After four European summers, four countries, and a lot of different versions of traveling with young children, I’ve learned that the best family resorts aren’t necessarily the ones with the longest amenities list. They’re the ones that make a family vacation feel like an actual vacation — for everyone.
We’ve stayed at Domes of Corfu, Pine Cliffs, La Zambra, and the Ritz-Carlton Abama at very different points in our children’s lives. Some trips were with grandparents, some with friends, some were just the four of us. On one, I was pregnant. On another, we had a one-year-old who wanted nothing to do with the kids’ club. On another, our toddler became so obsessed with the resort train that he refused to get off it.
People always ask me which one is best, and I can’t say any individual one is best — each is great for its own reason: different countries, different personalities, different ages and stages of our life as a family. What I can say is that I genuinely recommend all four, because each one solves the same problem in its own way — how do you give your kids a vacation that’s actually theirs, without giving up the things that make a holiday feel like a holiday for the adults too? That’s the thread running through all four, and it’s why I keep going back to versions of this same idea.
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Domes of Corfu — Our First Family-Friendly Beach Vacation
This is where it started, in July 2023 — our daughter not quite two, and me having found out just days before we left that I was pregnant with our son. We’d go on to Abama again later that same summer, still pregnant, but Corfu was the first stop in what became a pattern of trips that shaped our family right as it was changing.
Domes of Corfu told us it took its youngest guests seriously before we’d even made it to the room — a Montessori puzzle waiting at check-in, then Kiepos Kids Club backing it up, Montessori-inspired and open to toddlers for a nominal fee. Between the kids’ club, three pools, and the private beach, we settled into an easy rhythm fast: our daughter had a routine that felt like hers, and we still got real beach time that didn’t revolve around a nap schedule. She got sick partway through the trip, and the resort quietly arranged a local doctor without turning it into a production — the kind of detail you don’t think to ask about until you need it.
We rented a car and spent an afternoon in Corfu Town’s Old Town, but my favorite memory has nothing to do with sightseeing: our daughter’s habit of dragging cushions off the lounge chairs to build beds for the resort cats, dead serious about the project. It was the start of a pattern — our kids finding their own little worlds inside these places.
Best for: toddlers who are genuinely considered, not just tolerated; an optional all-inclusive food plan; and a great Greek island stopover if a bigger island-hopping trip is already in your plans.
Read the full review: Domes of Corfu, Autograph Collection
Pine Cliffs — Two Very Different Seasons of Motherhood
We’ve been to Pine Cliffs twice, and the two trips don’t look much alike — Christmas 2023, seven months pregnant with my in-laws along for a slower holiday, versus August 2025 with a one- and three-year-old, friends from San Diego, and a three-bedroom Residence. That it worked beautifully both times is probably the strongest endorsement I can give it.
Porto Pirata, one of the largest kids’ clubs in Europe, is why: grouped by age starting around twelve months, it gave our kids a genuine little world of their own on both visits, no matter how different their stages were. That meant my husband could golf, I could get a sunset drink at Mirador Champagne Bar, and we’d all meet back up for dinner — a real trip for the adults happening alongside the kids’ one, not squeezed in around it. (And yes — our daughter’s habit of adopting resort cats followed her here from Corfu. Some things don’t change between countries.)
Dining shifted with the seasons across our two trips: O Pescador and an off-site Christmas Day lunch at Parrilla Natural the first time, Yakuza by Olivier for a proper date night the second, plus regular rotation through Portofino, Piri Piri, Zest, Corda Café, and Jardim Colonial. There was enough variety that we never felt like we were repeating ourselves, even staying entirely on property.
We rented a car both times, which made day trips easy and, on our second visit, let us drive straight on to La Zambra for the second half of the holiday.
Best for: honestly, almost everyone — Pine Cliffs is massive enough that there’s genuinely something for every kind of traveler, not just families with a great kids’ club. Tennis, shopping, a huge range of restaurants, hotel rooms and full residences, golf — it’s less a single resort and more a small, very well-run town.
Read the full review: Pine Cliffs Resort
La Zambra — The Quieter Half of the Same Trip
We drove to La Zambra straight from Pine Cliffs in the same rental car, trading the Algarve for the hills between Málaga and Marbella, with both sets of grandparents meeting us there. If Pine Cliffs is the classic big beach resort, La Zambra is the more boutique, design-forward, noticeably quieter version — the property was formerly Byblos Andaluz, where Princess Diana stayed three times in the ’90s, and the renovation kept the original blue towers and white façade. One evening we drove into old Mijas Pueblo, all classic whitewashed buildings and narrow cobblestone streets, for dinner at La Reja — one of my favorite outings of the whole trip.
Our daughter, three at the time, loved the Kids Club — she made a tie-dye shirt there and wore it for the rest of the trip. Our son, just over a year and deep in a mom-only phase, didn’t use it at all, which is worth saying honestly: a great kids’ club doesn’t mean every kid will want it every trip. What made La Zambra work anyway was everything around it — my husband golfed at Los Olivos and Los Lagos, I spent real time at the Mood Spa (the largest on the Costa del Sol), and we celebrated my mom’s birthday with a proper night out at Picador.
Best for: families who want something more intimate, quieter, and design-forward — this is the most understated-luxury pick of the four — with a genuinely excellent spa, golf, and restaurants for the adults alongside solid kids’ programming.
Read the full review: La Zambra
The Ritz-Carlton, Abama — Three Years, Two Visits, One Koi Pond
Of all four, Abama has followed our family through the most change — first in late summer 2023, our daughter not quite two and me pregnant with our son; then again in 2026, with a four-year-old and a two-year-old in tow. Three years apart, two completely different family dynamics, and somehow both trips worked.
