Of the three Spanish destinations: Barcelona, and get the hotel in Sitges. It’s the best choice for “good beach and ‘cultural’ stuff which does not require a car.” Málaga would have been a great destination for Easter if you’re interested in its folkloric side (specially now that the Legión is allowed to take part in it again), but my understanding is that a lot of the architecture and museums bits of the area need a car.
Can’t tell about the other ones.
If I restrict the Mediterranean destinations to those served by both our local airports and the Budapest one, I’m down to Barcelona, Málaga, and Thessaloniki. However, since we live in Germany going to Spain before or after Budapest is going to be a bit out of the way; I couldn’t find any particularly good deals on the flights anyway. But to Thessaloniki we can do everything with Deutsche Bahn and RyanAir: rail to Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden airport, then a flight to Budapest, then after a few days there an onward flight to Thessaloniki, and a week later a flight back to Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden and a train back home. The total travel costs, including taxes and all of RyanAir’s hidden fees, is just €201, or €246 if we want to take a checked bag.
So, anyone know anything about Thessaloniki? I see the city is full of wonderful museums and ruins, and the nearby Chalkidiki peninsula has got 500 km of beaches. My partner would probably prefer to stay in Chaldiki and make day trips to the city, rather than vice versa.
There’s at least one.
Slovenia is another great place to visit. Sandy beach at Portoroz, lovely mediaeval walled town of Piran just a short walk down the coast…
I Greece at the point where hotels are ctting prices? It would seem to me that reviving their tourist industry would be a top priority.
Reported a spammer with a very bad sense of timing.
Cyprus, and specifically Limassol, where there is a beach right next to the main street, and plenty of ancient history as well. English is widely spoken (it used to be a British colony), and the food is good and cheap.
(And my apologies for not noticing that this thread had been bumped by a spammer.)
Not a problem! We ended up dispensing with the holiday idea in 2012, since our trip to Sicily that spring was already plenty hot and full of beaches. We did end up going to Cyprus in May 2014, which was very interesting (particularly our brief sojourn into the northern part).
I’ve been to Toulon and the south of France several times. Toulon is more of a working port and not great access to a beach from the town. The mountain is pretty nice though.
If you specifically want a beach, those around Hyeres and Cannes and Nice are sandy.
If you want interesting sites, visit the fjords near Cassis (Parc National des Calanques). Beaches there are gravel, but the hiking is very nice.
That said, the drives along the Mediterranean are wonderful, and as long as you rent a car (you drive stick, right?) you’ll be able to see quite a bit.
Museums? Everywhere. Perfume? Go to Grasse. Fan of the Rothchilds? Go to Villefranche outside Nice. (Grace Kelly died near here.)