Help me find a not too hot holiday for me and teen boys in Europe in July

[thesugarbumfairy]

I'd prefer to go by train, and not drive. But those are preferences and not set in stone. Flights if taken would preferably be from Stansted or Luton. Possibly East Midlands or Gatwick.

My dates are between 20th July and 3rd August because the rest of August has already been baggsied by my team at work - but for no more than a week. Also don't want too hot - a nice 24 degrees is my ideal :) . Obviously most places will be touristy on these dates so will have to suck it up.

I'd prefer to rent a villa/apartment type place that has to have at least 2 bedrooms. The kids are 14 and 17. One is up for anything. The other rarely ventures outside. We need wifi or they will not cope.

I would like it to be relaxing but with a bit of sightseeing and some activities. I recently took DS2 to Switzerland. It was non stop and was an adventure but I needed a rest afterwards!

I don't necessarily need beach but I'd like a pool at least. I would prefer countryside but I think the boys might like a town. Gawd.

I can go up to £4k probably. Obviously I'd prefer to spend half of that!

I just don't know where to start. I was looking at France by Eurostar but I'm still flummoxed.

Can anyone throw some ideas at me?

Swedish lakes? Not too hot, trainable, not sure on £ though, but might be worth investigating.

You could think about the west coast of France - somewhere like Le Croisic you could do with the Eurostar then a TGV from Paris. I wouldn’t want to go too south if you don’t like the heat.

Or somewhere like Lake Constance/Bodensee in Germany - you could fly into Zurich then get the train.

Belgium / Netherlands might not be warm enough for you? It depends if you want it about 24 or up to 24.

Thank you will have a look at those.

French alps. You can get the train to Grenoble or Briancon. Should be easy to find accommodation in the summer (Airb&b etc) and as many activities as you want… or plenty of sun and relaxing to be done. It’s rarely that hot… and if it’s a bit warm, go up a hill!

Denmark. Get a holiday cottage by the beach but TBH we went to an aquarium at the weekend and the Danish were still very chilled. I don't think I saw a single child have a tantrum. And the cafe served adult friendly delicious food, had designer chairs and a bar. I wish I was Danish, they just do life much better than us.

Belgium and the Netherlands are very easy by train. Not too hot and lots of variety between touristy and not touristy areas.

Netherlands? We went last year did a.mixture of posh lodges on camp sites with pools etc, hotel in Amsterdam and theme parks. Had such a good time we are going again this year. We did not have great weather but it was when it was very wet at home too.. at the end of the trip was mid to high 20s..

Thanks. More stuff to investigate. I will probably rule out netherlands simply because we went to duinrell two years ago and id like to visit somewhere they havent been (which is most places really!)

Believe it or not Costa Brava (Northern Spain,) is not too bad in July. We went a few years ago end of June/early July, and the top temp was 29C. And it was a dry heat/not humid, so very enjoyable.

Of course, it could be like it was last summer and be 40C plus!!! So maybe more like Scandinavia/Denmark/North Germany? (If you don't want to take the risk.)

Stansted and Luton open up all of the budget airline destinations. Go look at Skyscanner and see what is available.

The Austrian Alps are great in July/August and not too hot. Plenty to do too - zip wires, hiking, mountain bikes, outdoor pools and lake swimming, alpine roller-coasters. Sightseeing in Salzburg. Stay in Zell am See, or Saalbach-Hinterglemm, or Kitzbuhel (or any mountain village).

Northern Germany is totally missed by Brits. Lubeck, Bad Segeberg, The Baltic coast. Readers’ favourite trips in Germany: ‘We wandered every cobbled street and climbed every gothic tower’ | Germany holidays | The Guardian

Denmark can be busy - e.g. in and around Copenhagen - or very quiet if you rent a summerhouse or cottage on the Jutland West Coast. For this, fly to Billund, don't miss Lego House, and rent a car. For the Jutland East Coast fly to Aarhus or Billund and look at Aarhus city, or the Djursland coast around Ebletoft. VisitAarhus has all the details.

I was about to suggest Zell am See in Austria

Similar to the Austrian Alps I’d recommend Bled, Slovenia. Pleasant town with masses of Alpine outdoor activities - great for teen boys! - as well as a stunning lake to swim in. You can get there by train and get around the whole country easily by public transport. Very friendly.

Brittany by ferry and car?? Start at Mont St Michel, down to carnac. Bit of wine, lots of cheese. We like Eurocamp for family hols and always treat ourselves to the posh vans with WiFi and Aircon. Some teen activities they might think not too naff....and always a good pool

PS it could be hot in the Alps; bit difficult to predict these days. But always access to cooler areas (gorges, caves, rivers).

Another Bled fan, fabulous destination, but we flew to Zagreb and then took a 3 to 4 hour train ride, not sure how long it would take by train from the UK. I feel like it's a trek but I'd like to be wrong. Also would the long ferry to Santander from the UK be an option? Then stay on the north coast, probably Bilbao is better than Santander, to avoid the heat.

Thank you for all the suggestions. I'm not actually keen on the ferry idea as I'm not a fan of open sea! Short ferry trips I don't mind. But otherwise its rail or air for me.

North of france? Amsterdam?

Yet another Bled or coastal Slovenia fan. Fly to Trieste from Stansted and then train to Bled or bus to the gorgeous coast over the border.
For train information take a look at the man in seat 61 for Slovenia as well as every other country in Europe.

The Vendee…..fly to Nantes….maybe stay somewhere like st Jean de monts….loads of caravan parks with 2 and 3 bed statics…use local buses to get about…..or hire bikes ….loads of bike paths….there’s a few climbing places like go ape…..a couple of good waterparks….nice towns and villages and lovely big beaches….can play ball games galore

Watching with interest.

It is my perennial dilemma. Most places in Europe in summer are too hot and the cooler ones too expensive to go to during the peak summer holiday months.

Last year we went to Bruge by Eurostar/train. It was pretty, pleasant weather and not too expensive.

Smaller towns are great with teens,,especially if they're well connected by train.

.

To do what?

@Kitkat1523 To do what?

Depends on what you like to do. The small town we like (Saalbach in Austria) has zip wires, Europe's largest high ropes park (like Go Ape), cable cars, hiking, mountain bikes, e-bike trails, trim-trails, treasure hunt trails on the mountain, paragliding, outdoor pools, alpine roller-coasters, mountain restaurants with homemade food and amazing views, numerous playgrounds but also plenty of peaceful places where you'll be the only people around ... Within half an hour's drive there are caves, waterfalls, white water rafting, a steam train, a veteran car museum, Austria's highest mountain (accessed by a spectacular winding mountain road), a glacier with a snow playground even in mid-summer, lakeside beaches next to a crystal clear lake ...

Like @Havanananana , Saalbach Hinterglemm is a great base for a holiday with teens. You can be as relaxed or as active as you want. Beautiful scenery too but activities do cost a lot in Austria. The ski lifts take you to the top and you can take leisurely walks or cycles back down. We did a lot of the things mentioned plus we visited spa's for relaxation (the Austrians know how to do a spa),visited the Eagles nest, a salt mine, drove up Grossglockner (highest mountain road, glacier) and stopped off at cities along the way as we pleased. Temperatures were nice and warm but cooler at night which was perfect for me. It's best to have a car to access everything but there are public buses along the valley.