Non-beach summer destinations

[FairyPenguin]

We are looking for a quiet family holiday with a mix of time by the pool and days out in a hire car. Our children love swimming but are not bothered by beaches so we are looking for inspiration. We love wildlife, nature, scenery, and good food.

We would ideally like temperatures in the mid-twenties at the end of August so it's not too hot to get out and about.

We are looking for somewhere less than 2.5 hours easy drive from an airport (flying out from Gatwick).
Driving distance to a few days out, particularly seeing wildlife and scenery, and small towns/villages for lunch and afternoon stroll.
2 (or 3) bedroom villa with (preferably heated) pool in quiet yet central location.
Walking distance of bakery for fresh bread each morning, at least one grocery store and good restaurants for lunch/dinner.

Any recommendations much appreciated. Thank you.

I think Mallorca might have suitable villas for you Away from the grim resorts there are some lovely villages and interesting places to visit. Not sure about temperature but maybe the mountains are cooler. There is a boat trip through the caves which is certainly cool on hot days. There is the big water park and Palma is beautiful.

Switzerland, Austria, somewhere in the mountains

Bratislava, Slovakia. I was there last year and it's brilliant.

Slovenia is gorgeous. Lake bled.
Also anywhere in the alps.

Kotor in Montenegro was a great holiday for us

Sweden. Had a fantastic two week there in August.

Cavtat, Croatia.

Ooh some lovely-looking suggestions so far. Lake Bled looks stunning. Croatia and Montenegro are very tempting too. I also like the suggestions of mountain holidays - we have been on skiing holidays before so it might be nice to visit them in the summer (will have to check the temperatures). I would like to visit the area around Grindelwald one day. I don't know much (or anything) about Slovakia so will read up.

Are there particular villages/areas that you would recommend in Sweden, somewhereovertherain?

Same question for Mallorca, Amperoblue? I see a lot of recommendations for Puerto Pollensa on here but I suspect it'll be too busy for us, but maybe a good place for a day trip. Would be interested to get a recommendation for a quiet village.

Asturias in Spain is gorgeous - very scenery focused, a popular destination for Spaniards but not really internationally so there are no 'resort towns', just lovely towns. In the north near the Atlantic so has a stream of cooler air but still nice and warm. Quite compact and driveable too.

Can be accessed easily by car from Madrid, Bilbao or Santander - or there are direct flights from Stansted.

We always go to the Alps - beautiful scenery, loads to do (walking, going in the cable car, hiring bikes). We often stay in Valloire (France) which has an open air swimming pool in the town.

Last year we flew to Malaga then drove about 90 mins and ended up in the mountains above Estepona. Was wonderful villa with a pool but easy to get to restaurants, bars, beach, other tourist places like the zoo, inland towns etc. Our DC were 12,14,16 and loved it (but that did depend on wi-fi working!!!!)

Slovenia. Lake Bohinj (near Bled, larger, quiet), you can get a cable car up the mountain and walk to the peak, gorgeous swimming, lovely walking. Then we put the car on the train through the mountain and went to the Soca valley - Kobarid/WW1, and white water rafting, canyoning etc. It was some years ago but these places were all very quietly touristy - little cafes, lots of jumping in rivers for fun sort of thing. It may not be hot enough though and I am not sure they go in for villas with pools so much. We did some brilliant swimming in Iceland but it doesn't meet some of your other criteria!

Slovenia Slovenia Slovenia! We went last summer and stayed in Kransjka Gora, a little ski town in the Julian Alps. We hired a car and explored all over but the town itself is on the border of Italy and Austria.

Half an hour from Bled and a little further from Bohinj. A couple of hours from the capital which is one of the most beautiful cities I've been to.

You can swim in both Lake Bled and Lake Bohinj.

Inland Andalucia is fabulous but likely to well above 30 C even at the end of August.

Thank you for all your suggestions. Will have a look at all these ideas.

I'm not sure Sweden's a good choice (see previous post) but you could have a look at the town Visby on the island of Gotland (it's in the Baltic). Could fit in with most of the requirements.

The Dolomites, Austria, Slovenia

We have been to the Dolomites and loved it there. Slovenia is coming up a lot...!

Just had a quick look at Visby and Gotland - I love the sound of it. So much to explore. Temperatures look perfect in August too. Thank you, fiftyplustwo.

Samoens in the French Alps, and specifically these apartments truemanalp.com/. I think it fulfills all your criteria, even the bakery within walking distance one, which is hard IME. We had a fantastic holiday there last year, and did daytrips to Switzerland and Italy because it's so close to the border.

Loving some of these suggestions.

Really need to get something booked for this summer.