Europe too hot in July for young children?

[Gameofmoans81]

I’ve been looking at holidays in Corsica, Portugal, Spain etc for July but my friend has really put me off as she thinks it will be too hot. She went to Sardinia last year in July and said they couldn’t leave the house, burnt their feet walking to the pool, burnt faces while in the pool and the littlest got heat exhaustion sat in the shade! She’s said she’ll never go later than May now.
I love a warm sea and sunny beach but now I’m worried it will be too much for our 4 year old. What were people’s experiences last year? Were they similar?
I know forecasts say this year will be even hotter.
We’re going to Slovenia in April so don’t really want to replicate the lakes/Northern Europe holiday again in the summer - I really want some beach time! Where is lovely but maybe not so hot?
thanks!

Go to the beach early. Then back for a dip in the pool. Lunch and a siesta. Back to the pool. Factor 50, shade, hats, drinks.

Exactly this…your friend sounds like she underestimated the heat and managed it poorly. There’s no excuse for children getting burnt especially in water

As children live there year round, of course it's not too hot!

If you mean can you sit on the beach for 6 hours through the middle of the day, no you need to use common sense, Spanish kids are playing in the parks at 10pm and siesta at the hottest point of the day. You need to adjust if it's very hot

Oh and the beach in the late afternoon/early evening is idyllic-we go to Portugal, and that’s when all the locals go. You need to live like a local in the heat, not try to keep your UK routine and timings

It really depends where. Southern Spain? Hard work; it hits 40. Most of Portugal? Lovely, just stay out of the sun at midday. Live like a local, do something in the day, have a long lunch, go the beach in the afternoon and stay until the early evening.

Alternatively look at the west coast of france, less guaranteed weather wise but a bit cooler generally. I also liked Gijon on the Spanish Atlantic coast

You could try the west coast of France as this is likely to be sunny but not as hot as Spain or Portugal at that time of year.

Having been through some heat waves in southern France with young DC, I'm with you OP -- of course you can manage the heat, but it's not the most enjoyable holiday having to deal with it, stay inside much of the day, etc. (unless you really love the heat)

Maybe something like the Vendee? Nice beaches, it still gets warm in the summer but not usually unbearable

These days we usually go to Med sites in April and more northern places in the summer

We went to Spain in the summer school holidays last year and it was very hot. We had a great time but said it was just a bit too hot. I've been to Spain in May half term, still hot but more comfortable.

It's one of the reasons people in hot countries never have children.

Forgot to say, you'll have to wear something on your feet on the beach in July because the sand is unbearably hot.

This exactly late nights, early mornings and siestas or relaxation for all in the hottest part of the day.

I would stay somewhere on the coast with a cooling breeze and also unlike your friend test the ground yourself and if necessary insist on shoes.

Shoes for the sand, factor 50 for the skin and a sun hat. It's fine.

In my experience the DC are better suited to the heat than adults.

Saying that kids live there all year is just stupid. The op isn't thick.

I find some parts of Europe way to hot in July. So does my youngest. So I would only go abroad in May or September.

We struggle in this country over about 24

We go in august 😂 you've just got to manage it well with little ones. Take it easy, we were up early ish, could go to the beach or for a walk etc, then in the heat of the day went to a mall or supermarket shop (we self cater with a car) or had a nap! Then back to the beach at 3ish for sunset. Just don't get burnt on the first day!!

I’ve been looking at holidays in Corsica, Portugal, Spain etc for July but my friend has really put me off as she thinks it will be too hot. She went to Sardinia last year in July and said they couldn’t leave the house, burnt their feet walking to the pool, burnt faces while in the pool and the littlest got heat exhaustion sat in the shade! She’s said she’ll never go later than May now.

Of course last summer was on current evidence somewhat of outlier for a lot of Europe.

I know there's talk of change but the countries mentioned and others adjacent to the Med have had some carp weather (as in cold/wet) in Spring/Summer in the past and chances are that might well happen again..

TBH be thinking along the lines of some other posters...maybe stick with your planned destinations but be prepared to change the daily routine (beach, bed times etc) if it does turn out hot.

Never had a problem with ours, she's very fair so lots of f50, good amount of pool time, swim hats, lots of chilled fruit to help keep cool and hydrated, hotels we've been to do slushy drinks which she loves, she also sucks ice cubes, water shoes for walking round the pool/beach, stops them potentially cutting their feet on something as well as protecting them from the hot floor.
Just don't do anything strenuous during the heat of the day, any walks go first thing or late afternoon.

My kids struggle with walking around in the heat but are happy in the pool and wandering to the beach if nearby. Air con in rooms gives a break from the heat. DS was still napping, so that gave us a natural break in the day.

We went to Corsica most years with young children. Villa had air con and siestas were taken. Beach from 3pm - 6pm is lovely but trying to remain there all day would be actually quite unpleasantly hot

England was too hot to be out on a beach at noon last summer

I think it depends on the type of holiday you like. We were in Lake Garda in July last year and it was far too hot (from approx 10am to 6pm) for my 11 year old (he does have asd so that may be a contributory factor).
Most previous replies are referencing beach/ pool but none of us like spending more than a few hours there. We prefer getting out and about and doing some sight-seeing etc so I think we'll be avoiding most of Europe in July and August in future.

It's fine. We tend to have lazy mornings, lunch at the house and then it's 2pm before we hit the beach, but we stay til sunset, then go to a taverna, dinner til about 10 and then home. Kids sleep late because they're not getting into bed til 11. If they're tired at dinner and small, they can sleep draped over you or if you're lucky you'll find a place with sofa sort of seats so that they can lie down. Be armed with an ipad or something they can watch cartoons on quietly when they start to fade.

For years we were carrying both our sleeping kids out of tavernas at 11. It was brilliant. It actually got a bit more annoying when they hit 11/12 because they had OPINIONS about this strategy.

10am - 2pm is just too hot at the beach where we go (very southern Europe - hugely hot).

As others have said - last summer was not a normal summer - there were massive heat waves across Europe including the UK.

I'd expect a swing back to normal temperatures this summer.

We tended to get up early then nap in the room after lunch to avoid the heat when the DC were younger

To burn feet, you'd have to walk around with no shoes on, surely?
Yes, it would be hot, but you can adapt to what the locals do. Stay indoors or in shade and out of the pool during the hottest part of the day.
If you really don't want to go somewhere overly warm, Norway has a gorgeous coastline though.