Summer holiday - beach, not too hot, interesting sights

[emsmum79]

I'm stumped - been to Turkey on last couple of holidays but we'd like to go somewhere different. Need much the same that Turkey has to offer - good beaches and pools, lovely hotels, plenty of history and or beautiful scenery - but not as hot. Elderly parents coming this time and they struggle with the heat.
Places and/or hotel recommendations gratefully received.
I'm losing the will to live and nowhere seems to have as good value for money as Turkey!

We love the Amalfi Coast in ltaly but only in June as it gets far too hot after that. As do most places.

Define too hot? We go go to then Balearics in school holidays, can be pushing 35 but there is a breeze. Also La Rochelle region in France, 40, no breeze and brutal.

Good point! High 30s would be too hot for my parents. We are confined to July for our holidays which does make it tricky.

Having researched this extensively myself there is no clear answer. It's either go somewhere sunny but boiling or cooler weather but risk rain. Would your parents be up for somewhere like Cornwall or the Netherlands? Obviously not guaranteed beach weather every day but temperatures are pleasant and lots of exploring to do.

Northern Spain? My parents have been a few times and said it's very beautiful and not generally too hot (although I think it did get hit by an unusual heatwave last summer).

La Rochelle is generally southern English weather plus a few degrees. So yes if UK is having a heatwave and is mid 30s then La Rochelle will see 40 but this is pretty rare. More risk of rain/grey skies than heatwave I’d say.

Alps would be a good bet - again you can get really high temps but it’s rare compared with the Med, and it tends to cool down in the morning and evening even if hot in the day. Annecy and surrounds perhaps? Dolomites could also work, could combine with Lake Garda. Again it may be hot but definitely less chance of super hot compared with Turkey.

Portugal? We roasted in Greece one year and neighbours recommended Portugal instead.

North Spain coast? It’s lovely around Comillas, sandy beaches, trips inland to the mountains.

Northern Spain - Galicia is interesting, spectacular scenery, history, lovely food. Can be rainy though.

Or northern Portugal? Around Lourinhã or São Martinho do Porto gives you access to places like Lisbon and Obidos.

We're off to Majorca. Can get quite hot during mid afternoon but morning and evening is lovely

Normandy , Vendee/Ile de France, Brittany

Thanks for all the recommendations everyone. Great ideas - research starts now!

We usually go to Majorca in August but we wanted to try somewhere less hot this year. We’ve decided on Lake Annecy as there are beautiful old towns and villages to visit and lovely lake beaches. We also considered the Dordogne but not sure if that would still be too hot? We’ve been in June and it was lovely. We’ll go back to Spain over Easter to enjoy some culture and sunshine with much milder temperatures!

You cannot find the same service quality and availability of everything as easy as in Turkey but I understand the heat since I cannot bear it as a Turkish/ Greek soul.
What I do is moving holiday date to Start of October or End of September since it is still quite hot there and lovely but kids' school is of course an issue

Unfortunately, for the last 5 years, Greece, Turkey, Southern Spain and Southern Italy and a bit Southern France has been extremely hot.