Recommend me a country

[Reluctantadult]

We'd like to go somewhere with hotter weather this year! We've never done this with kids, they are 10 & 8. We really don't know where to focus our search on. So far I've looked at Turkey, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Sicily, Croatia... Where would you recommend?! We'd like to do a mix of beach, clear waters, forest/nature, hikes/bikes, history/culture, places to mooch around, nice food. Would prefer to avoid the very big high rise hotels. Unlikely to sit on loungers by the pool every day although the kids would love water slides so it's accept it'll happen. We also might need to take Mil with us which is an extra dimension. Any suggestions really appreciated.

Cyprus, Limassol or Paphos area.

To avoid high rise, any Greek island, would especially recommend Crete or Zante.

Finally, if kids are 'quieter' types rather than screaming and diving in the pool dafties, Madeira is amazing but a bit more reserved than e.g a family resort AI in Turkey.

Croatia. Specifically Cavtat. We loved it.

Thailand. If you want countryside and beaches, they're plentiful. It's also very hot.

I'd say Sicily does it all apart from the waterslides maybe....but then again, not if you are talking August when it will be scorchio. I would do one of the big campsites in the Dordogne like Les Peneyrals or Les Avits Loisirs and this would tick all the boxes I think. There is so much to do - dinosaurs, caves, kayaking on the river, castles, gardens, food galore. Le Bugue has an aquarium and old fashioned "theme park". Dd's favourite holidays as a child.

Or a gite place such as Le Banquet - though I'd be surprised if that is not already booked up.

I've not been but have heard a lot of people rave about Slovenia

When are you going? A lot of southern Europe can be pretty toasty for sightseeing in July/August, you want hotter weather but it can be really really warm (we had 35 degrees in Paris for the Olympics). I can't sightseeing in Cyprus in summer. May is better weather wise for sightseeing but can be cool for swimming. Northern Portugal/Northern Spain has better temperatures for sightseeing in summer, but can't think of anywhere that has the water slides set-up you'd like. We did go to Slovenia last week of August in 2022 and temperature wise it actually was low/mid 20s, but suspect we may just have been lucky with the weather as 2024 was a lot warmer. Croatia is one of my favourite countries, there is loads to see from a cultural perspective, and the food is amazing, and there are definitely places with water slides, but both Croatia and Slovenia lack sandy beaches. Depends if that is important to you? It would probably get my vote anyway, you may just find you don't get much sightseeing done.

I've been to Slovenia pre kids and it's one of my favourite ever places. We want to take the kids one year but I want to fix some physical problems I have first so I can do hikes. So not this year.

When we go is also flexible, although within school hols. Easter. Summer. Even Oct half term.

Croatia. Coast for beaches and mountains like Slovenia for hiking.

If we said April or October where could we aim to get enough warmth for outdoor swimming? Still trying to do a mixed hol for kids and adults and not high rise AI hotels.