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! 🙏

Norway and Finland are beautiful!

Some great ideas on this thread!
We had a lovely trip a few years ago- flew into Krakow and had a few nights there, then there is an overnight train to Vienna which everyone enjoyed. Couple of nights in Vienna and then train to Salzburg, both worth visiting- car hire in Salzburg for a few nights and stayed in the mountains with fab walks/ outdoor pool etc for 5 nights or so. Train to Munich and flew home from there.
As PPs have said, Krakow is lovely and plenty to do. DH (history teacher) did a trip to Auschwitz, as DDs were a bit young then I took them for a day trip to a theme park near Krakow called Energylandia which was a hit. It was very very hot in Krakow and Vienna that summer (2019 I think) but I believe that’s unusual!

Hungary - combine a few days in Budapest with a stay at Lake Balaton, swimming, relaxing, wine tasting?

How about Romania? Transylvania is amazing (you’ll need to hire a car). For the beach, I’d recommend Doi Mai or Vama Veche.

Bulgaria - Burgas is lovely. It’s more a town by the sea rather than a resort. Varna is also nice. Avoid Sunny Beach.

Or how about Finland and Estonia? You can get a hovercraft or ferry between Helsinki and Tallinn. Tallinn has nice beaches.

Just to throw in the mix - Sicily. We are going at the end of May/start of June for 15 nights with two 10 year olds. Flying into Catania for 2 nights for sights and good food, then Taormina for 3 nights including a trip up Mount Etna, beach day and up to Castelmola one evening. The train to Cefalu for 3 days beach with potentially boat trip. Palermo after this for 2 nights for street food and sights before bus to San Vito lo Capo for 5 nights chilling in a nice AirBnB, going to the beach and a day trip to the Egadi islands. Doing all by train or bus. Hoping to take one large suitcase and just backpacks as we will have a washer in all places apart from Palermo.

Public transport in Slovenia is very good.

Ooh following this, please report back! Am consicdering Sicily for the October half term but the driving sounds a bit stressful and I couldn't work out how easy it is to get around by public transport.

Also considering Slovenia but not sure if it will be getting too chilly/rainy. Or northern Croatia. So many good suggestions in this thread!

For OP, Poland is really great and summer is such a nice time to visit.

@SimoneSpeaksSoftly public transport is decent around the coast, but limited in other areas. We stayed just outside Taormina and bus service was fine and train to Catania was very good value.

Probably the least adventurous on your list but we had a great family hol in Netherlands

look up Landal and stay at one of their villages.
take the car, either to Calais or overnight ferry from Harwich/Hull/Newcastle
Hire bikes and ride along the canals
Visit some cities
Go to Efteling

I also recommend Poland though not been for many years and not since I had kids

There is nothing in Albania and it is an incredibly unsafe country so don't go there. I can't get enough of the Netherlands personally, every part is so nice and the people are so friendly. We're into theme parks so recently went to Efteling which was lovely. Then spent some time by the coast and then obviously Amsterdam (the scenic parts!) Great country.

You need Viewtopia!! It's in Romania, you fly into Cluj airport and it's just over an hour drive. Cluj is a beautiful city, there are interesting salt mines nearby, and then Viewtopia is remote but beautiful, just outside a village with a shop and the best ice cream place, there's lots of places to explore in the region like waterfalls and crystal caverns. The people are lovely and there's lots on site to do like paddle in the river, take a row boat, play table tennis, have a BBQ, visit the nearby farm to buy milk and cheese.
viewtopia.eu/en/

Oh thanks, that's great to hear. Taomina seems like a good base and I'm keen to go to Syracuse so wondering if dividing a week between those two might be an option....hmmmm!

I know this a slightly old thread but this is exactly what I want to do summer 2026 with similar aged kids! I’m curious where you stayed near Rovinj??

www.airbnb.com/l/vw8r1mMH

Thanks! 😊