Some details tie the two visits together: the koi ponds, where our daughter was convinced the fish remembered her on the second trip, and the resort’s train and funicular system, which our son became so obsessed with that he refused to get off it at one point. But what makes Abama work as a resort you can return to at different ages is its scale — Ritz Kids, a major spa, a real golf course, and restaurants good enough that we celebrated an anniversary at M.B., the resort’s two-Michelin-star restaurant, on the same trip our toddler daughter was along for. Everyone on the trip got a version of the vacation that felt like their own, not just the kids.
Club Abami, the resort’s newly designed kids’ club, hadn’t opened yet during our most recent stay, but it looks incredible — a 300-square-meter underwater-world space with its own water slide, splash pad, and, per the resort, the occasional foam party. It’s already the reason we’re planning to go back once our son turns four — that’s the age he can finally join Ritz Kids on his own, without one of us staying with him.
We rented a car for our longer first visit to see more of Tenerife; for the shorter second trip we skipped it and let the concierge handle transfers instead — both approaches worked well, depending on how much time you have.
Best for: a large, full-service luxury resort that can grow with your kids across multiple visits, especially if golf, spa time, and excellent dining matter to you as much as the kids’ programming. Just know it works best as a standalone destination — the Canary Islands are far enough from mainland Europe that combining Abama with other stops is a bigger lift than it is with the other three.
Read the full review: The Ritz-Carlton Tenerife, Abama
So Which One Should You Choose?
I wouldn’t choose between these four by asking which is “best” — I’d start with what kind of holiday you actually want.
Choose Domes of Corfu if you’re traveling with a young toddler and want a beautiful beach resort that genuinely accommodates little kids from check-in on — and especially if a bigger Greek island-hopping trip is already in your plans, since it’s 100% worth the stop on its own. Just know the room we stayed in was the smallest of the four — it still worked well for our family of three, but it’s worth keeping in mind.
Choose Pine Cliffs if you want a classic European beach holiday with a spectacular setting and the widest range of room types of any of the four — hotel rooms, suites, and full residences.
Choose La Zambra if you want something more intimate, quieter, and design-forward — the most understated-luxury pick of the group — with a real spa, golf, and restaurant scene for the adults.
Choose Abama if you want one large resort with enough going on that everyone in the family gets their own version of the trip, now and as your kids get older. Combining it with other stops is a bit trickier given how far the Canary Islands are from mainland Europe — it works best if you’re already planning a longer trip overall.
Cherished Memories: What These Four Summers Taught Us
The funny thing about looking back at these trips is that I remember the resorts clearly, but I remember our kids even more — our daughter building cat beds out of lounge cushions in Corfu, the tie-dye shirt she wore for the rest of our La Zambra trip, our son refusing to get off the train at Abama, the giant chess set at Pine Cliffs. Those are the details that make a family holiday feel like their vacation too, not just something they were dragged along on.
That’s ultimately what I think makes a great European family resort: it shouldn’t feel like choosing between a beautiful holiday for yourself and a fun one for your kids. The best ones give everyone enough room to have a version of the trip they actually enjoy — sometimes that’s a kids’ club, sometimes it’s a pool built for toddlers, sometimes it’s a golf course or a spa or a sunset drink, and sometimes it’s just a train a two-year-old refuses to get off.
These are four European summer holidays I’d happily recommend to another family, and four resorts we’ve loved enough to already return to two of them. If a European beach vacation is anywhere in your plans, honestly, any of these four is a genuinely great choice — you really can’t go wrong with any of them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What ages were our kids across these four trips?
Our daughter went from not quite two (Domes of Corfu, Abama’s first visit) to three (Pine Cliffs and La Zambra’s 2025 trip) to four (Abama’s second visit). Our son went from not yet born (Corfu, Abama’s first visit — I was pregnant with him on both) to one (Pine Cliffs and La Zambra) to two (Abama’s second visit).
Which of these is best for toddlers specifically?
Honestly, they all work great for toddlers and young kids in their own way — Kiepos Kids Club at Corfu welcomes toddlers for a nominal fee, Porto Pirata at Pine Cliffs starts around twelve months, and La Zambra’s kids club technically accepts children from six months old. The one real exception is Abama: Ritz Kids doesn’t accept children under four, so if you’re traveling with a toddler, that’s the main thing to know going in.
Did your kids actually use the kids’ clubs every time?
No, and it’s worth saying honestly. Our son, at just over a year old during our La Zambra trip, was deep in a mom-only phase and didn’t use the kids club at all that visit. A great kids’ club program doesn’t mean every kid, every trip, will want to use it.
Which is best for parents who want a luxury experience for themselves, too?
All four hold up, but La Zambra and Abama would be my first picks if adult amenities matter most to you — both have excellent spas, golf, and restaurants that make the resort feel like a real luxury holiday, not just a family resort with a pool.
Do you need a rental car?
Not necessarily, but we rented one at all four, at least on some of our visits — Corfu, both Pine Cliffs trips (the same car carried us on to La Zambra), and our first, longer Abama stay. If you’re planning to stay on property the whole time, all four make that easy with airport transfers instead.
Which would you return to?
Right now, La Zambra. We’ve already returned to both Pine Cliffs and Abama, but La Zambra is the one I keep thinking about — I’d love to go back and see more of the surrounding area, and I loved how peaceful the whole resort felt compared to the others.