Where on earth should we go?

[nancyglancy]

Want to plan a lovely family holiday... finding it impossible!

Don't like beach/pool package hols.
Two teens. Two adults.
Willing to drive but not huge amounts in one stretch (health reasons)
Like to move around different locations but not a cruise!
Don't want to have to do massive amounts of organising, ie booking loads of different accommodation.
We like walking but are not likely to persuade kids to walk every day.
All enjoy scenery, wildlife, but also cities.
We don't like it too hot.
Have enjoyed highlands of Scotland in the past.
Is this the holy grail of holidays??
Budget is moderate but not huge.

Any ideas welcome!

Ps starting point north east England.

Iceland! Can do a golden circle tour, or hire a car and explore. Lots of beautiful scenery but also stuff to do like glacier tours, pony trekking, waterfalls.

Why not a cruise, there are British Isles ones.

Thanks for replies. I like the idea of Iceland a lot. Flights are tricky from where we are though. Cruise doesn't appeal - too many stories of bugs circulating, cramped in cabin with teens, and I get seasick!

How about Croatia and Slovenia?
We've done a couple of trips where we have flown in to Split/Dubrovnik/Ljubljana and then driven our way around the coast/islands/parks

Beautiful food and scenery, lovely weather and lots of historical sights on top. Hiking/rafting/climbing/exploring all covered!

Looking into that thanks!

You can do rail holidays. I was looking at a Norwegian one recently. You fly over and they do all of the bookings of hotels.

Rail holidays

Rail holidays also would fit what we like.

French alps. Lots to do in the summer. 8 hours from Calais driving.

I would love to do a scandi one but it's a bit out of our budget at the moment. I'm sure there are less expensive ones though.

We (2 adults 1 teen) are flying to Budapest for 5 days, then taking the train to Vienna for a few days then fly back from Vienna - something like this might work for you?

The train journey is what makes it work for us as a two-centre trip - a grand total of £47 for the 3 of us including seat reservations.

So far Iceland the favourite but eye watering prices.

Also liking the rail holidays link, thanks!

Galicia (much cooler than the rest of Spain, especially near the coast), or Croatia. Bosnia is also nice and has spectacular mountains.

Train down the leg of Italy.
Stopping off at places you all fancy.
Finish in Sicily and then get the ferry to Malta and fly back from there.

French Alps. Beautiful and so much to do in the summer. Chairlifts everywhere so you can see beautiful places without having to walk up the mountain. Annecy is very pretty if you need a town.

Scandinavia. Pricey, but gorgeous, especially around the coast. I think I could holiday in the Stockholm archipelago forever.

River cruise - nothing like a sea cruise.

Canada

Taking my older teens to two Northern Italian cities. Train between the two. So many fantastic cities to choose from. Lots of air B and B available in both. Between us we like history/ food/ sightseeing/ trainer shopping / coffee / kayaking - we have managed to tick all our boxes.

I would take the ferry to Bilbao and book 3-4 different places across northern Spain eg 4 nights in Madrid then 2 nights Salamanca, 2 nights a corona and the rest at gijon

You could get a skippered yacht charter in somewhere like Greece. If you went early or late in the season it wouldn't be too hot and would be a bit cheaper.

Have a look at easyJet holidays for Iceland. I go next week! It was about £500 cheaper for me and DD than any of the other companies. (And yes I know easyJet are cramped and meh! But it's a 3 hour flight and that's it).

Sadly we are restricted to first two weeks of summer holidays. Ireland from our closest airport direct is not possible. In fact, most of the destinations from there are beach holidays. The amazing rail trips I'm looking at are over budget. I suppose I'll have to look at booking all our own accommodation and travel. I'm still struggling though. All suggestions are hugely welcome!

Iceland not Ireland