Any suggestions for a relaxing one week European break for very fussy DH?

[Cinaferna]

DH and I want to go away for the week in September. But he has a massive list of what he doesn't want and won't or can't do, many of which are things I can and love doing.

We're looking for a week somewhere warm but not too hot (he doesn't do hot.)
Has to fly from Heathrow or Gatwick. He won't fly from anywhere else.
Needs to have loads of cultural interest but not be a big city. He doesn;t want a city break.

He hates water so nowhere focused on boat trips to islands or kayaking. No swimming.

He gets vertigo easily so no cable cars or suspension bridges or tall towers to climb.

His idea of fun is to spend three days in an art gallery or looking at churches. I can do that for a couple of hours but then get backache and bored.

We both like hiking into the hills or canyons, exploring old castles, some art and architecture, markets.

We had an absolutely dream holiday in Slovenia. It was perfect - walking around the lakes, castles, gorges near Bled and Bohinj; markets in Ljubljana.

I have reached an age where I'm stubborn too now and won't pretend that hours and hours in painted churches is my idea of a break. I also really don;t want to go back to Italy and France - gorgeous as they are I have lived in both countries and really want to explore somewhere new.

Just got back from Seville, which is absolutely amazing. It's a small city, very clean, very pretty. There are trips into the Doñana national park plus galleries, churches, Alcazar, Flamenco shows (we saw one, incredibly high standard), amazing food. Loads to walk around. Prob still hot in Sept, maybe Oct be better. You could stay in El Rocío for a bit, which is a proper town out of the wild West with sand roads.

Tenerife? DH and I had a great week there in February. We spent it in the mountains so it wasn’t hot (at all actually, some days really chilly). Some amazing hikes with spectacular scenery, the north of the island has a much quieter and more rugged coastline than the tacky south and we had a nice day at the observatory too.

Was just coming on to say transylvania! Beautiful , beautiful place, lots of churches and castles, picturesque towns/small cities not overrun with tourists, mountains and lakes, bear watching, the Transforgarian road, really interesting history and culture. Brasov would be a great base and then hire a car from there or go on organised bus trips out from there (roads to the main tourist areas fine, can get a little rough in the mountain villages). Only issue I can see is the Heathrow/ Gatwick stipulation as all the direct flights to sibiu and Brasov are from Luton IIRC cos it's budget airlines. BA would only fly to Bucharest I think, but if OP doesn't mind a longer transfer that would be OK (about a 2 hour drive I think?). Or perhaps they could even fly to Budapest and do a train across the border?

Yes they do. Thank you for understanding. And I am saying no to stuff too, like going back to Italy again, as I've been so often ( gorgeous as it is) and want a change.

Thanks so much to everyone for your brilliant suggestions. We've decided on Austria. Flying to Vienna for the art and food then train to Salzburg for a bit of hiking and Mozart. Really excited.

Austria is fantastic in the warmer months.

Are you planning on having children with this man op?

But he has a massive list of what he doesn't want and won't or can't do, many of which are things I can and love doing

He must be amazing in bed

I would imagine these are still rather hot in September

Malaga! World class galleries, good hiking inland, easy to get to Granada, pleasantly warm in September but chilly in the mountains if you want to get away from the coast. Taragona is nice too with lots of Roman stuff, nice walks and short distance to Barcelona for a day trip

Salzburg ? I see you’ve already decided.
Or Croatia for another time.

Tell him to organise it if he has such specific requirements. Or dump him and go with a friend and actually have fun .

Your plan sounds great, OP.

I was about to suggest similar so, in case you haven't booked - we are just back from the Austrian Tyrol (hiking - there are cable cars but you don't have to use them and if you pick the location well there will be good walking without) but went via Munich (yes it is big but very calm and with a compact centre with excellent art galleries and a huge park) for art and history, for a couple of days. Train to the Tyrol from there is a couple of hours. We got the train via Paris to Munich and flew back from Munich. Second visit to the Tyrol - lovely spa hotels with nice food, lakes, good buses.

I love love love Austria! Graz is the most perfect city surrounded by lakes and mountains.
Have an amazing time.

Austria sounds great.

Do look into the Azores for another year, my FIL has similar requirements and my PIL adored that.

I was going to say Trencin in Slovakia, but I think you would need a hire car.

Oh, I thought Salzburg when I read your OP. Or Vienna. So pleased you’re doing Austria. If you’re on trains you might also check out Innsbruck for a day.

I would go without the miserable bastard how can you bear it?

And ignore all these rude comments. I don’t see anything unmanageable in his requirements, particularly if you have separate holidays to do the things he doesn’t like. You’ve clearly got a lot in common in what you enjoy.

Venice with a side trip to Verona or Padua by train.

Krakow is beautiful and easily walkable, gorgeous Churches and also a Synagogue that was ‘saved’ because it was used first as a stable by the Nazis then by the Russians.

Yes, some posters clearly have no idea about a ND person or are people who would also not make any adjustments for a physical disability.

my now adult child is autistic and can’t do certain types of activities. I do hope she will find a partner as understand as the OP.

The OP doesn’t mention in her first post that he is ND - that is a later drip-feed. So do forgive us for taking what we read at face value and responding accordingly.

I've set this before on these pages and I'll say it again - if you go to Salzburg OP go to Schloß Hellbrunn a short bus ride out of town and visit the Wasserspiele (trick fountains). Terrific fun and highly rcommended!

https://www.hellbrunn.at/en/

Krakow and zakopane split time. Will give you a small but interesting city, plus lovely mountains and walking.

Paris, to see the restoration work that has been done on Notre Dame. It's really superb and so interesting- you can do a tour that focuses on the work done. Plus obviously all of the rest of Paris.

Very late to this thread!
Maybe not September as it's still warm, but Majorca is lovely in October. You could stay somewhere like Valldemossa - lots of cathedrals, caves to explore, architecture. If car hire is a no no, you could stay at Soller as you can get the train there from Palma (it's a lovely train!). The buses in Majorca are fantastic to get around as well.

I've used a couple of ladies in the past - one called Melanie Warren and another called Caitlin Shead - who are travel agents and very good with more tricky suggestions!

I also really don't want to go back to Italy and France

😄