Recommendations for peaceful UK or short-haul family holidays with calmer atmosphere (and not many aggro holiday makers).

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Can anyone recommend a UK holiday OR a short haul abroad holiday where it is quite nice in terms of the general genre of holiday makers?

We've just come back from a cheap and cheerful UK seaside break and there were soo many shouty, sweary mums and dads. Both my kids commented on it!!

I know that sounds snobby but we actually live in a rather interesting area ourselves so it's not like we are sheltered and never hear shouting or swearing. One of my kids isn't bothered by swearing and one hates it. I'm pretty neutral. None of us like hearing parents emotionally abusing their kids. 😔

It got me thinking, even abroad holidays we do tend to be 3 star type resorts and have experienced this in a few different places.

Can anyone recommend anywhere they've been that has been nice and peaceful and not felt like a Jeremy Kyle style cuffle could break out next to them?

Vaux-sur-Mer or Bretignolles on the Atlantic coast of France. Nearly everyone is French so you won't understand them if they're shouting. Bretignolles is a party town down on the sea front (la parée) but there are loads of quiet apartments in easy walk of the sea. Vaux is full of retired French couples but St Palais, just down the road, is the party corner.
I stayed AI at a hotel in Chersonissos on Crete and most of the others only spoke tourist English. They were mostly v quiet.

Copenhagen. Or anywhere else in scandanavia

I went to south of France last summer near Beziers, generally quite quiet there and no Brits abroad type people (although we didn't visit the nearest beach resort). Further along the coast towards Spain is also nice and reasonably calm. You basically need to avoid mega resort areas, anywhere with multiple water parks, "strips", theme parks etc. if you want a calmer place. Where we go in Greece usually (Lefkada) is also largely free of mass British tourism.

French Atlantic coast, very very French. Few idiot Germans but mostly French. Always used Siblu. We used to go to La Palmyre, St George Didione, Les Mathes, I’ll D’Oleron (whiter, calmer, nicer than than Re). If you don’t speak French, basics will get you a long way.

ETA c13 hours from S London or fly to La Rochelle / Bordeaux.

We’ve just come back from a lovely break in Lisbon. Boat trips. Amazing architecture Great food and we had a great hotel with a rooftop pool. Very reasonable too

North Norfolk…

• Wells Next the Sea and surrounds for genteel folk
• Cromer / Sheringham for swearing, arcades and general tat

Center parcs. We’ve gone there lots and then gone to Haven and yes it’s err different.

Madeira. Peaceful and clean.

I read a similar comment about Nerja before we made our day trip there so I was surprised as it felt very ‘brits abroad’ to me.

Rather than booking a package with TUI, Jet2 etc; book flights and book a hotel not offered by UK package providers. We stayed in a very nice & good value hotel in Egypt with lots of Italian guests (as some Italian package holiday providers use that hotel) and I certainly didn't observe anyone shouting or swearing.

How about the area around St Tropez in the South of France? We went a couple of years ago and stayed in a cabin on a campsite nearby. Very close to the beach, not many Brits, and the ones we came across were nice families. We drove there from the UK but met others who flew, cannot remember which airport.

Yes to Zeeland - big wide dune backed beaches. Lots of affordable lodge type options. Can cycle everywhere safely so great for kids (EVERYONE cycles - old couples, teenagers, big family groups). No rowdy Brits but everyone speaks English.

We've had good experiences with Belgium and Netherlands. Not a sweary parent to be heard. We've been to campsites in the Vendee and Ile de Re in France and in Tuscany and Venice that have also been lovely. The Germans in Italy start drinking very early, but I don't speak their language so I have no idea how rough they are!
This year we went to Tenerife for the first time and we were south, beside a real boozy Brits abroad spot, next time I'd stay further north. We just hired a car and went exploring for the nice spots. Even when you end up somewhere that feels a bit rough, there's usually somewhere much nicer not far down the road or up into the hills.

