UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => shootin' the shit => Topic started by: lagerstarfish on April 28, 2012, 07:52:13 pm
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Looking to have a family holiday at the end of August
either one or two weeks
me, wife, one year old, three year old and 12 year old
budget of £1.5K for travel and accommodation - self catering food costs on top
wife not keen on camping - especially with a one year old - static caravans and chalets are acceptable
since I am out of action climbing wise, this is a good opportunity to have a non-climbing holidy
we like easy cycling - flatish trails suitable for a man recovering from a broken ankle with a child on the back
we like the beach
we like swimming
we like fishing (not essential)
we like food/cooking/barbecues, especially seafood
would rather not travel/drive for more than one long day - willing to reconsider if people know better or have ace ideas of where to stop off
Ideas so far have been - gite in Northern France for two weeks (plenty in the sub £500/week range) - chalet camping on sites with pools/activities in Northern France for two weeks - one week on a Haven site in Cornwall/Devon (shit idea) - I go on a sofa surfing drink and drugs bender and give the rest of the family a couple of weeks of peace (not acceptable, apparently)
Thinking of places like this http://www.camping-levaldetrie.fr/homegb/page_homegb.htm (http://www.camping-levaldetrie.fr/homegb/page_homegb.htm)
reasonable distance from good beaches and enough stuff to keep kids happy on site - also looking at Eurocamp...
Good gites are all well and good, but there's less chance of the kids making friends
Any of you lot got some better ideas?
Cheers
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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).
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http://www.ile-noirmoutier.com/
This was the place we spent the first two weeks of our summer Euro tour, when I was a kid (70's and early 80's).
My sister visited around 5 years back and says it hasn't changed very much.
It's a little paradise.
Lots of cycling, very flat.
Used to spend hours, with the Breton nets, fishing for Flatties and scallops.
We used to stay in the Municipal campsite and it was still there when my sis went.
The island is ringed by miles of golden beaches and dunes, the Chateaux is a real medieval castle and the campsite is under those spreading pines.
Tide goes out for miles and we spent hours hunting shells and octopus in the tide pools.
Famous for it's oysters.
Short trip across the bridge (or causeway at low tide) and Brittany is there for the taking.
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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).
Brittany 2 summers ago was ace. Well reccomended. If you go the week after French hols finish prices drop by 30-50%.. Could get 2 gites in diff parts? Ferry can be a bit pricey £250-400 depending on what route/times.. Happy to give more info.. We found some top places in n and e Brittany..
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Brittany, google pont de la torche campsite. Book direct, I prefer the night ferry to st Malo. Every year for years... Get a bodyboard, eat well and love life. You will not be disappointed, total recommendation.
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I think this place ticks all the boxes:
http://www.yellohvillage.co.uk/camping/le_ranolien (http://www.yellohvillage.co.uk/camping/le_ranolien)
was quite a while ago when I went (before I had kids) plus there is some climbing there if you fancy it
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Sixth ( :oops: ) vote for Brittany, had a lovely week camping there last year.
The peninsula of Queberon is very nice & we spent a couple of nights there as its close to Carnac which has some of the larger collections of menhirs. We then went further up the west coast and stayed near Telgruc-sur-mer.
Highly recommend this restaurant (http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=48.226059,-4.504073&spn=0.00922,0.01929&z=16&layer=c&cbll=48.225979,-4.504227&panoid=NtiglAIwhsraLI6dolAArg&cbp=12,299.93,,1,7.2), langoustine starter, yellow pollack w/mustard main and cheese board for desert, at about €20, bargain! That said food was good pretty much everywhere we ate, crepes in particular were delicious.
Kids would no doubt love the Oceanopolis (http://www.oceanopolis.co.uk/) aquarium in Brest which is one of the better aquariums I've been round in my time.
Don't miss the lovely fortified town of Dinan either, beautiful.
We went early in June as it tied in with wifes half-term break, most places were pretty empty and as with fatdoc took the ferry overnight to St Malo (highly recommend booking early to get cabins, we didn't and had a shitty nights sleep).
Some snaps (http://www.flickr.com/photos/slackline/sets/72157626890439316/)
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Uh, Slackers?
That would be six votes for Brittany, as all the locations recommended so far are Breton.
