Help, I need inspiration!!

[LapinDeBois]

I have two DS, aged 4 and 7. In a rash moment I promised to take them to a new country next year (not hard, as they've only been to England, Wales and France), and now I'm struggling to think where to go. My wish list is as follows:

• reliable weather but not too hot (it has to be July/August) - eg S Spain prob too hot
• not a big resort - I don't like big hotels, no interest in kids' clubs etc; prob prefer self catering, but would also consider small hotel or B&B
• some kind of water ideally (coast, river, lake, whatever), but not as the main focus - DS2 loves to splash about with sand and stones but isn't a fan of swimming
• nice countryside for walks, wildlife spotting etc
• above all, plenty to do - the boys aren't huge activity/sports fans, but we love doing days out (interesting towns/villages, zoos/wildlife centres, gardens, general visitor attractions)

We've recently been to Dorset and the Dordogne, and they were both brilliant, but I want to go somewhere new. I'd love to take the boys to Italy but not sure whereabouts. I'm toying with Croatia but fear it might be too hot or not enough to do.

Help please!!!

placeholding to steal ideas!

Alps? Lots of lakes, castles, mountain railways. Could be N Italy.
Scandinavia also fab for family hols, further east has better weather in general, tho' I guess you can't say cast iron reliable
Eastern Bavaria? Flatter, less alpine weather, hot with some lakes. Loads of farm stay self catering.

Thanks Wearymum. Those are all great thoughts. We've actually plumped for Mallorca this time round - a bit hot, but I have lovely memories of the quieter bits of the island as a child, and it's probably perfect for the age the kids are now. But I think we might well go for one of your suggestions next time round, once my youngest is a little bit older for walking etc. Do you have any specific suggestions of areas to stay?

Love north of Mallorca....enjoy.

Alps has so many amazing family friendly places. Near Seefeld in Austria, Aosta in Italy and Oberstdorf in Germany have been particular highlights.
In Scandinavia, the Stockholm archipelago is amazing, as is the "high coast" (Hoga Kusten) on the Baltic. Northern Finland (we stated near Lake Inari) in the summer was beautiful, empty and light all the time, but there were a lot of insects!

And in return, please tell me where to stay in N Mallorca. Have never taken the children to the Mediterranean!

The South Tyrol/Alto Adige is good in August, it's not too hot. Although it's in Italy, most people speak German and the food's good too.

www.naturns.it/en/

We stayed in Naturno a few years ago, it was lovely and child-friendly.

We were in Croatia in August. The temperature was perfect, highs of mid-20s, not too hot. There are lots of lovely nature reserves with lakes and rivers, as well as the beautiful coastline and old, unspoilt towns. And the prices were quite low (I thought they were saying £2 per ice cream and in fact it was £2 for four ice creams, so a nice surprise compared to elsewhere!).

Thanks for all the recommendations. Definitely going to pin them for next year! Wearymum, we're going near Pollensa. I'm hoping it's still as lovely as I remember from a few years ago! It's a popular area, but not really touristy like the big resorts. Basically, you've got the inland town of Pollensa which is very pretty, then the small(ish) resort of Puerto Pollensa about ten minutes away, with beaches etc. You're near the peninsula of Formentor, which is very pretty, plus a wetland bird reserve near the coast, and it's also near the mountains for walking.

ps Sergeantmajor Croatia does sound lovely from your description. And not as hot as I'd feared. Will definitely aim to go sometime soon.