Holiday destinations - I need your help!

[cloudbusting123]

Hello! I’m looking to type into the wise Mumsnet hive mind for recommendations for a lovely family holiday please can you help?

I’m looking for a holiday designation for August 1-2 weeks self catering.
2 kids and 4 adults.
Kids are aged 8 and 6.
We love euro camp but are going with grandparents who won’t like that.

Things we’d like:
somewhere pretty
Nice sandy beaches
Town nearby with nice restaurants and bars etc (not quiet)
Pool
plenty of places to go on day trips etc
reasonable flights (not long haul)

places we’ve been before that we liked the vibe of Altea, Cascais, Alicante, Andraxt

any suggestions of location and accommodation would be greatly appreciated!

Nicer parts of the Algarve, Lagos perhaps? It's pretty and buzzing. You could do a dolphin watching trip one day, Albufeira Old Town, Aquapark.

Lagos is great. Some lovely air bnbs. Great beaches. Nice vibe for the adults. Train station is very accessible and runs along the coast so lots of opportunities for days out at some of the other lovely towns.

Ha - I was going to suggest Altea- maybe Denia further up coast or Marbella - great with parents as you’ve got the bling bit on Puerto Banus plus a lovely old town - or maybe Puerto pollensa or Cala d’or in Majorca -

I would look round Biarritz and St Jean de Luz in SW France.

Port de Soller in Mallorca

Antibes / Juan Les Pins - easy flight to Nice.

Echo Biarritz or Juan Les Pins.

The Greek islands

@UrinalCakeAlgarve was on my list of places to look at so thank you for this xxx

Thanks so much for this everyone off to do some googling now! X

San Sebastian is nice

Menorca!

Carvoeiro, Portugal.

Lovely beach, nice bars/restaurants and doesn't feel brits abroad.

@MoosakaWithFries I was going to suggest this too - I’m not personally a big fan of the Algarve - but this was by far the best of the resorts I thought

I was going to say Carveiro in Portugal also, have recommended it on another thread too but get a 3 bed in Rocha Brava resorts - it’s about a 15 min walk to beautiful beaches and there’s a 5 min free shuttle to the town. Lots of day trips near by, as well as lots of restaurants. didn’t need to hire a car just got the odd uber for supermarket etc

@MoosakaWithFriesthis is exactly the vibe I am looking for, I went on holiday hear as a child with my parents and loved it so I think I’m going to look into this!

@wellingtonsandwafflesthank you! Will look into this!

@wellingtonsandwafflesah! This is actually where I stayed as a kid and could not find it! Such happy memories thanks so much!

@cloudbusting123 it would be a good choice - we had terrible weather one September when we went so my H was in a foul mood the whole time but in all honesty it was a very pleasant resort- my favourite restaurant was this one - recommended -

https://thewolfbarandgrill.com/

We had a lovely holiday in Carvoiero too and stayed at Monte Dourado apartments. 2 bedrooms so you'd need 2 of them & up a steep hill but very spacious

@TiredEyesToday I hope OP doesn’t mind me jumping in .. have you done Lagos without a pool? We’re tempted but unsure if beaches have safe swimming? ie no big waves/rips etc. We’ve done Portugal before but always a villa.