Best Holiday Place For This Summer

Fly and fop, Mallorca, Spain
A rural setting and fenced pool with gentle steps make Casa Margarita in rural Mallorca ideal for holidays with toddlers. Nappies and formula can be ordered in advance, while cots and other baby equipment are provided along with optional food for the fridge, meals or (bliss!) beauty treatments by the pool. The house is well away from tourist hot spots but within easy reach of three restaurants, bar, bakery, supermarket and post office.
A week starting on 4 July costs £895 without flights or car hire with Vintage Travel (0845 3440460; vintagetravel.co.uk). Ryanair (as before), Easyjet (easyjet.com) and Thomas Cook (flythomascook.com) fly to Palma, Mallorca, from several British airports.
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So-near safari, Normandy, France
Meet the Big Five without travelling thousands of miles or paying through the nose by taking your kids to Safari Lodge, just three hours' drive from Calais. Twenty-six wooden bungalows overlook a small valley and lake where, among other animals, rhinoceros, antelopes and Siamang gibbons roam. A short break here makes the perfect start or finish to a holiday exploring the rural Pays d'Auge area of Normandy, with its wild flowers, hedgerow-chequered fields and cider trails.
In July and August Four Seasons France (0845 230 5130; fourseasonsfrance.co.uk) is offering three nights at Safari Lodge from £470 for up to six people. Sea France (0871 222 2500; seafrance.com) offers up to 15 sailings a day from Dover to Calais.

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Animal attraction, Sardinia, Italy
f your children are at the "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" stage, head for La Collina, a restored country estate in north-west Sardinia, where sheep, pigs and donkeys baa, oink and heehaw to their hearts' content. There's a children's play area, two pools and on site restaurant, and some of the Med's best beaches for pre-schoolers are nearby. Accommodation is in self-catering apartments or detached cottages.
A week at La Collina from 29 August, for example, costs from £870 per adult and £15 per child including car hire, based on a family of four in a two-bedroom apartment through Inntravel (01653 617949; inntravel.co.uk). The nearest airport is Alghero, with regular Ryanair (ryanair.com) flights from Stansted and Liverpool.
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Kasbahs and cookery, Morocco
Team up with other like-minded families on a fully escorted trip to Morocco that includes drinking mint tea with Berbers, lessons in tagine making, a tour of the souks in Marrakesh, guided walks in the beautiful Bougmez valley, where the climate is surprisingly clement even in the summer months, and a mule trek.
July and August departures from £769 per adult and £689 per child from seven years, including flights, transport, accommodation and most meals. Families Worldwide (0845 051 4567; familiesworldwide.co.uk). Labels: Weekly Tips