FED up of soaring prices and crowded beaches in the popular summer half term tourist spots, I branched out last May and booked an island in Estonia for the school break.
The island of Saaremaa is the largest of Estonia’s 2,300 islands, most of which are tiny and uninhabited, with four mile-long white sand beaches and a balmy 25 degrees in late spring.
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But Saaremaa, at over 1,000 square miles, is to the Estonians what Cornwall is to the British – the Baltic state’s beloved family holiday getaway, where many a childhood memory is made.
Saaremaa might not have been on your radar for a beach holiday, but average temperatures in July and August hover around the early 20s, and this summer Estonia its warmest sea temperatures in 30 years.
Plus, for those with kids in tow, Saaremaa lacks the long buffet queues and noisy party crowds, making it among the most child friendly islands in the world.
Don’t just take my word for it – even Unicef has ranked Estonia as one of the world’s most family-friendly countries.
Practically every dining establishment has a children’s play area, like the Saaremaa Veski, an old stone windmill that has been a restaurant since 1899, in the middle of the island’s main town, Kuressaare.
There’s a gatehouse out front that has been converted into a kids’ playroom, with fancy dress gear, boxes of cars, books and soft toys, and even a play oven – enough to keep them busy while you savour your food.
On the other side of town, near Kuressaare’s central beach, the Georg Ots Spa Hotel is one of the island’s fancier establishments, but rather than looking down on kids, they are treated like VIPs.
As parents of a then 18-month-old, we were delighted to find free nappies and wipes in the baby changing room, and that the staff brought a bib for him to use at lunch.
There was yet another indoor kids play area, with screaming children as welcome as the guests waiting for spa treatments, and the kids menu also had puree on offer for children under one.
Most restaurants in Saaremaa offer a kids menu for between €5 and €8, with dishes like pan fried trout with mash and salad, cheesy pasta or chicken with vegies – all dishes I would gladly order for myself.
Keeping the kids occupied during dinner is also easy to do when you’re sitting opposite the towering turrets of Kuressaare’s majestic castle, which you can do from the Kureessaare Kuursaal seafood restaurant.
It’s the best preserved medieval castle in all the Baltics, complete with moat, turrets, and towering walls, and when the kids get bored of the views, they can wander the restaurant grounds which feature a giant climbing frame in the shape of a chair.
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The catch of the day when we’re there is the garfish, with home made pickles and tartare sauce, which is only available in late May and early June because of when the fish travel from the Atlantic.
After our meal, we spent the afternoon exploring the castle, while jumping at the sound of the (not real) lion in the dungeon.
For an island which prides itself on being Estonia’s spa capital – earning it the nickname “Spa-remmaa” – accommodation is reasonable, too.
Our one bedroom, seaview apartment at the O Seaside Suites and Spa was £80 a night, and our toddler slept in a cot in our bedroom, with a sofa bed in the lounge for our five-year-old.
Guests also get unlimited access to the spa, which includes two pools – perfect for entertaining the big boy while our toddler had his afternoon nap in the room.
The buffet breakfast is extra, but across the road is a supermarket for self catering, so we often ate breakfast at home, for which there was plenty of space and kitchen facilities to do.
The supermarket also came in handy for our trips to Mandjala Beach, which was completely wild and without a cafe or snack bar.
The only things to note would be: bring mosquito spray as the island is full of them, and bring portable black out blinds, as in June, the sun in Saaremaa tends to rise about 4.30am, and set about 10.30pm.
But these are a small price to pay for the easiest family holiday ever.
Even checking into the flight back from the Estonian capital, Tallinn, was a breeze, as there were high chairs for young kids at airport security, and the play area even had a library and board games.
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Getting there is easy, too, with regular flights from London to Tallin that cost us £650 for a family of four, on top of the £17-a-day car hire for the 2.5 hour drive from Tallinn to Saaremaa, and £40 for a return journey on the car ferry.
You can also take a short flight from Tallinn to Saaremaa, but it’s handy to have a car on the island, to drive to the beaches.
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