Does such a place exist?!

[WelshGirlSeeksMarmite]

I'm in desperate need of some holiday inspiration. DP and I are really not beach holiday type people , preferring busy, city-based holidays normally, but the arrival of our DD last year means we need to drastically rethink our holiday ideas.

We are looking for a week in early September somewhere in Europe – ideally Italy, but this might be too expensive for our budget of around £1000.

I really don't want to go to a holiday club/resort type of place and would like to find somewhere that had a lot on offer close by without the need for a hire car. Somewhere that has a nice beach and calm sea for our DD but also an interesting town and places to visit so it still feels like a holiday for us! Am I asking too much, does such a place exist?!

My initial thought was Barcelona to be honest. Lots to do for everyone and a beach right in the centre of town. You could always stay in one of the smaller resorts a little out of the city if you preferred.
A few other ideas would be Malta (easy and cheap transport by buses), Nice or perhaps one of the smaller greek islands like Mykonos.

I was going to say Lake Garda. Or Skala in Kefalonia.

I liked Lisbon - easy to get around (though lots of cobbles in old part, so carrier may be better than pushchair) and can get train to Caiscais to visit the beach.

Amalfi or Sorrento?

Watching with interest as I'm in a similar position, although my DD is only a few weeks old. Malta seems like a good bet, I reckon.

Antalya in turkey

Sorry - I hadn't clocked the no-hire-car bit. There are buses and boats from Naples to Sorrento and Amalfi but it might be a bit of a faff.

Malaga? I loved Malaga - it's a beautiful old town.

Rovinj in Croatia

Marbella

Thank you to everyone for the suggestions. I will look into them all. Barcelona's come up quite a lot in searches but I've been there before so keen to try somewhere else, although we never made it to the beach as found there was more than enough to keep us occupied in the city.
I think I might have over searched now. Everything's starting to look the same and I'm wondering whether it would just be easier to stay at home!

Malaga, Granada, Seville, Cordoba. Easy and cheap to travel between all by train. I think Spain is cheaper than Italy for eating out etc.

We went from Malaga to Granada for a couple of days, then Seville for 4 days before back to Malaga - Cordoba is an easy day trip from Seville.

We stayed at Lake guarda last year and didn't hire a car. It was a big problem. Just check you dont book into buck fuck nowhere like we did ! It's an amazing place to visit otherwise-so I'd highly recommend.

Hania?
Or what about Budapest? No sea but great water parks eg platinas Strand.
Cities can be great for kids. Check out the local kids activities. It gives you a whole new insight into a new place. Also while they are very little they are portable in the evening. They can sleep in the pushchair hike you eat. Hostels can also be great if you get a private room as there will be a kitchen for making up bottles , heating food snacks etc.

A third vote for Lake Garda. Why does it have to be beside the sea?

"We stayed at Lake Garda last year and didn't hire a car. It was a big problem"

It depends where you stay. We have stayed in Garda and Sirmione. You really don't need a car for these places. We just used the ferry to visit the other lakeside towns.

Lake Como is very easy without a car. You can fly to Milan and get a train. Then rent an apartment and get around by boat ferry. There are stoney beaches which my children (bit older) liked.

We are similar to you. We have enjoyed Lagos in the Algarve, Split and Dubrovnik in Croatia, Malaga, Cascais, Porto, Biarritz, Palma and Soller in Mallorca, Girona and Barcelona of course.

One holiday that worked really well for us was to do day trips by boat into Dubrovnik from the little island of Lopud. The boat trip was so pretty, especially at sunset.