Post GCSE weekend away

[mightyducks]

Hi all, I’ve said I will take my DS on a weekend away abroad after his GCSE’s , he’s been poorly and very stressed over his exams, but now I have absolutely no idea where to take him! He’s really into nature and animals and doesn’t like anywhere overly crowded or noisy. Hoping someone will have some inspiration for me! Thanks

are you wanting to go straight away post GCSEs? Any idea of budget? Where can you fly from?

How warm / not warm would you want it to be?

We took ours to Malaga. Good food, sunshine, beach and chill. They loved it.

would also recommend Valencia or Budapest

Beekse Bergen safari park in the Netherlands

Maybe the Alps? Austria, or Slovenia?

Looking to go end of June , budget £700 ish , flying from Manchester , nowhere too hot

There are cheap flights from Manchester to Gothenburg, although not at great times! Really pretty city, could get out in some boat trips around the archipelago. Can recommend the Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel or Hotel Eggers.

Similarly pretty cheap flights from Manchester to Billund, Denmark. Your DS is probably a bit old for most of the attractions in Billund (unless he’s a Lego fan) but it’s easy to get to one of the coastal towns like Esbjerg by bus. There’s the Wadden Sea National Park where you can go seal watching (they use the sandbanks to have their young) as well as birds, you can go on trips to islands like Fano (which is so pretty) or Mando (where they do dark night sessions, although I guess June wouldn’t be the time to do that!). Can recommend A Place To Hotel in Esbjerg.

OO, will you hire a car if you fly? Or take a car by ferry or tunnel if going to Northern France/Belgium/Netherlands?

Or will you need to rely on public transport?

We’ll be using public transport

I think western Europe might be tricky on £700, may need to think outside the box. Bratislava is always cheap, flights very affordable end of June, and then take the train to Vienna for culture, or some hiking in the Slovakian hills. Though Vienna might be too busy for him. Zagreb also has super cheap flights at that time of year, temperature was fine in August so June should be OK, and then visit Plitvice Lakes national park by bus or tour, or cross into Slovenia by train, we loved Slovenia.

That sounds amazing!