I know exactly what you mean. We found that avoiding the big seaside resorts and choosing smaller places can make a huge difference to the overall atmosphere. We previously used qeeq hired a car for a trip to Northumberland, staying in a small village near the coast rather than a large holiday park, and it was such a lovely experience. There was plenty of open space, quiet beaches and a much calmer family atmosphere. Having the car meant we could stop and explore little places along the way instead of being stuck in one busy tourist area. If you’re looking for somewhere more peaceful, the Lake District, North Norfolk and the Yorkshire Dales are also worth considering.

Uk - Tenby, wells next the sea, littlehampton. Polzeath.

out of uk - south of France (cassis!) or Brittany. Love the eurocamps or yelloh. Ferry into st Malo

We have just returned from Pembrokeshire in Wales. The coastline is absolutely stunning with large clean empty sandy beaches and the other tourists are families or younger surfer couples who are quiet and respectful. We’ve loved it!

If you are up for it, proper camping (tent, sleeping bags, toilet/shower block etc) attracts a friendly and fun kind of tourist in my opinion. I've been camping all over the UK my entire life. Went camping in Cornwall last year and we had so much fun with an elderly South African couple on one side and a surfer family on other. Was super cheap too!

I second the Languedoc-Roussillon region in France. We stayed in a campsite in Vias Plage (Beziers airport 30 minutes away) at the end of June and had one of our best holidays.

The campsite entrance was on the main drag down to the med. Lots of restaurants, not so many bars. It's a self catering area so no AI hotels.

Even the tat shop was more useful than tat. But it doesnt count as a beach area unless you can buy an inflatable pink unicorn somewhere.

Lots of places to go and see depending on what interests you. Excellent markets in the locality.

We plan to go back.

The Suffolk coast:
southwold, Walberswick, Dunwich (not at present), Aldeburgh,

Abroad:
Madeira
The Azores

UK:
Northumberland
Shropshire

Lake Garda
Tuscany
Antibes
Corsica
Valencia
Cotswolds

The best thing is just to avoid the bigger cheaper resorts, Mallorca is lovely if you do that. We found Puerto de Pollensa too Brits abroad for us (day trip) although Alcudia is supposed to be much worse and of course give Magaluf a wide birth. Port de soller was lovely, Valldemossa is gorgeous, Soller is a nice little town - all touristy but not Brits abroad touristy (which I hate too).

On Menorca, Cala Galdana is very Brit tourist friendly but didn't seem too 'Brits abroad' - a bit busy for us still BUT there are stunning walks to the other smaller beaches along the coast. Some of the most beautiful walks I've ever done and most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. The north coast is much quieter I think but that's because the beaches aren't so good. If you want to go somewhere really beautiful at peak times it's likely to cost more and there are likely to be quite a few other people - for obvious reasons.

Before you go anywhere just ask Google 'is x very Brits abroad' - it's pretty good at letting you know! For example it will tell you that Alcudia is very Brits abroad, Puerto de Pollensa is very popular with Brits but not so rowdy and Port de soller is not Brits abroad.

Menton along the south of France/Italian border is pretty nice, not Brits abroad, easy by train to check out lots of other places along the coast too. We flew into Nice and caught the train all along the coast.

We usually go to France, especially Brittany or the Atlantic coast, although I have been all over France and would literally go almost anywhere, or Wales, especially Pembrokeshire or Gower. Just got back from Snowdonia which was lovely. Cornwall and Devon have masses to do for families though. Worth some of the crowds but some places are to be avoided.

Here for other ideas!

We've just come back from a lovely holiday in Sardinia - no sun bed wars or shouty sweary guests. I think the trick is to find a nice hotel that isn't available through a package (jet2 and similar) and book it yourself.

Sadly, and I take no joy in saying this, a lot of Brits are dog rough. To avoid them, you either have to pay loads (an unspoken reason why Center Parcs gets away with its batshit prices) or go somewhere which the rough types would find dull-as.