Relaxed, warm, budget-ish destination with teens?

sekond

Looking for some ideas for a relaxed, warm (but not too hot) holiday destination that won't break the bank, with two teens.

Originally, we weren't planning on going anywhere this summer - a big "once in a lifetime" type holiday in December meant there wasn't much budget. But July and August are looking very long, especially if we have a typical Irish summer, so I'm looking to see if there is anything that we might manage to do.

The last few holidays we've been on have been very full-on, so we are looking for something a bit calmer this time. A house/apartment/connecting hotel rooms (not camping), a pool, a restaurant or two within walking distance and maybe somewhere to do a day trip or a bit of shopping. The older teen pretty much wants to sit in the sun with a book, and the younger just wants to swim. I'm happy to do both, and the day trips are to keep husband entertained. Big resorts with lots of nightlife really isn't what we are looking for, we'd be looking for a quieter vibe (without being in the middle of nowhere!)

We've done the Algarve before, which was perfect for this sort of holiday, but flights for the four of us in July are coming in at over 1,500 euro before we even look at accommodation.

Usually when I go on holiday I pick where I want to go and then figure out how best to do it, so I'm a bit stumped with trying to narrow down a location.

Any suggestions?

Apiarist

Have you considered Northern Europe? The weather in July/August should be decent enough in Norway and Sweden, this could be a unique experience.

Or you can go to Poland, we have rented a holiday house in Gdynya (Gdansk) two years ago — nice sandy beach, English is spoken in all the touristic places, and it's relatively cheap.

dory

Is a house swap an option? I have a colleague who does one in France every year. Seems to be a very cost effective way of getting away at peak times. She's swapping with someone who wants to get out of Paris when it's overrun for the Olympics.

Patrick2010

Benalmadena is very relaxed, lovely beaches and restaurants. Priced flights for 4 there going out July 10 to the 24th for €706.96

https://www.ryanair.com/ie/en/trip/flights/select?adults=4&teens=0&children=0&infants=0&dateOut=2024-07-10&dateIn=2024-07-24&isConnectedFlight=false&discount=0&promoCode=&isReturn=true&originIata=DUB&destinationIata=AGP&tpAdults=4&tpTeens=0&tpChildren=0&tpInfants=0&tpStartDate=2024-07-10&tpEndDate=2024-07-24&tpDiscount=0&tpPromoCode=&tpOriginIata=DUB&tpDestinationIata=AGP

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122049328#Comment_122049328

Gdynya is actually a good shout. Have been there twice myself for different reasons, and while it's not an "obvious" spot, it's a nice beach, you can expect temperatures in the low 20s in July, and definitely relatively cheap.

Close by is Sopot - little more expensive by Polish standards but a nice place by the coast too, and flights to Gdansk should generally be a lot cheaper than flights to the more "obvious" holiday places.

AndyBoBandy

Probably a bit left field, but as a poster above mentioned Northern Europe/Baltic Sea is stunning in summer.

I'm slightly biased as my OH is Lithuanian, and we bought a holiday home in Lithuania on the Baltic coast about 2 years ago, close to a town called Palanga (summer capital of Lithuania).. We'd been visiting there regularly for the last few years for summer holidays and decided to buy a new build there. The entire coastline of Lithuania is beach, with a pine forrest just behind the beach running all the way up/down the coast that's about 100m-300m deep that you go through to get onto the beaches, and every few hundred meters along the beach there are beach bars/restaurants….

Price wise it has come up in recent years, to be roughly on a par with Ireland in terms of eating out/shopping etc.., but there are still great deals of accommodation to be got here and there, with it mostly being apartments as that's largely what the Lithuanians like to do.. rent out full apartments for their stay there… but there are plenty of hotels too.

We were there a few weeks ago for Easter where it was 18-20 degrees, and lovely (it was snowing though yesterday), and we're going back in about 2 weeks, and again in June & July… I absolutely love the place, and as English speakers you will be in the minority (though the vast majority of people (and 100% of young people) do speak English).

It's a historic town with loads of history and things to see, so not just beach and bars/restaurants, and is really chilled out, though busy enough in the summer.

There is an amazing bike/walking trail in the middle of that pine forrest that runs parallel to the beach all the way up/down the coast, and in summer you can rent bikes, scooters and all sorts of electric contraptions… and on that bike trail, there are kids literally every 50m or so with about 3-4 freezers full of ice creams for sale…

The place really is a hidden gem….

Ryanair fly there from Dublin, and its about 2.5 hours over, and about 3hrs back flight time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpL4_u0XucI

Basanaviciaus Gatve is the main pedestrian thoroughfare through the town leading to the beach and is a hive of restaurants, bars, and things to do for kids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsfdW_Rr3Oc

Lithuania is a place I'd never have dreamt of ever going to visit, and when I was assigned there for about 16 months for work, was expecting to travel back in time a few decades, but I was blown away by the place… really is an amazing country…

Bonus too if anyone visiting can get a few nights in Vilnius, which is also amazing (and where I lived and met my OH)

munchkin_utd

>Have you considered Northern Europe? The weather in July/August should be decent enough in Norway and Sweden, this could be a unique experience.

