Where is the best place to go in Europe with a one year old

[chickatee]

My DSis and BIL are hoping to bring their DS on his first holiday at the end of August but can't decide where to go. Baby will be 15 months. They want something within 3 hours flight, somewhere that is baby-friendly but not totally baby-centred IYKWIM. A nice little resort with a promenade or marina for evening strolls and maybe a nearby golf course for BIL would be ideal. They will probably book scheduled flights and rent a car and are looking for something like an apartment with hotel facilities, or a villa or apartment that is within walking distance to shops and restaurants.
A few people have suggested Portugal but DSis thinks it might be a bit high-rise and overdeveloped for them. Nerja in Spain has also been suggested but I was wondering would it be too hilly with a buggy?
I am looking for suggestions for other resorts and/or accommodation if anyone can help (not Greece or Turkey though). I'm not exactly sure of their budget but I think "moderate", i.e. not 5-star luxury but not bargain basement either.
TIA.

Think about the heat...Portugal / Spain could be very hot then. Will that be ok with them? Why not wait until Sept when it will be slightly cooler and probably a lot quieter and cheaper?

Yes, I agree the heat may be a problem. They would prefer to go in September but unfortunately their childminder is taking hols the second 2 weeks of August so they have to go then. They are only going for 1 week though so the last week of August would probably be best.

Sardinia. We stayed here with dd when she was that exact age. Small apartment but you can get breakfast/half board arrangements. The Delphina group have other similar hotels, some with creches etc. DD was made a big fuss of everywhere we went. It will be hot and busy in August though. We went in June.

Antibes/Juan Les Pins in the SOF is very nice too - maybe not quite so hot. We rented a nice apartment for a week there.

We've also stayed at the P&V Les Restanques de St Tropez, and at the Tikki campsite on Pampelonne Beach.

I haveLoano2 bookmarked for future reference. Loano is a small seaside town on the Italian Riviera. Great prom, and one road back from the beach a nice old Italian town centre.

We've been to France, Italy, Corsica and Sardinia when they were all quite small.
They were all gorgeous, but from a practical point of view, I found France and Corsica easier for reasons like there were places open at lunch time - in Italy it seemed everything shut down except bars with no food or very expensive restaurants.
Also, the Italians partied and barb ied into the night! Now the children are older it isn't a problem , but getting them to stay asleep then was hard.
We went to Languedoc last year, it was gorgeous.

My favourite place is Corsica without a doubt though, very unspoilt even at the height of the season, and stunning unpretentious seaside villages, empty beaches lovely food.

Ile de Re - lovely little towns (Saint Martin de Re is particularly lovely), 30 minutes drive from La Rochelle airport (v. short flight from UK), and it is completely flat so no problems with the buggy! You also get a nice cool breeze from the Atlantic, so shouldn't get too hot.

Most of the French have had their holidays by August 15, so prices tend to drop then, and it should be a little less busy.

Agree the most for Corsica, it is stunning. But i think it would still be a bit hot at the end of august, we went (with 2yo) in the last week of Sept and it was perfect them.

Would also say, that prices are still inflated by UK tour operators to travel in August and why pay this when you don't have a school age child and HAVE to pay through the nose?

While your children are under school age travel in June and Sept for the best weather in the Med and much cheaper prices.

Some great ideas there, I will pass them onto Dsis. Corsica in particular sounds fabulous, but I don't think it is very accessible as they would have to fly from either Belfast or Dublin.
I suggested Lake Garda in Italy as I thought it would be perfect but they were there a couple of years ago, before they had DS, so would prefer somewhere different. I also thought of Cala D'Or in Majorca but its over 10 years since I was there so I don't know if it's still as nice.
It's funny, we have been holidaying with kids for years but I don't seem to be able to come up with many ideas as we generally go to european campsites with our DC, which is definitely not up for consideration.

Hi

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