Where in Europe should i go next year?

[ThedaBara]

Currently in Spain, visiting some family. It's lovely but realistically far too hot to be enjoyable. 40c most days.
We have to go away in mid Aug, would like to be near a good swimming spot (sea or maybe lake). Went to Wales last year and it was beautiful, but worried about going in the water due to potential for pollution. Bonus if it's as child friendly as Spain is!

We are going to Austria next summer for the same reason . THere are fab hotels and lots to do for kids .

Kinderhotels or Familotels in the Alps are great - lots of activities for kids, range of different locations, sizes of hotels, etc. I'm also a big fan of Belgium and Holland, which are great countries for summer holidays and generally not too hot.

Annecy in France. Beautiful lake you can swim in surrounded by mountains.

Switzerland have some amazing lakes and not too hot. Austria or lake annecy in France

Northern Portugal? It’s usually significantly cooler than the south.

Ireland! Check out Killarney National Park and the Beara Peninsula. Beautiful wild beaches and secluded lakes. Nowhere better when the sun is out and you can fly straight in to Kerry airport with Ryanair.

Sweden
Norway
Iceland
Lithuanian
Jersey
Scotland

Lanzarote is 30degrees in mid August but has a lovely breeze which keeps everywhere fresh and a bit cooler. We stayed here…. https://www.onthebeach.co.uk/hotels/spain/canaries/lanzarote/costa-teguise/barcelo-lanzarote-royal-level?gclsrc=aw.ds&&mv_pc=googlecpc&CampaignID=21139475242&AdGroupID=&Keyword=&MatchType=&Device=m&AdID=&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=21139475242&utm_term=&creative=&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD_OdEOkAqPfrBcvKhy4z-KfIYqEI&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIns_rzc2BiAMV4JhQBh0sfRKoEAAYAyAAEgK3Z_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

(sorry for messy link) but it was a fabulous hotel with everything one could want.

Scandinavia. It's still warm in August, lovely beaches and lakes to swim in, child friendly, Legoland, and the best part, it's off peak in mid August so it's quite cheap and quiet!

Northern Spain. Just got back. Its not as touristy as the South. There are some nice beaches but pools and air con not common. Its not that warm. We did have a couple of hot days but we also had some UK like weather. It was a mix. Plus check carefully that the fiesta is not going to disrupt your holiday. Food and drink cheaper than the UK. Lots of play areas for dc. We enjoyed Bilbao and San Sebastian but La Rioja wine region is gorgeous. There's some lovely basque country beachy towns.

Black Forest in Germany?

Chiemgau in Germany (near Salzburg) or Zell am See in Austria.

The Kärtner lakes in Austria.

Depending how old your child is you could check out the Kinderhotels to see if anything fits.

Slovenia. Beautiful scenery, lots to do and lake swimming at Bled or the gorgeous Adriatic coast.

TBH, I’ve never understood the appeal of southern Europe in summer. DM is Provencale and I avoid visiting her at this time of year. She’s pretty pleased about that as all I do is lay under a tree complaining about how hot I am. We save Spain, Italy, Greece and Provence for springtime.

There are so many beautiful spots with fine weather to visit at this time of year. DBIL and SIL just got back from a month of beautiful weather in Ireland. We’ve enjoyed many holidays in the Alps as well as Brittany etc. It’s much better with kids than unforgiving heat and sunshine and you can actually get out and about to explore the place.

Thank you so much everyone! Had actually never considered Ireland, and Austria looks promising. Off to do some reasearch

Annecy is beautiful.

I’m in Northern Portugal right now (and visit every August.) It’s generally 30 degrees and above, so I wouldn’t holiday here if I was looking for cooler weather

Where in Northern Portugal are you?

My experience of Northern Portugal in Summer was in and around Porto. I’ve just looked up the historic weather for Porto for this August and the last two years and days that reach the 30s definitely seem to be unusual there. This year it’s only hit a high of 30 degrees or more once, last year was four days in August and the year before that only one day.

I’m in Tras-Os-Montes in North East Portugal about 3 hours from Porto. It’s beautiful, rural, we’re in the mountains but it’s been over 30 degrees every day since we got here last week. It may be a bit cooler nearer the coast.

@RMenergy That makes sense. I think the cooler air off the Atlantic really helps around Porto.