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?

San Sebastián?

Lisbon is warm but the coastal breeze keeps it pleasant.

Lisbon is definitely fantastic.

Helsinki is a great place with plenty to do, and maybe making it a two centre holiday with the adventure of taking the ferry over to Tallinn would be fun. I think I'd spend longer in Helsinki, and less time in Tallinn though, although central Tallinn is prettier, Helsinki has more to do.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I think Lisbon is probably a bit hot for us - average high is 28 in August, which in my experience means often well over 30. The places we are usually comfortable have average highs more like 25 degrees (e.g. Italian Lakes). Otherwise Lisbon was looking perfect.

Scandinavia is coming up a lot but definitely too expensive, same with Switzerland. I'm going to investigate northern Spanish towns/villages like San Sebastian and Austria. New suggestions still welcome though.

San Sebastian for sure. I love Lisbon too but not sure about Segway on narrow streets, hilly with cobbles.
San Seb, We went in August this year and it never got too hot. Stunning city.

I would love to go to San Sebastian. It is on my bucket list.

San Sebastian has stunning views, clean beaches, family friendly, boat trips, aquarium. Eating out is a bit more challenging than normal and I'm not sure about pools. There is the sea so not sure they need it.

Antwerp. And visit Bruges, Ostend, Ghent, Brussels, Liege...

Sofia for half the trip, being out in the countryside near the water or mountains for the other half. Very cheap.

Northern or middle Italy - Milan and the surrounds. It's where I'm living now.

Why is eating out challenging? I thought San Sebastian was famous for its tapas bars.

@LoniceraJaponica to qualify eating out was challenging with small children (at times). They are 2 and 5 so much younger than ops. The tapas bars are generally standing only and my toddler generally ate only the bread when we tried it, she's fussy. It was quite busy as peak season. We had some amazing food, but my toddler didn't :) . Our guide said taking kids to even Michelin starred places is fine, but that's not our thing. Groceries were cheap and I cooked as I enjoy it and we were self catering. To get the best of eating out there I would have been better of ditching my kids.

As in, I was tempted to go to A posh place for lunch solo.. but that was a bit unfair on dh..

I've been to both Prague and Krakow and there's a lot more to do in Prague,

I went to kracow in summer and it hit 45 degrees! They told me it was a heat wave but just my luck. Hottest place I've ever been. June I think

Ah, I see CottonSock. DD is 18, so our challenge would be finding enough vegetarian food. Michelin starred food would be lovely if we could afford it, but I think we would need to lower our expectations.

We're all veggie and 1 DC is quite picky, so I don't really expect to be able to eat out, except in Italy. If we can, it's a bonus. San Sebastian sounding good, if I can find some lovely accommodation - it does need to be lovely because of aforementioned kids-not-wanting-to-go out. But not expensive. I just want the moon on a stick really.

Bologna, with day trips to Parma, Modena, Ravenna, Padua. Hot; but not unpleasantly so

Why August? We've been going at Easter and even Feb half term and it's much better weather wise. Flights tend to be cheaper too.

Rome is amazing with loads to do. Barcelona too.

We are actually going to Berlin next August as we're in GCSE year so Easter's a no-no. From my research, if you stay in the East most things aren't too far away.

Sights in Rome are cheap and kids often go free. Food was fine for us veggies (and a vegan).

The Hague in the Netherlands, good transport links to other cities like Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam, Leiden etc and it is a seaside city.

Berlin is fantastic - not sure why you have ruled it out. Great transport, loads to see, wonderful lakes and forests, climate would be perfect and it's also cheap. Get an airbnb in the centre and use the u-bahn and s-bahn to get around.

Heidelberg is lovely and the bike hire scheme was good, not suitable for a week though without car hire and liking hiking. We were there 4 days flying via Frankfurt on Ryan air, the bus transfer on flixbus is only €5.

My DD's loved Madrid at that age but it's hot hot hot! Ditto Italy, they loved Venice too hot though. Bavaria is good, bit cooler, all those fairytale castles and the summerbob was a big hit but you need to drive there really - I suggest europa park on the way back to the U.K. if you do. Provence went down well at 14&16 as they were offered wine to taste at the vineyards and in restaurants. We do road trips mostly as it suits teenagers. Their favourite place still is Paris, they both like art, the museums and despite being adults now, Disney!

Definitely Ljubljana

Beautiful city with lots going on and only about 40 mins to Lake Bled.

We did a 3 stop holiday of Llubljana, Bled then down to Rovinj in Croatia. Best holiday ever.

Dd is veggie, managed ok in France by ordering a starter and a portion of chips as a main or going to Tunisian places, Spain was ok for tapas, Sicily was great for veggie (do recommend Taormina, bit hot but amazing), Germany harder but staff spoke good English and were ok to adapt meals, good allergy info - Eastern Europe though has been very hard, they seem to only serve meat dishes, she lived on chips and salad which were only maybe vegetarian (didn't tell her as I needed her to eat something!) worst experience was ordering butternut squash soup and them placing strips of goose liver on top - why?

My first suggestion was Copenhagen, no idea about the Segways or pools though.

Or you could do 5 days in Salzburg and then catch a (direct, clean, easy and comfortable) train to Vienna for another 5 days.