Not organised anything for our hols in July/August for me, Mrs North and Miss North.

Normally we drive and rent a place somewhere in southern France, but this year this feels too much like hard work (for lots of reasons too boring to go into). So, this year I think it’s fly somewhere to a hotel.

Criteria are:

Europe
Sunny
Family friendly
Not too, er, how do I put this….plebian

Thoughts?

Good luck, I’m trying to find the same. Right now, availability 3 star and above seems to be:

Ibiza
Tenerife
Odd few in Majorca
A couple in Menorca

Then the numbers start tumbling down based on what you read on tripadvisor, if you pay any head to that.

I’d probably go for Croatia.

Kryton – to go from 3 star and above in Europe to Haven Holidays suggests you’re losing your marbles!

Bulgaria

Look up Lafodia on Lopud and island off Dubrovnik.

Greek islands somewhere.

martinhutch – Member

Kryton – to go from 3 star and above in Europe to Haven Holidays suggests you’re losing your marbles!

I feel like that. This is what we want, Haven was so last night, as we were sitting on the sofa with two laptops and many tabs with estate agent websites open thinking, “meh”…

Might be worth seeing where Jay-Z goes on holiday…

…He has 99 Problems but the Beach ain’t one

I hear Egypt is very good. 80% of holiday makers are Russian. Friendly, but a word of caution – they can’t queue.

Last year We flew to Barcelona rented a car and drove up the coast a bit to L’Escala were we’d rented an apartment with a swimming pool. Was great. Car hire makes it expensive though when you’ve got kids and you can’t hire a tiny car.

This year we’re back to driving to south of France/Spain. Camping right on the beach near Empuria Brava, Costa Brava. Then up to the Pyrenees for a week.

http://www.neilson.co.uk/beach/greece/vassiliki

Beach, great mountain biking, learn to windsurf/sail, families, etc…

Just got back from a week there and very sad to leave.

Thanks for the suggestions. Any more (specific) thoughts?

Does it have to be a ‘sea beach’. To (hopefully) avoid the plebs / crowds and for safer paddling / swimming for the little one(s), we are heading for some inland lakes in Switzerland and France.

A few ideas:

1. Ibiza. Really. If you ignore San Antonio it’s a stunning island, very good weather, great beaches and very quiet in places. Ibiza Town is very nice indeed.

2. The Alps. Put a request up in the solutions room at Chalet’s Direct stating what you want and pick up some bargain accommodation as it is out of season. Add in a flight or the train to Grenoble and hire a car. Job done.

3. Oludeniz, Turkey. Dirt cheap, stunning little place and, bar a small part of the town, really quite quiet.

We were very pleasantly suprised four years ago by the Costa de La Luz – (south western coast of Spain).
Great beaches and very handy for a visit to Seville , Cadiz & Jerez if you get fed up of the beach.The hamman in Jerez is awesome.although my missus made me get a massage from Bella Emberg whilst she had Penelope Cruz! 🙄
Very popular with the spanish.

Roses on the Costa Brava is nice, very few Brits plebs. Fly into Barcelona or Reus

Lagos on the Algarve also nice; most Brits tend to go to Praia Da Luz, Albufeira or Portimao, missing out Lagos completely. Fly into Faro

Or you could do S.France again, flying into Nice – Saint Raphael / Frejus / St Aygulf are nice

OR perhaps the Neapolitan Riviera. Well expensive so should keep the riffraff away

Cheers again.

Will take a look at the others suggested.

Barmouth, Cardigan Bay.
You can ride Coed y Brenin too.

Mallorca?

We stayed in Soller (Port Soller if you want to be right on the beach) last August and it was fine (would never normally choose to go during school holidays)

Mallorca?

We stayed in Soller (Port Soller if you want to be right on the beach) last August and it was fine (would never normally choose to go during school holidays)

just got back from Fethieye in Turkey.
nice beaches, nice town/bazaar, nice food, loads or lira for your pound.

quite a few russians…. 😉

Lafodia

A vehicle free island with a sandy beach a short walk away and crystalline blue sea water to swim in. There is a single island shop that opens when it bloody well feels like it, but you can get what you need from hotels etc. Dubrovnik is a short ferry ride away. I honestly can’t think of many places I’d rather be for a relaxing time right now. Any more specific and I’ll be booking it for you 😉

We’re going camping in the South of France, near Argeles, half a mile from the Med coast in August. Will let you know how it goes. 🙂

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How was L’escala peak season?
Have been lots to Punta Montgo, but always out of / end of season.
Driving out this year begining August

should be fun but be “interesting” to see how crowded it is

Nick

‘Plebian’ is plebeian spelling

Oludeniz is nice but I prefer to be up in the hills a bit. Try Montana Pines hotel. Fethieye is always full of (rude and arrogant) Russians. Its on an approved list or something.

Went to Mallorca for the first time this year and found it a very pleasant surprise (I think Ibiza and in fact all the Balearics are great if you avoid the chav spots) Try Es Moli hotel in Deia for something a bit special. Its not beach though. Puerto de Soller is on the coast and lovely.

Thoughts?

Sorry, but have you said for how long and how much you want to spend?

Galicia or Northern Portugal
It takes effort to get there and you’ll need to speak a little lingo but well worth the effort

If you like beaches try the silver coast in Portugal.There are fantastic beaches, it’s a lot less touristy than the Algarve and restaurants seem to be very reasonably priced. Fly to Lisbon and it will be approx an hour transfer.

A +1 on Neilson – been on 5 holidays with them and they’ve all been brilliant. The kids love it too.

Rent a villa with a berth above plage de Pampelone near St Tropez, hire a yacht too and budget a few thousand euros for nights out in the clubs in town. Fly in by helicopter because the traffic is awful. 80-150 000e should be enough for the week. If you can’t afford that then Kon Tiki with the plebs.

Another vote for Neilson from me.

Does it have to be a seaside beach, or just close to water?

Kotor area in Montenegro is a lovely balance of water and mountains.

Distinct absence of plebs, but Kotor town can be busy with old cruisers during the day. But it’s a big bay, plenty of space for everyone. My family are looking at heading over for a gathering later this year and we’ve spotted some incredible villas. I loved the place.

Northern Spain every time for me

On the Med side the area around Calella de Palafrugell and Llafranc is stunning

On the Atlantic side O Grove has spectacular white sand beaches

cubist – Member
Might be worth seeing where Jay-Z goes on holiday…

…He has 99 Problems but the Beach ain’t one

This did not get the recognition it deserved.

I hear Egypt is very good. 80% of holiday makers are Russian. Friendly,

Which part of Russia are they from I wonder, cos they ain’t the same Russians that go to Goa & thats a fact.

I’d probably also be heading for Northern Spain. La Tossa (don’t laugh) is a firm fave of a work colleague.