Holiday!

[ailbhe]

Rob and I need a holiday - a weekend would do - but we don't want to visit family (because we want a complete holiday and lovely though they are, families always come with obligations of one kind or another). And we'd like to go somewhere warmer and brighter than where we are. And Linnea has outgrown her carseat so we can't get taxis (the next size up is totally impractical for bringing places) so we're limited to places with completely reliable drivers and no carseat laws, or places with public transport.

Suggestions? I'd like to start with "desirable" and whittle down to "possible" later, and "practical" later still. Where would *you* go for a weekend if you were starting from south-east England?

Comments

[astrogeek.livejournal.com]

well, if you want somewhere warm, and I'm guessing not too expensive to get to, how about Barcelona? Easyjet fly there.

[krabbe.livejournal.com]

Something along those lines would be my suggestion. For a weekend, you're looking sternly at travel times, so while hawaii may be nice, it's out of the question.

Generally, mediterranean or atlantic (as in canaries) would be a pretty good starting point to look for a threeish-day warm mini-holiday.

You'll likely not want to go on long hiking tours, so I'd suggest looking at one of the touristy spots - it's off-season, so crowding probably won't be bad, and tourist hotels tend to be somewhat equipped to deal with babies.

That leaves the driving thing, which I'm not sure about. Public transport in that kind of place is going to be sparse, so you'd have to investigate how to keep Linnea in her pram (or whatever the name of the device) in transit - if you choose to stay in a hotel, they'll be able to tell you this, oherwise contact the local tourist office.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

My favourite warm destination thus far has been Hawaii. I don't know offhand how you'd handle the car seat issue, though. I suspect that the U.S. has relatively stringent car seat laws. (I also suspect that lots of snorkeling in the open ocean and semi-dangerous hiking wouldn't be a baby-friendly vacation.)

[ailbhe]

Whatever about the carseat laws, I think it falls down on the "completely reliable drivers" criterion - but then, I don't expect anywhere to meet that standard.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

I'm not really sure what a "completely reliable driver" would be offhand. We certainly didn't see any accidents while we were there. *shrug*

Alternately, we went on a Caribbean cruise some time ago (February 2001). It was EXTREMELY relaxing. We only took any form of driving transportation for a couple of tours we signed up, which were additional optional things for which other alternatives were present. Typically, the boat docks right wherever you're going and you wander around on foot.

[ailbhe]

To have my baby in a car without a carseat, I'd need not a place with one completely reliable driver, but *all* the drivers on the roads completely reliable. And I doubt one such driver exists, let alone a driving-population-full. The trouble is that she's too big for an infant seat and not big enough for a child seat, and the in-between seat is very, very bulky so we're not getting one.

Black cabs with wheelchair spaces would do, though, since Tiggs mentions it.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

In the U.S., you can often rent a carseat from a rental car agency. Oh wait, never mind, they don't drive. Ah well.

[astrogeek.livejournal.com]

In all the states I've travelled through in the US, it is illegal to have a child under 16 in car without being strapped into either a carseat or seatbelt (depending on age/size of child). Because of this, taxis generally won't take small children without an advance reservation, and car rental companies are obliged by law to provide (at extra cost of course) a car seat if you have a child with you, or otherwise refuse to rent you the car.

[shimgray.livejournal.com]

Edinburgh's nice, has reliable public transport, and isn't logistically difficult to get to (climb on train, climb off), but kind of falls down on the "warmer and brighter" aspects.

Warmer and brighter, hm. Then again, thinking of trains... how expensive is Eurostar, these days? Somewhere at the other end must have good public transport, but I've no real experience to go from there.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Rome? You can get trains from Fiumicino (but bus/train from Ciampino, which might be a no-no), and Italians are suckers for babies which makes it a nice friendly place to go. It's not startlingly hot at this time of year but it's not terribly cold either (Italians say 'brr' and get out the fur coats at what Britons would consider cardigan weather) - for instance, this coming Friday it's reckoned it will hit 16C,and the current temperature (at nearly 11pm local time) is 5C.

Car seat

[tiggsybabes.livejournal.com]

I caught a taxi from Jersey airport to my parent's house that had a built in car seat that flipped out somehow or other that Kate used & another strapped her pushchair into the wheelchair part & I strapped her into the pushchair.

I travel over to see my parents on my own every so often & can't take piles of luggage as can't manage it all, so these taxis are great.

[clanwilliam.livejournal.com]

You're on a direct train line to both Exeter and Penzance - both are nice, pretty to look at, good for walking around, and have a certain amount of public transport to take you out of the towns themselves - eg, take the south coast train for a day's walking or something.

[rmc28]

My favourite "warm and bright" place to go in winter is Tenerife: it's cheap, it's in the eurozone, and there's zillions of English-speakers. Los Cristianos has a lovely beach very suitable for small children to play on. Package holidays are reasonably cheap, and (in my experience) come with buses to get you between the airport and your hotel. The towns are usually small enough to walk from place to place, and there is a good bus service (aimed at locals) around the island if you wanted to visit other towns, entertainingly called TITSA.

Or you could take the train to Cornwall, or perhaps Eurostar to France. When Tony and I go to visit his father, I usually book a through ticket from London to Beaune at http://www.raileurope.co.uk/

[submarine-bells.livejournal.com]

Adelaide! Come visit me here in lovely sunny South Australia. it's certainly warmer and brighter than where you are. :-)

[d-h.livejournal.com]

Well, New Zealand certainly ain't winning any warm and pleasant weather awards at the moment, so I wouldn't come here. Summer should not equal snow.