European sun but not too hot in July

[Pickaholidayformeplease]

Anyone recommend anywhere not too hot in July?

Me and DS (10), DH is working.
Maybe somewhere with a kids club where he can make friends?
Somewhere with day trips/things to see, he loves castles/museums/anything historical
Somewhere with amazing food
Max 5 hour flight

Not even sure where to start tbh. Open to all suggestions!

Thanks very much everyone for all the suggestions. It is greatly appreciated.

I think I have narrowed it down to

Copenhagen
Bergen
Back to Holland again, destination TBC
Lisbon
Palma (too hot?)
or
waiting til the last minute and booking somewhere in the sun (not a great idea I think)

We lived in Copenhagen for 20 months and had a lovely July - sunny and around 24 degrees. Lots to do and even if rained it's got great malls and museums

That sounds perfect weather!

La Rochelle or Loire valley for that temperature. Both fantastic.

I would have thought Lisbon amd Palma might be too hot, as might the French Alps (we were there last year in mid July and it was 30+ every day and up to 38 on some). I'd agree Copenhagen would be good.

If you can fly from Edinburgh, jersey flights by Easyjet are very reasonable and should be able to find a hotel around the £1000-1500 mark. Temperature should be just right and looks like there is loads to do - hope so anyway as thats where we are going.

Brittany. Either north coast or further down the Atlantic coast. Lots of old towns and castles to see. Beaches if you want them. Food is obviously good. Normandy is equally as good. Go on the ferry.

Lisbon will be hot! Ditto Majorca. Northern Spain might be ok. I think everywhere is 5 degrees higher temps than you think!

Ireland obviously has everything. Easy for you to get to!

I also think guaranteed dun equals bloody hot in July. No escaping it!

Copenhagen is really expensive, so with a modest budget I'd strike that off your list straight away. I think I'd look at packages and compare them with what you'd pay for a budget flight and either a B&B or rental apartment. Lisbon is lovely, you can walk or talk public transport everywhere, it shouldn't be too hot. I'd look at the beach towns nearby too - Cascais and Estoril - but July is high season so I don't know about prices.

Baltic countries or Baltic Germany/Poland? Bulgaria?

Lisbon is hot in July! Everywhere is hot in July south of the uk. Even in the uk!

We went to the Belgian coast last year, weather was perfect. we stayed in de Panne and went to Bruges on the train plus there is a tram that travels the length of the coast from French to Dutch border. De Panne has a theme park and indoor waterpark

My friend went to the Belgian coast last summer for a milder holiday and it was boiling! And the uk type unbearable heat. I find it better to go somewhere hot that is set up for it . Or risk it and do last minute once you know the weather forecast!

Thank you everyone for your helpful suggestions

We are off to Southern Holland again... It will be good fun but holiday changed completely as now going with other family members and their needs to be taken into account too. However I will take notes for next year!!

I live part time in Lisbon and in July it can easily be between 30-40 degrees - we once had nearly 48! Not always, but it would definitely be a risk. If you don't want too much heat then I would look at French Atlantic coast, it's much cooler.