Europe family holidays

Flycatcher

Having been to Menorca for 4 years and love the laid back resorts we need to go somewhere a little more lively whilst still being a family central place. Anyone got any good reviews of resorts and/or hotels in Europe. Good restaurants and a few bars plus good beaches essential!

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finchy

Flycatcher wrote:

Having been to Menorca for 4 years and love the laid back resorts we need to go somewhere a little more lively whilst still being a family central place. Anyone got any good reviews of resorts and/or hotels in Europe. Good restaurants and a few bars plus good beaches essential!

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not by the sea, but by a lake, which is even better - it's very shallow, so nice and safe for the kids, lovely warm water. The weather is hot in the summer, food is good.

Anywhere on Lake Balaton in Hungary.

markos1963

The Polis/Latchi/Argaka area of Cyprus is very nice(ok I own up, I'm half Cypriot). Its much like how Cyprus was 20 years ago, not too developed. Have only stayed in villas in that area so I can't comment on hotels. Nice beach in Latchi and plenty to see in the area with access to the Akamas peninsula and the Troodos moutains.
We've stayed at these villas the last couple of years and can only say what wonderful holidays we've had there
http://www.villaelias.com

mmitchell88

Italy for me - or, rather, my other half for she is from Trieste. Really interesting region - would love to grow old there. Beaches exist - but aren't so sandy. You can find them around the coast, however.

Just don't drive there. And back. For 2,300 miles.

finchy

mmitchell88 wrote:

Italy for me - or, rather, my other half for she is from Trieste. Really interesting region - would love to grow old there.

Just don't drive there. And back. For 2,300 miles.

I hope you managed to make it over the border to see some of the magnificent sights offered by Slovenia.

I'm off to Slovakia this Friday. There and back on a coach. It's OK though, it only takes 24 hours. :roll:

mmitchell88

johnfinch wrote:

mmitchell88 wrote:

Italy for me - or, rather, my other half for she is from Trieste. Really interesting region - would love to grow old there.

Just don't drive there. And back. For 2,300 miles.

I hope you managed to make it over the border to see some of the magnificent sights offered by Slovenia.

Absolutely - visited many times. In fact, some of my most memorable meals have been in Slovenia. Hugely overlooked as a destination IMO.

Bike related: the depressing fact is that the only time I managed to get the bike over to Italy/Slovenia also delivered my worst ever riding experience! No calamities as such, but the demands of family life meant I could only ride when we got over to Lignano - a pancake flat beach resort (between Venice and Trieste) where the mosquitos decided my English flesh was far preferable to the usual German and Austrian fayre. I was raw, sore and very unhappy!

Anyway, Trieste - looking forward to the second stage of the Giro!

finchy

mmitchell88 wrote:

johnfinch wrote:

where the mosquitos decided my English flesh was far preferable to the usual German and Austrian fayre. I was raw, sore and very unhappy!

Mosquitoes :roll:

Back in 2006, I was living in Slovakia, and one evening I decided that the next day I'd put my bike on a train at about 5 in the morning and get down to Budapest and cycle back home along the Danube (about 130 miles). So at about 8am I was just leaving Budapest and I entered some woods. The Danube had recently flooded, leaving a nice 2 inch thick carpet of slime all over the cycle path. I hit it at fairly high speed, and just skidded along for about 500 metres (it was a slight decline), and then lost control of the bike completely, hitting the deck rather hard and getting a lovely, wet coating of mud. Feeling rather worse for this fall, I picked my bike up to discover that the entire chain and gears were clogged up with mud, which meant that I couldn't ride it out, I would have to pick the bike up and attempt to walk out of the woods. At this point, tens of thousands of mosquitoes (I do not exaggerate) spotted their breakfast. So I was running along, slipping and falling into the mud every ten seconds, carrying my bike with one hand, and trying to defend myself as best as possible with the other. I was basically just hitting myself all over to kill as many as I could. I emerged from the woods covered in mud and blood, and had to sit there by the side of the road like that, trying to clean out my chain.

The rest of the ride was basically trying to resist the temptation to stick my bike on a train - something that became even more tempting when I was riding by the railway line for the last 40 miles, with a vicious headwind trying to push me back into Hungary.

I eventually made it back home in about 10 hours, which isn't bad seeing as I was on a £60 bike.

So like you, I will say "f@£$ing mosquitoes". LEt us raise a glass to those good people whose job it is to exterminate them.

dilemna

Channel Islands are always overlooked. Many good spots for families, stunning locations, decent beaches and Ingleesh is spoken everywhere

If that doesn't rock your boat then anywhere in France preferably near a beach or mountain, or the Italian Lakes Garda or Maggiore. Failing that the Amalfi coast. The list is endless :roll: .