Holiday help please! A request for something a bit different for this summer eg Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Montenegro, Albania, Bulgaria - all thoughts welcome.

[AndCallMeNancy]

Sorry for the long thread title!

The above countries are on our family wish list for this year’s summer holiday. We want to go somewhere we’ve never been before (normally we do beach holidays on the Med which I love, but DH and 10 year old DD want something a bit different and somewhere a bit less swelteringly hot in July/Aug)

We don’t do package holidays or big resorts or hotels usually, prefer to Airbnb/self cater and do our own thing, although not adverse to shared pool complexes or small hotels especially as DD is getting older.

We would like to get away for 10-14 days, relax, see somewhere new that feels slightly more adventurous than Greece or Spain… and possibly combine a beach and city break.

Budget is pretty flexible. Has to be school summer holidays. Decent weather would be great. Trying to find that happy medium between something that will feel different than our norm but not so obscure that it will be hard work!

I feel a bit like I don’t know where to start so if you’ve had successful holidays in any of these places I’d love it if you could share your experiences. Thank you so much! 🙏

Austria? You could do Salzburg, day trip/ couple of days in Hallstatt and then Vienna (there are very easy trains to all 3). There are lots of flats and houses on airbnb in each place that have a pool and you can swim in Hallstatt (if the weather is good!) Lieferinger Badesee is close to Sazlburg (easy bus ride away) and you can swim in the lake, the area around it is for sunbathing and there is a beach volleyball area.

Hi.
Have you considered Denmark? I feel it is a country often overlooked other than Copenhagen.
We have a camper so travelled up through the Netherlands, Germany into Denmark. This makes it easier. August 2023 we went and weather was good.

Copenhagen then travel north onto their coast is easy. Lots of watersports and sea front accommodation. You've Helsingor at the top and reportedly where Shakespeare got his inspiration for Hamlet. You could go across the Oresund bridge by public transport into Malmo for the day. To the west of Copenhagen is Roskilde and viking ship museum.

Just a bit of a different idea. We travelled around a lot more bring in the van.

Slovenia..awesome too. Netherlands...love.

i’ve been to Montenegro in July and it was pretty hot high 30s. We stayed in Herceg novi and used local buses to explore. Kotor is lovely, but there were three cruise ships docked there when we visited which meant the small town was absolutely packed by 11am. Easy to combine with Croatia.
Albania - easy to combine city and beach.i’ve been to Tirana, Berat and Schkodra and I understand the beach areas are stunning. Tirana is very reasonable and has a few interesting museums, especially house of leaves and you can see Enver Hoxha’s house, but only from the outside. New roads are being constructed and traffic can be a little challenging. As an alternative to a beach holiday you could combine with Ohrid in North Macedonia- about three hours from Tirana. Beautiful lake, churches, museums, monasteries etc. traffic to Skopje can be awful though.

I would recommend Poland, we went to Gdansk this September and had a lovely time. Gdansk is the site of the first battles of World War II and the birthplace of the Solidarity movement (so plenty of modern history and museums). It is also famous for its Amber and the Old Town
is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The beach is a ferry/bus ride from the old town. There is lots of different types of accommodation which are fairly reasonable and lovely places to eat out. In late July/early August there is the Saint Dominic Market with over 1000 stalls, etc. Public transport is very good and we visited Malbork Castle (largest brick built castle in the world) by train. You could combine your trip with a visit to Warsaw and/or Krakow if you were staying for 14 days. We are hoping to visit Krakow this September.

I hope you have a lovely holiday whatever you decide to do.

Have a look at River Camping Bled and Sobec Camping in Slovenia. Two gorgeous sites with self catering cabins, chalets and apartments.

Out of your list I would like to do Lake Bled in Slovenia.

Anyone been to Lake Bled Easter time?

Yes a few years ago (well Lake Bohinj about 15km away).
Weather was dull and wet, things were open most of the time , but many things closed over Easter weekend
Been in all seasons summer is great as is winter/Christmas , but would say I prefer autumn to spring myself

Also consider Croatia. I am looking at Dubrovnik as a destination.

Slovenia is my happy place but I would recommend Rovinj in Croatia. Plenty of history on the doorstep (also Pula and Porec are nearby) plus beaches (although shingle). Gorgeous place.

I love the alps. Great combination of culture, swimming in lakes and hiking in mountains.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts!
I think I’m leaning towards the Slovenia or Poland ideas at the moment…. Will do some research this weekend!

Poland! Krakow, Zakopane (beautiful mountain resort with hiking and day trips should you be interested), Hel (seaside with watersports etc and gorgeous clear water) then I think you can get a boat part way to Gdansk which is just lovely. This was (I think) the route I took with my Polish ex back in the mists of time 🤣. Ex was a dick but his country is gorgeous!