100%

Compare irish cool summer temperatures generally <20 to a constant temperatures in the high 20s anywhere on the continent, or the 30+ that we had on our little eastern europe roadtrip to Czech, Poland and baltic sea coast there last summer at the end of August when the weather was good.

It is crazy how people in Ireland specifically go to Spain to be frazzled in their 100s of thousands and is the only destination in their brain when considering an escape from summer wind and rain, and never ever realise that the rest of Europe is also warm in the summer.

Some literally want a beach holiday, but if you just want warm then a city / country trip elsewhere in Europe can tick the box. Should the weather be proper hot then theres outdoor swimming pools and lakes (which warm up in the summer, because europe is not as cold as Ireland!) to cool off in.

Seriously, look at the weather maps next summer when theres crap weather in Ireland, you'll see a giant high pressure stretching from Spain to Sweden giving the continent lovely weather, which is also the reason that Ireland has simultaneously that crap weather.

naughtysmurf

Fuerteventura (aka my happy place) not a noisy island, relaxed & chilled & some of the best beaches in Europe, Corralejo in the north, 40 minutes from the airport or Morro Jable in the south a little over an hour, not the prettiest place you’ll ever visit but good value for money, it’s all about the climate & the beach, can be windy in the summer months due to the prevailing trade winds but it keeps the temperatures down a bit

sekond

Thanks for all the suggestions, definitely some options to look at there. Especially northern europe, which I'd definitely be open to. Although, if I remember from previous holiday planning - the cost of accommodation/living once you get to places like Norway and Sweden can be a bit eye watering.

@AndyBoBandy - I actually spent some time working in the Baltics years ago - and made it Klaipeda and Vilnius, but never Palanga. Can't believe I didn't think of that as an option. Would be nice to revisit some old haunts. It might end up being a bit of a busier trip than we are looking for mind you, with the temptation to dart about the place while we are "in the area". Might put it on the list for our next "busy" holiday!

@dory - I'd be open to a house swap in theory, but for various reasons our house wouldn't be suitable. It's a shame - I've had friends who did it and it worked really well, and it's not often something people think about.

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122076718#Comment_122076718

Yeah, Palanga really has to be seen, it's a world apart from Klaipeda.. I like going to Klaipeda the odd time as it has some big shops and big shopping malls, but equally enough I can't wait to get out of there to get back to Palanga which has a more seaside feel compared to Klaipeda which feels very big & industrial…

Last time I was in Vilnius myself was about 2.5 years ago and even it had changed so much at that stage… but thankfully the old town is still as it's always been..

gaillimh

Palanga looks nice. I had never heard of it.

Sky scanner tells me €450 return per person in early July. Ouch

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122078989#Comment_122078989

I guess it all depends on when you book really…. We (2 adults and 9yo) booked 3 trips for this year back in October, (10 days over Easter, a week next week, and 3 weeks in July just as they’d opened the bookings and did well enough…

Easter trip was €620, trip in May was €523 & the trip in July was €823 (we’ve paid north of €1,200 in the past for the big ‘summer trip’) so €823 seems really low… (last summer we got the trip for around €700)..

I ended up booking another week in June only last week for us and it was only €536!!

So yeah, July and August can be a bit nuts, but there’s still decent options there outside of those months..

I also booked a Thursday - Sunday trip in October for myself only for €118

gaillimh

Yeah all about timing for sure. We did our “big” holiday early this year so looking for something as cheap as possible and we’re tied to July or early August so not ideal.

I’ll definitely placemark it for future tho thanks for the heads up on it.

Speaking of Europe. Northern Slovakia in the tatras mountains. Very outdoors holiday. Walking, cycling , hill climbing or just sitting watching everyone else do it. Relatively cheap and guaranteed weather. OH is from the region but I love going over. Summer rather than winter. Fly to Bratislava or Krakow.

sekond

Thanks for all the suggestions. It appears I have been overruled on the "warmish" criteria and we are now going to Greece! But the location my husband found seems to perfectly fit the "An apartment, a pool, a restaurant or two within walking distance and maybe somewhere to do a day trip or a bit of shopping" criteria, and was certainly much cheaper than some of the options I'd been looking at. The extra heat means I'll have more excuse to sit in the shade by the pool, drink cold drinks and do as little as possible!  

banie01

Bulgaria?

There are some very nice all inclusives near sunny beach that gives plenty of options. I've done Sunset Resort in pomorie there (closed now).

There's pretty good value to be had in Bulgaria and Turkey IMO. They are struggling with the loss of Russian tourists, particularly in Bulgaria.

TaliyahGarrett

One spot that comes to mind is Costa del Sol in Spain. It's got that perfect warm-but-not-too-hot vibe, loads of places to stay with pools, and plenty of nearby day trip options. Plus, you can often find some good deals on accommodations.

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