1st wk July (2024!) somewhere cooler ?

[medianewbie]

Intended to book last min somewhere warm but Dd has ASD (quite sensory) & is ginger. We just chatted & she's worried she'd spend a lot of time in the aircon hotel room missing out. I don't want that for her. I want her to be happy.

Clearly I need to go to travel agent
(as not travelled in years so no confidence booking myself unless a package) but does anyone know please

Are there cheap as chips last min trips anywhere cooler from UK during July (2× adults, 1 x 16 y/o who turns 17 on 20 July). Happy to go anywhere for 7 days +. Can travel 28 June onwards.
Flexible re self catering / boats / anything. But not Med-hot, pref not too much walking (she's hypermobile too).

Do you want a city break / more rural / countryside?

How warm do you want it to be?

I would be looking at Northwest France / Northwest Spain / Alps / Slovenia - maybe the Netherlands / Germany / Scandinavia

Thank you @cherryassam prob happiest around 18-24° ?
Not France (don't speak French).
City hopping around North Europe/ Scandinavia fab (but prob pricey!)

Defo up for a European trip somewhere Prague ? Switzerland ? A Spa would be nice. I've only got £2.5k to spend tho.
Can't drive. Could fly / train / boat.

We're just looking at flights to Salzburg and then a week in a mountain resort - flights are very reasonable so coming in under 2k for 12 nights.

Book flight on ryanair.
Book train transfer from airport on Trainline.
Book hotel on booking com.
Really easy and about 1k cheaper than package.

I agree that Austria sounds like it would fit nicely, there are spa hotels that sound like they would fit the bill. It’s really not my area of expertise but I know there are posters on this board who know a lot more

Hof van Saksen in the Netherlands is an excellent holiday park. We booked cheap Easyjet flights to Amsterdam and then got the train directly from Schipol airport to Assen train station. This cost approx €60 and took 1h50. Then we jumped in a taxi for a 15 min journey to the resort. There’s enough to do onsite to keep you busy for a week. It has an indoor pool with slides, spa (which does treatments for under 17s), teen hangout, laser tag, bowling, themed academies including crafts, cooking, coding…. I could go on!

You don’t need French for most tourist places in France. La Rochelle/Ile de Re could suit

Or maybe Lake Garda/ other Italian lakes (can get hot but less likely than the Med)

City breaks do tend to involve a lot of walking…

Thanks for great ideas (& encouragement to book directly). Somewhere N. Europe seems ideal but Is Budapest expensive? Dd likes the look of the big fancy public spas. It might have enough history to keep us happy & it looks beautiful too.

Budapest is lovely and while not cheap as such, reasonably priced compared to France or Switzerland. But it's not Northern Europe and like Prague, can get quite hot in July, it was over 30 most days in July last year.

Baltics? Easy to combine with Scandinavia. Fly to Riga (Ryanair or Air Baltic), then take a bus to Tallinn (about 20 eur per person, and buses are very good and comfortable), then ferry from Tallinn to Stockholm? If you want more, train from Stockholm to Copenhagen. Plenty of history, and also nature and beaches. Everybody speaks English.

I would also be concerned about Budapest being too warm - and of course the thermal pools are then warmer on top.

Not France (don't speak French).

You might be surprised at the level of English spoken by many French people these days. Anyone under 35 in France who does not have a good grasp of English knows that they can forget about a career apart from perhaps in local government. Of course they usually still have the outrageous accent, but it's not like 30 or 40 years ago where 80% genuinely wouldn't understand a word you said and 19% would pretend not to. So maybe look at Normandy or Brittany, not too far to travel and weather like Cornwall.

Gerardmer in the Vosges mountains. We went in the summer holidays and it was a maximum of 22 but pleasant.

Or maybe Lake Garda/ other Italian lakes (can get hot but less likely than the Med)

It is likely to be about 30 degrees in Lake Garda in July.

Northern Spain, The Azores, Madeira?

Or why not stay in the UK?
Northumberlnd, Shropshire, North Wales, North Norfolk.

@RampantIvy I've promised them a trip abroad - preferably on a plane.

Ireland?

Oh wow great you speak all the Scandinavian languages!