Where should DH and I go on holiday?

[Largepiecesofcrookedwood]

I know, it's a real first world problem
DS is going away next August on an expedition, will be away for three and a half weeks. DH and I can probably realistically get a week to ten days off during that time. So far the only thing we've been able to come up with is that a cruise would be foolish, in case anything should happen to DS and we are out of reach in the middle of an ocean somewhere (also, both of us would rather chew our own ears off than actually go on a cruise anyway- this means we're not actually any further towards a decision than before we came to this conclusion )
So the criteria are very loose:

• somewhere where we can be in contact if necessary
• ideally not a long flight though I could always drug DH if the need arose
• not the USA

All past holidays have been planned to accommodate us as a family so we're genuinely floundering under the weight of choice. Wise MNers hit me with your most fantastic ideas please

Gullet Cruise in Turkey
Fabulous you can book a cabin and it’s small and intimate maybe 10 people max

Walk the Lycian Way
Walk the coast of Italy on the coast near Naples. You can do walks where they drive your luggage to the next hotel each day.
Flotilla holiday in Greece
Hotel in Morocco. Look at Club Robinson in Agadir

Anything you would love to do that your Ds would not enjoy on a family holiday.

Perfect time weatherwise to drive around the ring road in Iceland in a small camper/motor home. Extremely easy - 10 days would be ideal so you don't have to bomb around in a week.

To be absolutely clear we haven't been told we have to be at home, a couple of acquaintances have expressed surprise that we would not be sat at home staring wistfully at the phone
40 degrees is too much for DH is really, and I've always fancied a road trip around Italy.
DS has been nagging about Croatia for a while so I'm not sure he'd forgive us if we went without him

We have had some lovely holidays walking in the French Alps. Beautiful scenery and you can choose less strenuous routes. If you drive down there you can stop off an route at a city.

The Alps? Beautiful scenery, lots of cafes, some walks if you fancy, cable car rides, nice towns and villages.

Ha ha, great minds @emmagrundy!

@Largepiecesofcrookedwood I have had so many people surprised I was letting my son go at all!!!! He will be in a secure place for two weeks if it. Having an amazing time. He will be nearly 16 at that point. He will have a blast. He is a sensible boy as well. So I have no worries but I have been told I’m mad.

But. I am certainly not sitting around for three and a bit weeks waiting for the phone to ring with something wrong. No way.

I'd recommend Pompeii. It is obviously warm and requires walking, but it's amazing. I'd wanted to go for 33 years, I've read and watched every documentary about it and it was better than I thought it'd be. Sorrento and the Amalfi coast are beautiful. There are boat trips to Capri from Sorrento. We couldn't afford to go but people we spoke to raved about it. We're going again next year and I want to do the boat trip.

Austria or Switzerland. It won't be as hot as Italy and there's plenty to do. Stay in a sports hotel if you can in Austria, they tend to have very good facilities and nice food.

Eg this> St Johan is a very beautiful area. The wilder Kaiser is gorgeous, lots of beautiful walking can be done. Hire a car/drive there if you can to make the most of it.

We had a long weekend away in April, just the two of us. We wanted a city break, and really wanted some sunshine. We decided to stay in Alicante city, we loved it, very Spanish, a working city, lots to do and see, not many English people, English isn’t widely spoken, but you can get by, the people were lovely and very helpful. Would go back and recommend.