just us and ds(16), where the hell can we go on holiday?

[ssd]

5 nights away is the most we can afford

wifi a must (like I had to say that..)

budget £1500

likes football, a pool, cities but also a beach too, wont mix with others his age (lots of eyeing each other over their phones usually)

doesnt like swimming in the sea, wont site see museums atc for too long

flying from Scotland end of june, start of july

been to Barcelona so thats out

am desperate

Bilbao?

No real ideas, but have you thought about flying from England (maybe Manchester/Newcastle, depending on where you are in Scotland).

I say this because it will be cheaper, I suspect, than flying from Scotland, where it is your school holidays.

Last year we flew from Edinburgh mid August, instead of Manchester which we would usually do - and it was miles cheaper as the Scottish schools were back. You might be able to afford more than 5 days?

yes we would fly from manchester too

dont want to leave his older brother alone for too long, so 5 nights away is enough

dont fancy turkey or spain or greece (picky bugger me)

Portugal....we're heading there with ds who'll be 15.... flights from Glasgow to Faro unbelievably reasonable this year, we've always gone from Newcastle in the past but this year flights are a decent price

Lisbon is great- culture and beaches

we did a visit to Berlin in August with football mad 16 yo ds. Managed to get tickets for a game at the olympic stadium which he still talks about, 9 years on. Lots of things to see and do in Berlin apart from the obvious war and wall stuff, though both DS were interested in this as well.

Another recommendation for Lisbon.

Berlin, but if the beach is a must, my DSis loved Lisbon.

Berlin (surrounded by lakes for bike rides and swimming) or Lisbon

Lisbon is great but will be very hot. We are flying to Berlin from Glasgow at the end of June flights are cheap with 3 DS. Copenhagen is also great for an outdoorsy city break as is Stockholm .

Budapest?
Lots of spas, thermal pool with sides in city centre, not too expensive to eat out,
Mountain biking in the alps?
Ardeche descent?
Do a sky scanner search from your local airport to anywhere and see what comes up and what you can do there

Italy
Slovenia
Croatia

Remember, it is your holiday too. It's not all about him

(so easy to say, isn't it!)

Split in Croatia Fly Easyjet, stay in Air B&B. Lakes, sailing, islands and locations from Game of Thrones

Benalmadena (ok so it is Spain and not a city!! ) but it is a cheap, short flight from Scotland, and is a reasonably inexpensive holiday.

There is quite a lot to do, theme park, water park, cable car up a mountain and then a bit of a trek to the top. Malaga is nearby.

Rome?

We've just done 3 nights in an apartment in Trastevere for me and DH, Ds17 and DD 12.

Cost just over £500 for all 4 inc Ryanair flights from Manchester.

Loads to do in Rome itself then you can get a train to Ostia for the beach.

Dubrovnik? I have to hold up my hands and admit I've not been there, BUT it looks really nice in the brochure.

Sorrento is really nice - not really got sandy beaches but there's the amalfi coast to see and Capri island and Pompeii and Vesuvius are nearby.

thanks everyone

funnily enough, dh and ds would love to go to Lisbon for our holiday and maybe stay on the coast at Cascais

can anyone tell me what there is to do there?

You want a great city near a beach. I would say Seville, Cadiz, Valencia or Lisbon of the places I've visited.

But if you don't need a beach, how about beautiful Amsterdam?

Cascais is a small old fashioned holiday town. Sweet but not exciting.

Lisbon is just gorgeous if you love spectacular views across terracotta roof tops, alleys and tenements covered in tiles and balconies festooned with laundry and red geraniums right in the heart of the city (as I do) . I've been to Lisbon 3 times and would go back again tomorrow if I could.

thanks bibbity

would you recommend us staying in Lisbon then and going to see Cascais for the day?

we want to go for 5 nights and thought staying in Cascais would be best, ds is 16.....do you think staying in Lisbon itself would be better and visiting the coast once or twice?

not sure really what we'll do there, defo visiting some footy stadiums (yeeha....not!!...not too sure what else?!?

Is there any chance of staying 2 nights in Lisbon and 3 up the coast? Or 3/2? Lisbon is definitely worth more than 1 day of your time.

Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome... all the capitals, really!

not really sure if that would be too much upheaval in a short space of time eg. less than a week away

we thought of staying in Cascais for the time there and taking the train to Lisbon probably twice for the day

I did say to dh we should maybe just stay in Lisbon itself but he feels staying at the coast would be more relaxing, we would just be having a walk along the beach and dinner out at night, we arent mad drinkers or party animals and ds will prob be glued to a screen in the evening