Having traveled a fair bit of the planet, it is (if you catch the weather right) superb and if you like sea food? Well, probably nowhere better.
Oh, yeah.
The Plymouth - Roscoff (and it's a beautiful town) crossing is almost a mini cruise if you do the overnighter with a cabin and puts you right into the heart of Brittany.
Might be a bit of a ball ache on this side if coming down from the north. Though a straight run down the M5 must be better than trying to get to P'smth or S'mpton or Dover.
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Weymouth/Poole. Condor were the cheapest last year.. C.50% cheaper than Brittany ferries..
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cheers
it's taken me a while to research all that
comparing £numbers now
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Has anyone mentioned Brittany?
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It's supposed to be good
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fuck me that ferry is expensive on the weeks that we're limited to
Calais ferry and Picardie/Pas de Calais coast might win with Mrs St. Arfish due to cost and time spent travelling
I've heard that Brittany is nice as well
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Northumberland???
Beaches - tick
Castles - tick
soft play - tick
fish and chips - tick
(sea) fishing - tick
sneaky bouldering/soloing - tick
generally loads of holiday cottages for not much money - tick.
flat ish for cycling- tick
weather.....hmmm .
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It's a good option.
However if you want to go to another country, Dumfries and / or Galloway is nice too, and ticks all the appropriate boxes. Pembrokeshire is also a good option.
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We're having this debate at home currently.
We only have a 2 year old to take - who hates being in the car for more than about an hour - despite food and DVD bribes.
My wife was recommended North Norfolk by some friends she worked with. ?Wells on the Water?
We'd prefer Brittany but with a 2 year who screams all the way there and a wife who gets sea-sick just at the thought of going on a long ferry crossing, I'm more inclined to stay in the UK. Cornwall / Devon seems stupidily expensive!
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Remind me where you are based? Liverpool? Not sure you will get to Norfolk in an hour? You could get to Northumberland in the same time. A bit more to it than Norfolk, but depends what you want to do.
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Pembroke is a less ruined cornwall. Cardigan is a nice little town, mwnt beach is lovely: (http://www.cardiganshirecoastandcountry.com/caravan-camping-cardigan-bay/mwnt-beach-by-janet-baxter.jpg), this caravan site (http://www.cardiganshirecoastandcountry.com/caravan-camping-blaenwaun-mwnt.php) is just a few hundred yards away, dunno what it's like though. The other side of fishguard, this pub (http://sloop.co.uk/) is nice. The coastal quarries at Abereiddi (http://www.welsh-cottages.co.uk/pembrokeshire/abereiddy.php) are worth a look too. dunno prices compared to cornwall tho. FK2K, have you tried leaving about the childs bedtime? mine sleeps pretty well in the car.
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Oh, and there's some good looking easy bouldering in the preseli hills mentioned in grimers book...
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I stayed in Wells-next-to-the-sea a couple of years ago on a family get-together. Also, my wife's from Norfolk, so I've been to quite a few spots on the N Norfolk coastline. Personally, I find it very dull. If you do go though, I recommend The Lifeboat Inn in Thornham, which is a great food pub (massive roaring fire in winter).
What about Northern Spain? A week on the beach and a week in the Picos. I had an amazing holiday there as a kid (going back later this summer, tho sans famille ::))
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We went to Norfolk last "summer" and the place is shit. Wells on the sea is pretty, but there really wasn't much to do at all. The pubs when the grandparents baby sat were rubbish, overpriced and full of twats, the best thing we did was go crabbing off cromer pier (and that was fairly shit).
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I'll inform the wife that Norfolk is off.
The problem with my boy is that he's rather rubbish at sleeping. We've tried travelling at night / bedtime etc & almost to the second after an hour of travel he's wide awake. To enable us to get some sleep at home - we resorted to but an enormous bed.
I wouldn't mind Spain - but my Dad has a place there near Valencia and the wife will refuse to go, as our holiday will get gatecrashed and my wife doesn't get on with my Dad.
Brittany may be just get booked and the wife told where she's going.
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We get an hour of travel time too, any time after mid morning and he's asleep within ten minutes, but that's it for the journey. After that it's frequent stops and Peppa Pig on repeat on DVD.
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Genuine question not having any
screaming devils bundle(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?
