Cooler European Destinations during School Holidays

[Powerplant]

Our large family group, ages ranging from 18 months to 60s, were planning to book a villa outside of school holiday dates so could choose May or September. Now circumstances have changed and need to go within school hols. Any suggestions, within Europe, without the searing heat of July and August please?

Go to the mountains eg Morzine in France. Altitude means its less hot in day and deliciously cool at night.

Denmark?

The summerhouses there are nice.

Scandinavia? Denmark is lovely or Sweden? May still get warm though but not the heat of the Med.

Northern Germany, Alps?

Fano Island in West Jutland was very pretty. Big beach, very quiet, good cycling. Fly to Esbjerg (sp?) And hire a car to get there. I went a long time ago but can't imagine it's been developed much.

Northern Spain is much cooler than the rest of the country. Fly or ferry into Bilbao or Santander. There are gorgeous beaches and the Picos de Europa for a mountain day trip.

Some great suggestions thanks haven’t thought of Northern Spain which is somewhere I’d like to visit so will take a look.

Just a word about northern Spain - we went to the Basque country a few years ago and it was 40 degrees. It was freakishly hot, but it can happen, like it can happen here. Two summers ago, in London, it was 40 degrees one day and we had weeks of temps in the mid-30s.

But yes, altitude is good, so Alps or the Pyrenees, Scandinavia, we also really like Belgium and the Netherlands.

It was a holiday in Northern Spain which prompted me to book Scandinavia the following year as it was just too hot to do all the sightseeing we wanted. Sweden and Denmark were lovely and well worth visiting.

Northern Spain gets very hot in the summer. How about the Netherlands or Northern Germany?

Sweden, nice summer temperatures, but not hot, also still fairly quiet in the summer so nowhere is heaving, flights also don’t get expensive during the UK summer holidays. Also very very child friendly and places have very good disabled access if the slightly older members of the group have any mobility issues.

Looking at flights and air bnb for all your suggestions thanks. Would prefer location to have a beach for the little ones and restaurants bars for the older ones and we would prefer not to have to car hire. It’s snowing here at the moment so I can have a lovely time looking around.

@Poppybetty Re. Flying to Esbjerg.

There are very few flights from the UK to Esbjerg - instead the easiest airport for Fanø and the west coast of Jutland (Henne Strand, Blåvand, Vejers etc) is Billund, which also provides the opportunity to visit Legoland, Lego House, Lalandia and WOW Park [see various threads about Billund/Legoland on MN]

Summerhouses are very popular in Denmark, and August is just outside of high season for Scandinavian guests. Many houses can easily sleep 10-12. The more expensive ones have a pool and sauna. See Novasol, Dansommer or Købmand Hansen for options.

The Austrian Alps would be a good option. Fly to Salzburg and possibly rent a house - although apartments are more easily available (you could rent 2-3 apartments in the same block so that everyone gets a bit of space and there are sufficient bathrooms). Stunning scenery, plenty of interesting things for the older members of the group to see and lots of activities for the younger ones - and a very child-friendly country.

Netherlands has lovely Sandy beaches. Look at Roompot.com or Dutch Center Parcs. You could also visit Duinrell or Efteling

Wow there are some stunning homes in the Netherlands. Thanks for all your suggestions I really appreciate them.

Sopot in Poland, fly to Gdańsk and get the train.