Brittany surely? Ticks all the boxes. I went to a Eurocamp at Carnac with mine a couple of years ago and it was very good, great site, fabulous beaches - some of the best sea swimming I've ever had and a massive nostalgia kick for me from childhood holidays. But I'm struck this year just how fucking expensive Eurocamp is. This year I have a gite on outskirsts of Fontainbleau itself from late July, a grand for two weeks and easy striking distance of Paris (critical for 14 year old daughter).
Genuine question not having anyscreaming devilsbundle(s) of joy myself....
Do you stick them in the back on their own whilst you both ride up front, or does one of you sit in the back to keep them entertained/quiet?
Sedate him.
Sedate him.
Oh I wish it was so easy (though I do have an acquaintance who uses some anti-histamine to drug her child when ever she won't sleep or they have to travel... I keep thinking of calling social services about that, but I'm never quite sure if she's winding me
considered having the boy up front? might be more entertained by the view. mine will give me 2 hours around lunch in the car, but indefinitely after 7
Nytol (over the counter sleeping ish pills) are just 2-3 times a normal does of antihistamine... IIRC...Sedate him.
Oh I wish it was so easy (though I do have an acquaintance who uses some anti-histamine to drug her child when ever she won't sleep or they have to travel... I keep thinking of calling social services about that, but I'm never quite sure if she's winding me
She won't be winding you up - its common practice in Australia and South Africa.
Marseille? DWS, not super expensive, a French city, language of love etc. :sick:
Yeah that's the DWS I was talking about :smart:Marseille? DWS, not super expensive, a French city, language of love etc. :sick:
Just a little further will get you to Les Calanques?
Me and the wife (no kids) YET
time to plan this year's trip
probably Brittany or maybe a bit further south
any new reccommendations for campsites?
ideally direct access to beach, swimming pool, sea front piches would be cool
I'd like a fishing pond on site, but this is unlikely on a beach side site
motel/hotel to stop overnight on the way from Calais (family of 5)?
thanks
Can anyone help me ensure marital harmony by suggesting one of Mallorca's quieter towns
Thanks for all your views everyone. Mallorca looks spot on, and with car hire being £30 a week at the time we're looking to go, we should be able to get around quite easily.We built a package through Thomson, so it included car hire, flight and villa (with its own pool, covered bbq area etc) just for the two of us. Works out relatively cheap, since their car hire add on was only about 100 quid a week.
Spent some time on my lunch yesterday looking at rustic little B&Bs in the interior of the island and found some quite cheap offers. Showed them to the wife in the evening and her face fell! So now, having a better understanding of what we want(!), it seems that: being next to the sea is absolutely essential; and the accommodation should be modern.
So it seems to me like we need to look at a package holiday. I haven't been on one in my adult life and I'm afraid to say that, rather snobbishly, I'm really struggling to get past the image of a soulless white block, next to a beach packed to the gills with blistering red Europeans, and mandatory karaoke in the evenings. Basically like that Benidorm sitcom.
Can anyone help me ensure marital harmony by suggesting one of Mallorca's quieter towns (I've heard Pollenca is nice actually) where I won't be accosted by pissheads spilling out of the local Red Lion or Flanagan's. If it happens to be within easy reach (30 mins or less) drive of the DWS in the south east of the island then all the better.
Sorry for being hopelessly snobbish.
Just do what the woman wants Will. Happy wife happy life
What about Haute Savouir or lower Alps. Find some where there is a lake and you’ve got a beach holiday in the mountains.
Samoens or Morzine for example.
Anybody got any recent recommendations?
2 kids (6 and 3), non-climbing wife, June, not megabucks. A nice beach would be good but also need other stuff (maybe including a sneaky climb). I've heard Croatia is nice.
Here you go Will, budget beach holidays. Galicia looks like a winner, but presumably will now be packed.
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/mar/03/readers-favourite-budget-beach-campsites-hotels-in-europe
Goldcar want £100 to hire two car seats for a week...
Looking to go away in the 1st week of June.
Don't want to fly, but would like to go abroad. We'll have two kids with us aged 7 and 4 so not a city break touring museums and galleries; there needs to be a beach and some nice countryside and some nearby towns/interesting things to see.
I know you’ve said it’s not an option but me and W have done the St Malo overnight ferry in June several times and the channel has always been flat as a pancake. Book a cabin, drive on. Nice dinner and drink, bed then wake up in St Malo, drive off and bingo you’re in beautiful Brittany.
I know you’ve said it’s not an option but me and W have done the St Malo overnight ferry in June several times and the channel has always been flat as a pancake. Book a cabin, drive on. Nice dinner and drink, bed then wake up in St Malo, drive off and bingo you’re in beautiful Brittany.
We’ve had two family trips (3kids aged 15 to 5) to Marseille. Drove to St Albans. Dumped the car on a back street and caught the train to St Pancras. Then euro TGV to Marseille. We were there by 7pm. Booked a lovely 2 bed apartment near the harbour.
We then either caught the bus or walked to the beaches. There’s also a city beach you can swim at as well.
