Where would you go?

[roberta]

My partner's got a sabatical due this summer and we want to go away but we're (well, I'm) in a quandary about where to go. He's keen on renting a house in Suffolk for a couple of months but for the price we could probably just as easily be in France/Italy/Spain. We've got a four year old and a newborn and would like somewhere big enough to have friends with kids to stay. I'm just terrified of it pouring with rain all summer and having a miserable time at the freezing seaside. I also think this is a rare opportunity and want to make the most of it, but our baby will only be about six months so we don't want anything too adventurous (no white water rafting trips). Plus we've left it quite late, so will there be anything out there? What would you all do - has anyone got a suggestion for the perfect place?

I think I might be tempted to go somewhere warm too! I never trust our Uk weather, especially now we have had all this nice weather - that might be it!

Seriously though, if you want lots of visiotrs the Uk might eb the best option. Howver, both France and Italy are fantastic for children. We are off to Italy for a couple of weeks with 11 month old DD on recommendation. Never been to Spain.

Well, much as I love living in Suffolk I would thoroughly welcome going somewhere really 'different' and warm! Wherever you go it's a great idea, my DH & I took a 'year off' about 3 years ago (before we had a child) and it was a wonderful experience - we travelled around the US.

I would say France, If you can get down the West coast (inland a bit to keep the price down) it is beautiful and nice and warm. Suffolk is lovely, for a short break!

Diffentely France as in addition to being close to home should you need to return, your also close for family and friends to visit.

Good luck.

Never tried to put a link on before but if you try www.frenchconnections.co.uk they have some lovely preperties and are very reasonable. We rented a caravan in cornwall for a week last year for £650, some of these are £300 for a week! Previwed that and it didn't work but at least you have the address. How do you put links on that you can click straight onto?

Just to even things up, I vote for Spain.

However, to increase your chances of enjoying your visit fully and getting good deals on places to stay, you should bear in mind your language skills - if you speak a bit of french but not Spanish, go to france.

Personally I'd go to Italy, nice weather, lovely people and only a couple of hours on the plane.

I'd probably go to France, because I know Italy too well, but must say that Italians are great with children (not say that Spanisha nd French aren't, have never been there with children)

I'd go to France and, if you dont mind not being near a beach, I'd recommend going to somewhere like Tignes. Although thought of mainly as a ski resort, it's a year round resort with great activities for children and adults alike, and you can ski the glacier in the morning if that interests you. We went there a couple of years ago in July, the weather was superb, the air so fresh and clean and we did white water rafting, clay pidgeon shooting, mounting biking, horse riding, mountain walking, flew kites, sun bathed, skied, swam, played golf..... You can probably tell by all those activities that we were childless at the time but children were all around us and some friends went last summer with their brood and enjoyed it so much they have now bought a place there! And cheap flights with Go/Easyjet.

Have a look at a company called Interhome. They have all sorts of self catering accommodation in Europe which may give you some ideas as to where you might like to go - perhaps even combine a couple of places if you have the time and are driving.

i second Intehome, they are by far one of the cheapst self-catering tour operators, and have a pretty extnsive Italy, Spain and France programme, which you can view on their website www.interhome.co.uk. They also do apartments in cities - so you could ave a week in Rome or Barcelona or wherever which would be great for adults for a week.
check the Sunday travel supplements for people renting their properties privately, they may give you a discount if you rent the place for the whole summer.

You could always sell it to your partner as a chance for your eldest to learn another language while they're still young enough to find it easy.

We went to Italy for 5 months last summer - my husband took a sabatical (but chose to go and work at an Italian University). We had a 3 year old and 9 month baby. It was fantastic, and I've no regrets at all. You might want to think about a) being close to the beach - great for kids/meeting other mums etc b) renting somewhere close to one of the no-frills airport which means cheap flights for you/visitors c) if you have any links with Italian Universities/companies asking them to help you rent an apartment d) renting ground floor with a garden. Downsides - Italy is very family oriented so isnt as geared up with mums & tots groups/nurseries etc.

Have a great time.

NCT have a house swap register. You could maybe see if someone lives somewhere groovy there.