Water parks

Few things in life bring the family together like a few relaxing and carefree days filled with fun and frolics, water splashes and action. Beach holidays have a wondrous ability to let guests forget everyday life and often the holiday memories created stay with both children and parents for years to come. In other words, the beach offers a unique form of quality time where the kids will have a great time and where mum and dad, to the full, can enjoy a much-needed relaxation.

Many of the big beaches offer something for young and old, with wild water slides, wave pools and water toys for big and middle-sized children, baby pools and children's pools for the little ones and indoor pools, hot tubs, wellness pools, massages and saunas for the adults - all often in a glorious tropical climate that makes you feel like you're far away from home. Another good thing is that the resorts are usually indoors, or at least have an indoor section, so your holiday is never affected by the weather.

Especially here in Scandinavia and in Germany we have some of Europe's best bathing resorts and 'Erlebnisbäder' (directly translated from German: adventure baths). Lalandia is probably one of the first things you think of when you say seaside resort in Denmark, and it's no wonder, because the one in Billund is actually the biggest of its kind in Northern Europe. Lalandia's glorious AquaDome offers world-class facilities and you don't have to live on site to visit the water park - neither in Billund nor in Rødby. Instead, you can save good money and find a cheap hotel stay nearby and buy access to AquaDome for a day at a time.

In recent decades, more have been added and the Danish map today has a rich number of different water parks, such as The Reef in Frederikshavn, Blåvand Badeland near Esbjerg, Nyborg Badeland on Funen and several water parks under the Dayz chain, which recently changed its name to Landal Greenparks.

In both Norway and Sweden, you'll also find several great water parks, such as Sørlandsbadet and Aquarama in southern Norway and the Lost City water park at the colossal Gustavsvik adventure centre in Örebro, Sweden. There are great opportunities to combine the wonderful family experiences at Norwegian and Swedish seaside resorts with other activities such as skiing, nature walks and archipelago adventures.

South of the border is a veritable sea of what the Germans call Erlebnisbäder (adventure baths) which, like the Danish bathing resorts, combine wild water slides and wellness in some of Europe's biggest and best water parks. In northern Germany, visit the HanseDom in Stralsund or the Wonnemar baths in the charming port city and Hanseatic town of Wismar. The North German seaside resorts are ideal for a self-drive family holiday, as the drive is not so long and you get to experience a very different environment and get a break from everyday life. But you can also drive a little further down to the scenic Harz Mountains, home to the huge Vitamar water park, or head east to the Tropical Islands, south of Berlin.

The options are many, and Risskov has a good selection of hotels near some of Europe's best beaches. So find a hotel deal on this site that suits you, and take the whole family on a wonderful holiday near one of Europe's many great beaches.