Attractive European cities, not too hot, not too big

[JustAnotherManicUsername]

Thinking waaaay ahead to summer 2020 when DC will be 14 and 11. I think cities might be the way to go for us. Where's:

1. Not much over 30 degrees max in August
2. Small enough that you can stay in the centre and be close to several things to do (i.e. not Berlin, I gather) 3)Attractive / historic with interesting minor things for the adults to do in an hour or so while the kids refuse to leave the apartment
3. And large enough that there are enough local interesting bits of culture / foodie stuff etc. to keep us interested for 10 days or so, and some more major things that we can drag the kids along to.
4. Have good outdoor public pools
5. Ideally, allow Segwaying by under 16s (Spain does, I know, other countries I'm not sure).

I'm not keen on Paris in August. I'm not sure somewhere like Heidelberg would have enough in the minor pleasures category, although Germany is good for outdoor pools. Scandinavia sounds great but is probably too expensive (especially post-Brexit, if we do...). Amsterdam would be great but maybe weather a bit too dodgy? And it's very mosquito-y in August, I know.

Any ideas?

Yes, I think Barcelona would be too hot. I quite fancy northern coast of Spain but I'm not sure any of the cities are big enough. I don't really know though. Vienna or Salzburg would be good because I speak reasonable German.

Granada definitely way too hot in August! But exactly the right kind of city - where's like Granada but further north?

Dubrovnik? Llublijana?

You could stay in Ghent/Antwerp and visit a few cities in Belgium. I wouldn't stay in Bruges, it's far too small. Could also spend a day on the beach. You can get anywhere on the train, they're decent and cheap and no need to book in advance.

Amsterdam? Again you could take the train to a few other places. Salzburg you'd need to be up for hiking around the Alps a bit as I don't think you could spend 10 days in Salzburg alone.

Cologne? You could also visit Dusseldorf, it's not that far on the train and again doesn't cost much. Could also visit Aachen and other places.

Oslo is fabulous. The oslo city pass makes things more affordable. I go every summer.
I know you ruled Berlin out buts brilliant. Loads of fun stuff to do, not just war stuff.

Anywhere small isn't going to be big enough for 10 days I'd suggest. Could you perhaps do a 2 centre holiday? Bruges and Amsterdam? Prague and Budapest? Lisbon and Tallinn?

Or if you like Granada, Bilbao? Lots of gorgeous places around there. You could do Biarritz for a day.

Also Portugal can be surprisingly cool during the summer, especially the north. Coimbra is a beautiful place.

The Alps are great for that age, with so many more activities than just hiking often with an inclusive lift/bus pass to get around easily. Swimming in lakes and open air pools, climbing, mountain biking, summer toboggan runs, local festivals, even glacier skiing and snowtubing.

Yes, two centre may be the way to go. Although we don't like the packing and unpacking bit and we love the luxurious feeling of being somewhere for ages so there's no rush to do anything, so we've never done two centres before.

Lisbon

Done the Alps in summer - it was great but the towns don't have enough to do. We need plenty of things close enough that one or two adults can nip off for an hour or two. Our basic holiday dynamic is the kids want to spend way more time hanging around the apartment than the adults do. We do make them go out for day trips but it's just more fun for everyone if the adults can do minor things as well.

Lisbon does look lovely.

Lisbon for sure.

Advise against Vienna, Prague etc in July/August - its boiling hot in summer, with no respite from sea breezes etc. Air con isn't the norm in these cities either.

Helsinki is great.

Lucerne in Switzerland?

We were there in the summer. Very beautiful. The transport museum is fantastic. There's an art gallery too, a lido. We weren't staying there so don't know much more, but really liked it.

I was going to say Helsinki and Tallinn is only a couple of hours away by ferry. Or an overnight ferry between Helsinki and Stockholm for a two centre trip. Loved them both and the days are really long in summer so loads of daylight.

Granada and anywhere is Southern Spain will be far too hot in August, so will Dubrovnik. Lisbon is brilliant, and you can get a train to the coast and up to Sintra. We were there in July many years ago and it was 30 degrees in Lisbon and low 20s in Sintra.

I loved Lisbon and found the people very friendly as well.

Lisbon. Best city in the world and if we do Brexit, we will probs move there!!

I'd suggest. Could you perhaps do a 2 centre holiday? Bruges and Amsterdam? Prague and Budapest? Lisbon and Tallinn?
Lisbon and Tallinn? Surely Lisbon and Tallin
Or Tallin and Riga but Lisbon to Tallinis nearly 4,500 miles apart.

Another vote for Krakow. Fantastic little city.

Prague.

Berlin is very easy to get around and there is so much to do there.

But - I would suggest Ljubljana for a few days, and then hop on bus to Lake Bled. You can swim in the lake, there’s a toboggan run, cycle, visit the gorge, the castle... and weather is ideal:

Munich - day trips to other places Inc Salzburg, Garmisch, Lake Constance, Chiemsee, Dachau for the history if you think 11 year old won't be freaked out.
Not sure on Segway though.

Lisbon