Watersports fun with family in Portugal or boozy French spa escape for two – which gets your vote?
The family one
Wyndham Grand Algarve, Portugal
Writer Victoria Hrastic, husband Marko and kids Freya, 14, Nate, eight, and Dylan, three, discover natural beauty in Quinta do Lago.
THE PAD Nestled between the golf courses of Quinta do Lago resort, the Wyndham Grand Algarve is pretty with palm trees.
Spacious suites come with open-plan kitchen, dining and living areas, ensuite bedrooms and private terraces with views of the lush gardens.
Kids will want to head for the large pool, where the Oasis Pool Bar serves up chicken tacos, £14.50.
After lunch, slip away for a 25-minute Elemis de-stress massage, £56, in the Grand Spa before they notice they’re a parent down.
EXPLORE The beautifully wild Ria Formosa Natural Park is a 20-minute walk downhill.
Cross Europe’s longest wooden bridge at low tide and spy fiddler crabs, storks and Iberian magpies, before heading over the dunes to a vast stretch of white sand and endless sea for splashing in.
Nearby, Quinta do Lago lake’s Aquapark has inflatable obstacle courses, from £13 per person for 20 minutes, plus an array of watersports.
Spot leaping fish from your double kayak, £17 for 30 minutes, as you paddle past dreamy mansions lining the shore. (Arturwatersportsacademy.pt).
You don’t need to be a gym bunny to love a padel tennis session on the pristine courts at The Campus, either.
Coach Duarte had the whole family serving balls, understanding the rules and playing together, which is no mean feat.
Private lessons for four cost from £78 (Thecampusqdl.com).
REFUEL Quinta do Lago has more than a dozen restaurants (Quintadolago.com).
Casa Velha offers sharing plates with pretty hilltop views, and its crispy octopus, £17.50, creamy cod with straw potatoes, £14, and duck rice croquettes, £15.50, are all serious crowd-pleasers.
Don’t fancy leaving your hotel?
Dine in decadent style at XXL By Olivier, where tender monkfish picanha loin, £49 for two, is a must.
Our kids loved the soft dory fish, £10.50, and Kit Kat mousse, £7.50, too.
But our fave meal was at lakeside Casa do Lago.
The kids held lobsters from the tank while we ordered linguine with clams and prawns, £26.50, and flaky seabass, £29.
The delicious chocolate fondant, £8, and banana splits, £5, won’t disappoint either.
DON’T MISS Coast down Ria Formosa’s lagoon on a traditional Saveiro fishing boat with guide Sofia and learn how to pick clams from the sand, while spotting cockles, sea flowers and tiny hermit crabs as you go.
You’ll also tuck into fresh oysters picked straight from the baskets, paired with a glass of ice-cold Portuguese wine.
Two-hour trips cost from £44 per person (Uniquealgarve.pt).
BOOK IT Two-bedroom suites cost from £243 B&B (Wyndhamgrandalgarve.com).
Plan your trip at Visitalgarve.pt.
Return flights from the UK to Faro cost from £32.
The ditch-the-kids one
Hôtel Chais Monnet& Spa, France
Associate Editor Sarah Barns and husband Patrick found spa bliss in Cognac.
THE PAD A chic five-star former-19th-century distillery, part-owned by the brains behind Soho Farmhouse, this retreat in south-west France is a luxe-lover’s dream.
Champagne-hued rooms feature Louis-XV-style armchairs, marshmallow-soft beds and contemporary sage-green bathrooms.
We loved the thoughtful notebook and pen by the bedside and carefully curated mini bar – the candied pecans were divine.
EXPLORE You’re here for the spa, so first take a dip in the 25m indoor-outdoor pool, before hopping from steam room to sauna to tropical shower, complete with “lightning” flashes and a cold mist to clear the fuzziest of heads, then finish in the Jacuzzi.
The 60-minute invigorating peppermint deep-tissue massage, £120, is a real winner, too.
In the old town, find gorgeous fashion at Little Store, homeware gifts at Les Filles Dans L’Atelier (Lesfillesdanslatelier.com), and lighting gems at Ambre Concept Store (Ambreconceptstore.com).
Or journey down the Charente river on a paddleboard, from £8 an hour (Cognaccanoeclub.com).
REFUEL At the hotel’s buzzy brasserie La Distillerie, you can feast on Limousine rib-eye steak with French fries, £29, and opéra cake, £8.50, a creamy, coffee-based pud perfect for tiramisu fans.
Then kick back among the 330 different cognacs at Le 1838, Chais Monnet’s jazz bar, and sip a L’After Work cocktail, £14 – a mix of Cognac VS, elderflower syrup and Angostura bitters.
Exploring the town?
Expect delicious treats like scallop risotto at cosy Bistro de Claude, £25 for three courses (Bistro-de-claude.com).
DON’T MISS Hennessy, five minutes’ walk away, has a fun virtual-reality experience following the journey of the cognac grapes.
You’ll get to taste four vintages, too.
Two-hour tours cost £25 per person (Hennessy.com).
BOOK IT Double rooms cost from £189 a night (Chaismonnethotel.com).
Return flights from the UK to Bordeaux cost from £28.
