Holiday house/apartment near beach -- Europe . . .

New arrival in UK . . . know the big cities in Europe but not much of coastal areas.

Our family wants to take a two-week holiday somewhere (preferably Spain, but could be France, Italy, or Portugal as well).

I've heard terrible stories about parts of coastal Spain (Costa del Sol) that have been overrun, overhyped, and just plain-old over . . .

Any suggestions on relatively nice/comfortable areas?

We don't need something remote, but we don't want to be surrounded by fish-and-chip shops either.

I appreciate your help and advice.

Brittany.   Lovely and sunny with lots to see and do and nice beaches.     We've stayed at the campsite(Eurocamp) in Carnac and had a lovely time. 

We stayed in a Eurocamp close to Mount St Michel.......and found it lovely......

Brittany gets my vote too, or Normandy,lots to see and do,Mont St Michel,Cancales,St Malo,Dinan and not forgetting Rennes,lovely old buildings plus lots of shopping for the ladies.

Dave

For a couple of extra hours on the plane (if that) you could go to Greece!!! Our best holiday yet has been to Rhodes.

Crete is fab too, and we had a really nice apartment close to the beach.
And the sea water was as warm as bath water!!

Costa Brava.... places like St Antoni De Calonge... touristy, but mostly with Catalan and Spanish tourists...

there are also a few towns around there and not a fish and chip shop in site I promise.  A few words in Catalan will go further than Spanish though. :-)

A car is nice too so you can explore the local areas, masias and places to eat.   If you want more info send me a pm and and I get my friends who have a flat there to suggest places to eat etc.