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Genuine question not having any screaming devils bundle(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?
Tried it - both the wife and me have sat with him. Makes zero difference.
Went to London at the weekend and it was horrendous on the way home. Maybe I'll buy some of those noise cancelling head-phones. The weird thing is my boy is obsessed by cars - except when confined to his car seat.
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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
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(http://bharrison.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/spinal_tap_but_it_goes_to_eleven.jpg)
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Sedate him.
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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 up).
Mine are asleep within 3 minutes of switching on the engine and the trouble starts when you want to get them out of the car again (having a 3yr old screaming at the top of his lungs " Go away! I'm sleeping!!! Gets the wrong kind of attention...).
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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.
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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
Go on, sit him up front...
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8146/6983431322_261772fb89.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldmanmatt/6983431322/)
2012-04-30-20-51-35_09F4A4E4-9B97-41C8-8231-DE6FB96C7C39 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldmanmatt/6983431322/) by oldmanmatt (http://www.flickr.com/people/oldmanmatt/), on Flickr
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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.
Nytol (over the counter sleeping ish pills) are just 2-3 times a normal does of antihistamine... IIRC...
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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
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http://www.belaircamping.com/ (http://www.belaircamping.com/)
although not perfect i've been here, could be what your after,
no fresh prince
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Me and the wife (no kids) have a week off work in early October and would like to go away somewhere. Not entirely sure where and looking for advice.
Criteria:
Not too expensive, probably staying somewhere half board and eating out in the evenings. This is quite a key one for me, especially given the state of the pound.
Warm
A variety of things to do. When on holiday we normally like to, for instance: tour the cultural sights, relax on a beach (for a day max, unless there is good snorkelling and the water is warm in which case I could happily do this for a couple of days), hire mountain bikes, hire a sea kayak and pootle about the coast, do some hiking. You get the picture.
'Er Indoors is not a climber but I quite fancy the idea of a morning/afternoon's DWS. I'll be on my own so something lowball would be best.
Hiring a car could potentially be an option but is likely to make things more costly.
One option mooted so far is Croatia (Dubrovnik or similar), however I hear that this is better suited to a short break unless you have the transport to take yourself off on excursions. I also gather that Tenerife would tick some of those boxes but have never been.
This trip will coincide with our one year anniversary so I guess there will need to be some element of "romance".
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Marseille? DWS, not super expensive, a French city, language of love etc. :sick:
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Marseille? DWS, not super expensive, a French city, language of love etc. :sick:
Just a little further will get you to Les Calanques?
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Might not tick all the boxes and certainly depends on the strength of the pound against the euro, but I'm going to Tarifa in southern Spain again this summer.
Really nice walled old town, good food, not too lively, great beach, good mountain biking and some pretty decent bouldering down the coast. You'd need a car though. If you're feeling brave there are loads of kitesurfing schools in town too if you fancied a days lesson.
There's also the option of a day trip to Morocco on the ferry from there too though understand that's not for everyone.
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Marseille? DWS, not super expensive, a French city, language of love etc. :sick:
Just a little further will get you to Les Calanques?
Yeah that's the DWS I was talking about :smart:
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I've just had to find a similar trip Will, went for Mallorca in the end, seemed to tick all those boxes and a bit cheaper than France.
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Teach her to belay and go to the Verdon? Probably the best way to get no :shag: all week.
Me and the wife (no kids) YET
Might be a good thing ;)
Turkey?
Montenegro?
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How about Sorrento and that amalfi coast? Tends to be lots of ok priced package deals. Amalfi coast is stunning and you can get the train to see Pompeii and Vesuvius or boat to Capri. Lots of hotels here also are also al a carte dining rather than buffet. Much more romantic!
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I'd second Mallorca. We stayed in Port de Polenca near Formentor. Lovely area, far enough away from Alcudia not to be full of bellends. Plenty do to including the bouldering developed by Greg in the Val de Son Marque (can't seem to find the guide any more?). Didn't do any DWS but seemed there were plenty of likely spots!
Some more info here... (http://www.rocksportmallorca.com/blog/blog.php?bid=6)
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Late to the party Lagers but I would like to nominate Islay and a mini Hebridean adventure. Islay and Jura are stunning places and present some excellent beach, seafood and wildlife opportunities. Calmac do an 'island hopper' type ticket I believe which allows you to drift around the islands at will.
