Does my ideal holiday destination exist?

[AnnaFrith]

Looking for somewhere for me, DH and DS (17). I want a self catering house in mountains, ideally on a lake. Walking distance to a small village with one or two restaurants. Not hot and not crowded. In August. We like walking up mountains, wild swimming, and relaxing and looking at the view. We don't need any 'activities' or entertainments. We don't like being surrounded by other people. Will probably hire a car, but don't want to have to use it all the time to go walking.

We went to Slovenia last year, loved it, except for Bled, which I found far too crowded and commercialised.

We have also had great holidays in Bassenthwaite and Wasdale in the Lake District, but want higher mountains, a better chance of good weather, and the novelty of another culture.

Budget about £4000-£5000.

I'm looking at Italian lakes/dolomites, Austria, Switzerland and Norway (but afraid the last two will be too expensive).

Has anyone got any suggestions? Anywhere else I could look?

You’ve virtually described what I’m looking for, op 😊. Have you thought about the eastern side of Lake Annecy? A bit quieter than the west from what I remember and close to beautiful town of Annecy of course. I’m also looking at the Dolomites and possibly the Slovakian side of the Tatra mountains. Would be interested to hear of any other similar places you’ve been, as our holiday plans are near identical.

I can't guarantee it wouldn't be hot in August, but near to the Black Lake near Zabljak, Montenegro fits your brief.

There will be other tourists these, but not nearly as many as Lake Bled.

Try northern Spain, Asturias region. Fly to Bilbao and hire a car. Beautiful mountains, fabulous food, small villages and towns and a wild coastline. Very untouristy. Weather can be great but it does get more rain than the rest of the country.

How about New Hampshire, Vermont or Maine, you would need to drive, but it has everything else.

Do you mind sharing where you went in Slovenia? It sounds like we enjoy the same kind of holiday.

We went to the Elan valley in Wales last summer. You might enjoy a trip there some time.

Franconia in Germany might be worth a look. You might need to drive a bit more. We stayed in an Airbnb to go walking from.

Another suggestion of Asturias in northern Spain. Some stunning scenery and far away from the Costa crowds. You could look around th Covadonga area.

Zacopane near Krakow? I actually have never been so it might not be what you are looking for, but it definitely has mountains, it is possibly reasonably priced and if you book somewhere out of the main area it could be a bit quieter?

Zell am See, Austria?

We stayed in Ratece, near Kranjska Gora, for five days, then had five days near Otocec (near Novo Mesto), then two nights in Bled, and two nights on the Vellika Planina.
That was too much moving about to be honest, due to not being able to make up my mind where I wanted to go. I wish we'd spent longer in Ratece, and done a daytrip to Bled.

My top tips would be look at flights to Klagenfurt in Austria, cheaper than flying to Ljubljana, and a very small airport so quick to get on and off flights. And if you go to Vellika Planina don't arrive on a sunny Sunday, as the carpark and cable car access will be absolute mayhem.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! They all sound great. I had considered Asturias last year before deciding on Slovenia, but I had a wobble about the possibility of rain. I thought the weather in Slovenia was fab, but DH thought it was too hot.

We have had lovely walking holidays in the Alpujarras, and in the Majorcan mountains, but that was outside of school holidays, would definitely be too hot for DH in August.

Zell am See would be far too busy for someone who doesn't want to be around too many people.

Try contacting the local tourist offices in Austria, Germany, Italy etc. and see what they come up with, particularly for huts and cabins in the mountains rather than hotels and B&Bs (of whcih there are thousands). The Salzkammergut area of Austria is stunning and has numerous lakes. Some parts get really busy, but it should be possible to find somewhere in the area that is more remote.

Norway or North Wales

Iceland would be great but it’s expensive.

Zell Am See is busy busy in the summer (but beautiful!) But about 30-40 min away by car is Maria Alm which is at the foot of fabulous mountains complete with chair lifts etc and it is a small village that you could rent a place down a quiet street?

We stayed in a hamlet a little further on from Maria Alm that was just some houses, a chair lift (where you could rent mountain bikes and go up the mountain on the cable car and cycle for hours back down on well marked trails ) a nice bar/restaurant and a small mini market. We stayed in what would be a ski chalet apartment block during the winter. It was perfect - super quiet, we were the only “tourists” there but easy to get around to other places like Zell am See if you want.

Austria isn’t cheap but lots of things you have to pay for in the UK seem to be free. Parking at waterfalls, lakes, bottom of chair lifts for mountains were mostly free and if you self cater you can keep costs down obviously. We found things like adventure playgrounds that we expected to pay for would be just “there” to enjoy and you can get great deals on tourist cards that give you cheap access on a whole network of chair lifts etc