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

[TheScreen]

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?

I suppose it depends on what you mean by ‘Brits abroad’. Yes you will find a lot of British people in Nerja, but in the main they will be staying in apartment / villa complexes, and maybe second home owners or ex pats. There are a couple of Irish bar type places, but it’s a different vibe to, say Benalmadena where there are huge hotel complexes and a whole strip of British or Irish bars.

I never find there to be particularly more British people when I holiday, than people from other nations eg Germany, Netherlands, and recently so many tourists from the US. I think you get a different view of most places if you stay somewhere self contained rather than in a hotel.

We have stayed in some pretty upmarket non Brits abroad places with both Tui and Jet2. You just have to do a little research. We had a brlliant holiday in Cefalu in Sicily a few years ago with Tui. The visitors were mostly Italian, with very few Brits there. No karaoke bars, no all day breakfasts etc.

Our boutique hotel in Sissi, Crete (a quiet village only 4 miles from Malia) was through Jet2.

Similar except Majorca and we go to Andraitx/ camp de Mar /puerto portals type area - it’s not a cheap area but there are some great ‘better’ priced options and it doesn’t really attract the crowd going for AI or loads of nightlife apart from restaurants and civilised drinks . Try the La pergola in Puerto Andraitx OP -( have linked) very nice hotel in upmarket civilised resort and good with families as rooms really big plus an indoor and outdoor pool, kids club, playground etc - lots of Germans and Dutch ! ( they love this area)

I would also suggest places like Christchurch or Lyme Regis in the UK .
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Never had this and we have done a fair amount of TUI package holidays as well as booking independently. Reading reviews helps and we also tend to avoid anywhere that might be crowded.

Places would recommend
UK - Isles of Scilly, Wales - Pembrokeshire maybe stay like on a farm small B&B if you have a car to get to places, Isle of Skye, Bath. Europe - Mid range and above for AI and check reviews (TUI splashworld where just typical families, somewhat lively kids including ours but fine if not very cultural but great fun), Copenhagen, Azores, Lapland, Porto, Venice, Italy as a whole, La Gomera though not masses to do there.

The irony of all of these British people desperate to find somewhere where there are no Brits FFS!

Is it because all other Brits than them are lairy? Hmmm

I love a bit of MC British cringe from superior types

Dunkeld Scotland
ericmore estate is lovely

I think it depends to a large degree on how independently you want to travel. If you are wanting a package with transfers etc I think it is harder to find more "authentic" places, though even in popular destinations different resorts have different characters. For instance on the Costa Del Sol I would pick Estepona as it is much quieter than the resorts down the coast and closer to the airport. It's still very much a holiday resort but has a more Spanish feel and a quieter atmosphere. (Or at least it did when we visited which admittedly is at least a decade ago now.) But if you pick a general area and then research the specific resorts carefully you'll hopefully find somewhere that meets your needs.
If you are willing to book flights and accomodation separately and get a hire car it opens up a lot more options, especially if you self cater. We've had lots of holidays over the years where we have got cheap flights to popular airports but stayed in quiet villages in lovely villas with pools for much the same price as a middle of the road package. In many places you don't have to drive too far from busy resorts before you leave most tourists behind. You can get off the beaten track even in holiday hotspots like Mallorca but still be close enough to drive into the tourist attractions if you want to.

And it’s those particular middle classes with their feelings of superiority I would want to be avoiding !

What did you find interesting about Gijon?

Smaller Greek islands?

Went to Samos a few years back and any tourists there were Dutch or Scandinavian. Lovely, calm vibe.

Plenty of MC like a drink and a laugh and fun on holiday but don’t want Jeremy Kyle type arguments/punch ups going on in rooms next door or tables next to you. I don’t care about what class people are , have made friends with loads of different people on holiday -just that they don’t behave like inconsiderate twats

You need to buy yourself out of the type of holiday that attracts the people you’re trying to avoid unfortunately.

