Campervanning, Portugal
Van hire €1,302
Best for ages 10+
Type of trip Adventure
Road trips always make great adventures, especially with the novelty of sleeping in a campervan and the excitement of plotting a route on the map. The coast of Portugal, from Porto down to Lisbon, makes an ideal route, packed with beaches, surf breaks, culture, delicious cheap food and opportunities for spontaneity. The Caravan and Motorhome Club’s guidebook, Touring Spain and Portugal, is helpful for campsites, but it’s worth grabbing the chance to wild camp: just swing towards the sea whenever a turn-off looks promising.
indiecampers.co.uk. Price is for a week’s hire of a Fiat motorhome with two double beds, picking up Porto and dropping off Lisbon, in summer
Artist’s abodes, Lanzarote
Villa for 4 £1,005
Best for ages 2-6
Type of trip Culture
Haria is an enchanting village of palm trees and colourful faded facades, so it’s no wonder Lanzarote’s most famous artist, César Manrique, lived out his days here in a home and studio, now open to the public. Snooping through his 1960s furniture, tropical plants and artworks is fun even for tots, as are his other properties-turned-museums – the Volcano House, with underground rooms within a lava field, the Cactus Garden, and the Jameos del Agua – vast caves containing a bar, pools, nightclub, concert hall and cafe.
booking.com. Price is for a week at the end of July in a two-bedroom bungalow at Villas Finca la Crucite, which share a pool, in Haria
Casa rural, Spain
House for 4 €1,050
Best for ages 0-7
Type of trip Village life
The beaches and coast of Andalucía are 50 minutes’ drive away, endless mountain trails lie on the doorstep, Málaga’s galleries and restaurants are within easy reach for a day trip, and the local village has fabulous markets and an olive oil co-operative. But if you can drag the kids away from the pools, mini golf, playground, trampoline, playing field, pizza cafe and trikes at Baby Friendly Boltholes’ cluster of 12 casas rurales in Cantueso, we’ll be impressed.
babyfriendlyboltholes.co.uk. Price is for a week for four in August in a simple two-bedroom house
Coastal cabin, Denmark
House for 10 €1,229
Best for ages All
Type of trip Beach
We’re used to imitating the Danes’ style and cuisine now, so maybe it’s time to holiday like them, too. The West Jutland coast is awash with city folks’ stylish summerhouses: low-lying, clapboard-clad and tucked between sand dunes. The village of Blåvand, on a white sand spit near Esbjerg, home to red deer and many artists, is a good base for exploring the coast, Skjern Edge river delta and Ringkobing Fjord, and (for those brave enough) dips in the North Sea. Houses here start at under €600 for a week in August, but house ID 30589683, which sleeps 10, has a whirlpool and sauna and is 50 metres from the beach. Legoland is an hour away, Esbjerg 30mins.
danishholidayhomes.com. Price is for a week in August in house ID 30589683. Ryanair flights to Billund from Stansted cost around £100 return on August weekends
Thrills and spills, French Pyrenees
Self-catering From €395pp
Best for ages 8+
Type of trip Activity
River rafting, river boarding, river walking, kayaking, canyoning and waterfall-rappelling provide the kicks on a summer multi-activity package near Bagnères-de-Luchon with Adventure Creators, based in the Ariège region. Non-riverine action can include via ferrata, caving, horse riding, trottinette – a cross between mountain biking and downhill scootering – and tracking wild brown bears. Hosts, including founder Penny, have excellent knowledge of local flora and fauna, walks and things to do when not amping up the adrenalin.
adventurecreators.com. Price is starting rate for a week in August, including six activities. Trips run June-October. Fly to Toulouse with Ryanair, easyJet, Flybe or Jet2
Myths and magic, Greece
Suite for 3 from £1,000
Best for ages 0-3
Type of trip Culture
The 60-mile Pelion peninsula, north of Athens, drips with mythology, history and charm, and is dotted with whitewashed villages with leafy squares in which to munch walnut cake and buy crafts. There are also Byzantine churches, museums in provincial capital Volos and the traditional hill village of Milies, and well-preserved mansions. This is Greece at its best, with excellent beaches to boot. At the Esperos Suites, in Lafkos, nine self-catering villas around an infinity pool sleep three – great for couples with a baby or toddler.
