Summer Holiday Ideas - Post GCSE

[AquaTraybake]

I'm looking for inspiration for holidays ideas this summer for our family with hubby, 16 yr old DS and 13 yr old DD as I've totally gone round in circles for the past few months!! 😵

The kids are pale skinned and red haired so prone to sun burn if not careful!

We've always holidayed in Wales / Cornwall / Lakes but I really want something special this year where we're not working around the rain curtailing our outdoor fun so much! ☔️

Would love to go abroad as its 9 yrs since we went to France with them as last overseas trip.

We're quite outdoorsy and love anything on the water. Walking can be hit and miss (dependent on the teen mood).

We need something where we can explore culture, enjoy time outdoors and have plenty rest time too. We'd be bored with just a beach but the kids are shattered after a full school year so need downtime built in too.

I'm happy to do multi-centre and to DIY plan to save money.

Overall budget ideally £6-7k for 2 weeks which feels like a lot but having done lots of browsing soon gets eaten up!

Can travel early July to early August (will pull DS out of school if it means the difference between a holiday or not due to price difference!)

I've searched on here and looked at all sorts from Austrian Alps to Thailand!

Any help / recommendations would be greatly appreciated. 🙏

A cruise? This one leaves from Southampton (so no need to fly), and would come in under budget for the two weeks B518 - Mediterranean Cruise | 18th Jul 25 | P&O Cruises. You'd get a mix of relaxation and exploration and the kids could have some freedom going about the ship

Southern Germany is gorgeous. You can do water sports on Lake Constance (or the Bodensee as the German's call it). You can see Neuschwanstein Castle, which is the inspiration for the Disney castle. You can go to beautiful moutain meadows with tinkling streams and brown cows with bells. You can fly to Munich - a beautiful and buzzing city. There are plenty of cutesy smaller towns and villages too. Also you can easily hop over to France, Switzerland or Austria. Colmar in France is fun - the locals speak a mixture of French and German.

How about a European train expedition? you could look at one of the many sleeper routes, stop off along the way and maybe get the kids to put forward a suggestion for a stop and a tentative itinerary. With the 4 of you you would be able to book the cheaper couchettes (which are often arranged in 6s) or rooms without needing to share and it's a bit of an adventure. One route, Brussels to Prague, takes in a lot of possibilities.