What a silly response.

I don't object to holidaying among other Brits who like a quiet holiday like we do.

I really dislike the idea of going to Greece, for example, and seeing all day breakfasts, English pubs, karaoke bars, strip clubs etc. I can get that at home if I want, and nor do I want to holiday with loud, lairy Brits who want little England with sunshine.

I want to eat Greek food in a Greek taverna, drink Greek wine, explore, sightsee, lounge about, swim and basically immerse myself in the local culture. To me that is the whole point of travelling.

Surely, you csn see the difference? If you think I am being snobby and superior I am happy to own it.

Fowey
Swanage
Southwold
Northumberland coast
Lake District
Peak District
Most of Norfolk coast
Gower

Actually, scores of places I've been in high season haven't had any boorish people ( or very few).

Austria

I can't answer for the PP, but I've been to Gijon and can recommend:

• staying in the Parador (great Spanish re-use of historic buildings)
• the Chillida sculpture Elogio del Horizonte
• the old town
• just being in Northern Spain
• The buses that go along the brilliant road system

Actually, I'd suggest staying in Santander. Ferry's easy (kids would enjoy that. I saw dolphins!) and parks bang in the middle of town. I stayed in a super B&B, although there's a hotel a stone's throw from the boat. While there, you can bus to Bilbao, the Cave of Altamira and heaps of other great places.

I'd look at inland spots rather than big coastal resorts. For example, we stayed in a beautiful hillside finca in Mallorca. Not another tourist to be seen in the local restaurants or supermarket and we had day trips to various beaches.

Alpine resorts are a good shout in the summer. Zell am See in Austria, Bled in Slovenia, Annecy or Morzine in France - all with lovely outdoor and indoor swimming, packed with things to do and no screeching. That said, Morzine does have a bit of a rep but that's mostly mountain bikers being inconsiderate on public transport and riding through pedestrianised areas in the busy town centre.

@TheLette Beziers town is great. The nearest seaside resort is ..umm ... quite specialised.

Another nice tip is to check out Center Parcs on the continent. They tend to be cheaper than the UK version, have the same or better facilities and are still quite naice.

But to answer your question, I would steer away from "resort" type holidays unless you can afford very high end or go off season.

We do short haul European holidays a lot and tend to prefer city breaks or a mix of beach and city and always self organise -short haul places we have been to over the last few years and enjoyed that are not like you describe - Toulouse, Porto, Cologne, Leuven, Narbonne, Perpignan, Montpellier, Nimes, Seville, Beziers, Sete, Copenhagen.

Sete is by the sea but the town and beach are a 30 min walk or short bus ride between each other so the atmospheres are different (and even then the beach is not too loud or stressy). Perpignan and Narbonne are near beaches towns that you can get a train or bus to - we went to Gruissan and Collioure which were both amazing.

TL:DR if you want calmer summer beach holidays go to the South West/Occitanie region of France!

As yes - we definitely avoided that seaside resort (I was quite shocked reading TripAdvisor reviews! I had to clutch my pearls hahaha). I actually meant the family friendly beach resort tho!

I loved Sete! For others reading, it's worth going at the end of August for the St Louis festival where they have water jousting. We loved seeing that (we aren't particularly into sport but it was really fun).

Oh the water jousting in Sete is so much fun - if you go in early July you catch the festival of St Pierre which is the start of the water jousting season where you get loads of formal parades and less formal parties by the Canalside and sea and of course jousting - it is riotous fun.

@Ginmonkeyagain we accidentaĺly blundered into the water jousting in Sete about 25 years ago. Had no idea what was going on but loved it.

I heartily recommend that area in France. Less 'smart' than St Tropez with prices to match.

We had 'all you can eat' mussels and sardines for €20/head which I thought was excellent value.

Yes it is one of my favourite areas of France - prices have gone up a bit, but you can still eat very well for about 25 - 30 euros a head.