Holiday ideas

[Ginandtonic100]

Hi. I'm sure this subject has been done to death, but I'm after holiday ideas for next summer (find we have to book early as there tends to be limited accommodation big enough for us). When we go, the children will be 2, 2, 6, 8 and 10, plus two adults. I feel I'm looking for the impossible, but we're after:

1. somewhere drivable from the south east (one of the twins has significant food allergies so need to take a load of stuff so flying not really practical).
2. somewhere with a pool. Ideally a bit fancy (wave machine/slide) as it's where the older children spend most of their time.
3. near the beach (short car ride is fine). We find they like the idea of the beach, but someone gets cold/bored/injured fairly quickly so usually just manage a few hours at a time.
4. walking distance of a town/park/something to give something else to do with the day.
5. not too expensive.

We love centre parcs (but not the prices!) and had a fabulous holiday at Duinrell this year (but want to wait till the babies are bigger before going back).

Any ideas?! Thanks!

Haven ?
were a family of 6 and go every year. It's really fun for the kids.

We are going to Haven - devon cliff's in a few weeks, not been before but friends have and have excellent reviews on it. We have booked activity passes so kids will be doing pool parties, aqua jets, ariel adventure and mini archery there are more activites very impressed we could book these before we go. The beach is within walking distance and plenty of play areas slotted around the park fron what i saw on the map.
Once we've been i will report back

Have a look at Hoseasons

Yes haven parkdean or any static caravan parks really is your best bet you get bedrooms and a kitchen and all that and if you book early you can get deals

Hobourne holidays have parks dotted about SW England they are nice

Thanks. Do you know if Haven do holidays in Europe or just the U.K.? The older ones really enjoy the different language/food of going abroad.

Sorry-cross posted with lots of others... any ideas about holiday parks abroad? I'm looking st Yelloh villages, but only a handful seem to be big enough for families of 7.

Try eurocamp we have been to a few french campsites when kids were younger i refuse to tent though so we stayed in statics Britinany is lovely nornandy was cold

Het vennebos in Holland.

Haven holidays are fantastic.

Rockley park, Devon cliffs and haggerston castle are all excellent places to with the kids.

Private hire is sometimes cheaper but you may need to pay for passes unless they are included in the hire price.

Booking through haven, they are included.

Have you thought about centerparcs in europe? Theyre much more affordable.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

We are considering European centreparcs, but still looking fairly pricey as we have to go at the start of the holidays so can't make the most of the cheap bit at the end once the French (and maybe other?) school holidays are over. I've also never been to centreparcs for a full two weeks, and after killing myself packing for a short break at Easter, I'm now not going anyway unless it's long enough to make the packing worthwhile!

The park in Holland looked very promising (and cheaper than centreparcs!), but from my initial googling I wasn't sure if there'd be enough around and about to keep us entertained for two weeks?

Has anyone flown with a large family including little ones? I just can't get my head around it... think it's all the food/medicines we need to take for one of the babies, and how does car hire work? Do car hire places hire large cars?! With car seats? I also think the twins might complicate matters as I think you can only have one infant per row (for the oxygen masks) so we'd have to sit separately.

Sorry, bit of a brain dump... I've taken a career break after having the last two babies which means we can only afford one holiday (previously very lucky to have a long one, plus one or two short breaks), so the pressure is on to make it a good one!

There is a fab holiday campsite/lodges in Germany , bit of a drive , but loads to in the area, fab wildlife park and theme park nearby .
{https://www.suedsee-camp.de/en/}

Hope that link worked

We have done Het Vennebos several times. Mainly because it is such a doddle to get to. It is more relaxing than action packed but the pool/flumes kept our older ones entertained and there is a very sweet childrens farm.
2 weeks may be pushing it. We did 10 days once and went to Amsterdam and Antwerp for the day(drove to Eindhoven then got train).
Food needs thought as there is no oven.

I've been to Sunparks on the Belgium border ( Ooostdunkirke) so an easy drive from Calais.
We stayed in a 4 bedroom house ( 8 beds) as we were 2 adults and 5 kids and that worked well. Houses aren't luxurious but there is a big pool on site, lake, bike hire, bowling, tennis etc. Certainly cheaper than Center Parks. Might be worth a look. Also, you can drive to Bruges in 45 minutes.

Ooo-thanks. That sunparks place looks great. Do you know if you can walk to the beach? Some of the TripAdvisor reviews say yes. And is there a town nearby? Thanks!

ooh yes, weve done sunparks in belgium too a couple of years ago, and there was 7 of us then. It was nice. I think it was in de haan. The beach was lovely

Thanks all. I've booked Sun Parks Oostduinkerke for two weeks next summer. Very excited!

We have 4 kids 6, 3 and 2 year old twins. I've flown with them twice and about to do so again in January.

Pack light especially for carry on as having the 2 babies is enough to carry!

We are staying in an all inclusive resort in a 2 bed villa in Fuertaventura.

I've always found flying with mine fairly straightforward as long as they have kindles, toys and snacks.

Bluestone, Wales.

Similar to Centerparcs but cheaper and they encourage you to leave the park to visit the beautiful area.

I see you're sorted for next year OP. For future reference, TAMBA do a Eurocamp discount, if you're a TAMBA member.

Devon cliffs Is great.
Butlins also good but they are both the same parent company so would be similar

F - thanks for the TAMBA Eurocamp tip!

Just got back from devon cliffs, had a fantastic time. Kids loved all the activities, and the beach just less then a 10 min walk from where our caravan was. Theres a royal marine training camp next to the site and kids loved watching the soldiers training. Looking at booking for next year