For things to do around Krakow - I couldnt face Auschwitz but lots of people go there. Definitely do the salt mines, they're amazing. But tbh Krakow is lovely just to wander around too.

Have fun whatever you decide 😊

We spent 5 days in Slovenia as part of a longer European driving holiday last June. The whole family (myself, DH, and 2 DC aged 9 and 11) rated it as one of the highlights of the trip.

We stayed in an AirBnB on an isolate farm, up in the mountains in the centre of the country (stunning scenery) and did day trips from there. Nowhere was more than about an hour - it's not a big country, although very mountainous. Will you have your own transport? Can't comment on public transport / tours if you don't have a car.

We spent one day exploring Ljubljana (lovely little city), one day visiting Postojna Cave (amazing!), one day at Lake Bled (stunning) and one day doing a river rafting trip (we chose a 'family suitable' trip as our 9 yo is typically nervous of these sorts of things and it was just perfect, now she wants to go back to try the more exciting options).

Highly recommend Slovenia - people, food, scenery, general vibe were all wonderful. We definitely plan to go back.

Also agree Zakopane and the wider Tatra mountains has a very nice summer climate (hot but not roasting). Plenty of thermal pools in the area for swimming and amazing mountain views. Krakow also a stunning and very unspoilt city. Practically all the Polish speak excellent English and it feels safe and friendly. You can also do a day trip over the Tatras to nearby Solvakia. Only downside quite busy with tourists but you can still easily get served in bars and restaurants as there are so many.

We spent a week in Slovenia then a week in a ville near Rovinj in Croatia for our summer holiday in 2023. It was glorious. We loved Slovenia. We did Ljubljana - Bled - Soca - Rovinj staying a few nights in each and had the most wonderful time. Ljubljana is fun for a day or two (even though we arrived in a biblical storm). Bled was beautiful (early morning row to the island before the rest of the tourists get up and a swim in icy Lake Bohinj and a trip up the Vogel cable car for the view). We were meant to go to Vintgar Gorge but it was closed because we arrived in a terrible storm. Then we had a wonderful few days in Soca. If you are outdoorsy it's the dream - I booked pony trekking and white water rafting, otherwise we hiked and explored. Then we drove to Croatia via the Potojna caves and Predjama castle - both of which are amazing. Our kids were 10, 8 and 6 and loved every moment of it. It was so good we can't work out where to go next!

Maybe the Poland cities/mountains/beach combo described on this thread!? I’m very tempted but Slovenia and Croatia also sound fantastic. I might have my next few years holidays sorted on the basis of this thread! Thanks all 😊

We aren't mega active/outdoorsy tbh, we do like to have some beach and pool days but we also like to visit historical sites, cities, boat trips, lots of eating out and watching the world go by - we like to mix it up.

Also both me and DH are a bit reticent about driving abroad so somewhere we can get around on public transport might be better for us. Slovenia and Poland still leading the charge right now although not sure if public transport would be do-able there.

Sounds fantastic, thank you. I love a thermal pool!

We are going to Croatia this year, flight to Zadar and then exploring islands/waterfalls/beaches from there! Cant wait!! Weather should be high 20s so not too crazy hot!!

Thank you, this all sounds fantastic. I feel like combining Krakow and Gdansk and including some days by the beach could be great for us. Me and DH have always said we fancy Poland so this should keep him quiet even though it’s not Albania which was his top choice!

Avoid the high summer months. We went in October and it was still very very busy.

Thank you, this sounds like a great itinerary! Especially without an arsehole in tow!

We have been to Croatia a few times - Rovinj, absolutely beautiful, calm and quiet and cheap, lovely sea, (rocky beaches, take aquashoes!), Airbnb just outside of Split - also lovely, historic, day trips to the islands, cheap (or it was a few years ago!) Dubrovnic - also lovely, interesting, Old town is amazing, loads of beautiful beaches (again, rocky) and a good bus service for getting along the coast (not cheap tho) can do day trips to Montenegro by bus/boat.
Went to Slovenia last year, flew to Ljubjana and took bus to Lake Bled, which is the most beautiful place I have EVER seen. Few days there and a few in Ljubjana for a city break.

I am now thinking of Gdansk for the summer too!

Slovenia is fab. We went in 2019 staying near Ljubljana then Lake Bled in our van. Oh and out to their small coastline.
Would definitely return.

Croatia with Bosnia and Montenegro? Tho I’d focus mainly on an area as this would take you longer than 2 weeks