You wouldn't believe how stunning some of the Hebridean beaches are. Just depends whether your little tykes would like other tykes to play with - there would probably not be many at the beaches in question.
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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.
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.
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I've done two trips to Erquy Lagers. Lovely spot, there are some family campsites there and it's on a little peninsula with bays and beaches all around.
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
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Crete? No idea about the climbing but beach, culture, archaeology (Minoans, Roman shizzle) plenty of non Lagerlagerlager areas...
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Can anyone help me ensure marital harmony by suggesting one of Mallorca's quieter towns
Deia on the NW coast. I have friends (without kids) who go there a lot. It's supposed to be beautiful with lots of little romantic cafe/bars.
There's a bit of DWS on the north coast according to the Psicobloc guidebook.
Avoid staying everywhere on the south east coast if you want romance, though that's where most of the DWS is.
If you go to Cala Barques it's very mellow to DWS on your own and has a beach (busy), but I think it may have access problems now? Parking was a pain and people dossed in the woods.
Be prepared to crap yourself if you turn up at Diablo on your own!
Theft is a big problem - don't take anything valuable to the crag as you may be watched I'm afraid to say :(
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Good to read all of this Mallorca talk. We've booked to go to Cala D'Or (spelling?) in August and since I've never been to Spain, I'm psyched. DWS kit a must I'm guessing!
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Cala D'Or is where we stayed last week of August. We ended up randomly going to Mallorca for the final week of our honeymoon (having had 3 weeks in South Africa...). It was very hot, with humidity being the issue on the rock - Diablo was totally gopping one day, primo the next. The sea is lovely. Cala D'Or has a bit of a butlins vibe to it but is well placed for accessing the DWS venues. Worth exploring some of the small towns just inland as everything on the coast is fairly resorty.
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Just do what the woman wants Will. Happy wife happy life
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Not sure of your budget Will but found these two places when scouting for hotels before settling on the Tarifa trip. Both look nice and if your missus is anything like mine then she'll get all excited by the nice white sheets and airy rooms...
http://www.calreiet.com/
http://www.hoteletsantanyi.com/
Can't vouch for either of them personally or if the town of Santanyi is nice but thought I'd share just in case.
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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.
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.
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.
You'd need to check they go where you want, but their service is awesome
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Just do what the woman wants Will. Happy wife happy life
What Dense said. We can be right selfish buggers at times. A week of relaxing and chilling out by the sea or the pool with some nice food and drink, a good book and naps after lunch . What's not to like?
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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.
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Yorkshire is nice that time of year. Good beach at Costa del Tod. Croatia dws looks bon, Sardinia? Mallorca?
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Go camping in Brittany?
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Brittany is lovely in June Will. You can also take the overnight ferry in your own car and get a cabin (they’re cheap). Kids will love it.
Great food, beaches and nice places to visit. Plus there’s good beach bouldering for a potter.
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Brittany is on my wishlist for summer again. Crozon Peninsula has surf on one side, calm seas on the other, cragging at Pen Hir and bouldering. Plus waterparks..
Croatia is nice, but when we looked last year it had become very expensive. Is this your last year of avoiding school holidays?
Area around Lisbon is lovely too. Can easily go into the city for day trips.
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Brittany looks great but maybe one for another year since we had a holiday in France last year.
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We’re going to Galicia this Summer (can’t wait!). I’ve done Asturias and the Basque region before and they are both brilliant places to holiday. Accessible by ferry too as well as flying.
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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.
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I would say come to Denmark - the beaches are absolutely wonderful - but cheap it is not.
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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.
Samoens and the Giffre Valley are brilliant (ace swimming lake) but Morzine is rammed due to the popularity of the mountain biking these days. Les Contaimines is also great, just far away from Chamonix to not get as rammed.
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Fleetwood.
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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
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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.
No kids here but we've been loving the ease of Jet2 package deals from Manchester.
Mallorca was mentioned above. I've been several times over the past few years and this time it didn't feel cheap at all.
