City holiday with nice beach - Italy or Spain ideally

[Vacanza]

Hoping to get some help with this one please.
To travel in August 2025 for 7/10 days.

DD15 would like us to have a city break but with the option to have a couple of beach days. DS17 not a huge beach fan but loves a city trip. Spain or Italy top of the list due to good gluten free provision.

We used to do European Center Parcs, Eurocamp or Duinrell, places like that, but the kids are using on site facilities less and less so a hotel or apartment with easy city access would work best I think.

Looking at Venice Lido as an option but has anyone got an experience of it in August please or better suggestions?

Previously been to Barcelona, Palma, La Coruna, Cadiz, Cinque Terre. Also done some Nordic cities.

Thanks.

All holiday destinations in Italy are busy in August! Maybe look at Puglia?

Malaga is a good city with a beach as well.

Malaga city? Not the many coastal resorts, but the town itself. All walkable, there is a beach, a long promenade you can walk on for miles, museums, castle, good restaurants etc. We also did a day trip via train to Ronda to see the famous bridge. (Far more interesting that it sounds!) We found Malaga a mix of locals and tourists, unlike the towns along the coast, which felt far more Brit-abroad.

Sicily? Palermo has lots to see/do. We did a day trip to Modella beach. Lovely restaurants and if we'd known about it- would have stayed there a few days. People often rave about Cefalu, which is further from Palermo and has a beach. Sicily might be very hot in Aug though.

Alicante Malaga and Valencia are all perfect for this x

Venice is often unbearably hot in August - manageable if you're beach and poolside at Venice Lido but if you're planning on lots of trips into Venice do think about just limiting these to early morning or evening.

Forgot to add, that Malaga have a festival (feria) in Aug. Our friend lived there, but he would always travel when it was on, because it was so crowded and hotel prices really went up. It might be interesting, but worth noting if you wanted to avoid.

How about Donostia- San Sebastian?

With 7-10 days to play with, you could do a city and a beach break.

We often go down to the France/Spain border area and do 4 - 5 days in a city and then a long weekend in a beach town. This summer we went to Beziers and then Sete.

Tavira (Portugal I know) lovely place and easy to hop over to Tavira Island for the beach on a water taxi. Pretty close to the Spanish border so Seville is doable as a day trip.

Valencia

I was also going to suggest Valencia which is a beautiful city.
Or you could try the North coast, Santander, Bilbao or San Sebastian for example, or further west, Santiago de Compostela. Obviously you aren't guaranteed the weather in the same way as in the South of Spain but personally I find the heat further South is quite oppressive in August.

Lake como. So many amazing towns you can visit hopping on and off ferries but can swim in the lake. We used to sightsee in the morning and then chill on our air bnb terrace in the afternoon and go for a swim.

Valencia is another great option but 7/10 days too long to be in the one place.

Oh yes, Alicante, I stayed for work last year and it was a surprise, lovely city and nice beach!

Brilliant. Thanks for all the suggestions and tips for Venice too. I’ll start having a trawl through and see what appeals.

Thanks, this is what I was thinking. Also maybe going across later in the day at 5ish. Assume it will start quietening down slightly with day-trippers leaving.

Are you happy with intense searing heat?

DH has some lovely photos of me fainting on a vaporetto when we did Venice in August.

It will be hot and crowded.

We loved Valencia it had a lovely beach and lots of things to do.

Valencia and Alicante are both great for this