For the first time, my mum is taking the kids for a full week in July or August. Factoring in time getting them to her, that gives us 5 full days of freedom- but also 5 days in which everything will be rammed and expensive due to school hols. We're in London.
Would prefer not to fly (climate and I have to fly loads for work). Ideas so far include:
-Ferry to Normandy and cycle a chunk of the Velo Maritime, stay in random French towns. Fun but possibly hard to find accommodation for 1 night in different towns (although not that fussy).
-Bikes on the train to Calais (le shuttle is cheap for cyclists) then on somewhere else on the Calais side/Belgium/Netherlands
-Budapest (been before, love it, but not enough time for train so would need to fly and likely HOT).
What would you do? Also open to the UK, maybe some hiking? We're on the active side, but a city break with lots of walking about would also be great. Budget is budget to moderate (for reference we have YHA membership). We used to do loads of long distance cycling pre kids and miss it hence the focus but open to ideas! I'm a very keen swimmer so bodies of water are also great.