Dreaming of summer holidays - without the heat

[FcukBreastCancer]

Hi all. As the name suggests I'm currently having cancer treatment. I need a holiday to look forward too.

Love Greece and the med, but too hot in August.

Want to avoid too.much rain and midges!

Been to San Sebastian, Bilbao, Norway, Iceland

Consider Iceland again but I might be tired still and it's a road trip type place

Maybe Sweden?
Menorca - too hot still?

Kids are 9 and 12. Older one loves nature like her parents. Youngest will need some other activities to keep happy e..g zip lines, chance of water sports, swim, ride.

We are not keen on ferries, especially if rough and non optional.

Decent budget, but not silly money.

South Africa on my list,but probably a bit far.

Should I just go to Scotland. Not been since a child.

Belgian or Dutch coast? Huge sandy beaches, nice town and villages to visit. Theme parks, water parks, Go Ape, cycle hire etc. Shortish drive from the Shuttle.

Water Village next to Roompot resort in Zeeland is lovely. Activities next door but quiet lodgings. https://www.roompot.com/parks/water-village?bg_source=ga&bg_campaign=22038044349&bg_kw=kwd-2262464559481-mi--pi--ppi-&bg_source_id=726005611401&lnid=CjwKCAiA7LzLBhAgEiwAjMWzCA-oJIG8p-QiycBh91aJaP1F6lK10zNTyytwlYn_chIhA2ai2fdcOxoC4fkQAvD_BwE&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22038044349&gbraid=0AAAAAqquuPmAOQPS2yF3v8OOjREAILsVu&gclid=CjwKCAiA7LzLBhAgEiwAjMWzCA-oJIG8p-QiycBh91aJaP1F6lK10zNTyytwlYn_chIhA2ai2fdcOxoC4fkQAvD_BwE&partnerlanding=google&_gl=1c60gvi_gaOTk4NTI1MDM2LjE3Njg5MDc3MTQ._ga_86SWJ0ZT3BczE3Njg5MDc3MTIkbzEkZzEkdDE3Njg5MDc3MTgkajU4JGwwJGgw_gcl_awR0NMLjE3Njg5MDc3MTcuQ2p3S0NBaUE3THpMQmhBZ0Vpd0FqTVd6Q0Etb0pJRzhwLVFpeWNCaDkxYUphUDFGNmxLMTB6TlR5eXR3bFluX2NoSWhBMmFpMmZkY094b0M0ZmtRQXZEX0J3RQ.._gcl_au*MzA0MTg2Mzk5LjE3Njg5MDc3MTc.#filter:eyJzIjoiMyJ9

Latvia?
https://www.latvia.travel/en

The Alps are lovely. Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, France, Italy. Pick somewhere with a lake for the water sports,

https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/the-arctic/spitsbergen?srsltid=AfmBOorjDChb7AU_DIK0SjPscjtf2bLv_rFwUcqfpnybHFrkStkEqtCw

My kids said it was the best holiday they had ever been on. It was fabulous. There were 15 kids on board of all ages.

Sweden, Finland, Denmark - so many options in any of those countries.

Costa Rica is wonderful with lots of wildlife, rainforest and ziplines and its their winter so about 25C - it is their rainy season but we went in August and had sunny days every day and temps of 25C to 27C with rain starting at 4pm and rain is the rainforest is quite exciting to watch. Otherwise start early which is easy due to time difference.

If you have done chemo etc you may be tired still but it doesn't have to be massively active there. Both mine loved in around that age.

They might also like Arola Bears in Finland (though it is right on the Russian border) - you can see brown bears in the wild there and canoe on their river, that would just be a few days and think it finishes mid August (end July / first half of August would be better weather than late August anyway). We flew with Finnair and hired a car. Flew into Oulu I think. Ruka was nice as well with reindeer wandering around and a summer toboggan. Think we did white water rafting as well but not sure were, we went to Kuusamo as well, maybe there.

Within UK Isles of Scilly and Isles of Skye are good - it could be you do the bigger holiday next year if tired though think both were similar in activity levels. You can also get AI packages to Costa Rica and do trips out via TUI for an easy option.

Also Ireland and the Isle of Arran.

Slovenia (gorgeous)? Or the area around Gdansk and the Polish coast?

Definitely the Alps - Austria or Northern Italy are beautiful in the summer and loads to do, great hotels and food etc

Another I did whilst recovering from cancer treatment was Sugar Beach (and Long Beach in Mauritius. That has watersports included and lots of pools. Food and drink were excellent.

www.tui.co.uk/destinations/indian-ocean/mauritius/mauritius/flic-en-flac/hotels/sugar-beach-golf-and-spa-resort.html

Echoing Slovenia. Lake Bohinj in the summer has riding/swimming/watersports/cycling and hiking. Absolutely beautiful and Slovenia is a very small and navigable country by hire car.

Dordogne in France. You can drive via the Chunnel or Ferry or just fly in and hire a car. First two weeks of August is peak French holiday season though. If you can delay and do the middle two weeks or last two of August it will be calmer.

It's hot in August but not usually Mediterranean hot. It's also a very leafy region, lots of water and rivers and underground caves so lots to do out of the sun if you want to. Lots of castles and gardens too. The Le Bugue area hits all the high spots.

There are lots of beautiful islands close to Stockholm. I can’t recall many midges, but maybe I got lucky. Not sure what there is to do in the way of organised activities for children though.

I’ve also been to a few lakes. Constance (German/Swiss border) is huge and has lots of towns to choose from. Also Wörthersee near Klagenfurt in Austria looked pretty child friendly (I was there pre DC though so don’t have specifics) and Bled in Slovenia seemed like a family friendly destination.

A summer holiday at Lake Annecy in France is currently on my radar having heard good things from friends with children.

Good luck with everything- hope you find something perfect.

Does it have to be in the summer? Can you take a break before the summer or after it so it’s not to hot

I did go to Latvia pre kids. Did enjoy. It rained a lot though!

You may have missed my comment about boats 🤣
I will go on if I know it's calm. Looks amazing though. Was there a lot of motion?

Oh yes I want to go to Gdansk. I made an error one year with a holiday in Poland. Kracow in June was the hottest place on earth! I imagine the coast will be nice though

Oh Slovenia might be good. Was driving easy?

We did a lot of that area as kids. Always in winter though as my dad hates heat more than me!
My French is terrible though, does put me off (and the roads)

I have one in high school who I'd only want to take out a day or so. There is May half term, but flights expensive from my local airport.

Thanks all. I have a bit of a long list to explore

Poland- gdansk
Slovenia
Sweden/ Denmark
Alps - perhaps not French due to my language skills
Lake annecy- saw my friend's photos of there
Scotland
Jersey? Maybe expensive

Not giving up on Iceland and South Africa, perhaps not this year.

Finland is nice, Helsinki is a small city with good public transport, very chilled out not a huge amount to do but lovely to potter around for a few days in summer. People are very laid back and friendly but in an understated way. You can take ferry trips but also train into the countryside easily. Flights from Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh or Stansted, look at the scandic hotels, we found one with the best breakfast I’ve ever had in a hotel (think whole poached salmon on the buffet!)

Oh I forgot Netherlands as heard good things also about beaches and theme parks.