Where are you taking the kids on holidays?

Times have been tight over the past few years, but this Summer I've got some money aside to take the family abroad on holiday! Nothing flash, a beach, some waterparks and a generally nice atmosphere with warm weather in abundance. I'm thinking Meditteranean so we've got some warm water and I could go all inclusive or could go to a camping park. 

Anyone got any bright ideas? 

Only ever been to the 'resorts' where you'd never want to go so I could give you a list af places to avoid, having said that, they were all really cheap. The Med is lovely and warm for swimming in though and South of France has a very warm climate.

Euro camp somewhere Mediterranean ?

wherever you take them please stay off my plane!!

Your not having to share the Lear Jet again are you Nick ?

if only

We're always skint but manage to get a ferry across to France and stay in a mobile home on a decent campsite for a fraction of what your average package hol would cost. It's hard to beat for a family holiday imho, the kids have the run of the campsite and always seem to make some friends, swimming pools/water slides/playgrounds various food and drink outlets and the bigger campsites have horse riding and all sorts. The mobile homes are fab - camping without the tent (been there done that lol). If you want better weather head south.

My parents took 4 children, my cousin and a trailer full of camping equipment all over France and we were travelling from Ireland - they must have been stark raving mad - but I do have the most amazing memories

I know my kids will love it whatever we do, but my wife is desperate for some solid sun! So south of France may be better.

I remember long periods running around on Cornwall beaches with my sister, getting really sunburned and then competing to see who could get the largest single piece of peeled skin off our bodies when we got home. Wouldn't do that now, you'd have social services involved!

Main family holiday will be 10 days or so camping in France.  In the same boat now wondering where to go.

Stayed down near Avignon last year (with a few days near Macon on the way) and that was nice - 90 degrees plus each day - lots of historic stuff to see (Avignon itself, Roman stuff etc), visited some beaches but it was a bit of a distance so would maybe look for a campsite with lake swimming next time as the site at  Macon had that and the kids loved it, son rode up Mont Ventoux on his bike which was a nice day out (well from Chalet Reynard anyway - he was only 10).

Year before we went to the Southern bit of Brittany which was very nice but the weather was very British and the drive was almost as far as getting to Provence.   

You can rent a villa privately for not a lot of money sometimes with own pool in southern spain  - great family holiday and you can come & go as you please. Think i've inspired myself!

Stilts and MC4, any sites to recommend for either mobile home hols or the villas?  It's the sort of thing we are looking at this year.

If you book direct with the local tourist board its sometimes cheaper
We've used this site before when booking for the dordogne area
http://www.sarlat-tourisme.com/

South Of France - Languedoc is lovely.

What about Portugal? Setubal?

Max's Mum wrote (see)

If you book direct with the local tourist board its sometimes cheaper
We've used this site before when booking for the dordogne area
http://www.sarlat-tourisme.com/

We've stayed in Sarlat a couple of times when the TdF has been in the area

We us "Owners Direct" to book apartments and villas...

In the past couple of years we have had superb apartments in .....

French Alps, Provence,Callela,  Barcelona, Tenerife, and recently in Prague

and have one booked for Paris next month

Our favourite is Camping La Vallee in Houlgate on the Normandy coast, lovely campsite with huge pitches, Houlgate is beautiful and very French - lovely promenade for early morning running! Probably bit too far north if you want guaranteed sun tho but our kids hate long car journeys and non of us are sun worshippers so it suits us. We usually book direct with the campsite if we can and book ferry etc separately. Les Ormes in Brittany came highly recommended but was so full of Brits could hardly tell we were in France. Depends what you want really. Our dream is to take the kids to the Alpes and do some summer walking which was our holiday of choice before children.

Still going to have a look at some of the suggestions above tho!

I got the following from a colleague today. I've booked 8 days in the Beau Rivage!:

'Camping beau Rivage Meze we???ve been going to for years. We love the region (herault Languedoc), the weather is pretty much guaranteed. Meze is a really nice fishing village with bars/restaurants around the port. It???s on a lagoon, rather than the sea, with an artificial beach. It???s actually really nice and very safe. If you can, reserve one of the privilege vans which look out directly onto the lagoon ??? you can have breakfast watching the boats, people collecting shellfish, herons etc. About a 10 minute walk into the centre and the beach along the shore. At night all the lights come on in Sete across the lagoon.

The vans are good. The site is Ok ??? pretty regimented French holiday style. Nice pool and cabana.

http://www.camping-beaurivage.fr/content/gb/accueil/1/

In the same region is http://www.camping-lerebau.fr/en/montblanc.htm quieter, in a sleepy wine producing village about 20minutes from the sea. About 10 minutes walk from the centre, bakeries, bar, mini market. ??

You could fly to Montpellier and be at either place in about 20minutes. It???s not as long a drive as it used to be since the Viaduc at Millau was built. It???s about 650 miles from Calais.

Another destination in the south might be Saintes Maries de lar Mer ??? not stayed there but liked the place. Likewise Aigue-Mortes.

We???ve also been to http://en.aubonair.com/ which is on the westcoast very near the Ile d???oleron. Nice place, not so far, think you would fly to la Rochelle.?? But driveable. You can see from the pic there???s a lagoon built which is really nice for kids swimming, walk out of the site, about 200m.

Nice region, the Island is lovely, lots of chateaux, close to cognac.

Another one I thought of was Camping du Pylone. We were there in august. Very busy, but you are in Antibes, train right outside goes to Italy in one direction via Monaco, Marseilles the other. Marineland (dolphins, killer whale) is next door. No website, but there are loads of English owned vans on the site for about ??500 a week. Fly to Nice.

Lastly, not far over the border ??? camping las dunas in Roses Spain is a really good large holiday site, directly on a protected dune beach. Probably fly to Girona. Very close to Figueres (Salvador dali museum and a great toy museum) and 90mins to Barcelona by train.

When did you say you were going? The French all tend to go on holiday about mid july, so it gets very busy then. Just before is good.

Worth considering places in Southern Germany like the Koenigsee and Lake Konstanz - beautiful places, weather tends to be good, not as costly as you might think.