OnlyMeOirish

First of all I'll give a bit of background - my husband and I and our Son (who will be 5 months), are looking at spending Christmas abroad.
We don't normally travel at that time of year but for various reasons, this will be our only opportunity to go away for the forseeable. We're normally fans of going places to see wildlife (Africa, Alaska etc) or to the USA - Boston, NYC, Las Vegas, Chicago, Yellowstone etc etc and we also like a certain amount of cruising but are quite fussy about cruiselines as food and service are important to us.
Anyways, with our little one I'm hesitant to take him on a long flight or flights that would require stopovers so, travelling from Ireland, and looking to go someplace warm, we are limited to places such as Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Tunisia, Egypt (although I think that's ruled out because of vaccines recommended ..), Madeira, Fuertavantura, Tenerife for that time of year.
We're not normally package holiday people but are willing to give it a try. I have read many posts and brochures on the various different places we could go but am bamboozled and am hoping for some advice please.

Of all of the above (or if there is anyplace I missed!), which is the best place to go that has nice restaurants and is the best place to have a rental car (hubby is fond of having a car and going to see different places/ things), which has the most things to do besides lying by the pool/beach and where should we avoid that might be on the tacky side (don't want to offend anyone but we prefer to avoid the booze-up scenes). Also, we'd like someplace 'nice' to stay ... 4star or above probably so advice on that would be great too.

Hope I'm not asking too much ... I am just so confused right now I don't know where to look next and with Christmas looming and availability an issue I really need to figure something out soon.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Leely2

I have no idea, but I remember your posts from the Africa board (didn't you get off the plane in Burundi on accident?) and I just wanted to say congratulations on the birth of your son!!! How wonderful for all three of you. Have a merry Christmas.

hetismij

Maybe La Palma in the Canaries would suit you - it is not as touristy as the main islands. Have a look for a house on the west side of the island, for better weather.
www.islalapalma.com have lots of houses and are very helpful.
No doubt they could advise on hotels too if you prefer.

OnlyMeOirish

Hi Leely,
Thank you for your good wishes. Yes, it was me that got off the plane in Burundi!... don't think I'll ever live that one down!
Since our baby was born (and even before) I haven't had a chance to even browse on Fodors and the Africa board ... I miss it I have to say and the minute our little one is big enough to go on a long haul flight I'll be back on there ... Europe will be the trial run .

hetismij, thank you for your advice - I'll take a good look at that ebsite once I get LO down for the night.

Privateer280370

Italy, all italians love kids.

littlejane

2 years ago in January we went to the (then) Kempinski Bahia Real in Corralejo in Fuerteventura with our 3 month old - the hotel itself is lovely although a slightly further walk outside town than we wanted. It's still there but no longer part of the Kempinski chain as far as I know. Weather was good, lots of great restaurants in the town, lots of cheap car hire companies for exploring the island and you can get a ferry to Lanzarote and explore that too. Flight from Dublin was long but at that age it was no problem to our daughter. We enjoyed Corralejo and would certainly recommend it over Grand Canaria, where we went one year and it was just full of package holidaymakers and not really that pleasant. We took a day trip to Lanzarote and it seemed to have tons on offer too.

We used a travel company recently for our holiday to Portugal (with our now 2 year old) called Kids in the Med - website www.kidsinthemed.com - I found it difficult to figure out which hotels had kids clubs and facilities for kids and they only list hotels with these facilities. You could use them as a starting point, and all of the hotels they feature are 4 and 5 stars. They sent me a brochure recently about a 10% sale but you might get better rates by booking direct. They are upmarket places, not your typical Budget package holiday overrun with screaming kids.

OnlyMeOirish

Thanks a million for the advice.

Littlejane, that link is exactly what I've been looking for! ... It's hard work trawling through the brochures trying to figure out where has kids pools etc. And we'd definately like to avoid the 'package holiday type' experience. Thanks so much for the link and advice!!

rogeruktm

First, it is nice that you are so very wealthy at a young age. If I were so blessed at an early age and with your list I would hire a private yacht with full service, captain, crew and chef. I would pick the South Pacific.

littlejane

You're welcome, Only. Hope you enjoy it. I'm just envious that you had the neck to flee these parts for your first Christmas with a kid. I'd love to have had the guts to do the same!

Roger, that's the Celtic tiger for you. Suck it up!