fairlightjones.com. Price is for a week in July/August, including car hire. From Thessaloniki airport, it’s a 3¾-hour drive; it’s also possible to fly to Skiathos, 2 hours away by boat and taxi
Mountain biking, Romania
Self-guided €370pp
Best for ages 14+
Type of trip Adventure
On a self-guided mountain-biking tour of the Carpathians, remote villages provide friendly accommodation after days riding trails and single-lane tracks between three massifs. Beginning and ending in Bucharest, the journey takes in hills and woodland, pastures and gorges, and Dracula’s Castle in Bran. The level of difficulty is medium, with a maximum of 37km cycling and 750 metres of ascent each day.
romania-active.com. Price includes luggage transfers, all meals and five nights in village guesthouses; bike rental is €60 for six days
Style and salt water, Menorca
Flat for 4 €1,225
Best for ages All
Type of trip Beach
“More bird song than Pete Tong” is how Lonely Planet describes Menorca, the wilder Balearic isle. It still shares the boho genes of the other islands, in the beguiling towns of Maó and Ciutadella, and at the smattering of gorgeous hoteles rurales – reinventions of hamlets as stylish agrotourisms. Menorca’s beaches are spectacular: Cala d’Algaiarens in the north has some of the best, and emptiest, stretches of sand around. Biniatram agrotourism, an old farmhouse deep in the countryside, has seven apartments and eight guest rooms, a swimming pool and a sports field. It also has its own “private trail”, on which guests can walk to the beach in 25 minutes.
biniatram.com. The price is for a week in an apartment for four at the end of July. An optional daily maid service and breakfast (€8 adults, €4 child) is offered
Climbing camp, Provence
Pitch from €350
Best for ages 5+
Type of trip Activity
The medieval village of Orpierre, in the Hautes-Alpes départment of Provence, is surrounded by the sort of cliffs that make rock climbers drool, then sweat. While experts take on the challenges of the Quiquillon, Belleric and Adrech faces, beginners can tackle the Quatre Heures cliff or, at the very least, the inflatable climbing tower and climbing walls at Camping des Princes d’Orange. The large campsite, with 124 shady pitches on wooden decks, plus mobile homes and posh tents, has all the facilities kids go crazy for – swimming pool with slides, mini golf, film room and bike hire.
camping-castels.co.uk. Price is for a pitch for three for a week in late July. Bungalows from €756. Take the Eurostar to Avignon or fly to Grenoble with Jet2 from Stansted, or easyJet from Birmingham
Farm stay, Austria
Double €532 B&B
Best for ages 2-10
Type of trip Mountains
Austria is an untapped resource when it comes to wholesome family holidays, especially those with scope for lamb-petting and chicken-chasing. Lovely wooden chalets and family-friendly farms are handily listed on the Tyrol tourism website, with scents of fresh cow dung and drying hay to tempt urbanites. Bauernhof Zieplhof has wonderful views over what are in winter ski slopes, plus a large playground, pets and pony riding (free for guests).
tyrol.com. Price is for a family and two small children sharing an en suite room
City break, Leipzig
Flat for 4 €125 a night
Best for ages 10+
Type of trip Culture
Leipzig, in eastern Germany, was famously the home of Mendelssohn, Wagner and Bach, so children learning classical music might enjoy recitals in St Thomas church and visiting the Bach museum. There’s also the Panometer, a 360-degree cinematic panorama inside an old gas works (currently showing a film about the Titanic), and canoe trips along the city’s waterways to newly created lakes outside. Day trip options include Dresden, half-timbered Erfurt and the Elbe sandstone mountains, used as a location for the Chronicles of Narnia, Cloud Atlas and Grand Budapest Hotel, and home to the stunning Painter’s Way.
bach14.arcona.de. Price is for August at the Arcona Living Bach, which has brightly coloured rooms with enlarged music scores on the walls
Island escape, Croatia
Price for 4 £263 half-board
Best for ages 13+
Type of trip Beach
While all the 20-year-olds hit the bars of Hvar Town, your brood can zip away from the quay in an inflatable speedboat, as guests of The Fisherman’s House on Sveti Klement, a Maldivian atoll lookalike west of Hvar. The Matejevic family, with their dogs, cats and kids, run a simple six-room pension by the turquoise water of Vlaka Bay, which is ideal for swimming from the pebble beach, hammock swinging, and running wild. Older teens can walk around the island, stopping at beaches along the way – or petition to be allowed a water-taxi over to Hvar to party.
i-escape.com/the-fishermans-house. Price is per night for two interconnecting rooms in July or August
Mountain hut, Switzerland
Hut for 9 €620
Best for ages 6+
Type of trip Adventure
Climbing up and up a mountain to a remote spot to the place you’re going to spend a week will be unbelievably exciting for children, especially those who have read Heidi and will be familiar with the bleat of goats, little wooden cabins and views of the mountains “on fire” at sunset. The Swiss tourist board has created an Airbnb of mountain huts with its new dedicated website, alp.holidaybooking.ch. One cute option is the Wegscheide Weidhutte on a hillside in Achsten, near Adelboden, sleeping nine in three simple bedrooms.
