FAMILY FROLICS

Make a splash Algarve

Base yourself on the sunny south coast and you are in prime position to enjoy the region’s best water parks. The three top choices – Aquashow, Slide & Splash and Aqualand – are spread along the coast, each with adrenaline-pumping slides, flumes, splash pools and lazy rivers – a paradise for children (and adults) of all ages. Aquashow, set near the beach resort of Quarteira, is one of the most extensive parks, and home to both one of Europe’s highest water coasters and the country’s first indoor water park.

The Tivoli Marina Vilamoura Algarve Resort (00351 289 303303; tivoli-hotels. com) has double rooms from £202 per night. Tickets to Aquashow (00351 289 315129; aquashowpark.com) cost £28 for adults, £20 for kids

Glorious glamping Silver Coast

Head to the Parque dos Monges (Monks’ Park), where homely wooden cabins and fishermen’s huts dot the park’s 60 countryside acres. In keeping with the monk theme – Cistercian monks have long inhabited the Alcobaca region – you will find a medieval village, an animal farm, a pool and wildlife-saturated lakes. The adventure centre provides endless fun, with everything from climbing walls, paintballing and zip wires to archery, canoeing and treasure hunts. Four-person cabins at Parque dos Monges (00351 262 581306; parquedosmonges.com/en) start at

£138 per night

Into the blue

Azores

The Atlantic archipelago is one of the world’s best whale-watching destinations, its waters a refuge for aquatic life. Children will love joining marine biologists on a nautical caper, spotting resident and migrating cetaceans, from blues and humpbacks to beaked and sperm whales. You may even spot pods of dolphins playing in your boat’s wake.

From the southern coast of Sao Miguel, a three-hour whale-watching trip with Terra Azul Azores (00351 296 581361; azoreswhalewatch.com) starts at £47pp. Stay at the lush Terra Nostra Garden Hotel (00351 296 549090; bensaudehotels.com), in nearby Furnas, where rooms start at £171 per night

An A+ beach break Sagres

The Martinhal Sagres Beach Family Resort is the top choice for a family Algarve beach break. The awardwinning resort offers five-star hotel rooms and villas overlooking Martinhal Beach, which has a private area for guests, with family-sized, coconutshaped beds. You will scarcely need to leave the resort, with its five pools, sports centre and range of restaurants, each with a dedicated children’s menu, complete with fresh purées for babies. There are also crèches and kids’ clubs, football and tennis academies, mini golf and a games room.

Two-bedroom villas at the Martinhal Sagres Beach Family Resort (00351 282 240200; martinhal.com) start at £274 per night

i Eye pods: you may well see dolphins on a whale-watching trip in the Azores