Keeping the kids happy is a doddle with these child-friendly options
1 PRINCESS PARADISE
Lanzarote’s Princesa Yaiza Suite Hotel in Playa Blanca has its own adventure park, Kikiland, with 10,000sq m of playground facilities plus loads of kids’ pools, child- friendly entertainment nightly and, despite the eight restaurants, family rooms with microwaves so you can heat up bottles and baby food. A week’s family stay booked online costs €2,450 in June, including airport transfers but not flights.
Princess Yaiza Suite Hotel, Playa Blanca, Lanzarote, Spain, 00 34 928519300, princesayaiza.com
2 ITALY’S JUST THE JOB
Italians love kids and kids love Bella Italia, a campsite on Lake Garda within screaming distance of water parks, safari parks and theme parks. It also has good kids clubs, nightly entertainment and long lakeside paths perfect for pushing the buggies of those in need of a nap. A week for a family of four costs €3,338 in August with Topflight, including flights.
Camping Bella Italia, Peschiera del Garda, Italy, 0039-045 640 0688, camping-bellaitalia.it
3 SPORTS IN THE SUN
Holiday Village Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol has a soccer school, swimming lessons, drama, singing and dancing classes, plus a lagoon-style swimming pool with pirate ship. Then there is a cinema, mini-golf, tennis, table tennis, an amusement arcade and four kids clubs. A week's all-inclusive package with Falcon/JWT in late July, at time of writing, costs for €3,283, including flights. Falcon/JWT, 1850 946164, falconholidays.ie
4 DISNEY DREAMS
No resort appeals to kids more than Disney and Abbey Travel has packages to Disneyland Paris comprising a four-night, five-day stay from €99 an adult a night, with free hotel and park tickets for under-12s. The package, a saving of up to 30 per cent on standard rates, is for two adults and two children, at selected dates at the Cheyenne hotel, excluding flights.
Abbey Travel, Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1, 01-804 7100, abbeytravel.ie
5 NORTHERN DELIGHT
Copenhagen offers a terrific city break for kids, with its very own fairground, the Tivoli Gardens, right in the city centre. Filled with traditional fairground rides and millions of twinkly fairy lights, it is just enchanting. There’s also Bakken, the world’s oldest theme park, and Bon Bon Land, a theme park a train ride away. Family rooms at The Square Hotel, beside Tivoli, from €146 a night.
The Square Hotel, Radhuspladsen, 0045-333 81200, thesquarecopenhagen.com
6 FUN ON THE FARM
There is a mini farm at La Grande Metairie in Carnac, France, as well as ponies to ride around the campsite, which is big and has great pools, kids clubs and child-centred shows nightly. There is a new skate park as well as zip lines and high wires too.
A week’s mobile home-stay from Keycamp, arriving 21st July, is €1,091.
Castels Camping La Grande Métairie, Carnac, South Brittany, France, 0033-297 522401, lagrandemetairie.com
7 SURFING IN CORNWALL
Sands Resort Hotel in Cornwall has just won a best family hotel award in UK and Europe from TripAdvisor, a notoriously tricky bunch to please. Maybe it’s the adventure playground, the zip wires, maze, bouncy castle, indoor and outdoor pools, kids clubs, or the free wetsuit and surf boards that swung it, but to celebrate, the hotel has three night family breaks for £420 (€523) to first-time visitors.
Sands Resort Hotel, Newquay, Cornwall, 0044- 163 787 2864, sandsresort.co.uk
8 RIDE INTO THE SUNSET
Caserío del Mirador offers a series of self- catering apartments, half an hour from the Valencian coast, with rabbits, miniature ponies and goats, plus – tucked away in the terraces surrounding it – swings and slides, climbing frames and trampolines. There is a pool too, plus beautiful countryside for exhausted parents to gaze at over the top of their wine glass each evening. A family apartment sleeping five costs €2,250 in summer.
Caserío del Mirador, Valencia, Spain, 0034- 965 973024, villajalon.com
9 POSH OPTION IN PORTUGAL
For a very swish option, the Sheraton Pine Cliffs Resort in Portugal is a five-star property with its own children’s village, Porto Pirata, plus a team on hand to entertain those aged six months to eight years, while you play golf, tennis, swim or simply recharge your batteries until it’s your turn to entertain them again. A week’s self-catering in June is €5,758 with Sunway.
Pine Cliffs Resort, Praia da Falesia, Albufeira, Portugal. 0035-128 950 0100, pinecliffsportugal.com
10 WATERPARK WONDERS
Pachacaid, a campsite in the rolling hills behind St Tropez doesn’t just have waterslides, but it has its very own waterpark – a knot of looping chutes of varying lengths and speeds. There is an amusement park too, Azur Park, a five- minute drive away, plus all the usual mod cons of a good French campsite. A week’s stay in July, booked with the campsite, starts at € 875 online.
Camp Hotel pachacaid, Var, France, 0033 494 557080,
pachacaid.co.uk
