[Duma]

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

[slackline]

[fatdoc]

Sedate him.

[Oldmanmatt]

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...). 

[fatkid2000]

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.

[Oldmanmatt]

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...


2012-04-30-20-51-35_09F4A4E4-9B97-41C8-8231-DE6FB96C7C39 by oldmanmatt, on Flickr

[tomtom]

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...

[lagerstarfish]

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

[rp]

http://www.belaircamping.com/

although not perfect i've been here, could be what your after,
no fresh prince

[Will Hunt]

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".

[Coops_13]

Marseille? DWS, not super expensive, a French city, language of love etc. 

[galpinos]

Marseille? DWS, not super expensive, a French city, language of love etc. 

Just a little further will get you to Les Calanques?

[bigtuboflard]

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.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Coops_13]

Marseille? DWS, not super expensive, a French city, language of love etc. 

Just a little further will get you to Les Calanques?

Yeah that's the DWS I was talking about 

[csl]

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.

[Footwork]

Teach her to belay and go to the Verdon? Probably the best way to get no all week.

Me and the wife (no kids) YET

Might be a good thing 

Turkey?
Montenegro?

[kac]

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!

[fatneck]

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...

[Monolith]

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.

[Will Hunt]

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.

[Falling Down]

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

[tomtom]

Crete? No idea about the climbing but beach, culture, archaeology (Minoans, Roman shizzle) plenty of non Lagerlagerlager areas...

[T_B]

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

[Monolith]

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!

[T_B]

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.