovely weather this August. Cardigan Bay is gorgeous in the sunshine.

A potential difficulty here is that the typical Mediterranean "fly and flop" hotel (buffet meals, cheap or all-inclusive cocktails, lots of sunbeds) is not readily available in France or the northern half of Italy. There are some wonderful places to stay (my first thought is the Bordeaux area and points south along the Atlantic coast, or perhaps the Italian lakes), but costs mount up with a la carte dining and drinks.

OP, just out of interest, what is the problem with trains? Isn't a train journey nicer (and lower-carbon) than a car in every respect apart from perhaps flexibility at the far end (and apparently this person would be OK to fly)? Developing this a bit more, would it work if you and Nelly (or Nigel) Notrains were to fly, and the others got the train a day earlier and joined you? There are probably some options just over the border into Spain (and maybe Nelly could do some of the driving?).

We drove to Lisbon last summer. Via Spain. A bit of camping in Spain before we arrived at air bnb. Plenty of seaside towns nearby such as Setubal or Sesimbre. Didn’t rain once. Was bliss.

Those that want to fly fly, those that prefer the train, get the train. You all meet at your destination.

Problem solved.

I agree. It isn't going to be much of a holiday for the drivers.

How about Norfolk instead?

Biarritz

Donastia San Sabastian is beautiful, as is Denia both reachable in the car via the Bilbao/Santander ferry. Or Biarritz is also lovely but can be expensive in high season.

Cruise from Southampton is a fab option! You need a longer one to be able to get to the sunnier climes. We’ve done 3 and they’re perfect.

Ooh, this sounds like our family holidays! I’m the awkward non-flyer. DH and I go by train, the DCs all fly and meet us there.

ETA: We’ve driven to S of France on a couple of occasions but it’s a gruelling journey and costs a fortune when you factor in two or three extra nights each way in hotels. I much prefer to do one long day on the train.

I could not be arsed with that travelling and those criteria OP. How about a fancy spa hotel on the South Coast instead?

We had a childhood holiday home near Biarritz. We would take an overnight ferry to Santandar (as mentioned by PP) and drive the rest.

Not choppy at all. Ho no.

Butlins camber sands?

Sod that. No way would I spend 2 or 3 days in a car when I could get there in a couple of hours by plane. Tell those who won’t fly to get there however they want, and you’ll meet them there.

I’d be more inclined to go to Devon and hope for the best!