France or Germany Summer holiday ideas with toddlers?

[Spikehog]

We are getting tired of package holidays. Our DS who will be 3 seems to get restless by the pool so we are thinking we should consider Airbnb holiday somewhere beachy/lake-y/foresty in France or Germany. We have flights to Paris, Bordeaux or Frankfurt from our airport. We’d ideally use trains only. Thanks!

Rugen island is beautiful. White sand beach, lots of forests, on the Baltic coast near to the Polish border. It seems to be where families from Berlin go on holiday so there were loads of kids there and it was very clean and safe-feeling. Lots of ornate Victorian clapboard houses so everything looks a bit like Disneyland.

We went a couple of summers ago in August and had one wet day, one grey day and the rest of the time sunshine and reliable temps between 25-28°C. We went as an adult family, so didn’t explore the things deliberately for children, but there were loads of small German children so it obviously has that kind of atmosphere. Fly to Berlin and hire a car to get there.

You could easily do Biscarrosse or the Arcachon Bay from Bordeaux. Biscarrosse in particular is great with young kids as there's a large lake which has a sandy bottom and is very shallow for ages. You'd definitely need a car though, but you could rent one at the airport. Accommodation depends on your budget but we first discovered the area when staying at Camping Les Rives. We've since been back and stayed at houses that we found on Vrbo or Airbnb

Hmmm. I have a bad habit of not reading to the end. It is quite a way from Frankfurt - about 7-8 hours - so that might not be ideal. The Baltic coast was a real revelation for me, though, and I highly recommend. I went in the sea plenty of times and was pleased to find that it was not actually, well, Baltic.

We do Eurocamp style. Use it as a base and then explore. They’re ideal for children. I’d fly into Bordeaux and visit one of the French ones.

@LeafHunter what is ‘eurocamp style’? Sorry not familiar with Eurocamp yet!

I would stay in Maubuisson which is on the coast near Bordeaux. There is a bus that runs from Bordeaux if you don't want to hire a car. It is on a huge lake in a pine forest. It is pretty touristy but it has bakeries, small supermarket, fishmonger, restaurants, the best maitre glacier in the world ( opinions may vary but anybody who disagrees with me is wrong). The Lakeside beach has lifeguards and is sandy with plenty of shade from the trees.

You can hen hire bikes including trailers for toddlers or bike seats and it is an easy cycle through the forest to the ocean so you have the best of both worlds.

I would always stay in Maubuisson rather than by the ocean. Especially with little ones because the lake is much more toddler friendly.

If you google Eurocamp then you’ll see. There are lots of other companies who own vans on the sites (like Eurocamp do). Roan is a popular one but you can use a site call All Camps which will show other companies too.

Not Frankfurt - it’s a boring city and miles from anywhere worth holidaying!