Recommend me a European holiday destination please.

[Heartstopper]

Just for me and dh. We are free to travel at any time apart from Easter and Christmas. We don't do beach or resort holidays. We are more into culture, history, impressive scenery, hiking or sightseeing.

Previous holidays we have enjoyed: Sorrento, Normandy, Bavaria/Austria, Tuscany, Rome. In fact we really like Italy, so we are erring towards going back, maybe to Sicily or the southern tip of the boot but also I wonder if we would do better going to another country.

Any recommendations of holidays you have been on and think we might enjoy? TIA

Slovenia?

Andalusia. Seville, cordoba, Cadiz, Ronda, the alhambra (slightly further afield). October/November is glorious weather

Meant to add, what is there to do/ see in the place you recommend? I am not always very familiar with what a place has to offer.

Agree with you re Sicily. You could hike Mount Etna and maybe even take the ferry over to the Aeolian Islands for a bit of island hopping. You can hike Stromboli and Panarea. Vulcano and Lipari are also lovely. There are some amazing historic sites in Sicily aswell and the scenery around Castelmola and Taormina is incredible.

Or the French Alps maybe basing yourself somewhere like Annecy. You can take a day trip to Charmonix to take the cable car near Mont Blanc and there is beautful scenery and hiking around Lake Annecy.

How about Madiera? Its dubbed the European Hawaii because of its spectacular scenery.

It's on my list for that reason and the hiking is meant to be fantastic.

Is there much of historical interest in Madeira? I was thinking it was too far away but a quick Google map search shows it is no further than Eastern Europe.

Can I ask for any ideas of places in Eastern Europe? Dh knows the Czech Republic quite well but I've never been to any old eastern block countries. And how about Germany (not Bavaria). Anyone had a great holiday there?

Forgot to include French Alps as a destination we have been to a couple of times. But what about southern France? Any good?

I've been eyeing up Slovenia. Not considered it before but it looks like a contender for our next holiday.

lake maggiore Italy, also close to Switzerland you can spend a few days in Zermatt

Some really good recent vacations were Nice (surprisingly affordable, walkable and charming), Brussels (fantastic shopping, quirky museums, lovely late night atmosphere) and Puglia (trulli, cave walking, some spectacular restaurant visits)

I was going to suggest this area

I was going to suggest Madeira. I have a small child so I can't really do hiking right now, but it's so beautiful.

Krakow? History, culture, places to hike.

Agree with many of the above esp Andalusia. Or Verona then Lake Garda. Use the ferries to zig zig across the lake visiting all the little lakeside towns.

Bavaria, has all of your requirements

Athens or Crete (or both easily done in same trip)

Puglia! That was the area I was meaning when I said the boot of Italy. What time of year did you go and what was the weather like?

Yes, Krakow has been on my radar for a while. Is it naive to be worried about it because of the situation in Ukraine?

Off to Google Slovenia...

Puglia is lush. Similar to southern Sicily in that it's arid with fabulous baroque towns dotted around. I went in May, it was around 30 degrees most days. Stayed in Otranto, had trips to Lecce which is such beautiful place. If you've not been to Sicily then that is also a must visit.

Slovenia was glorious when we visited this summer (only on a day trip from Italy). We went to the famous Postojna caves and the Prejama Castle. I was so impressed with how beautiful and well-organised everything is and how similar it is to Austria in many ways.

But OP - you also asked about the South of France and I must say the best European holiday I have ever had was when my mum and I took a spontaneous last minute trip to Cannes and Nice and also went on a day trip to Monaco to play in the casino 😄Loved absolutely everything about it!

Yes South of France could tick a few of your boxes. The Gorge du Verdon is spectacular.

Dubrovnik is fantastic for a city break.

Krakow is beautiful and I recommend it in all these threads. I was there about a week after the invasion of Ukraine and it was fine. At the time the train stations and airport were full of people fleeing, but the Polish response was very moving, and it ultimately didn’t really have a huge impact on our trip.

Malta has lots of history and nice scenery and architecture etc. It's fairly easy to get round too and is a fairly safe and friendly place (from my experience).

Dordogne, France has a ton of history.
If summer, Scandinavia can be combined with Baltics, also a lot to see.

Krakow is lovely! I thoroughly enjoyed my trip. And I was in Sicily in the summer and it was just fab. Much better than j expected. I've also had terrific holidays in Croatia and in Sweden. I'm looking at Sweden again for this year. Love it there!

I can't tell you about the history OP but I'm sure there are some places of interest.

Sound like you have some great ideas to research!

Another suggestion is Chania region of Crete. There is history in abundance, beautiful beaches and fantastic views. We stayed in a villa in a village called Vamos - it had fantastic tavernas, a local cooking school and views over the white mountains that are ideal for hiking/cycling.

Chania itself is a fantastic place to explore.