August holiday ideas?

[Pinkpeanut27]

So really struggling this yr yo book a holiday . Mainly because Dh has his heart fixed on something we can’t afford/doesn’t exist! And really he doesn’t want to go on he just likes the idea .

So I’ve looked at Spain and Italy city breaks and decided too hot and busy .
Have rejected Egypt Tunisia turkey and Greece.
Don’t want a road trip or to go camping .
Looked and canaries and Balearic Islands and decided we really don’t do beach only holidays although we love the thought .
Have sat in Thomas cook and been through everything they can offer in August below £8k! Which wasn’t much .

We are a family of 5 so need 2 interconnecting rooms or a villa.
We like doing things but not particularly water sports and kids clubs

Barcelona sounds ideal with city and beach but accomadation is not popping up !

So any different ideas was thinking about looking at places like Holland or sweeden or Germany or Austria or any ideas you might have as its driving me mad . I think we are over thinking this .

Crotia? Split or Dubrovnik?

Portugal has loads of nice villas with beaches and water parks. Have a look at Alvor or albufeira?

Definitely Portugal. A quick google can find somewhere like this.

Thanks
Looked at Croatia couldn’t find anything we liked

Will look again at Portugal had discounted it due to higher air fairs

There are other things to do other than the beach in the Canaries or Balearics

For example, in Lanzarote there are watersports, caves, boat trips, volcano park, cactus gardens, waterparks, vineyards, big Sunday market, Cesar Manrique (artist) house, aviation museum, walking, cycling, playparks and other stuff so in theory you could do something different every day and not set foot on a beach all week.

If the DCs are younger there's Legoland in Billund Denmark and a waterpark and activity complex next door, plus accomodation. Fly from Stansted on Ryanair, or indirect from elsewhere via Brussels or Amsterdam.

I know there are more things in tbe Canaries but I’m not sure they will hold our interest . Dh and I have been before kids and I really wanted to make it work but it’s just not .i just can’t find the right mix of accommodation and location .
Kids are 15 and 8

What about the Alps? Italy? France? Absolutely breathtaking. Can take cable cars up a walks, outdoor pools, biking?
We've done Chamonix, Soux De Loux, Sestrierre and also done Austria in summer. Gorgeous. And cheap accommodation due to all the ski accommodation being let out cheaper in the summer.

Portugal again.

Or try Airbnb for property in Barcelona

What about Spain ... Seville Andalusia etc

Portugal . Great food and beaches . Around Alvor is great .

Portugal is lovely and Italy has a good mix of beaches cities and culture or how about Croatia, France or maybe Malta? Would a two Centre holiday work or interrailing for your family?
In your family situation I would look for a private apartment with a shared pool (so the DC have opportunities to meet and have fun with other kids allowing you and your DH some relaxation time) if you want a pool good for some down/quieter days mornings or afternoons relaxing days. Rather than going through a travel agent try holiday lettings, home & away or AirBnB and get a private apartment. You should definitely get something well below 8K.

Cyprus troodos mountains are nice, much cooler up there than on beach
I was going to say cuba because you can stay in guesthouse accomodation for as little as £70 a week you just need the flights which are about 500 and lots to do.
Have you looked at Bulgaria or even Romania, my friend just came back said it was lovely and lots to do
What about Iceland? The blue lagoon ( natural volcanic heated lagoon) looks great
Im afraid most southern European destinations all pretty much offer the same thing, beaches, a promenade and various excursions. Maybe just go somewhere you haven't been before. I agree Lanzarote is interesting if you do something different each day- volcanos are amazing
Maybe try a centre park type holiday but abroad

Forgot to mention slovenia and Montenegro

Definitely Portugal - Lisbon, Sintra area. Loads to do.

We went to Majorca last year hardly went to the beach.

What about somewhere like Sitges, if you like the idea of Barcelona, but can't find accommodation you like? It's about 40 mins by car to Barcelona for cultural day trips, or about 50 minutes by car in the other direction to Porto Aventura for water/theme parks.

Good ideas , definitely done we hadn’t thought of .
I’m interested to hear what was on Majorca that wasn’t beach ?

Stiges would be good but finding a hotel with pool and that will accommodate all 5 of us that is available is proving impossible .

I thought about Porto Aventura but I’m
Not sure I can face staying on a water park !

Sicily - Fly to Palermo. We based ourselves at a beach front villa here
Day trips to Trapani/Erice, Segusta, San Vito Lo Capo, Scopello, Palermo and Monreale.

We've also explored the Eastern side of Sicily and based ourselves in central Taormina. Very different holiday & preferred the Western side.

Andalucia - Fly to Jerez. We stayed HB in 2 interconnecting rooms here at Conil del la frontera.

Day trips to Seville, Jerez, Cadiz, Vejer de la frontera, Bolonia, Tarifa & Gibralter

If you don't want hot, don't go to Andalucia in August. It's very very hot (40C plus is not unusual). Seville, Granada, Tarifa and everywhere else are amazing, but if you aren't comfortable in those temperatures you won't want to do anything except lay about in the shade.

Go in the spring or autumn instead.

Mallorca will still be hot but not as stupidly hot. Palma is a great city break with museums, squares, spectaclar cathedral, tapas etc, you can get the train through the mountains to Soller, a lovely picturesque town, there's a big aquarium, waterparks. On the east side of the island there are show caves to visit. You can go hiking, cycling, mountain biking, all sorts of other stuff.

Does it have to be a hotel? Air B and B have some amazing properties all over the world and you specify how many bedrooms you need.

I was going to suggest Croatia and Montenegro. What about Madeira?

Netherlands is a great country for a family holiday. Beautiful beaches and friendly folk. The Center Parcs over there are usually much more reasonable than the UK ones if you want that sort of thing otherwise look at Air BnB. It’s easy to drive about and you could do a 2 center trip and have some time in Amsterdam too.

I've done Sweden and Finland in summer - have to book flights and accomodation seperately directly with flights and then Booking.com. Sweden cheaper to fly to than Finland. Flew Finnair up to Lapland and saw brown bears in the wild at Arola Bears then mainly watersports so may not work for you. Similar place in Sweden called Wild Sweden www.wildsweden.com/ do bear and a few other wild animal day trips, Stockholm is nice - we also flew onto Copenhagen from there and went to Tivolo etc. It's only around 20C but beautiful all day light and pink skies. Finland trip was around £6k for everything - flights, hotels, excursions, car hire, food in restaurants etc and Sweden should be £500 or so cheaper on flights though don't know what impact exchange rate has had. Stayed in apartments in hotels.

Spain etc I find to hot in August unless you are in a waterpark which is sounds like you don't want. Been to Hintertux in Austria, you have snow there in August on the glacier, can ski and go in ice palace at top of mountain via cable car, flights via Easyjet - its good for a few days would need to combine with other places.

Thanks some fab ideas !
Sun is good and high temps are ok as long as plenty of air con .
My family love water parks but I hate them so bring selfish .
Self catering is fine only I have found more places now it’s illegal so am keeping my options open .
2 centre holidays are perfect the last 2 we did were Miami Beach and NYC and Florida and Washington ! So hard acts to follow and we don’t have quite the same budget this year . That was why I wasn’t sure about a solely beach holiday !

Definitely recommend a mountain holiday, for plenty of different activities and great scenery. Tend to be cooler too. French Alps, Italian Dolomites, or Germany or Slovenia. Maybe pick up a Lakes and Mountains brochure from a travel agent and see if anything takes your fancy.

Or Scandinavia? Madeira?