start your search
The Ultimate Guide to Planning a Family Holiday in July & August
The school summer holidays are the big one. For most families, this is where the majority of the annual holiday budget goes, so when you’re spending serious money on a family holiday, you really don’t want to get it wrong
The good news? Europe is in full summer mode, the Med is reliably hot and pretty much every family hotel is open and ready for business. The challenge is choosing where to spend your precious holiday budget and avoiding the expensive mistakes
Whether you’re travelling with a baby, toddler, younger children or teenagers, we’ve rounded up the best places to go during the school summer holidays with kids, plus the family-friendly hotels we’d actually recommend to make every penny – and every precious day of annual leave – count
Words: Frankie Collinson
Published: 11th September 2026 | Last updated: 11th September 2026
Your top family-friendly July & August reads
Mama
Where is hot in the school summer holiday for a family holiday?
For a classic summer family holiday, July and August are when Europe really comes into its own. The Med is hot, the sea is properly warm, the days are long and sunshine is pretty much the order of the day. Greece, Cyprus, Mallorca, southern Spain, Portugal, Italy, Croatia and Turkey are all brilliant bets if you’re after a proper dose of summer
- Cyprus: 30-34°C
- Greece: 28-33°C
- Mallorca: 28-32°C
- Southern Spain: 30-35°C
- Portugal: 27-31°C
- Italy: 28-33°C
- Croatia: 28-32°C
- Turkey: 30-35°C
And don’t write off the UK. July and August can deliver glorious beach days, long evenings and plenty of family adventures without the faff of flying. Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Norfolk and the Cotswolds are all brilliant for a summer escape – although, naturally, the British weather likes to keep things interesting
Best school summer holidays by age
Best school summer holidays with babies and toddlers
Best school summer holidays for children aged 5-12
- Martinhal Sagres, Portugal
- Royal Senses, Crete
- Parga Beach Resort, Greece
- Le Phare, Île de Ré, France
- OKU Andalusia, Spain
Best school summer holidays for teenagers
When to book a school summer family holiday?
Our rule of thumb: school summer holidays = start looking in autumn and aim to book by Christmas. July and August are peak season, and because this is when most families are spending the biggest chunk of their annual holiday budget, the best family rooms, dates and flights can disappear early
If you have a particular hotel, room type or destination in mind, earlier is even better. Leaving it until spring can mean paying more for what’s left, rather than finding a bargain
And while last-minute deals do occasionally pop up, we wouldn’t bank your main family holiday on one. When you’re spending this much and have so little flexibility, choice is worth far more than the gamble of waiting
Want to a deeper destination dive?
Whether you’re choosing a July or August family holiday based on the hotel or what you can actually do there with kids, these are the family-friendly destination guides worth diving into next – all the places to stay, things to do and parent-tested intel you need to narrow down your search
Family-friendly July & August holiday first hand reviews
How It Works
From dream to booked in 3 simple steps
1
Tell us what matters
Fill in our enquiry form and we’ll match you with a travel expert who knows exactly where your family will love
2
We’ll find your perfect fit
We’ll dig into the details, get to know your family and handpick a shortlist of stays. The best bit? Our service is completely free to use
3
Sit back and relax
From flights and transfers to restaurant reservations and kids’ clubs, we do it all, so all that’s left is counting down the days