Holiday help- am I asking for the impossible?

[HardyLilacLemur]

I am looking for a holiday to go in June or September within Europe with my partner and my two year old. We would love a holiday which the destination is warm, ideally by the coast with the options for boat trips, has great food options, as well as some culture and things to do. We definitely would not enjoy sitting by the pool for a week which is why we do not like the idea of an all inclusive holiday. We recently went to Porto and Dubrovnik/cavat and really enjoyed it- so looking for similar options which are not necessarily too touristy. Appreciate any suggestions

Parga, Skiathis, Sicily, so many places

Malta might work? I haven’t been but have been looking on a friends recommendation and I think it would tick your boxes.

Or Lisbon is great!

budget?

Rhodes, stay in the old town. Not a resort. Hire a car. So much to see and do. There are probably a dozen more Greek islands that would be suitable.

Paphos - stay near the harbour. Fantastic boat trips and lots of culture with Tomb of the Kings and many archaeological sites to visit. Weather is lovely around that time to and the food in Paphos is fabulous with some fantastic traditional restaurants.

We're currently looking at the East (adriatic) coast of Italy, between Venice and Rimini, which seems to tick most of those boxes. Lots of history and culture, good food (the 'breadbasket' of Italy) and by the sea. Public transport for day trips around the area seems pretty easy too.

All these are places we went in Sep or Oct. We don't have children and Sep is cooler and less crowds!

Sicily. Flew into Palermo- markets, catacombs, parks, museums. Bus trip from Palermo to Modello beach for the day which has lots of lovely cafes. Then got a train to Agrigento. The ruins look like the Parthenon and the museum has all the artifacts. Then got a bus to Catania. The seafood and fresh food markets were amazing! We did a day trip to Syracuse. We'd read good things about Taormina, but Etna was rumbling so we did other things.

Pompeii! Someone asked we why we'd go there and I said 'why not?'. Flew into Naples. From there, we got the local train to both Pompeii and Herculaneum. All the artifcacts are also in the museum there. Stayed 3 days, then caught a fast train to Rome. Sorento is another option but we didnt stay there.

Rethymon in Crete. Easy town to walk around. Caught a bus to Heraklion to see Knossos and the museum. I've read Chania is nice too.

Malaga city- not the beach resorts along the coast. A mix of locals and some tourists, but a working town. Great restaurants. Easy to walk around, a castle, Picasso museum, beach with a boardwalk that goes for miles, recently renovated port area, cathedral, fresh food market etc. We also did a day train journey to Rhonda to see the famous bridge.

Sicily, Palermo and nearby beach towns, very warm in September, amazing food, can swim in thr sea, see a vulcano, do boat trips, lots of culture and ice cream

Mondello and Cefalu are lovely.

Crete (I would recommend Sissi) or Menorca? There will obviously be some other tourists though as they’re not exactly off the beaten track type places. But they’re popular for a reason!

How can that be difficult to find? You could find that holiday in dozens of locations in most European countries at those time of year, with the exception of the Altantic or Baltic coastlines but even there it could be quite warm.

Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Malta, Croatia etc.

What is it in particular that you need help with?

I think the only impossible will be narrowing down the choices!

You know it's not mandatory to spend the entire time by the pool on an AI holiday, right?

I agree. I also wouldn’t rule out all inclusive. Just because it’s all inclusive doesn’t mean you can’t leave the hotel! It just means you don’t have the worry of paying for food / drinks whilst at the resort. We just use the hotel as a base and go off exploring / eating wherever we wish. We mix it up between eating at the hotel sometimes and eating out at other times. We do all sorts of excursions etc. This year we will be staying at Sensatori Majorca but we are going to do lots of exploring.

Meersburg, Lake Constance has everything you want plus a stunning mountain backdrop.

If you liked Dubrovnik then look at Pula and Porec in the north. Quieter and with an Italian twist.

Lindos in Greece!