Wanting to travel for 2-3 weeks in May with our 2 toddlers (3&4). We were originally planning Portugal but it looks like the weather is still on the cooler side and we’d prefer warm enough to enjoy the beaches.
WHat area of Europe would you travel to with young kids? Budget Friendly is most important, followed by good beaches, easy to get to, easy to get around and enough to see and do that we don’t get bored.
Italy, Croatia, Portugal are the areas we are currently looking at but are open to other areas.

Crete in Greece

We went to Croatia in March, super easy to get around, way more affordable than Italy. The weather was beautiful in March along the Dalmatian Coast, although not quite beach weather. We had older kids but lots of people with young children. Shoulder season travel is great, but September is usually better because the water has been heated over summer. May can be a bit tougher because the water has been cooled by winter weather and has had little chance to warm up. Your best bet would be Mediterranean Greece or France IMO

Southern Spain, or Malta- they speak English there. Another option might be Cyprus

Adam Bechný yes I was just going to say Malta too—love it there, and it’ll be warming up although some might find the sea a tad chilly still?

Jess Malta is very hard to get to. We spent a summer in Cyprus and loved it.

Justin lots of inexpensive flights from London—it’s their winter getaway destination

Croatia would be my recommendation as well. Gotta pick and choose certain beaches as they are some beautiful sandy beaches but many rocky ones too. I would look in to flying in to Dubrovnik and flying home from Split or Zagreb. 3-4 nights would be good for Dubrovnik then make the middle core a vacation rental near Split or on the island of Brac. Another possiblity to add some adventure would be the overnight train from Split to Budapest (check DB Bahn for schedule - its seasonal and may not be running) the kids woukd love the more family friendly baths in Budapest. You could then fly home from Budapest. Great article on kid friendly baths http://szechenyispabaths.com/can-children-go-to.../

Marc Dubrovnik is great but we loved the whole country - the north. Porec & Pula, we took a very affordable ferry down the coast and wanted to jump ship many times. We loved the Roman colosseum in the middle of town, the rock beaches, side trips to the falls and the people. Further south visit the Blue caves, way cheaper from Croatia than from Italy. A great country to visit.

We took ferries and buses.

Marc *

Canary Islands have summer year round. May is amazing weather

Michelle I was looking into this as an option for a week. Is there enough to do other then beaches? Good options for food?

Laura Christine it’s Spain, you can’t go wrong with food, and wine! There’s seven islands. Some have more touristy stuff than others. It depends what you’re looking for. Tenerife and Gran Canaria would have the most as they are the biggest islands

We just returned from he algarve, specifically Portimao. We’re there from Oct 3-16. It was hot but beach water very cold. No one in water unless wearing a wetsuit. Also found the tourist stuff was slowing down. Not much to do, especially after dinner unless you are into the bar scene. However portugal is amazing, clean, and very inexpensive. They love children. Maybe closer to the Spanish end would be warmer.

Greece

SAN Diego. Warm all year. Got the zoo, balboa park. Disney land. Ocean. Best ever

If you're looking for budget friendly, you're going to the wrong place. Just got back from Portugal, 5 weeks, it's the cheapest country in Western Europe but still expensive compared to Central, South America or Thailand area.

Gerry just looking at budget friendly compared to other countries in Europe (and we are pretty good at sourcing good deals once we have a destination picked)
Thailand is on our list once our kids are a bit older!

Laura Christine in the cities, Porto and Lisbon it will be cheaper if you stay away from the tourist places. We found the Metros were great. Just find a place close, walking distance to the Metro.

Laura Christine Thailand is great for young kids—the locals are really nice and lots of things to do with kids, even lots of playgrounds
We went when ours were 3 & 5 and spent 2 months traveling around..

Jess if it wasn’t for Covid this was our plan, we were hoping to stay for a couple months, unfortunately we only have 2ish weeks and with Covid measures we feel better about going to Europe now and waiting a couple years for Thailand. I’ve been before and loved it!

Azores islands

Costa brava spain. You will need to rent a car but the beaches are phenomenal. Lots of super charming medical villages, each with its own character. Amazing food. North of Barcelona. Girona has one of the best preserved historic old towns. The first few seasons of Games of Thrones was filmed their. There is a reason why Dali spent his life living there and his last home in Cadaques is an amazing place to visit. It’s one of the most picturesque and charming villages in all of Europe.
Liz Cochlan
All those options are great. Greece as well. All those countries love children.
Vivian Tindale
Croatia is beautiful but not many Sandy beaches. Plus prices are quite inflated with the Game of Throne hype. Also, changing to Euro January 1,2023 which will drive the prices up further.
Linda
Vivian Tindale we loved the rock beaches!

Southern Portugal -the Algarve in May will be mild to warm. I spent Christmas there a few years back and it was not cold!
Sharron Hunter
Just returned from a month in Portugal. Wonderful but long way to go with 2 little ones. Medeira is the Hawaii of Portugal. Great vacation but took a week to get over jet lag. Have you considered Belize?? PM if I can be of help.
Linda
We were in the Algarave in late April/early may and it was great, not for swimming but cycling, sight seeing etc. An astonishingly beautiful part of the world. Cheaper than much of Europe.
Linda
Thailand may not be worth the cost of flight and jet lag. Plus April is hellish hot, May not much cooler.
Hawaii?
Michelle
Canary Islands have great weather in May and it’s still Europe
Eddie Chatwin
Greece is fantastic
Eddie Chatwin
Greece is good price too, i think see some of the islands and go to crete and athens