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!

ilooked it's interesting you should talk about length of stay.
I would much rather have a shorter break, say 4 nights, of amazing sights than a week of 'ok', feeling that I had to eek out my money over 7 days and wishing that i could actually go home anyway ( Turkey).
The kids are happy to do a shorter trip.
is it worth flying to Slovenia for a shorter time though or better to stay in Germany/France?.
Garda looks promising.

Thank you all so so much for holding my hand over this.

Seville?
Beautiful, very easy to get around, lots to see, reasonable AirBnB available,
Half term better than August from a heat point of view.
YHA family rooms in a lovely UK city?

We did Lanzarote v v cheaply on a Feb half term, admittedly on a combination of Monarch and LowCostHolidays.com.

taffeta I think most people would consider 5k for 10 days pretty expensive.

Does it have to be abroad? I have had some great holidays with teens in London and would also recommend Edinburgh.

Would you consider one of the European Center Parcs? Perfect for this age and no beach.
We go to one in Belgium for 7 nights and it's a fraction of the price of the U.K. CPs. This year €1400 all in, including 4 meals out and Eurotunnel.

Have you considered Prague? We went twice we loved it so much.Last time the DC were 11 and 5.We stayed here at the hotel park www.aquapalace.cz and did all the water park activities.There are very few British people there with a mix of people from around Europe.The Park has outdoor loungers and pool bar so you have effectively have a “beach” holiday.Its a short walk to a McDonald’s and a KFC which came in handy for our fussy eaters, and then we took the bus that goes right outside the hotel and went into Prague,taking a boat down the river, having the most gorgeous Italian food by the river side, and did a bit of shopping. Another day we went to the zoo and we loved it.It cost less than £1000 all in.The weather isn’t as reliable as the likes of Spain but we got enough gorgeous days to get a bit of colour and lie about on the loungers. Also there is WiFi outside at the lounger bit which was great because it meant later in the afternoon when we were tired from swimming the DC could do some screen time while we had a (very cheap!) bottle of prosecco!

Black Forest without a car = I can’t say to be truthful, as we had a car with us. However, we did use the train on a couple of occasions. It was free and very efficient! If you liked the look of that area, you could look into how much of the area is covered by the public transport systems, and what you could visit within that area.

Someone mentioned Dubrovnik upthread- yes, lovely place and inexpensive. We spent £1200 on flights and accommodation for one week for four of us. We had an AirBnb villa with amazing views and an infinity pool!

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

Playa Blanca in Lanzarote is not like that at all. Lots of different nationalities and lots of families. Plus lots of 'non beach' things to do as listed by Tammy.

You can also get the ferry to Fuerteventura for the day, and there's endless watersports including snorkelling over the underwater sculpture museum or introduction to scuba diving depending on your DCs exact ages when the holiday is.

Malaga is also another great beach/city combo, or Lisbon - lots of city stuff to do and beaches within easy train rides.

Or Palma in Mallorca. There will be loud drunks on the plane but they all go to Magaluf so you won't see them until you get back to the airport.

Palma - lovely city, also has a beach, and you can get the train through the mountains to Soller, a beautiful town, and then a tram to Puerto Soller, lovely naice coastal resort a million miles away from the Magaluf types. Also there's an aquarium in Palma and show caves across the other side of the island.

Best to get the bus back to Palma as there aren't that many trains a day and the last one is quite early. There's also a couple of waterparks on the island and what teen/pre-teen doesn't love a waterpark? Plenty of buses so you don't have to drive if you don't want to.

4 days in the capital or 4 days at Lake Bled would be plenty, as I said we did both in a week and it was about perfect for us although we could have spent probably one more day in the capital and a few more days at Bled if we'd wanted to and not get bored. It's not a long flight either so I'd say it's be fine for a shorter stay. Price wise I'd say you'd be looking at similar to the UK for meals in restaurants.

Geneva is a good option but perhaps not warm enough nor enough to do for teens and tweens.
Valencia in Spain is worth considering. Warm but not too hot. A city but not massively crowded. A bit of everything. If you're wary of airbnb, consider this website. It's for booking bed and breakfast or self catered accommodation in the students' halls of residence at Valencia university while they're on their summer break. Cheap as chips. Clean and perfectly legit.
www.universityrooms.com/en-GB/city/valencia/home

By the way, there are beaches in and around Valencia, should you crave some sunbathing with a book!

