Family Holiday - 3 hour flight

[PurpleTurtle]

snuffy said:

PurpleTurtle said:

We went to Sardinia when our son was that age, wonderful family holiday.

Not sure about all inclusive options as we self-catered so we could eat out/when we choose, but it was lovely.

Great spacious white sand beaches, clear and calm waters, just the thing for a kid of that age. Lots of the beaches have gentle smooth rock formations that our son loved spending hours climbing over.

We rented a car so we could explore the island with a new beach every day, it was great. Two of my pet hates are pebbly beaches (mainland Italy) and crowded beaches. Sardinia was the opposite of these, just take some good flip flops/waterproof outdoor sandals as that sand gets incredibly hot to walk on.

We are considering Sardina, given getting fed up with the time it's taking to get to/from Cyprus. However, we never set foot on a beach, so that's not something we need to consider.

Three different airports, we flew LGW to Olbia which was very convenient for the Costa Smerelda in the North East.

https://www.sardinianplaces.co.uk/flight-informati...

Only downer on the trip was the absolute shysters at the airport car rental. We had a brand new Vauxhall Mokka, which was of course pristine. I spent an entire fortnight being completely anal about parking it anywhere, especially not kerbing the alloys. On return of the car I visually inspected all four wheels, no issues, but was struggling with a pram, toddler and cases, so foolishly did not take any photos.

By the time we did the handback walkaround with the rep 20 minutes later there was a massive, newly inflicted scratch on one of the wheels, clearly done by the human hand out of sight of us post return, so I was €100 lighter for it.

I suspect that was because I refused to take their expensive Collision Damage Waiver as I have my own annual policy. I can't prove it, but there's no way it could have otherwise happened. It put a bit of downer on the end of the trip, but I guess you get aholes everywhere.

I had similar experience in Spain last year - an alleged wing mirror paint chip, but the operative there hadn't relied on me taking a detailed before and after video of every square inch of the car. That was an interesting climbdown when I rolled the video out, full deposit returned.

So, apart from rental car dheads, I thoroughly recommend Sardinia. It is much bigger than people imagine, about the size of Devon and Cornwall combined.

For those that do like the beach Spiaggia Capriccioli is where James Bond emerged from the sea in his Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me, worth a visit ifyou are a Bond nerd like me but you need to drive to it, no hotels nearby, and I imagine itis busy in school holidays. We went in June and it was nicely spaced out and lovely.

Edited by PurpleTurtle on Tuesday 26th March 12:31

[snuffy]

PurpleTurtle said:

Three different airports, we flew LGW to Olbia which was very convenient for the Costa Smerelda in the North East.

https://www.sardinianplaces.co.uk/flight-informati...

So, apart from rental car dheads, I thoroughly recommend Sardinia. It is much bigger than people imagine, about the size of Devon and Cornwall combined.

For those that do like the beach Spiaggia Capriccioli is where James Bond emerged from the sea in his Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me, worth a visit ifyou are a Bond nerd like me but you need to drive to it, no hotels nearby, and I imagine itis busy in school holidays. We went in June and it was nicely spaced out and lovely.

Thanks for that information. I do think we will be going, this year I hope.

The things we go for are eating out and indeed food and drink related actives (last year in Cyprus, for example, we had a full day food tour, including making Halloumi in a village in the mountains, that type of thing), and historical places, forts and ruins, and museums and the like.

For James Bond, as it happens, I owned a pointy white Esprit for 6 years !

[Jcwjosh]

Sargeant Orange said:

We found that villas were perfect with an only child up until about 5 years old. We stayed in some memorable ones in Menorca (Cala Galdana, Son Xoriguer), Majorca (Pollensa old town), and Portugal (Vilamoura).

Since then we've found it easier to go to hotels where my daughter can meet and play with other kids which takes the pressure off you to a certain extent to keep them entertained. The stand out hotel being Creta Maris in Crete which is the only hotel we've ever gone back to more than once.

How did you find creta Maris ? It seems not that long ago I was pulling all nighters in Malia and couldn’t bear a flight journey full of rowdy 20 year olds