· Bulgaria is an excellent family destination. Having been several times, (and going again next year), I would reccomend it to anyone with children, especially the resorts of Sunny Beach and Golden Sands. The beaches are long, clean, safe and shallow, and the kids treats (ice cream, soft drinks, etc) are so cheap you don't have to keep saying "No". Eating out is cheap, and fun - all the restaurants welcome kids, and most have some form of entertainment. Check it out - you won't regret it.

Iain Henderson

· It depends what you want from a holiday. For example, there are superb, clean sandy beaches on the Black Sea and the sea is lovely for swimming and safe for younger children, with many facilities for children. However, the big, purpose-built resorts such as Sunny Beach and Golden Sands are a bit characterless and the standards in hotels are not what you would expect in Spain or Portugal. I would recommend staying in the old towns of Nesebur and Sozopol instead. They are very attractive places to stay and handy for the beach too. They have smaller, family-run hotels which are much more cosy and you could always think about self-catering, which is often more convenient with children. Inland, the mountains and forests and rivers are exceptionally beautiful but you would probably need to hire a car to get around comfortably with children.

The whole place is packed with archaeological sites too, but these may have a limited appeal for children, depending on their ages. In short, if you are prepared to make a few allowances you can have an excellent family holiday much more cheaply than almost anywhere else. For more information, the most useful thing would be a Balkan Holidays brochure available at most travel agents.

Chris Bradshaw (studied in Bulgaria many years ago, now working as BBC journalist covering Bulgaria and other Balkan countries, have been on quite a few family holidays to Bulgaria and the kids always asked to go again)