What's been your best family holiday abroad so far?

[Willow2]

And why? Am looking for inspiration for next half-term or Summer.

definitely haggerston castle

was dirt cheap in may, so therefore we didnt have any big expectations. had a brilliant caravan with a bedroom each, loads of room inside and out to play, great wee cabaret stuff for families at nighttime (we had such a laugh)

lots of other things to do around and about in and out of the site

brilliant hot weather

nice and quiet at nighttime for dd's to sleep

only 2 hrs drive away so didnt stress about the travelling

I've never been abroad so can't help sorry We always go to Sandy bay in Devon [mum and dad own a caravan there] Thats fantastic IF you get good weather [2nd thoughts, go abroad]

Mark Warner in Greece.
Because somebody else looked after my dd for 2 bissful weeks and I read a book for the first time since her birth.

In a caravan on a great campsite in the Vendee. And we have paid a fortune in the past for Mark Warner/ Sunsail type holidays. The camping one was just so much fun, the kids wer happy, we were happy, very stress free! That said, the kids are now old enough to go to the park on their own so we got quality time without needing the child care iyswim

Club Med Ibiza, I cried when it was time to go home but don't tell anyone.

San Bou Menorca. We went twice and the second time I came home pregnant with the DTs.

We had a fab holiday in Orlando last October. Stayed in an apartment, so had flexibility re eating and going out or staying in, hired a car so did a variety of activities, not just theme parks. (kids are 5 and 3)

cala n bosch - minorca was nice, also Portinatx ibiza.

cruising the baltic - fantastic combination of relaxing, pampering service and stimulating excursions, and even better if you don't have to fly first so can take lots of luggage!

We go to my parents holiday home in Italy. Have been to many others places/ countries but this is always the best. Good friends, food, comfortable so even if they are ill its still okay. We like it so much we moving there permentately.

sacha, you brought back my childhood memories. I have vivid memories of going to Sandy Bay holiday park with my parents. There was a mechanical elephant you could ride and we always shouted "Hurray for Sandy Bay" as we passed under the sign

All our holidays have been brill for different reasons. Puerto Pollensa (right on the Pine Walk) was great because my mum and dad paid for us and my sister and her family, and we all went together but stayed in seperate villas. Holidays up the West coast of Scotland to relive happy childhood memories, and Norfolk for a wonderful summer and a perfect day on Cromer beach, again with my sister and her lot, in scorching sunshine. Tuscany with SIL and BIL - also wonderful. It's Disneyland this year - looking forward to that also.

Slovenia. Stunning scenery, child friendly (bars have play equipment for the small ones) cheap, fantastic food, easy to get to (easyjet) uncrowded, lakes, caves and mountains.

La Grande Metarie campsite in Brittany in 2003, fantatic time, first time then dp now dh had been away with me and the children - went so well. Wonderful site, fantastic memories

In 2002 we went round world

Maldives,

melbourne

new zealand

Fiji

Hawaii

Las Vegas

Toronto

So that was the best holiday we have had

Any of those would be great IMHO

Brittany

sorry, why - er, great food, beautiful rocky/sandy beaches, lovely French markets, the food, the wine and did I mention the food?

hi willow
last summer dh,ds(6),dd(4) and i flew to bratislava then train to vienna,train to belgrade,train and ferry all the way down to dubrovnik and from there ferry to bari and home,lasted 3 weeks and stayed 3 days in most places bit longer in dubrovnik, we all had a great time

Florida and Disney last summer, with DD (who was 2y 4m at time). Fantastic

The year before we really enhoyed Italy. We stayed at Riva, On Lake Garda. They were so family friendly, and everyone made such a fuss of DD. It was a lovely place.

Stoupa in Greece with DD aged 3. Fab villa with its own enclosed garden, beautiful pools and restaurant on site, gorgeous sandy beach a few mins away, and a lovely non-touristy town with a great ice cream parlour.

a quiet cottage in france, big grounds for the kids to play in, a 15 minute walk to get bread / cheese etc for lunch, walks in forests 5 minutes away, chateaux / caves / zoos etc to visit if we wnated to, restaurants that were great with kids,.
Willow2 - what do you want from a holiday? beach or inland? entertainment or not?

sorry i meant zagreb not belgrade doh,i knew it was wrong the minute i typed it but i was in a rush

Thanks for all your information so far chapesses.

Zubb - to be honest, I'm not really sure. We've always done the two weeks near a beach since we've had ds - but this year it might be that we do one week end of May (dh is 40) in a fab hotel and one week in August somewhere really simple, or we might just do two weeks in August. I have this lovely vision of a nice little villa somewhere pretty with easy access to a beach and restaurants - but I know that DS will crave other kids to hang out with and, tbh, DH and I could do with a bit of time to ourself. So, in an ideal world, somewhere with a kids club would be great - failing that a more communal set up with shared pool would tick the boxes for other kids. We've travelled with Simply Travel a couple of times and have always had good holidays but fancy trying something different for a change.

Janinlondon - Stoupa? Keep hearing this place mentioned as perfect family location. Why did you like it more than Mousses?

Willow2, Stoupa is a fab destination for families. But don't get me wrong - Mousses was also good. Just for different reasons. There is no child care in Stoupa, but there are so many kids around that they usually link up with others at the beach or the pool or the restaurant (we stayed at Maniatiko villas - see the Greek Options website). Some friendships were even forged on the bus from the airport. I think it depends on the age of the kids too. Our villa at Maniatiko had its own enclosed garden where DD could run naked through the sprinkler chasing butterflies and picking uripe olives. At that stage of her life (where we had to watch her more or less constantly), it was lovely to sit on our balcony, with a view over the sea, reading a book or with a glass of wine, and know that she was absolutely fine. Mousses is better for the bigger kids I guess - a fairly big garden but the little ones could get out, and the pool wasn't enclosed, so they had to be watched.