I definitely agree with Duinrell. It's suitable for all ages from toddler to adult. Big indoor waterpark is free if you book direct with Duinrell; theme park is free (not on the scale of Alton Towers but good all the same); adventure type activities; bike hire; walking distance to town centre; buses to The Hague, from there you can get a train to Amsterdam; 1km to the beach and probably lots of other stuff I haven't mentioned. We have been 3 times. The boys are now 10 & 13 & desperate to go again!

We drovbe but you can easily fly to Amsterdam & catch train &bus or prebooked taxi to Duinrell,

Apologies if I'm being dense but if you can drive in the UK why can't you drive abroad? It's very straightforward (especially if you have a SatNav). I'd have a think about Croatia - Istrian peninsula - lots to do, great weather, good value and car hire is super cheap. Hire a villa/flat or there are nice campsites there too. Fairly cheap flights into Pula.

Malta drives on the left if that makes a difference though car hire can be pretty pricey these days but does give more options. Sometimes we hire a car for just a few days.

I have heard driving on the other side of the road is easy once you get the hang of it. It’s something I want to conquer but not on my own!

When I was in my teens, we had several fabulous holidays in Alpine resorts. The two that stick in my mind are Lermoos in Austria, and Chamonix in France. There is lots to do, the mountains are gorgeous, there's lots of walking/biking/swimming activities and lots of good transport/amenities because it is all there for the ski season. However, because summer is actually low season, you can get really good deals. We weren't a beachy family either, and it suited us really well.

The Maltese do drive on the left when they feel like it but their drivers and roads make the Italians look like considerate cautious drivers. Their approach to roundabouts is particularly at odds with what you expect in the UK

I can drive on the right hand side of the road just fine and have driven to Spain in my own car a couple of times, but I cannot for the life of me drive a left hand drive car, despite being a confident, experienced driver in the UK. My brain just mirror images everything and it all goes wrong. I would have a go in an automatic if I had to, so I didn't have to think about where the gear stick was, but for the time being, we either do without, or DP drives and he agrees that it is less stressful for him to do all the driving on holiday than it is for him to be a passenger while I drive .

I find that public transport abroad is often more reliable, more frequent and cheaper than the UK (outside London obvs) and if it takes a bit longer, well you're on holiday!

OP it is fine once you're used to it but terrifying the first time although I'm not sure having anyone with you makes it better. It just causes blazing arguments in my experience

If you want to give it a go I'd recommend arranging a couple of days' car hire during your holiday and picking up the car at a quiet time from an out of town location. Once you've driven abroad a few times it is fine and no different to driving here.

The worst way to do it is to pick up a car from a multistorey car park in a major airport and have to negotiate a ring road with police everywhere in the dark with a screaming, tired toddler in the back while non-driver exp moaned we were going too slowly and it is embarrassing. (bitter experience)

Or get the train. You'll enjoy yourself more.

But Malta would also be a good place to go anyway. Lots of cultural and historical stuff in Valetta, other interesting sights plus boat trips to Comino and Gozo, watersports, hiking etc. Good value too.

Obviously there would be some Brits there, but other nationalities too and if you avoid St Pauls, Paceville and Bugibba sort of areas not full of loud partying drunks.

We got hit whilst stationary in Italy by a girl in a smart car who didn't wait for us to leave our parking space before she started to go into it and the middle of the road was a third lane in Italy so that must be seriously bad Barbara Never been.

I've got a Italian friend and she told me red lights are seen as optional in Italy, pedestrianised areas in Rome also appeared optional. I don't drive but the driving does seem to vary country by country. Finland was super easy, more reindeer than cars on the road.

We had a fab holiday in The Azores a few years ago. You would need to hire a car but the roads are amazing, there are hardly any cars plus the drivers are all really polite. So it's easy. I'm not wild about driving abroad but found it a doddle there. Plus it's much easier to drive a lhd car abroad than it is a rhd.

There are beaches but the tourist trade isn't very developed so the beaches are quiet. They all have lifeguards though and are scrupulously clean.

Trains in France just announced a 3 month strike so I'ld avoid any trains via there.