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!

Mull in the May half term hols. We did that with our teenage DD, she insisted on a repeat the next year.

We organised Iceland and booked everything via booking.com

self drive though. It was a brilliant trip in August

Agree it's beautiful but we've done Scotland a lot, most recently Skye.

Northern Portugal. Hire a car and drive between Porto, Lisbon, Coimbra, loads of other interesting towns, the Douro Valley, coastline. There’s a national park as well. All quite close together so no long drives.

We've booked Jersey for this Summer and I think it would tick most of your boxes - not going with DS16 though as he is off to SA with school rugby trip

Hopefully not too hot - I've ruled out most of mainland Europe in summer for this reason.

There are things to do, but apparently most of the island can be covered by bus or electric bike.

We're also planning to go across to France for a few days, but you could just do a day trip for a bit of variety. Can also do day trip to Guernsey.

Flights were cheap, accommodation is not super cheap, but reasonable if you're able to book for a full week with one of the agencies.

Hire a car and drive around Slovakia or Montenegro. We did this and just booked the first and last night and then just stopped in hotels wherever we liked. Makes it a bit of an adventure.

Done Jersey too

Really like the idea but not the insecurity of not knowing if we'd find a bed. We did this in New Zealand before kids and loved it but I need more

Posted too soon! Need more of a defined plan!

So far this is my preferred option with flights from Manchester.

Interrail type holiday - OR rent a canal boat in France. The trip the Camargue towards Beziers is simple and fabulous and mixes countryside with beach type resorts.

Wholeheartedly second Slovenia.
The capital Bled is a beautiful small city and the lakes are a short drive away and utterly beautiful. It's clean, stunning scenery, plenty of activities and walks to do.
Also not a long drive down to Croatia, Rovinj in particular is fabulous.
Can't wait to go back one day.

Go to the Alps. Either France or Austria. This summer we have cheap flight to Munich then a hire car drive to a ski resort in Austria that keeps its chair lifts open in the summer.

Hopefully you enjoyed Jersey @nancyglancy .
If it's any help we were torn between Jersey and Iceland. From the description I think you'd enjoy Iceland.

Or skip the trip abroad this summer and save up for Canada next summer. DS absolute favourite holiday ever was Vancouver- Tofino ( Vancouver Island) - Whistler - Canadian Rockies. It's not cheap, but it's an incredible holiday.

The Azores. Sand is black so not a typical beach resort. Amazing fumeroles, beautiful towns, you can do 4X4 tours, riding tours. Then island hop to a different island. Lots of amazing walks- hedgerows made of hydrangeas. There are warm volcanic pools to swim in. Best holiday.

If you like the idea of a rail trip, we used Tailor Made Rail last summer - they booked everything for us - rail from our local station to London, one night in Paris, then down to Switzerland (Rhaetian Alps) - two nights in each of 3 hotels, then back via Basel and Brussels. We gave them the dates we could do and broadly where, and they did the rest. It was very good value (certainly when compared to the ski trip we've just booked for half term - gulp!)

I'll look at this thank you.

Austrian Alps for lakes and mountains and loads of stuff to do (hiking, rafting, Go-Ape parks, paragliding, swimming in clear lakes, mountain biking, easy e-biking ...) possibly plus Northern Italy, Slovenia or Croatia. Fly Manchester to Salzburg or Scotland to Munich, then train or hire car.

Alternatively Eurostar or ferry + train to Amsterdam, then Nightjet overnight train to Salzburg.

Or an Interrail trip around Europe.

For all things to do with trains to and in Europe, look at The Man in Seat 61 website (Seat61.com).

Man in Seat 61. Head to Paris (or Brussels, or Amsterdam) on the Eurostar, then decide which direction you want to go. For cheaper, head towards Eastern Europe. Take the odd sleeper train for adventure (and to save a night's hotel). Decide on your preferred destinations, e.g. Prague, and have extra fun planning your route. Don't always go to the main cities, and you'll find more beautiful, and cheaper places. Ask for recommendations. I'd suggest a few days in Luhačovice and/or Kroměříž for instance.

Thanks all. Given us some good ideas.

Snowdonia? Beautiful hiking, we loved llanberis, museums to visit there, lots of activities like zip lining and white water rafting. You might well have already done it though.

Faro/Lisborn, and don't go to beach? Plenty other places to visit there? Eastern Algarve is interesting.

We went to the Isles of Scilly last summer. Absolutely loved it. If the teens don't like walking that much (even though it's gorgeous there as it's mainly coastal walks), you can hire bikes, electrical bikes, golf buggies; we stayed on St Mary and did boat trips to some of the other islands;
The islands are pretty safe, so teens could independently set off on excursions.

Best ever holiday according to my teens was the one we did to Canada. 3 weeks and stayed in 4 different places. they still talk about it now as the best ever. they also enjoyed Sicily - east and south is best.

We went to Zell am See, Austria last year- loads to do, the ski lifts are open and there are loads of summer activities at the top plus loads of walking trails, mountain biking etc. Fab outdoor pools with slides etc everywhere, plus paddleboarding on the lake. Scenery is stunning, flights to Salzburg or Innsbruck are not too expensive and accommodation is fairly cheap too - we stayed in a great Airbnb chalet in August, loads of availability too as its busier in Ski season.