Can anyone recommend a place to go on holiday with these criteria?

[littlegoldenhoops]

My (27 year old) DD and I are going to go away together in July.

Ideally we want somewhere in Europe where we can go to a market/ museum/ shop (bonus points for a Sephora) in the morning, have a coffee and nice lunch, then retreat to a pool in the afternoon. In the evening we'd like to go for dinner and cocktails with some people watching. Looking for a vibe that isn't party-party or wholly catering for families.

Not willing to hire a car but will use public transport.

Any recommendations?

Limoge in France. Ticks all the boxes

Berlin is fab in hot weather and the night life is great

Ooh or how about San Sebastian? Northern Spain so shouldn't be as hot as the likes of Valencia and Madrid in July. It has all the shops you could want, a cool old town area for pinchos and people watching and a beach.

Stay in Cascais for the beach and get the train to Lisbon for the shopping

You can do day trips to Rioja if you like wine as well

Palma definitely! It's such a fabulous city

I do very much love Palma. It is a city, but has a population of less than 0.5 million.

Lisbon, Porto or Nice

We had similar criteria and have booked Rethmyno, Crete, in the old town.

Sitges. Its 35km from Barcelona

@Costacoffeeplease

Stay in Cascais for the beach and get the train to Lisbon for the shopping

Perfect option.

Another vote for Nice - you can easily get to Monaco and Cannes by train for trips
Barcelona

Palermo but as you said super hot in July
Lake Garda
or Milan and Lake Como

Bilbao and the Guggenheim!

@littlegoldenhoops

We're definitely not looking to stay in a city, but would like to be in distance for a day trip :)

Sorry just saw this

Lake Como and Milan for day trips could work well.
Same for Lake Garda and Verona (and Venice)

@FelicityFlops

Strasbourg Frankfurt Luxembourg Maastricht Trier Bordeaux Montpelier Prague Salzburg Munich

I visited Strassbourg, Trier, Frankfurt, Salzburg and Munich and never came across a hotel with outdoor pool to spend the afternoon at.

Apart from Frankfurt, they are all lovely cities though.

OP - Barcelona or Palma would be my suggestion.

My first thought was Palma. I adore it.

Seville or Malaga

Syracuse in Sicily. It's such a beautiful city. It'll be hot of course but it's on the coast and it's normal Mediterranean hot.

Lake Garda with a day in Verona for shopping