Hi all — looking for some advice and real-world experience rather than “top 10” lists.
I’m turning 50 this year (still getting my head around that…) and we’re planning a one-week summer trip to celebrate. It’ll be 3 adults and 2 kids/teens (17 and 12). We travel a lot and they’re good travellers — curious, outdoorsy, happy walking around, not really into resorts or organised “activities”.
At the moment we’re torn between the Algarve, Corfu, and Madeira, but we’re also open to other ideas if something else feels like a better fit.
Beaches are important, especially ones where the water is reasonably warm — my 12-year-old will swim for hours if it’s not freezing. That said, we don’t want a pure beach-lounger holiday. We like swimming, walking, wandering towns, viewpoints, nature, good food, a bit of wine in the evenings. We’re very much not party people and not into all-inclusive places. Apartments or villas usually suit us better than hotels, and we’re fine hiring a car and getting around ourselves.
Algarve appeals because it seems like the easiest fit for warm-ish water and variety, but I keep hearing very different things depending on where you stay, so I’d love to know which areas people actually recommend if you’re trying to avoid the party/resort vibe.
Corfu appeals for the Mediterranean feel, beaches, and villages, but again I’m a bit unsure how easy it is to avoid the package-holiday side of things in summer.
Madeira looks stunning and a bit different from places we’ve done before, but I can’t quite tell how it works with teens if swimming and beaches are important — it feels like it might be amazing for adults but I’m less sure for this particular trip. I’ve also heard that it’s for ‘the newly wed and nearly dead’s’ - but I can’t imagine that you only find honeymooners and octogenarians there?!?
We’re looking at July once kids break for summer and have 7-10 days, so we know that limits how much moving around makes sense. Budget-wise we’re pretty normal mid-range — happy to pay for a good location and space, but not looking for luxury resorts.
If you’ve been to any of these, I’d really appreciate hearing:
– where you stayed and whether you’d go back
– how it felt with older kids/teens
– anything that surprised you (good or bad)
And if there’s somewhere else you’d gently nudge us toward based on all this, I’m very open to ideas. I might be overthinking it, but it’s a milestone trip so I’d love it to feel genuinely special rather than just “nice”.
Thanks in advance — lived experience very welcome.