The best family holidays in Europe to take in 2024

Marbella, Spain

Wander out to the balcony around sunrise and beyond the bougainvillaea and ceiba flowers rustling in the breeze you’ll hear the Mediterranean rolling in. Built like a traditional Andalucian village with whitewashed walls, sky-blue ceramic tiles and winding terracotta pathways, Puente Romano opened in the late 1970s just down the Golden Mile from its older sister The Marbella Club. And after a series of refurbishments and embellishments – including a Six Senses spa, Nobu outpost and turbo-charged tennis club where Marko Djokovic (Novak’s brother) is available for children’s coaching – it may even have the edge now. That’s not to mention La Casita Club, a villa renovated and relaunched in 2022 to cater for five to 12-year-olds, offering events run by experts Sharky and George, an immersive escape room, cinema, Spanish lessons, pool and rooftop yoga classes. It joins the mini club for under fives and teen lounge, where adolescents can learn to DJ at the nightclub, take a sushi masterclass with Nobu’s Executive Chef Eleni Manousou or choreograph their own TikTok. While most of the best hotels in Marbella shout about their seclusion, this hotel is firmly rooted as a local hub – there will be a gang of cocktail-sipping marbellís and weekending madrileño couples strolling on the silver-sand beach. It is a busy machine of a place veiled as a laidback hangout.

Dawn beach yoga gives way to lazy breakfasts of mushroom omelettes, just-cut jamón and freshly squeezed orange juice at Bali-feel Sea Grill before a dip in one of the pools. The spa gets crazy booked up for its new CBD-based treatments (due to its new partnership with leading CBD brand Kloris), as do martial-arts sessions in the gym (the wellness and fitness programme is ever-changing). In the evening, as the sky swirls dusty pink, everyone gathers by the first-century Roman bridge at buzzy La Plaza. Punchy chilli-coconut Mojitos do the rounds; superstar Dani García’s team delivers wood-fired tapas, succulent steaks and now French dishes from his latest restaurant addition, Babette; and Nobu chef Eleni Manousou works magic with market-fresh produce in spinach and miso salads or spicy salmon maki. The sun-baked Costa del Sol sometimes gets short shrift, but for an all-singing, all-dancing, everything-at-your- fingertips break, this is about as reliable as it gets.

Insider tip: The surrounding landscape is spectacular: hike into the wild Sierra Blanca mountains, or escape to the deliciously quiet Sierra de las Nieves, set to become Spain’s 16th national park. It’s also perfectly placed for adventures around Andalucía – head to olive-growing Ronda, beachy barefoot Tarifa or arty Málaga.

Price: Junior Suites at Puente Romano Beach Resort start from about £351 per night for a family of three (two adults and one child aged four to 12-years-old), with breakfast included