Please help suggest places to go abroad that aren't beach holidays

[ProperLavs]

I'm going alone with 3 dc, 11,12, 14. In previous years we have been to Turkey but are fed up with the sameness of it all. We never go to the beaches as they have been dirty and crowded so tended to stay by the pool or go on day trips.
We have also found the beach culture holidays not really our cup of tea, but I haven't got much money and have never driven abroad so my options have been limited.
Do holidays exist that are away from beaches but don't need a car? Or am I forever doomed?
If you have any idea please share, please!

Another vote for Switzerland, its absolutely beautiful and definitely not your usual beach holiday. We also stayed in a cabin in the mountains one night which was amazing. I will however say its not cheap there IMO

Tammy, my ideal holiday would be something like Lanzarote, whilst the kids are younger, but Lanzarote probably has the same clientele as Turkey and although Turkey was ok the first couple of times I realised I could be pretty much anywhere.
The first time we went in 2014 there was a real mixture of nationalities, a lot of Russians and Dutch, but the last time, 2 years ago there were only very noisy brits. We felt the odd ones out because there were such huge groups of families( who all seemed to know one another) where we stayed and who took over the pool area. the kids felt intimidated.
I prefer to have things organised for me too.

My mum took me on a cruise a couple of years ago, up the Rhone, it was lovely, but very expensive.

Our last stop was Lyon and I really loved the city, the locals were really friendly and helpful. So Lyon is a possibility if I can get cheap enough accommodation, flights are cheap too. Not sure lyon is a week's wrath of interesting though.

When I went to Marrakech I organised that all myself but went to my 2 older teen boys and it was like going with adults.
I would go back in a flash just to sit in the souks all day.

Somewhere in the Alps? Chamonix is easy to reach by car or train from Geneva.

If you don't mind driving, try Carcassonne and Limoux in sw France. Beautiful scenery, lakes, rivers, mountains, caves, loads of castles, villages to explore, canal du midi, not far from Spain or Andorra. Food is lovely. Outdoor activities like rafting, canoeing, walking, cycling, caving. Loads of 'wacky' history which make it all a bit more interesting.

@Properlavs we hired a car but I've done a fair bit of driving in Europe. There is a bus or you could get a taxi. It's only 40 minutes.

We didn't use the car much once we were there other than the day trip to CERN. You could easily manage without.

I'd second Slovenia, I went for a week last year and stayed a few days in the capital which in comparison to other cities is really small and quiet. Then got public transport to Lake Bled, which is a bit more touristy but has a mix of nationalities and so many different things you can do it didn't feel particularly crowded. That was in summer holidays as well.

What about a uk holiday? Cornwall can be lovely and you can get a cottage so you have your own space? Would need a car but it's UK driving so less scary.

Or city breaks. Lots of Europe is expensive. Maybe look at Poland? Food and taxis are really cheap and the countryside is pretty. Krakow is lovely. Has a huge indoor water park, historic walkable town centre. Doesn't feel too crowded like some cities can.

Budapest or Berlin are great and not too crowded.

queribus sadly no car. I have no other adult to go with who can drive abroad. It feels like going away with one leg.

How is the Black forest without a car?

I would second Slovenia: base yourself either in Ljubljana itself or at Lake Bled. It id a beautiful, peaceful, very green country with a lot of interesting places to visit. Bled has a lido, so lake swimming is easy and safe. Lots of walking in the Julian Alps, or you can visit the castle, caves, and Lipica stud farm. Best holiday I’ve ever been on.

Posted too soon. Berlin has lots of lakes for swimming too.

X-post with Mistoffelees - I’ll third Slovenia then!

Cornwall can be lovely. I have no issue driving generally. Went on a tippee holiday once in Cornwall and it rained stair rods all week!

How about combining Lake Garda with Verona and/or Venice? You can fly in and out of Verona and get a bus to the lake (or a train). Then you can get round much of the lake by boat or bus.

We went to Sirmione (bus from Verona) and Malcesine (boat from Sirmione). You definitely don't need a car.

There is also Gardaland - I might have got the name wrong but it's a water park - on the south side of the lake. The north end has more dramatic scenery though.

You could easily combine a week here with a few nights in a city for your teenager, and the villages and towns are nice to potter in as well as having access to the water - or mountains at the north end (the cable car up Monte Baldo is fab).

Cruises aren’t all expensive. We stayed in a lovely cabin with massive floor to ceiling window, RCCL, last August and went to Tallinn, St Petersburg, Riga, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki etc 11 nights with flights (EasyJet to Copenhagen )and all food & drink for 2 ads, 1 teen 1 tween was about £5k.

Cheaper than a lot of two week AIs in Europe....

Last year we flew to Dubrovnik, stayed a few nights. Then public ferry to next Island (mljet) for 2 nights, then ferry to Korcula for a few nights & onto Split for 3 nights & flew back to UK from Split.

Mix of hotels & air bnb.

It was great! Mix of history, sights, national parks, swimming in crystal seas!

Is this the type of thing you could plan?

Paris and Lyon? The train takes two hours. And you can take the Eurostar to Paris.
Amsterdam.
Berlin.

Geneva/Zurich.
Copenhagen
Edinburgh if you want to stay in the UK

Strongly recommend Iceland.
Food and drink particularly is expensive so book an apartment in rekjavik and self cater as much as possible.
Bus tours to the sights, circle tour etc: they are quite expensive but worth every penny as you get so much out of the tour guide. It is an amazing place. Rekjavik is a very small city and you can spend hours just wandering: they have paid artists to cover the buildings with stunning artworks so even the graffiti is cool. Four nights there was as much of a holiday as a fortnight beach or 'family' type holiday. My 10 and 16 YOs loved it.

OP; we didn’t find it like that in Lanzarote, actually. The natural and cultural attractions have a particular attraction, iyswim.

Portugal? Algarve? Tavira, a small proper town linked by a good rail service to Faro (good for a sightseeing day) and other coastal places like Fuzeta, Nature reserve, day trips, wild beach on a sand spit.

You need to tell us what you enjoy and want as well as what you don’t want!

When you say home do you mean you holidayed in the UK? My DC are very well travelled all over the world but the best holidays we have actually had were in Cornwall. My DC love staying somewhere and then doing trips out to different places. Their fondest memories are not the flashiest hotel in the most exotic location. Mine have been everywhere and their favourite memory is eating Kelly's ice cream on a Cornish beach. You can mix it up with food, beaches, history, nature.

Ah, I wish I were in a position to consider 5K not expensive!

Ok, my dream would be to have cities I could visit but also warm weather with a small pool so that I could also sit and read and the kids could cool down. I would like somewhere without lots of English people- sounds a horrible thing to say but my idea of a holiday is not being surrounded by loud music and loud drunk people.

I would like to be able to walk/ take easy public transport.
I would like it to be hot-ish, or at least reliable warm weather ( this is the trouble with England).
I would like the local prices to be cheap ( that's why Turkey was an attraction).

is Berlin easy to find your way round?