Summer holiday with teens. Abroad, not expensive

[axolotlfloof]

Hi, I am looking for some inspiration where to take my two teenage sons on holiday on my own this summer.
DH won't have any holiday days left, so just me (he has been on a sports holiday without us).
Kids like football, swimming, snorkeling, eating.
They are both interested in history, but have a short attention span for monuments and museums.
Ds1 likes cities, DS2 likes marine life/animals.
I like history, reading my book, sitting in the sun. Swimming if not too cold.

Given its not a whole family holiday I don't want to spend too much money. Thinking easyjet flights and apartment /hotel room.
Where would you go in late July/early August?

Marina di Venezia is a campsite with an absolutely massive swimming complex and several water slides, football academy and diving centre (you can do snorkelling instead). You can take a bus from the park and then a boat across the lagoon and spend a day in Venice. Aqualandia water park is about 16km away.

Duinrell in Amsterdam

Duinrell has a good pool complex, and theme park next to it, ideal for teenagers.

Relatively easy to drive to.

Places like Amsterdam within easy reach. Also nice sandy beach nearby, cycle paths etc.

Sorry, Duinrell in Holland

Thanks for those ideas. I have been thinking about Venice (because I like it), but not staying somewhere too busy. The water park sounds great.

If you choose Venice take them on the secret tour of the Doges Palace. Goes behind the scenes, secret passages & spy holes.

Cyprus has a lot of outdoor history such as ampitheatres & mosaics and good snorkelling in some areas.

Duinrell is perfect ! Just back from our fifth trip and we have 5 kids - 4 in their teens .
Ensure to book the Premium accomodation if you go.

Is Duinrell ferry and drive or euro tunnel and drive accessible? Is the theme park included or pay extra?

Theme park included . Water park included . We live in Dublin but one year we took the ferry from Harwich to Holland and it was a great option.
Now we just fly from Dublin .
I tend to watch Easyjet flights and they can be super value to Amsterdam.
You could also spend a night in the city . We did this the last time we went . Van Gogh, Anne Frank , Rijkmuseum .

@CakeAmbushAlert

Is Duinrell ferry and drive or euro tunnel and drive accessible? Is the theme park included or pay extra?

Yes, we’ve eurotunnel and self driven there.

Theme park etc included and I’m sure we were allowed in before the general public. We tended to use first thing and in the evening when it was quieter, and go site-seeing during the day.

@Fivemoreminutes1 Marina do Venezia looks amazing! Where do you have to fly into?

[quote passtheparsnips]@Fivemoreminutes1 Marina do Venezia looks amazing! Where do you have to fly into?[/quote]
Venice - Lots of others in that area as well. St Angelo , Garden Paradiso,Union Lido Europa Campoing village

Palma.

Lots of history, easy cycle routes, sea swimming, water parks, good food. It’s very very cheap on Ryanair

@Rosa thank you - I’ll check out the other places. We want to go to Venice again but not for a whole week so a place with pools for the kids to stay with a couple of day trips is ideal for us.

Riva Del Garda. Reasonably priced hotels, water sports on the lake and a lovely, safe lakeside promenade into beautiful Riva where they can go off by themselves into cafes, shops etc. we had 2 teen holidays here and loved it.

Brittany is lovely. My 15 year old son loves it there. Kayaking on canal, snorkeling and body boarding in sea, lots of markets and cafes. I found a go ape thing too, switch pools, table tennis and petange is free in most parks too, just take bats and balls.

Pressed too soon. Easy to get to Brittany Ferries overnight cabin. Lots of nice restaurants. I like Morlaix and it has a pretty port to wonder around, pub en route.

@Fivemoreminutes1 is the Venice site doable without a car, or would you need to hire one? Thanks

Brittany or the Vendee? Take the overnight ferry to Le Havre and it's 4-7 hours depending on location. Plenty of self catering options

[quote floppybit]@Fivemoreminutes1 is the Venice site doable without a car, or would you need to hire one? Thanks [/quote]
We did Lido di Jesolo and Cavallino without a car and then on to Venice for the final few nights.

The bus service from the airport was pretty good and then the ferry across into Venice.

@passtheparsnips @floppybit
We flew to Treviso, then took a bus to the campsite.
I’m fairly certain that everything you could need would be in the central shopping area consisting of restaurants and an impressive range of shops. A reasonably priced on-site shop had essentials alongside fresh pastries, fridge and freezer options, cleaning equipment and toiletries. In addition, there were souvenir shops, a market which seemed to pop up at night with local sellers, wine and a fantastic fish shop selling everything from filleted pieces to octopus.
Everyone there seems to have a bike - either their own or hired from the site. It makes perfect sense as the site is so big and also enables you to explore the local area, including the port, only a mile away. We cycled to a nearby lighthouse (about 2 km down a quiet road) and to the town of Ca’Savio (2 to 3km, depending on the route you take and whether or not you get lost on the way home, ahem).
If you don’t want to hire a bike, the campsite bus takes you to the boat departure point for just a couple of euros.

@Fivemoreminutes1 thank you! we've shown it to the children and they are desperate to go, so that's our summer holiday sorted!

@Riverlee @FoodieToo thanks fo Duinrell tips- when would be best to visit out of Easter, May half term or Oct half term? Also how best to travel between central Amsterdam and the site?

Any other advice for first time visitors there, thanks

Parking in Amsterdam can be a nightmare, so we parked-and-ride, near the Ajax stadium if I remember correctly.

I guess anytime would be good. We went summer school holidays with us, but I’ve got friends who regularly (pre covid) went during October half term.

@Riverlee sorry another question - did you book with Duinrell directly or through an agent?

Some great ideas here.
Duinrell seems quite expensive (£1500 for the week) , if you're staying in the bungalows in summer...
I am still really tempted by Venice but I don't fancy camping.
Is it too hot/muggy in July/August?
Ideally I would like to fly/train and avoid driving or hire cars.