Where's warm but not baking in early July?

[basketofshells]

We've never in our lives booked a hotel and pool-type holiday before, but for various reasons this is the year for it.

Two adults and two teen girls, up for good food and basically just lying about by the pool. Dh and I would like a bit of sightseeing as well. The main catch is that none of us are particularly heat-tolerant, and 28-30 degrees would probably be our limit. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Ok, the Eastern med, Greece, turkey, Cyprus etc would probably be too hot.

One of the Spanish islands will be the best temp wise (Canary or Balearic) so you should choose what might fit best for your sightseeing requirement. Majorca might be a good fit.

It will probably be about that here on the algarve?

Not Cyprus - you'll be way too hot there, although it's beautiful.
Try Spain or the Algarve. Have a lovely time!

California - the most perfect weather IMVHO

Brilliant! Thank you :) We're just starting to think of places so it's a bit bewildering. California may be a bit beyond budget but will look. The Algarve/Canaries may well be a good fit.

The Algarve would fit the bill, but you would find the sea and pools quite chilly.
The Canaries are a better fit because it never gets as hot there as the Med but by July the sea and pools should be lovely and warm. Some parts are notoriously windy which has a strong cooling effect, in fact I have shivered in the wind on the beach in Fuertaventura in August.

Love the algarve but not much sightseeing ...

Agree about anywhere that temp at that time of year though, check the pool is heated.

Around Porto has good sightseeing and is a bit more off the beaten track. May be a little cold though especially in the Atlantic!!

Yes the sea will be cool, but you shouldn't need pool heating in July! I swim in our unheated pool from April (and have occasionally been in in March)

It depends on what kind of sightseeing you want, but there's plenty to see and do on the algarve - it's not just beaches!

I think you get more accustomed to it though costacoffeeplease if you live somewhere hot and use a pool year round. Coming from England where you are used to swimming in heated indoor pools it can be a shock to the system to get in a 29 degree pool (my DC are v keen swimmers but didn't cope well with pools at that temp, no heating, in Europe). It's a different story now that we are living in Australia, think our pool is usually about 27 at the moment, no heating and they spend hours in there with no second thought.

Also, there is lots to do on the Algarve but not much sightseeing as such (I imagine people interested in historical buildings, art galleries, etc? I found on the Algarve the things to see and do were more theme parks, water parks type entertainment but correct me if I'm wrong?

Mallorca is always my favourite, you get a nice breeze by the coast.
Wherever you go make sure you get air conditioning as at any of these places you can have a temp spike, spent a week in tenerife once at 35-40 degrees and almost expired but being able to siesta in an air conditioned bedroom saved the day.

Did you never go to Silves, Caldas de Monchique, Alte, Querença, Faro? There are churches, cathedrals, castles, museums in virtually every town - Portimão, Silves, Faro, Tavira, Alcoutim, Moncarapacho, Lagos - the chapels of bones in Alcantarilha and Faro - working farms where you can have a tour and find out about grapes/wine/figs/oranges - dolphin sighting boat trips, day trips to Lisbon, Seville, Evora, the Alentejo....

Sad to think that, great as they are, it's just about beaches and water parks here, there's lots to see and do if you take the time to find out about the area. And lots of people think the Algarve finishes at the N125 (the road that runs the length of the Algarve) it's much, much more than that

North Portugal is lovely and cooler.

What about Brittany or France in July?

San Sebastián I could not recommend highly enough. Can be tricky to get to but beautiful and lovely beaches.

I'm taking notes - thanks for all these ideas! (My teens would love a chapel of bones.) And we'd be all about the air-conditioning in the hottest parts of the day. We live in a rather bracing part of the UK.

Also look on www.holiday-weather.com it's my go to website for approx weather expectations. I often find the weather is a degree or 2 warmer than they suggest but maybe that's just luck. My sweet spot is about 24-30 so I am quite hard to please!

I have lived in Aberdeen, Orkney and now Glasgow so I completely understand what you mean about a 'bracing part of the UK'! Suddenly holidays become very very important...

Brittany would be perfect and its got lots of beaches and lots of lovely historic towns to explore.

Corfu??cooler of the greek Islands has lovely beaches, scenery, history etc...

Brittany if you dont want it too hot.
Its usually warmer than cornwall weather, but not hot like the south of france. Its also easy to get to, stunningly beautiful coast

The Algarve was great in July. The sea temp was perfect but the pool needed until lunchtime to heat up really.

How about a med cruise? Plenty of opportunity to be outdoors or retreat inside plus sightseeing galore (usually)