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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
I've been through a bit of a journey on the last couple of days. When Ben mentioned Galicia I thought "I know that's somewhere nice and warm in France or Spain, but I don't know exactly where", so I googled it and found out that it is the region of Western Ukraine and Southern Poland. I thought, well Ben is a trendy Londoner so he's probably into touring the Hapsburgian cultural sites and sampling 100 varieties of pickled heritage potato, but that's not going to wash with Daisy. Then I clicked on Andy's link and I'm with the programme again. Galicia does indeed look nice.
Having looked at flights I suspect the price of these is going to be the limiting factor so we might end up going where the low fares lead and getting an Airbnb/Vrbo.
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Made me chuckle Will. We’re off to the Spanish Galicia, but I have to admit the food is a big draw. We got an air B&B up in the hills near Padron/Santiago de Compostela but chose to fly in and out of Porto and drive there but there are airports nearby that RyanAir. I later learned it’s like the Salusbury Plain/Callanais/Carnac of Spain and chock full of Neolithic sites so I’m even more excited.
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As earlier Q Will, are you able to avoid school holidays still?
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We have a week in June where most schools are back but ours isn't.
Flights were the deal-breaker in the end so I scoured Airbnb last night and found a place in Andalucia. Psyched.
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Andalucia is great, I spent a lot of summer holidays there as a kid cause my grandmother lived there. Will be bloody hot in June, fair warning!
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We had a fantastic week in Andalucia over New Year a few years ago - would have so many (cultural type) recommendations (but as SM90 said, it's likely to be pretty warm in June).
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Where exactly? (please say "Mawbayer").
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Apologies for the lazy question. Does anybody know if there is a car hire company that won't bend you over when adding kids' car seats?
This add-on happens later in the order so the cost is hidden until the end and I'd rather avoid having to click through a million web forms testing different providers.
Goldcar want £100 to hire two car seats for a week...
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google "car hire free car seats"? They are always a faff, and leave some time to fit them yourself, as they don't take responsibility. I had to do it in the airport underground parking in Lanzarote in midsummer, still dressed for Aberdeen weather, while tired and grumpy family were waiting.
I know it's a faff, but worth using price comparison sites like holiday autos to shop around, although car seats are often hidden, and usually a flat fee per hire. Brutal. Can you get away with packing a booster for one, or still too small?
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Can’t you get your car seats as additional free hold luggage, or do you want to avoid the faff?
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They're still too young/small/light for boosters so it's the full 5-point harness F16 seat.
Google? That's what UKB is for!
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If you are not taking a push chair, i think you can take a seat as additional luggage, as above. A faff, but big cost saving. At leas you won't be taking bouldering mats
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Goldcar want £100 to hire two car seats for a week...
Goldcar are cunts, avoid at all costs.
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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.
There's the tunnel, but that bit of the northern coast of France looks very meh and Brittany is a right schlep from Calais. There's the ferry, however my wife has a "thing" about being sick and will not tolerate the idea of the ferry to St Malo. 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.
Scotland is the most foreign culture available without travelling off-island. This could be good as we've never holidayed there and the kids aren't so young that they couldn't hack a bit of a drive. I've no idea where we might go. One of the more accessible islands? The west coast looks more interesting but it will also be getting into midge season which could be a ruiner if there's no wind.
Please provide inspiration and ideas.
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Is that half term for you? Was going to suggest Cornwall or North Devon, but guess it could be well pricey if school hols.
I reckon the far south west of Cornwall is at least as ‘foreign’ feeling as Scotland, but in a Mediterranean rather than Scandinavian fashion.
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Mull is a good place to start. Oban isn’t too far, the ferry is short but still feels exciting, the wildlife and landscape is great. Of course the weather is a complete fucking gamble, but get a nice day on the beach at Fidden and you’ll be in family heaven. There’s even bouldering.
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We've had a few good holidays around Le Touquet, Fort Mahon, Quend Plage, Berck
not far to travel, massive beaches, France
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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.
Alternative to France is ferry to Channel Islands? We had a great week in Jersey, but were very lucky with the weather. We flew, but didn't hire a car, just got a full week bus pass for the family.
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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.
We spent a very pleasant week at Couleville-sur-Mer (aka Omaha Beach) Normandy last summer. It's 4 hours drive from Calais. The Dieppe ferry saves 1.5 hours on this if you can stomach 3 hours on a boat.
