Holiday with teens laid back under 4K for 10-14 days family of 4 school hols

[Daddylonglegs1965]

Hit me with ideas for a holiday that worked for a family with teens (15 and 16) probably in Europe that won’t break the bank (resort accommodation and recommendations and tour operators or booking company if applicable please).
We like laid back, eating out in different restaurants on an evening, some activities for the kids nearby or onsite, nice scenery. Won’t be hiring a car. Ideally somewhere with a cooling breeze as everywhere in Europe is hit in July/August.

Hot not hit.

West coast of Portugal if you want a cooling breeze.

Not sure if you can do it for under £4k in July/August if you go for more than a week though, unless you are REALLY frugal and don't eat out much ...

Oh sorry, you'd need a car - I didn't notice that you won't be hiring one. Ignore my Portugal recommendation!

Sorry I meant under 4K max for accommodation and flights either s/c or b/b ideally 3 or 3.5K. Eating out, alcohol and any shopping/travel would be extra.

We can fly from Scotland last two weeks or 10 days of the holiday to save on flights.

@MrsSpenserGregson whereabouts in particular were you thinking in Portugal do you have a particular area or accommodation in mind. We have previously enjoyed a/c holidays in Carvoeiro and Alvor (when the kids were younger) not sure if they are west coast or not? More we recently have holidayed somewhere with some mixed age activities for teens but they are now at the upper age limit and fancied a change.

I meant the actual west coast - between Porto and Sagres. You could fly to Porto/Lisbon/ Faro (but the lack of car might be an issue). Yes you could do this for under £4k for 4 of you - we did one week near Aljezur this August for 4 of us, flying from our local airport with Ryanair - flights were £1k in total for the most expensive option (loads of luggage, priority boarding etc etc). Accommodation in a really awesome villa via booking.com was about £1.5k for a week. We have teens - nice villa with private pool and Wifi was exactly what we needed, mornings by the pool while the kids slept in, woke them up around 11-ish (!), lunch by the pool, pottered off to a beach or village in the afternoons, and we went out for dinner every evening.

We have been to this area of Portugal several times, but you really do need a vehicle to be able to get to the beaches and explore. Locations I recommend are Sagres, Burgau, Aljezur coastal area, or go up into the Alentejo region (we've stayed inland near Odemira, but Zambujeira and Vila Nova da Milfontes are awesome). The westerly breezes mean you will need a sweatshirt at night, and the daytime temperature will usually feel like high 20s, even if the thermometer is showing higher,.

Carvoeiro is lovely isn't it?! I'd love to stay there again.

Next time I want to go to Lisbon or Porto.... I've heard from friends that the transport links between Lisbon and Caiscais (beach resort) are fantastic ... trains are only a few euros and take about an hour ....

That sounds ideal for me lazy mornings by the pool afternoons out and meals out we have one who is always a very early riser and would happily sleep in until lunch time every day.

DH drives a long way to work each day so he isn’t keen on a car on holiday and has heard horror stories about people being stung due to holiday hire cars. I am bad enough driving in the UK.

I will see if he can be persuaded. Yes Carvoeiro is lovely our holidays are usually quite lazy by the pool. It’s not so bad if the kids have the occasional game of waterpolo, pool side challenge, darts or football to dip in and out of. We can do this but I sure they would be happy with a morning on WiFi and afternoons out.

@MrsSpenserGregson what villa did you stay in? It sounds great.

Yes I was wondering the same. Her holiday sounds ideal I am sure we would all be happy with that. Although we do like to walk to a restaurant on an evening and enjoy a couple of glasses of wine with our meal.
DH was even impressed and would consider hiring a car for short journeys as long as we could have a drink with our dinner.

Ah - if you stay in the villa we did (it was on the Vale da Telha urbanisation near Aljezur), you will need a car even to go for dinner. Doesn't bother us as I'm teetotal . Maybe try Burgau? - cute village, plenty of places within walking distance to eat. Or Sagres. Both have those cooling westerly breezes.

Of course there's always the Canary Islands, which I love (they are very very windy) but can be hit-and-miss re. sunshine ... we went to Lanzarote for a week last July/August and only had one sunny day ...

Ok thanks will look at Sagres and Burgau.
Unfortunately we both like a drink with dinner.

Have you looked at duinrell? Their duingalows though not the onsite camping. 7 of us are going in August for a week and including accommodation (4 bed premium duingalow) and flights with BA it's only £3100 so I'm sure you could get 2 weeks for 4 of you easily enough. There's a town just outside the complex plus a beach 3km away and there's a huge waterpark and small theme park onsite to keep the kids busy.

I haven’t Titsywoo as I thought it was more geared to younger children? Do you think it would work for a 15 and 16 year old?

Definitely. The water park seems far more geared to older kids and adults. I like the idea that there's a town just over the road so older kids can walk over and wander by themselves. You can also cycle loads around there and to the beach which we do a lot of on holidays.

I’ve been to Duinrell with younger kids but think teens would like it too. Next year I’m looking at Zaton resort in Croatia with flights into Dubrovnik. I’m going to book direct with the resort website rather than through Eurocamp as you can book apartments which look really nice and well equipped. Again 1km from the town so can let teens wander by themselves.