Family Holiday location recommendations

Merkin

I was going to post this in Travel but I figure everyone here would have first hand experience here. We are planning a little week in the sun in early September with our darling baby Merkin who will be just over thirteen months then. We love the sun, the sea, are committed foodies and enjoy culture, history and art/architecture. We want to go somewhere baby friendly but an overly 'family' type resort holiday doesn't really appeal. We are happy to go to a lovely city or a hotel/resort or would a villa/apartment be better? I guess somewhere buggy friendly too. Have any of you been anywhere recently that you'd recommend to travel to with a toddler? And who did you book with? Did you book independently or through an agent? We've travelled a good chunk of the world between us but only a few times from the UK to Ireland with bubs so looking for some first hand recommendations and good ideas! Thank you xx

pwurple

Confused, sorry. Are you looking for Ireland or sun? First part seems to say sun, second Ireland?

I found a pool holiday with a 14 month old one of the least enjoyable holidays I've ever been on. They are so uncoordinated, they almost have a death wish at that age. Walking into pools, off steps, over cliffs. They get too hot easily so you are looking for shade a lot of the time. Sticky from constantly applying suncream. Cranky from timezone change. Wanting to be going and exploring constantly, and every surface is something they can brain themselves on. Sitting down, relaxing by the pool with a book was almost impossible with ours that time.

That being said, I found the website called BabyFriendly boltholes was quite good for places and ideas, if expensive.

Our last few holidays with small children have been in Ireland, and at this age, we enjoy it a more than abroad. Parks, beaches, pools all available. Temperature isn't too hot or too cold, and there isn't much travelling and upheaval to get there. Parknascilla would be someplace I'd recommend. You get great special offers on the lodges and villas (self catering is handy with a baby, they snack a good bit). There are loads of interesting places to see, and great food is all around.

AndersLimpar

We've been to Cala D'Or a few times and it's extremely family friendly with some beautiful restaurants and beaches. I would highly recommend it and there are plenty of sightseeing locations on the is!and for day trips etc. Can be a little expensive though depending on when you go bit from experience its worth it.

Merkin

Just to clarify, we are looking for sun so somewhere in Europe preferably that only involves 2-3 hours flying, cheers.