The beach is big and good. Normandy countryside is very pleasant in a Dorset style with lots of cute villages. Mont Saint Michel is touristy but totally worth a visit. Rouen has a lovely medieval quarter. There is the D-Day stuff.
6th of June is the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings which may mean accommodation is tight.
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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.
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The Gower near Swansea has a totally awesome beach, sweeping sand, waves, rockpools, scenery. Fantastic for feeding bits of cheese to sea anemones etc. Once, when I was there as a child the whole beach was covered with starfish.
(https://www.thecutlerychronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Three-Cliffs-Bay-Gower-Wales_SM.jpg)
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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.
For normal people I'm sure it being summer and flat makes a difference... Personally though I'm still sick even in these type of conditions (including on this crossing). Yes my wife thinks it is hilarious, it isn't too pleasant though and whilst I'm happy enough to dela with it for a holiday I can understand why someone who wants to start the holiday in a relaxed way might think differently.
And yes I have tried sleeping... Wake up to be sick. Ginger sweets, nice but zero change in sickness. Pressure point bands, just sweaty and annoying. I now just accept it and sit out the deck with a sick bag.
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Have you tried Avomine? Helps the kids travel sickness. We went on a boat trip summer before last, seems like they both take after their mum when it comes to the sea. I was fine so i was the "lucky" one one cleaning up duty.
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Fair do’s SXRXG. I do get seasick myself when it’s choppy so I can sympathise massively. It’s very unpleasant so apologies if I came across as blasé about it.
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I took the kids to Scotland the summer before last. Airbnb just down the coast from Mallaig, walking distance to miles of white sandy beaches. Various boat trip options from Mallaig. Ferry to Skye, etc. It was lovely in a demolish a sizeable pile of paperbacks in a week / barely talk to any other humans apart from a couple of brief discussions about the weather sort of way.
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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
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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've been wanting to do this for a few years, really want to go to Crozon Peninsula for cragging, surf and beaches, but it's a long long drive from here.
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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
I think we could have a winner here!
Thanks, everyone, for the ideas.
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I’ve been to the Calanques the last two summers en famille (stayed near Calanque de Sormiou once, the next time we stayed in the town of La Ciotat as we liked it). I really like that area. Proper French holiday scenes in the summer - rammed but quite chilled. Some superb coastline.
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The multi day sea kayaking trips look amazing too.
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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.
If you are considering that I'd suggest getting ferry from Cairnryan to Belfast/Larne instead and heading to somewhere on the North coast, plenty of beaches and you could combine with a trip to Fairhead...
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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
I was pleasantly surprised by Marseille too. The pier near the Museum of Civilizations of Europe and the Mediterranean, where lots of locals swim was great. The museum was fantastic as well. The calanques are of course great
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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 swear I posted before this came out. https://www.independent.co.uk/money/best-places-to-live-in-the-uk-revealed-in-annual-sunday-times-guide-b2513145.html
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We went to Marseille over New Year and loved it. It does have a reputation, overwhelmingly undeserved, but some might find it a little rough and ready in places.
Of course I would say this, but Denmark actually hits everything you want, except a) it's a very long way round if you don't want to fly/ferry b) not exactly cheap.
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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.
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Good to hear Will. I can see us doing a lot of this in the future too. Likewise I’d not really considered it as a viable option getting to south of France or beyond until last year.
Our first flying experience post-Covid to Croatia in October was utterly miserable and reminded me how unpleasant it can be. Trains are generally a much nicer way to travel. Yorkshire to the med in a day is amazing!
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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
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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!
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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!
We hired both. Well actually some friends had driven out to font for the first week so we had our pads for that week, but then we hired for the second week. Don’t think you can take pads/bikes on the Eurostar which is a bit of a shitter.
I know what you mean - it’s so easy to fill a vehicle with stuff! In some ways it’s a nice way to simplify your holiday
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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...
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Interesting!! Tbh I can imagine it being such a ballache that I’d rather just hire pads out there… obvs adds to cost though.
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My partner and I went to ..... skiing by train in February
Was that the snow train to Moutiers? How was it, heard it can be a bit rowdy?
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It was to Moutiers but wasn’t rowdy at all tbh, was busy on the way down but was fine.
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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...
Took a DMM pad (99cm) on the Eurostar and it was fine… this was a few years ago though.
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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?