somewhere warm in the Eurozone - Mallorca? Crete? Italian lakes?

[LadyIsabellaWrotham]

DH hates hot weather, and flying. Hence our summer holidays tend to involve cottages in Norfolk. Whilst these are always lovely, I do have a slight hankering for a holiday that doesn't involve constant checks of the weather forecast and taking fleeces to the beach. My last hot holiday was 2001 for a work jolly.

Anyway, when discussing the rival claims of Pembrokeshire and Dorset the other day, DH said "What about somewhere warm?. I fancy some actual sunshine."

I need to pounce on this quickly before he changes his mind. But I know nothing about that sort of holiday, having only ever booked city breaks and UK cottages. I have just been reading an article in the Guardian about Mallorca which looked lovely, and was genuinely surprised when I googled it to discover that a) it's in the Med not the Atlantic and b) it's the same place as Majorca . So yeah, starting from scratch.

I fancy somewhere with a) a little bit of culture - last hot holiday was in purpose built complex of villas in Faro which was like some soulless JG Ballard hell b) the absolute minimum of driving c) no clubbers or stag parties, d) in the Eurozone to take advantage of the exchange rate or somewhere else cheap e) definitely Europe not Turkey or North Africa. DC are ten and twelve and pretty easy going, they'll build sand castles, splash in pools, walk round cathedrals and generally enjoy the foreigners.

Crete looks lovely but probably too hot for summer so more of an October halfterm deal. Mallorca/Majorca (or indeed Minorca which I now know is the tiny island next door - this js doing wonders for my sketchy geography) looks promising - I thought maybe a couple of days in a hotel in Palma to see the history and eat in restaurants and then a week in a 2 bedroom villa somewhere quiet near a beach?

Or Italian lakes, but would that involve lots of driving?

Or where else have I missed out? Croatia looks nice.

Thanks, and I apologise in advance for asking some really really ignorant follow up questions.

Menorca might be just up your street if you don't want clubbers etc (although there are some lovely family-friendly parts of Majorca, too). We love our holidays in Menorca - we hire a villa and do a lot of eating out - and the beaches are the best I've seen anywhere. There's a surprising amount of culture, too (probably because they have been invaded over the centuries by virtually everyone).

Thanks, I'll check out Menorca Same place as Minorca, right?

Just noticed that despite retyping several times iphone still insisted on "correcting" "enjoying the foreignness" to "enjoying the foreigners". Bloody Apple. Jus because it's not a real word doesn't mean it's not the word I intended to use.

Pollensa in Majorca is lovely.. You have the best if both worlds as it is a quiet village but near the beautiful resort of Puerto Pollensa for days at the beach

Second vote for Pollensa town or Puerto Pollensa here. We go to Puerto Pollensa for the umpteenth time at the end of next month, I can't wait!

Thanks, I'll look into Pollensa.

"Or Italian lakes, but would that involve lots of driving?"

It could easily involve no driving at all.

I have been to Lake Garda twice and love, love, love it. Loads of posters on here agree that it is a wonderful holiday destination.

It gets hot, but not unbearably hot. It is a short flight to Verona and if you stay at the bottom end of the lake the transfer time is only about 40 minutes. The beauty of Lake Garda is:
a) It is utterly beautiful
b) You can get around easily by ferry (and by bus, but we didn't use the buses when we were there)
c) You can do a mixture of sightseeing and pool lounging
d) The food and drink is great
e) It isn't a "Brits abroad" type of destination

The Italian lakes are nice too and you get the train to Milan and/or Switzerland. I love Italy but it does always feel busier to me than Palma so if relaxing is important then Palma would get my vote ( but on every other level it would be Italy).