First Family Holiday

Hi all I'm looking into booking our first family holiday - really need something to look forward to! We're thinking of going in May or September, so that the temperature won't be too high for my son. If we go in May my son will be 14 months or if we go in September he will be 18 months. Can anyone recommend somewhere family friendly and suitable from their own experience please? We would love somewhere that we could take DS with us in his stroller to a restaurant in late evenings, somewhere child friendly but with something for the adults too? Thanks in advance

The Sheraton hotel resort in Fuerteventura!!!! Gorgeous, very family friendly and the staff are wonderful, flight is 4 hours so its well manageable.

I love Portugal & it's only 2.5hr flight. Vilamoura in the Algarve is very family orientated and has a lovely marina with loads of restaurants/cafes for strolling around or sitting in and people watching. The Vila Galé Ampalius and the Dom Pedro hotels are just off the marina. The Tivoli MArina is overlooking the marina on one side & the sea on the other but it's crazy expensive!

[quote="vinoqueeno":1fw6vo6u]I love Portugal & it's only 2.5hr flight. Vilamoura in the Algarve is very family orientated and has a lovely marina with loads of restaurants/cafes for strolling around or sitting in and people watching. The Vila Galé Ampalius and the Dom Pedro hotels are just off the marina. The Tivoli MArina is overlooking the marina on one side & the sea on the other but it's crazy expensive![/quote:1fw6vo6u] +1 to Portugal, Brought my son when he was 18 months, and went back last year when he was 4 & my dd 4 months! Brilliant for kids. We stayed in Alvor, Nice little fishing port, not far from zoo marine, my son loved it both times! DD hadnt a clue sure! But yeah, Portugals, great!

How about somewhere like Benalmadena? I was there a few years ago and liked it, granted I didn't have any kids but it's very family orientated. I'm sorry totally hijack here OP but Vinoqueeno I've booked 4 nights at that Tivoli marina hotel in vilamoura for sept with a few of the girls.... Is it mainly families?!

We went to Benalmadena last summer with our kids, and loved it! Short flights, fast transfer (taxi). It really was very child friendly.. http://www.sunsetbeachclub.com/homepage From my own experience, you might be better off waiting until your son is walking, we went to Lanzarote when our daughter was cruising, and it was hard work! She wanted out of the buggy all the time but wasnt quite able to walk on her own. I was fully convinced she would be walking by the time the holiday came around, but alas it wasnt to be!! Thats just my experience tho..

I would say get a short flight wherever you go. We went to Tenerife for our friends wedding last year, it was 4 1/2 hours and ds was sick everywhere as were a few other kids on the flight. Thankfully it was mainly families on the flight (all going to the same wedding!) so most people were very understanding. It was just too long to fly, well for us anyway. We're actually going to stay in Ireland for the next year or two, its just so must hassle with children and we find it more relaxing staying in the country not having to worry about entertaining them for the journey and getting through security etc with prams etc. Cambrils in Spain was highly recommended to us by several people and I saw on M&K there was a thread about it this week, seems quite popular! Only a two hour flight I think.

We took our DD on familymoon with us last may, she was 2 and half though so a bit older, we went to Flamingo beach holiday village in playa blanca lanzarote and she loved it, we booked online through falcon if you want to look it up, it was during school term so was all small kids there at the time, and so kid friendly!! we loved and would go back in heartbeat!!

Portugal I would highly recommed, we were there last year with the boys (2&3) and they really really enjoyed it my older boy still talks about it so we booked it again last week, we stayed in Alvor (my Dh mam owns an apartment there and we stayed one week with them and then they took the kids for a few nights for us and we went Prada de Rocha, Jupiter hotel... FAB) it is SOOO childfriendly, with the beaches and there's loads of little play grounds for the kids. There is a great shopping centre in Portimao and you can get all the kids food so you don't have to pack anything with you. This year we are going for two weeks and we are staying in Alvor again (in a hotel not with DH parents) as we want the kids to have somebody to play with and there's a kids club in this hotel (now we won't leave them but we let them play while we watch on ) Have to say though I am a little parnoid with Madie McCann going missing but I don't leave my kids for one minute at home so there's no way I do when I am away, we let them stay with nobody hence why we watch on while they are in the kids club (or DH mam takes them for us if she is over there at the time) my mother last year said before we left "my nervous are gone don't let them kids out of your sight for a second" Like WTF We went to Fuerteventura when DS1 was only 3 months old and while I enjoyed it there I didn't think it was as child friendly as Portugal and to be honest the flight for 4 hours nearly killed myself and DH, we stayed in Barcelo hotel there and it was a lovely hotel. We also went to France with the boys when they were (1&2) to the key camps but they were far to young and I wouldn't be going again there until the boys are at least 5&6 as all the activies are amined at older kids also we stayes in a "moblie home" and there was ALOT of cooking and cleaning and to be fair it's a hoilday and the last thing I want to do is cook.

Just a quick question for those of you that went to Portugal, did anyone stay anywhere with a nice warm pool. We went to Alvor when ds was 7 months, loved the village but the hotel pool was freezing!! None of the adults went it..it was that cold so there was no way we could put ds in. That was a bit disappointing.