Can anyone suggest a beach experience with actual sand? I would love to take my kids, they have never been to a real beach. We live near Kaiserslautern, Germany but would be up to traveling for a weekend trip. So, I would love to hear about any places that you have been to and enjoyed.
Thanks so much for the suggestions.
Did you think about Holland. It is about a 5 hour drive to the hoek of Holland or Scheveningen. Plenty of hotels or holiday cottages in the area. And real sand.
Belgium, same deal also about an 5 hrs drive.
We are stationed in Rotterdam, and plenty of hotels here, and from here the beach is about 30 minutes by train.
M.
You could drive to Holland for a weekend. It takes about 4 hours to get to somewhere like Noordjwick am zee. It has a huge beautiful sandy beach and there are really nice hotels right on the sea front or very close by. I have been twice and love it. I love Holland the Dutch are soooo friendly they (most of them) speak excellent english and don't get an attitude with you when you try to speak to them in english. Because lets face it who speaks dutch? :) I am sure there are other places in Holland too, I think Holland might be your closest drive for great beaches, unless Belguim has some too, but we have not tried that yet. Good luck.
Hi N.
I'm not sure where you can go for only a weekend to a sandy beach, it doesn't seem like the lakes in Germany have sand. If you can fly or have a longer time to spend, you should try Spain or France. Southern France (Cannes, etc) has great sandy beaches. Any of the smaller towns near there have apartments or condos you can rent. We stayed in a town called St. Aygulf. Good sandy beach down the road and rocky beach a walk away.
I have heard good things about Spain and if get on TUI or RyanAir they sometimes have good last-minute deals to all-inclusive resorts in Tenerife (Canary Islands) or Mallorca. Don't go to Ibiza with little kids, it's very grown up and all about the night clubs. Wish there was someplace closer for you....have fun!
How about Mallorca Spain? You can fly and stay cheap through Ryan Air. I'm headed that way for my birthday next month, and it is an actual Beach with real sand. It's an Island.
L.
I agree with the idea of the beaches in Holland. We just got back from a week in Katwijk, which is right on the North Sea with wide, sandy beaches. We have done this trip a couple of times and always stay at the Noorduinen campground -http://www.noordduinen.nl/uk/index.html - we rent one of the little vacations houses and absolutely love it. The campground is within walking distance of the beach and the people are super friendly. Plus if you get tired of the beaches are you just a quick train ride away from Amesterdam.
Another choice if you are military is Camp Darby, Italy. The base is near Pisa and they have a private beach that is sandy and pretty kid friendly. We went last year and it was warm and calm enough from my three year old to splash around. The lodging on base is OK-a camp ground, some cabin-type things, and then basic Army type lodging. The website is http://www.livornomwr.com
