If we liked Lake Garda…

[Flockameanie]

Where can we go this summer?
DC 11 & 8.

We did a cheap and cheerful hol to a holiday park type place in Lake Garda last year and were surprised by how much we enjoyed it. What we liked - kids were entertained (pool, evening entertainment), cheap and good food (Italy), easy to get off site to nice town for dinner and interesting cultural/historical sites, pretty landscape/ area, not too horribly touristy.

where else might we like? Europe, late August, bonus points if we can get away without renting a car.

The campsites (where you sleep in air conditioned static caravans) are all over Europe and fab. Loire valley was amazing (really surprised me as I’m one who loves beaches but the pools were fab and architecture gorgeous).

there’s many along the coast by Venice and you can get a boat across to Venice… that might be our trip in 2025.

We loved Lake Garda, also love Croatia. Surrounded by water and can island hop. Lots of islands depending on your preference. We did have a car but prefer to tour.

There's a site at the far end of Lake Bled in Slovenia. Or one near Lake Bohinj, iirc.

Bulgaria

www.myguidebulgaria.com/travel-articles/a-piece-of-heaven-in-balchik

Lake Annecy is absolutely beautiful, we stayed in the Old Town but we saw quite a few campites dotted around the lake. I gather it is very accessible from Geneva Airport by public transport - there are quite a few threads here about it.

Lake Constance (known as the Bodensee in German) is a beautiful Lake in Southern Germany which has many wonderful areas to stay suitable for families. It's gorgeous in the summer.

Comprising three bodies of water it is mostly in Germany but also borders Austria and Switzerland and is close to Liechtenstein - so is known as the 4 Countries Region.

I have never found an area that is over developed, its very beautiful, clean, and has lots for families to do

Family hotels are also very popular in Germany which are all inclusive with food & lots of activities included pools etc suitable for families.

An example of a family hotel in the area
https://www.bodenseeferien.de/unterkunft/hotel-hofgut-tiergarten-aulendorf-5065/

Here are some examples for camping
https://www.camping.info/en/popular-region/lake-constance

Things to do
https://dreamplanexperience.com/holiday-in-lake-constance-germany/

An example of the beautiful towns around the Lake
https://www.tripsavvy.com/meersburg-germany-travel-planning-guide-1508632

In terms of not renting a car you would just need to do some research and find accommodation close to one of the lakeside Towns within walking distance with good public transport links. Public transport is excellent in Germany. Zurich in Switzerland is the nearest airport. In Germany most people under 50 have a good understanding of English and many are fluent.
www.constance-lake-constance.com/plan-book/getting-here/public-transport

Great post @ReachingLighthouse. I would love to go to Germany again and love the look of Bodensee.

I found on school language trips that people would start practising their English in response to my terrible German 😆

German people always say "excuse me for my terrible English" or "I only have "school" English" and then proceed to speak fluently to you in English 😂

I was thinking Croatia… Islands look beautiful

Amazing thanks!

Yes I remember that from my German exchange. The dad claimed he hadn’t learned English since high school, but his English was better than my German by far!

Lake Balaton in Hungary is lovely and lots of little towns and villages along it you can visit.