Summer holiday with a three year old?

[hotCheeseBurns]

Can anyone suggest a good summer holiday for a family of three? Dp and I went away for a week last year and left ds with my parents but I missed him so much I vowed never to go away without him again!

Where can we go that won't be too expensive or stressful?

Butlins? Haven? I would recommend uk - no stress of long travel, funny food etc.

WHy is two adults with one kid stressful?

God stop seeing it as a problem "funny food" he is three!

Camping.

It's cheap, he'll have lots of other children to run around and play with. You can sit outside the tent and watch him play while drinking wine. He'll be so worn out by all the fresh air that he'll sleep like a log. And your dh, if anything like mine, will beat his chest and come over all hunter-gatherer get the water, empty the portaloo, do the washing up and lots of cooking on the barbie.

We've taken ours every summer since 5 months old. Keep it simple - beach is good, swimming pool, play ground, self catering. Big campsites are great, though we've always done a mobile home rather than a tent. Apartments by the seaside? Depends on how much yours likes to play with other kids. My now 4.5 yo dd berated me this year for not going somewhere with a kid's club.

PS I have very fond memories of dd (then 2.5) playing with other kids in the dirt sand out side our mobile home - all in their pjs - whilst we sat and had a nice glass of vino. As surfermum says, they sleep really well! Even now mine is a bit older, she will go to bed ridiculous early on holiday as we all0w her to watch the portable dvd player in bed as a special treat.

I agree that anywhere with sand is good. It never fails to amaze me how much time small children will hapily spend mucking about in sand and water. I would also recommend somewhere where you get good tidal pools, as they are much better for very young children to paddle in than the sea.

We're a family of three and, yes, holidays can be stressful! Best to try not to schedule in too much stuff - keep it very very simple, and don't spend too much time travelling.

Life with a three year old is stressful enough for me! And I absolutely hate packing and travelling. I want to be able to have a bit of fun and relax if I'm going to spend hundreds of pounds and use up my precious annual leave.

When I was little we often went to camp sites in France and stayed in mobile homes, I think that is a good idea actually, thanks. Somewhere near a beach too!

I think half the issue is that my dp LOVES travelling and seeing the world and he hasn't been able to do any of that since he's been with me and ds. So he'd really like to go long-haul and is not at all keen on the idea of butlins/family resorts.

Any specific recommendations? We would like to go somewhere where we're guarenteed good weather.

We love Menorca, very family friendly, took ds when he was 2 and 3 and he loved it, everything you need there without it being chavvy or louty.

We went with Canvas to Union Lido near Venice. I love Venice, but we actually never set foot OFF the site in a week. 2 swimming pool complexes, huge sandy beach, lots of bars and restaurants, 2 supermarkets. We went in June and it was fantastic - not too busy. My dd as I said before, was 2.5. It was perfect.

We did 2 weeks with Pierre et Vacances near St Tropez. Dd had a really good time and went to the kid's club for a few sessions. Lots to see/do in the area.

This year we're going to the Dordogne with Eurocamp. Caves, food and prehistoland, canoeing and more swimming pools.

We've also done independant apartment holidays to Juan les Pins - great beach!, Villefranche sur Mer, Italian Riviera, Sardinia - excellent beaches and food!.

None of them - apart from St Tropez - have been that expensive either.

Thanks everyone, looks like we're going for two weeks in a mobile home in a campsite in the south of france. Nice town, nice beaches, surfing for dp and lots of kids stuff for ds.

We're going to go with a couple of dp's friends who have a little girl, quite a bit younger than ds. I don't know them really so that could be interesting!

where are you going hotcheeseburns?

Not booked yet, but Camping La Mer near Hossegor.

Well the Camping La Mer website was all in french and the lady answering the phone couldn't speak english so we gave up with that and now we're going for KeyCamp instead!

We loved Galazio Kima on Crete - spotless apartments, great pool, direct access to sandy beach and sometimes we were the only people there! Very relaxing and Crete is lovely, 5 mins from village which is a bit scruffy but at least real Cretans live there. You can buy beautiful fresh food, local cheese, and wine.
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