Baby friendly holiday??

crazy cat lady

We're planning on maybe booking a holiday next weekend for early June next year. Megan will be 18 months old when we are planning on going.

Can anyone recommend somewhere that is:

- Not too long of a flight
- Not going to be scorching hot
- Very family/baby friendly (even down to specific hotels)
- Who is best to fly with when you have a young child (weight allowance etc...)

Would be great to hear of your experiences! Thanks in advance

Moonbeam

We found Lanzarotte very child friendly and not too hot with the little girl who was 16 months at the time.

Costal Sal Apts is where we stayed.

bulmersgal

thats were i'm going in April, Elisha will be a year. Its a long flight though. But there I no i'll enjoy walking with her and there a great promenaded(Sp) to walk along. Every where else I think of I'd be struggling pushing buggy up and down hills.

xzanti

Hey we just flew back from Praia Da Rocha in the Algarve and we were just saying we would definately go back with our little one, place was swarming with young couples with buggies and toddlers.. Not too long of a flight, about 2 hours 40 minutes give or take.

It's not a mad party animal spot, you can stroll through the town at night after your meal without drunken teenagers falling out infront of you, very laid back sort of place.. It was quite warm though, I'd say it was up in the late 20's early 30's most of the days we were there..

2SWEET

Would Definitely agree with xzanti, Praia da rocha is a great spot to go with kids, resturants and even the pubs are very child friendly, one in particular... Atlantis... our kids love it, all the waiters are great with the kids always looking after them first, we had our nine month old with us in July and they had no problem making up baby bowls for him.
With regards to apartments one place i would say to stay away from is Club Praia da rocha, it's awful.. it's advertised as child friendly but when we stay there it was full of student type groups, even the locals have a low opinion of it! Club Amarilis is a great place to stay, fairly central to everything but quiet at night and very well maintained!
Aer Lingus is probably the best airline baggage allowance is 20kg per person and 10kg hand luggage so it's easy enough to pack whats needed for baby if you take it handy yourself!

crazy cat lady

Thanks for the replies.

I really like the idea of staying in an all inclusive resort type place. I wanna be pampered!

I love the idea of staying where lots of young families will be. Megan is already such a social little creature that she will be in her element around other young children

2SWEET

If it's pampering your after then have a look at the Royal Park hotel in Elenite Bulgaria, it's outside the larger resort of Sunny Beach so it'svery quiet at night, it is all inculsive, food is alright with a ew strange dishes ocassionally it's right on the beach and has a large kids pool, kids club and entertainment every night!, only down side is the electricity goes off for a few hours every few days so ask for a low floor and take the stairs .
Flight is about 3.5 hours so not too bad.

Forgot the best bit, there is also a spa there, all treatment are very reasonably priced, full body massage in turkish bath cost 70 euro for an hour worth ever cent and them some!

gowayouttadat

Ds was 11 months in July and we went to the falcon holiday village in costa del sol. Amazing set up for kids. Crèche indoors for when u want a bit of a break or even just to get them out of the midday sun. Ds adored it.
It's a bit high rise in costa del sol but the one in lanzarote is supposed to be fab!

TheQ47

We have travelled on numerous European sun holidays with small children, generally during June, July or August, and have found without exception, that the people in any European resort are always very child friendly.

We've been to France (near Perpignan), Spain (Malaga & Catalonia), Canaries (Lanzarote & Gran Canaria) , Portugal (Alvor & Lagos) with our children when they were various ages from 11 months to 10.5 years.

Of these, we found Lanzarote and Alvor very the best for child friendly places. In Lanzarote (Puerto del Carmen) there was a great walk along the promenade at the beach front, perfect for getting herself off for a snooze in the buggy, and for walking off the extra beer from the night before .

In Alvor, while the village was very beautiful, the people were as friendly as could be, always had nice things to say to and for the children. One thing I loved about here, was that (almost) none of the restaurants had childrens menus with nuggets, sausages, chips, Etc. You know the sort of thing I mean. Instead they had cut down, simplified versions of the adult menu. My children (aged 2 and 5 at that time) were unsure at first, but then they took to it with gusto, and it was a revelation for us how much they enjoyed it.

Mr. Fancypants

If you are thinking of staying at home then Kellys Resort in Rosslare is a fantastic place for familes. Have activities all day for kids and for adults. Lovely food and a fantastic spa. Bit pricey but you are well looked after. Sitting right on the beach too.

crazy cat lady

I've heard great things about kellys alright, its a bit close to home tho (we're in Wicklow!)

Lanzarote is sounding more and more appealing. I think we're going to go into the travel agents at the weekend and see what they suggest.

Ballyman

We carried the man to France when he was 6 weeks old! We took the boat and it was ideal as there is zero stress involved compared to flying and dealing with airports. It's an 18 hour trip on the boat but it doesn't feel like that at all. By the time you get on board and settled into your cabin it's time fr a walk around. Then head for a bite to eat and a drink if you wish. Then back to the cabin for some telly and a good nigh sleep. When you wake in the morning you are there!

We stayed in Northern France and spent a few days in Paris as well. The weather was fine, not scorching hot but dryer and warmer than Ireland.

You could always drive a few hours south after getting off the boat as well to the coastal resorts.

I was sceptical of this at first and was worried about the long boat trip but we didn't want the hassle/stress of airports and flying with a man so small so we did this instead and it turned out brilliant. I couldn't fault it at all for a holiday and we were so impressed we are probably going to do it again next year but head south to Bordeaux this time.

crazy cat lady

Well we booked 2 weeks in the Algarve today Only a 2 and a half hour flight which hopefully won't be too bad!!

We're staying in a holiday village, all inclusive. Theres a kids club for 0-35 month old children, lots of entertainment in the evenings, pampering for me, and we have an apartment so we can put herself to bed at night and sit on the balcony and drink wine without disturbing her Oh I think in my mind I'm there already!

Now just to get to the gym and shift the baby flab I've been promising to shift for the last 8 months... :rolleyes: