UKC

We are thinking of going on holiday my son, daughter in law and two very young grand children (1 & 3) in June/July (outside of school holidays) somewhere for a break in the sun, the idea being that my partner and I will baby sit the kids much of the time to give them a good break, yet still somewhere suitable for us to do little walks and outings all together as a family.

A villa or gite in the sun sounds what we are looking for.

Main criteria

1 Good chance of warm weather

2 Maximum flight time 1.5 hours

3. Would hire car(s) but better if we can rely on walking/public transport

4. Character area, not necessary near sea or in mountains, but not too flat

5. Small village/town with choice of cafes, restaurants nearby

6. Min three double/twin rooms for 4 adults and 2 infants

7 Quiet location - no noisy night life

8 Looking at a budget of about £2500 including flights, if poss including car hire from airport if required (could stretch another couple of hundred for a bigger car)

9 Self catering (the above budget excludes food and drink)

Any recommendations, preferably based on your own experience?

In reply to Trangia: rent a villa near Pollensa - lots of choice, Pollensa's a nice town, Porto Pollensa nearby for seaside.

We've rented through irentmyvilla.com a couple of times, direct with the owner and often they'll rent midweek to midweek to get cheaper flights.

In reply to andy:

Thanks for that. I hadn't thought of Polensa and agree it might fit the bill for what we are looking for

In reply to Trangia:

Vale do Lobo in Portugal. Try KG villas. About 30 minutes from Faro airport and you can go as flash as you want. The town houses are nice and fairly reasonable, but somewhere with 3 bedrooms may well have a pool.

- If you have a car then there are hundreds of restaurants in the area. It has been a standard recurring theme for our family for the past 40 years. Car hire is fairly reasonable - what we've done it the past is get one tiny tin can run-about and those who can't fit in it get a cab from the airport with the luggage.

Alternatively, go to Sarlat in the Dordogne, or Bergerac or Cognac. there are loads of gites for rent in the area, but their precise location will determine the need for a car. Bergerac has an airport that some of the cheapo carriers fly to.

There's climbing 30 minutes up the road from Vale do Lobo....
Walking distance/stones throw to a spotless beach - walk for 10 minutes and you've got it to yourself. Try to get somewhere in the original development instead of the new

In reply to Trangia:

Ariège in the French Pyrenees ticks all of your boxes, with the caveat that a hire car would be invaluable in making the most of the area, not just for climbing/walking but visiting castles, caves, markets, etc, even though you'll rarely be driving for more than 10-20 minutes to get anywhere. We've had people enjoy staying here and getting around on foot and by bike but I think that may be asking a bit much for parents with young children. Your budget sounds more than ample unless you're eating out every night.

In reply to Trangia:
Hi
I think a 1.5 hour flight from London will only get you half way down France, so I would suggest either Dordogne for prettier inland stuff or Charente Maritime for closer to beaches. In Dordogne, Brantome was nice a nice town with a bit of touristy canoeing. In Charente, there is a big zoo near Royan and a big aquarium near La Rochelle for the kids. For grown ups there is old roman stuff and world class oysters.

In reply to all:

Thanks again for some great suggestions

In reply to Trangia: until a few years ago when i stopped going away with the parents we always went to either Normandy, Britany, or just outside paris. The area around Paris has some really interesting stuff to see and do(castles, walled towns, old fashioned industries and from what I saw in the windows of the tourist info plenty of petting zoo/fun park type places for the younger ones. the big advantage of the area around paris is that there are plenty of options to get into eh city by train. Cant comment on cost of all this though as it was never something I had to think about

In reply to Trangia: You could have a look at the Hautes Pyrenees (the highest bit just west of middle). You can fly to Lourdes with Ryan air then it is just 30mins into the mountains. there is the Unesco world herritage site of gavarnie, Mont Perdu, rafting centres, caving, horse riding, trekking in the national park and the Neouvielle nature reserve. Mountainbug offer guided stuff and accommodation. Hotel du Tourmalet in Bareges has the best reviews in the valley.

In reply to Trangia: Why only 1.5 hours on a plane? Stock your phones up with Chuggington videos, make a luxurious packed lunch for the kids to take on the plane and also buy and wrap some little presents that can be unpacked during the flight. Took a 2 year old to Lanzagrot (4.5 hours) and then 2.5 year old to Greece (3 hours) with no problems.

As for your requirements. I would go to an independent travel agent. That said anything self catering does not sound like a holiday to me!

In reply to Trangia:
In 2011, we went to Zell am See in Austria in July. Exactly the same family numbers Two grand parents, Two parents and Two children under 6.

We got from Salzburg airport to Zell on a post bus ( it can also be done by train)and did most tourist trips via athe bus. There are also lots of walks to do from the centre of town, and you could also go skiing in Kaprun ( the kids loved playing in the snow and none of their friends believed them that they had had been sledging in July).
There are plenty of other things to do in the local area.
We stayed in a rented apartment and that cost around £800 for the fortnight.

I thouroughly recommend it.

In reply to Trangia:

We went to Isla Plana in Spain last year - flight to Alicante hired a car great for all the family - sure you could find a place to stay all for a lot less than that as well