Ask Joan - family holidays from the south west, Barcelona and Costa Brava

We will have the first week of May 2016 off and would like to get some sun, beach and heat with our three kids. Kerry, Cork or Shannon would be preferable departure points. It seems only the Canaries, and maybe Spain, might offer a chance for real sun and sand weather but we are hoping there might be more options. Are we as well to book a self catering option in a well equipped resort with lots for the kids to do? – AH, Kerry When you are hoping to fly from a local airport it is always a good idea to start with a local travel agent. From Kerry, Ryanair runs flights twice a week in May to Alicante on the Costa Blanca – on Monday and Friday. You could use lowcostholidays.ie to combine flights, accommodation and transfers.

From Cork you could contact flycork.ie, 021-4976010, to find out what’s available at that time. There is a variety of destinations on offer: Turkey, Majorca, Costa del Sol, Tenerife and Gran Canaria. The best value is Turkey, at about €479 per week, with Sunway.ie, and the Golden Day Wings resort is popular with families.

Falconholidays.ie will have package holidays to Majorca from May 3rd and there is a good selection of accommodation. The Falcon Village and Splashworld are great for families with lots of entertainment for the children. A week in Falcon village will cost from €814pps and Splashworld from €504pps. The weather in May will be 22-28 degrees.

There are similar choices from Shannon, but no main tour operators. There will be flights to Portugal, Palma, Alicante, and three Canary Islands. You can check what lowcostholidays.ie and clickandgo.com are offering from Shannon.

I would like to spend a few days in Barcelona in an apartment with my husband and two young girls. Following that we would like to drive 1-2 hours down along the coast to a campsite for about 10 nights. We have done this type of holiday in France but I am looking for something new and better weather. I would like a good quality site with a pool and slides, night-time entertainment, day-time activities such as tennis, nice walks, kids' camp, good quality mobile homes or chalets. – MB, Dublin

You can find apartments in Barcelona on only-apartments.com. There are plenty to choose from and a reasonable price would be about €100 per night. Pick somewhere central, so you can walk to the main sights of interest.

Do take a trip to the beach – it is fun to have a beach in the city.

About a 90-minute drive from Barcelona is Cambrils, a popular place for family holidays. There is a fine beach and the cities of Tarragona and Girona are nearby to explore. Cambrils Park campsite is one of the best rated in this area. It is available through Canvas Holidays and a week will cost from €925 in a mobile and €1,400 in a bungalow. It has all the facilities needed for a great family holiday, canvasholidays.ie.

It is also worth looking at what the Irish company KelAir Campotel, which specialises in this kind of holiday, has to offer in the Spanish resorts on the Costa Brava and Costa Dorada, campotel.com.

Other towns along this coast that are good for family holidays include Rosas, Palafrugell, Estartit, and Tarragona. It might make sense to fly into Barcelona, pick up a car when leaving the city and fly out of Girona. I find doyouspain.com is good value for car rental in Spain.

Send your queries to jscales@irishtimes.com