alp.holidaybooking.ch. Price is for a week in August
Camping fun, Corsica
Pitch from €49
Best for ages 4-17
Type of trip Beach
Imagine a laid-back, French version of a US summer camp and you’re close to what Camping Le Campoloro, a large fun-filled campsite in Corsica, is about. There are games, crafts and shows in the kids’ and juniors’ clubs, while for teenagers there are table tennis tournaments and DJs until midnight. Oaks shade much of the site, on the island’s east coast, and there are three pools, plus a beach a short walk away. Well-spaced pitches are a generous 100 square metres, and there are also cottages and wooden chalets.
lecampoloro.com. Price is per night for two, extra people €6-€8 per night, under-3s free
Lakeside camping, Switzerland
Pitch from €290
Best for ages 2+
Type of trip Activity
With four lovely lake beaches within easy access, no one will complain they’d rather be beside the seaside on a holiday to Interlaken, in the Jungfrau region. Manor Farm campsite, with pedalos and dinghy sailing, is the only one directly on Lake Thun, and is surrounded by the glorious Bernese Oberland mountains. It’s open all year and besides pitches for tents and plots for campervans there are chalets and mobile homes to rent, plus two family-friendly restaurants to choose from. There are lovely walks to be had around the lake and along rivers, and for a break from the great outdoors it’s not far to the town centre with its pretty old timber-frame houses and cafe-filled streets.
manorfarm.ch. The price is for a pitch and four people for a week. There are also fully equipped bungalow tents sleeping six for €770 a week
Wild beaches, Galway, Ireland
House for 7 €1,058
Best for ages 2-12
Type of trip Activity
Plentiful kid-friendly adventures await on Galway’s rugged coast, gorgeous beaches and the Wild Atlantic Way footpath. These include Burren Nature Sanctuary, with its goats and fairy trails; watersports on enclosed Rusheen Bay; Rinville forest park and castle; Slieve Aughty riding centre; Jump Lanes indoor trampolining; and Leisureland with its indoor pools and slides. Renting a home with Kid and Coe means bright, light interiors and family-friendliness are guaranteed. The Oran Close Residence, 10 minutes’ drive from Galway city, is stuffed with toys and books, the kitchen has a big blackboard, and the kids’ room has bunks, a spare trolley bed and en suite shower room. There are two other double bedrooms.
kidandcoe.com. Price is for a week in August
Hello Romeo, Verona
Flat for 4 £660
Best for ages 8+
Type of trip Culture
Showing teens Juliet’s “actual” balcony is sure to help inspire them when it comes to studying Shakespeare, and parents won’t have to worry about fussy young eaters in the land of pizza and pasta. Verona’s splendour extends to the Roman amphitheatre, churches and charming piazzas, and its proximity to Lake Garda, Padua and Venice is a bonus for a longer stay. Staying just outside the city keeps costs down: Le Coste Historical Apartments, a pink period building with pool, is a 15-minute drive from town, within reach of wineries and the Roman baths of Caldiero.
Tripadvisor.co.uk. Price is for a week in August
Feasts and fun, Umbria
Adult/child £905/£470pp
Best for ages 0-10
Type of trip Activity/relaxing
Among olive groves and vineyards close to the Tuscan border, the idyllic 15th-century Villa Pia’s two swimming pools, sand pit, trampoline and indoor soft play, plus kids’ cookery and art classes, mean the nippers will barely notice you’re MIA, snoozing on the terrace with an Aperol spritz. Meals (all included) are epic feasts of pasta and Tuscan fare, and there’s everything parents need, from purees on tap to babysitters.
villapia.com. Price is for a week in school summer holidays in a family room including most meals; under-twos go free
Surfing and sailing, Aquitaine, France
Cabin for 4 £1,092
Best for ages 2 and up
Type of trip Lake/activity
Popular with Dutch, German and Belgian families but yet to catch the attention of many Brits, Biscarosse, in France’s Aquitaine region, is a natural playground of surf beaches, pine forests and peaceful lakes for swimming in. Cottages du Lac, a lakeside collection of wooden chalets and apartments, has three pools, hot tub, boules, table tennis, and sports pitches. Its lake sailing school rents dinghies and canoes, and bikes can be hired for the croissant run to Parentis village.
alternative-aquitaine.co.uk. Price is for a week in a two-bedroom cabin in July/early Aug
Pristine seas, Sicily