Marseille has beaches, an awesome skate park on the beach. You get all that comes with a city break as well.
It had a rep as a dodgy city. But it’s not. We had two brilliant holidays there.
I managed to meet up with someone viaUKC and went climbing in the Calanques for a day. Caught the bus out to Luminy.
That’s also something we did as a family as well.
Hope this inspires you.
Bon vacance
She miiiiiiight be persuaded onto the Holyhead-Dublin ferry but also might not. I've no idea about the geography and tourism of Ireland but the east coast south of Dublin looks like it has nice beaches but also fuck all else except cows.
We’ve had two family trips (3kids aged 15 to 5) to Marseille.
...
We then either caught the bus or walked to the beaches. There’s also a city beach you can swim at as well.
Marseille has beaches, an awesome skate park on the beach. You get all that comes with a city break as well.
It had a rep as a dodgy city. But it’s not.
That’s also something we did as a family as well.
Hope this inspires you.
Bon vacance
If you are heading to Scotland, a good place to start is one of the seaside towns in East Lothian. We have had great holidays there with the kids. North Berwick is really nice, with lovely beaches right in the middle of town, a great playpark the seabird centre, and some nice walks and bike rides along the coast, plus a walk up the Law if little legs are up to it. There is also East Links Farm Park (only place i have ever had to forcibly remove a howling daughter from because she didn't want to leave!), the John Muir Country Park and the National Museum of Flight (kids got bored there before I did). You are also a short train ride into Edinburgh City Centre and National Museum etc, Castle, Golden Mile et etc etc. You can even stop in Northumberland on the way home or back.
I'd never really thought about going abroad by train before so just wanted to give a heads up to those who might be interested.
We've booked interrail tickets down to Marseille. Kids get their ticket for free. We leave from our local station in the morning and will be by the Med for dinner time. The interrail ticket covers our rail travel down to London and then there's a surcharge for the Eurostar. All in it's costing us the same as flying and I'm anticipating a nicer experience than being shafted by Ryanair. We can stop in Paris for lunch. Kids are psyched off their heads to go on a double-decker train. We can do a day trip to Avignon or somewhere else on the pass. There's a lot to love.
Learning how to use the interrail ticket and reserving seats took some figuring out and the Seat 61 website was very very helpful in this regard.
Nice one Will!! My partner and I went to Font + skiing by train in February and I can confirm going on a double decker train is the shizzle! Also it’s soo much nicer going by train. I haven’t flown for a few years now and remember hating it the last time I did. Taking the train was so much nicer. Enjoy
Nice one Will!! My partner and I went to Font + skiing by train in February and I can confirm going on a double decker train is the shizzle! Also it’s soo much nicer going by train. I haven’t flown for a few years now and remember hating it the last time I did. Taking the train was so much nicer. Enjoy
How was it taking all your kit on the train? Pads plus skis etc sounds like a lot of work! This is one of my major hesitances with the train, we usually fill the van when we go on holiday!
My partner and I went to ..... skiing by train in February
https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/london-to-paris-by-eurostar.htm#luggage-on-eurostar
The bloke here reckons you'll be fine but I suppose pads are conspicuously bulky so might attract a clipboard's attention. A lot of pads (Organic Full) are only just over 85cm...
It was to Moutiers but wasn’t rowdy at all tbh, was busy on the way down but was fine.Good to know. Was it the Saturday direct one?
How much is an interrail ticket?
Just popping in to give a trip report from a week in Marseille for others who might be browsing for recommendations in the future.
We travelled on Interrail tickets (kids under 12 get theirs free when travelling with an adult) from our local train station in the north of England to Marseille. Door to door it was 12 hours each way, so it's longer than flying but not by masses once you've considered transfers at either end and a more protracted security process. Probably a little bit more expensive after you've paid for seat reservations on French trains and a bit extra for the Eurostar, but only by a little once you've accounted for taking a hold bag on a plane (which we do when travelling with kids) and the seat reservations you have to make when flying with young kids. Train travel in the UK is included on the Interrail ticket provided your outbound trip is one continuous journey (connections are fine, but no cheeky overnight stop in London).
French trains make our own look like a joke. Fast, reliable, very comfortable, no worrying about baggage weight limits or faffing with taking only certain volumes of liquids etc etc etc. If we were doing it again we'd plan a couple of days in Paris, which of course wouldn't cost any extra in travel expenses if going by train on an Interrail ticket).
Getting around Marseille is cheap and easy. Unlimited travel for 7 days on all the buses, trams, metro, ferries, and local trains for £13.
Beautiful weather, beautiful food, some fabulous beaches in the Calanques (and you could do some lovely walks there if you were minded to). 10/10 would recommend.NSFW specific beta and holiday snaps that you probably don't want to see:
In the middle of planning a Austrian Alps trip in the summer by train but the girls are whinging about a lack of beaches/sea.
This looks fab Will. In the middle of planning a Austrian Alps trip in the summer by trainInterested to hear about that. The mountain biking and walking around Serfaus where we were skiing looked great. I was thinking / hoping it might be quieter and cheaper than French Alps, but that might just be blind optimism.