Family holiday for next year 2013

Special Red

Need advice on this subject please. Family of 5 (2 adults, 3 kids aged between 6 & 4). Looking at 2 weeks in early July but not tied to those dates but the kids have to finish their school year. Looking for a family friendly destination so if you've been to a place with your kids and want to say great or crap things about it please do so here.

I can take the ferry option with the car if necessary but don't want to be driving too far from the port - 3/4 max. Sun I know not guarenteed but a high chance of it would be great.

Accomodation self catering or half board. We're on a budget here so as much as possible as much bang for my buck please.

I'm sure there are more out there in the same boat as us; just want a holiday in the sun for 2 weeks please!!

jt_dublin

Hi,

I recently recommended 2 places, one in Tenerife & the other in Ibiza. The details are in this post. They might be worth a look.


http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=80112130

manicmom

I am in the same search as you and general package holidays cost around €2500-€3000 minimum self catering in places like Spain and Algarve with a free child place.
Best value I can find is camping in France with keycamp, welcome France, euro camp, canvas.ie where their prices include ferry. You can stay in 2 bed chalet for 2 weeks in July for under €2000, cheaper if you stay in a tent. Farther south you go warmer weather. Kids clubs included and pools are great.

Alternatively I have been considering apartment rental but no kids clubs and a lot more DIY work on flights, ferries transfers ect..

Good luck and let me know how you got on.

L

naughtysmurf

Special Red wrote: »

Looking for a family friendly destination--
Accomodation self catering or half board-- We're on a budget here so as much as possible as much bang for my buck please-- just want a holiday in the sun for 2 weeks please!!

I'd probably look at Lanzarote then, DIY it, I've seen decent 2 bed apts for €350/week

TopOfTheHill

We were stung badly by Welcome France, I would not go near them ...

Here are some reviews...

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowTopic-g187094-i1050-k5208894-Dol_de_bretagne_chateau_des_ormes_french_freedom-Brittany.html

Arnold Layne

Is it best to book now or wait for the Travel Agent sales?

We are looking at self catering Salou/Portaventura for early July but the prices are very high at the moment

bbam

We've been to France about ten times on the ferries and for us it really is the perfect family holiday.
You'd want to budget about €3k for ferry and a good four or Five star campsite.
I'd highly recommend Le Littoral or Sequoia Park. If you don't want to travel about you could easily spend the two weeks on the campsite.

zzdp

if you are booking camping in France, look at the UK sites as they can workout cheaper. i booked this way a few times, keycamp.ie were looking for 1300 Euro for a week and it was 620stg for the same booking on there UK site. another good site is http://www.thomsonalfresco.co.uk/ the often offer 2 for 1 week deals.major savings can be made if you can go the first 2 weeks in July as the UK:) kids are still in school, so it is considered low season in the UK .

tatli_lokma

Turkey? just had a look there and flights with Aer Lingus to Izmir for July are around €1500 inc bags and you can get decent accommodation for two weeks for around €250-300 per week (2 bed apartment). You could go to Kusadasi (if you must, not my favourite place, but great beaches and waterparks to keep the kids entertained) - its about an hour from Izmir airport or you could go to Cesme which is also about an hour away. Transfers are easy enough to come by and quite reasonable.

blahblah06

Defo recommend turkey.
Check out golden day wings in Kusadasi.
Number 1 hotel on trip advisor

Tazz T

Wait a couple of months and you'll get great all-inclusives in Turkey, ideal for families. If you can go in June, that's when the best deals are. And the weather is just as good.

Boom_Bap

We took the Ferry from Rosslare to Cherbourg and rented a self catering Farmhouse in Brittany close to Dinan. So that is about a 2 hour drive from Cherbourg. There were 4 adults and 3 children.

The Farmhouse was pretty big and logs of land around it. There are games rooms, free bikes and you are close to lots of attractions like Mont St Michel and Le Mont. Also close enough to Rennes.

So plenty to do, and didnt break the bank.

tatli_lokma

Tazz T wrote: »

Wait a couple of months and you'll get great all-inclusives in Turkey, ideal for families. If you can go in June, that's when the best deals are. And the weather is just as good.

Personally I would never recommend an all inc deal in Turkey unless you are heading to Antalya and a 5 star adults only resort.

Food and drink are really cheap in Turkey. If you have a SC apartment with a pool you can feed the kids as much snacks and drinks and have your breakfast each day and a few dinners in the apartment for about half what you would pay for a weeks grocery shopping here. My typical weekly shop for 2 adults usually averaged around €40-50, and that included all my weekly essentials, fruit and veg, meat, snacks and treats and household cleaning items. And that was if I bought everything in the supermarket - if I went to the weekly market you could save at least €10 off that price sometimes more.

And if you do want to eat out a few nights you can do so for 2 adults, 3 kids, 3 courses set dinner and drinks for under €50 in a tourist restaurant or less than €30 in an Alo 24 type place or less again in a local lokanta. The food is wonderful in Turkey so to me it would be a real shame to go all inc unless the hotel has an award winning chef or something! The street food is wonderful - particularly for meat eaters, and definitely something you have to try. Durum Doner, Kocareç, kumpir (wonderful baked potatoes) and so many more great things can be got on practically every street corner for less than €5 with a drink. And shopping in the markets for fresh produce (rather than just knock off tracksuits and trainers! ) is a great experience.