hi nic, have you thought about the algarve ? very child friendly and only 2 and a bit hour flight away.
Have a look on the portugal forum for some ideas, there are some lovely resorts there.

Hi Nic

I am assuming at that price you are looking at a one bedroomed apartment for a fortnight and not HB or AI ?

If so I would second the Algarve, its only just over 2 hours on the plane. I managed it on your budget last year, for the last two weeks in July in a one bed apartment.

I booked 4 flights with easyjet the week the London flights were released (15th December I think). I then searched all the accommodation only providers like

http://www.travelrepublic.co.uk
http://www.otbeach.com
http://www.wshtravel.com

I booked with the last one, there are hundreds of apartment complexes in the Algarve and I think that keeps prices keen. I stayed in a resort called Lagos, but I think Alvor is family orientated as well & so is the old town part of Albuferia, Vilamoura is nice and Carvoiere (spelt wrong :oops:)

Check the locations of apartments though as if you don't want to hire a car, make sure you can walk to the beach.

I am assuming you dont fancy Greece of Turkey because of the 4 hour flight & heat. These would be my other suggestions. For apartments Icmeler in Turkey is supposed to be brilliant & I would think you could easily do it on under 2K more like 1.5K as it is good value there.

Doe

Hi Doe & Juby, thanks for your replies. The quote for the Majorca hol that I had was for SC in a 1bed, nearly fell of my chair! The Crete holiday is for half board in a large family room with 4 beds (wouldn't normally opt for HB but at that price it's tempting) and the Cyprus holiday is SC in a 2bed apt. Been to Cyprus a few times (many moons ago) and can't believe it's now cheaper to go there than Majorca. I am most tempted so far by the Cyprus holiday, it looks ideal. I would consider Greek Islands, have been to Corfu, Zante, Crete and Rhodes before the children came along (when I was 'Young and Lively')but not sure on which resorts would be ok for a family hol. Also been to Turkey, Hisaronu - really liked, and Marmaris - hated (sorry, to any Marmaris lovers!). It's not a case of me not fancying the longer flight or the heat, I just wonder how the kids would get on.

Thanks for the recommendation for the Algarve, only ever been once before, Praia da Rocha - hated it! Doe, I think you recommended Lagos to me earlier in the year, but sorry think my first and only visit to the Algarve has scarred me forever and don't think I'd be tempted to go back.

Any other suggestions would be most welcome. Don't want anywhere rowdy but need enough to do to keep us happy for a fortnight.

Thanks again, Nic

It's a shame when peoples first experience of the algarve is Praia de Rocha, it seems to scare them for life. I don't want to put you off of Cyprus & there are a few (ex-pats) on that board who disagree. But is supposed to be really expensive once you get there, although i guess anywhere that uses the Euro is dear at the moment. (might be better next year though ) Have you checked out Ibiza, away from the San An, strip area it is supposed to be quite family orientated. I went to a resort called Cala Tarida when my kids were little, but that was yonks ago. They have lots of Fiesta hotels there that do HB & are family orientated. That might suit if you like Minorca and Majorca.

Difficult isn't it, I started a thread like this a few weeks ago about suitable holidays for teens, but didn't get many suggestions.

i have to agree with chris cyprus is lovely but very expensive and now the euro is strong against the pound it will be dearer. we also didnt like praia de rocha, but i do love turkey, olu deniz area is lovely, but as you have been and want somewhere else i would recommend anywhere that hasnt the euro as it will be dear once you are there unless it drops. have you been to tunisia we went to hammamet and hated it but decided to give it a second chance in jan and went to PEK and loved it, there were some good deals to morocco too, we went to marrakech and loved it and might try the agadir 1 day

Thanks again for the replies. Doe, will have a look at Ibiza, any other resort suggestions?. With regards the Euro I'm expecting this year's hol in Menorca to be fairly pricy when we get there but we are not ones to go mad. We'll eat in the apartments for breakfast and lunch, then a meal out in the evening with a couple of drinks and ice creams for the kids. I'm not tight but I can't see the point in spending loads on tat just for the sake of it. Your comment about your thread on where to take teenagers made me think...if I'm having this much trouble now deciding..well I dread to think what it'll be like in a few years!
Ellie-meg, thanks for your reply too. Olu Deniz is lovely, and it's not that I don't want to go because I've already been I just wonder about how suitable it would be for the children. I vaguely recall the sea becoming very deep very quickly and the beach although it looked beautiful was very shingly, please correct me if I'm wrong. Have been to Marrakech for a 2 night break and wasn't keen, fab hotel though but not somewhere I would consider for a family holiday. Never done Tunisia, nearly went about 20 years ago, had booked to go to Hammamet but cancelled after hearing so many reports of food poisoning.
Keep those suggestions coming!

Hi Nic If you read the Ibiza forum the two places people seem to recommend for families are Es Cana & Santa Eulalia (can't spell it ), but you probably need to go on that forum & ask for recommendations, I expect they would help out. We had a lovely holiday in Minorca in 2003 when the kids were younger, I'm sure you will have a lovely time, we set up like yourself, breakfast & lunch DIY & of an evening spent about 60 or 70 Euros for 2 adults, 2 kids, but we are not big drinkers, either a litre of Sangria or a couple of beers does us. Sort of cheap dates. lol. Don't think it will have gone up that much, its just the rubbish exchange rate that's the problem.

We went to Ibiza last August, I would suggest Portinatx, Es Cana, or Santa Eulalia. We stayed in San Miguel, but it's a very tiny quiet resort so you wouldn't like it if you like to go out for meals in different restaurants every night.

the main beach of olu isnt great and does go steep but the lagoon is fab my kids loved it, we went to saura beach and it was sandy, sea was calm ,warm and was shallow for quite a way out.

i wasnt suggesting taking kids to marrakech but agadir has some good reports

tunisia might be worth a try if you get the right hotel and resort, we loved porte el kantoui (PEK) not sure if thats spelt right but im sure you know where i mean lol. we stayed at the abou sofaine hotel all inc and it was great on a lovely sandy beach

Hi All, just wanted to thank you all for your replies and give you an update. I am now booked up for 2009! Decided on Cala d'or Majorca for 11 nights in July. Found a good deal on the web with Thomas Cook and went into TC shop today and they reduced the price further by about £80, so I went ahead and booked it. Hope I've made the right decision, been to Majorca a few times before so I'm fairly confident it will be ok. Thanks again, Nic.