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Last minute city breaks.

Oddsocks

Oddsocks

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So it’s been a crap week and I’ve decided to take the misses away last minute. Looking in the UK and costs for even glamping pods seem stupidly priced.

Krakow(Poland) and Budapest(we’ve already done) have come up as well as places like Valencia, Vienna, Rome, Barcelona.

Hotel isn’t a deal breaker as she just needs to shut off from work, any suggestions?
 
Went Valencia earlier this year. Highly recommend it.

Great food, Vibe, extremely clean and a lovely beach about 20 minutes away.

Forecast is a pretty nice 23 degrees and Sunny this weekend. ?
 
Valencia is a great city - I have friends there who would happily recommend some stuff too.

Others I'd recommend (we did a 3 month city tour back packing round Europe 15 years ago)....

Rome - If you love Roman history, it's bloody ace. The Colosseum is absolutely breathtaking (as is most Roman architecture) - Food is good, but it can be touristy so try and stick to side streets for the best places. Don't bother with the Sistine Chapel unless you are *really* into art. I found it most underwhelming and it's not worth the (likely) lengthy queues.

Barcelona is nice and has a good buzz about it - just be careful on La Ramblas as there's some very opportunistic pick pocketers. Park Guelle and the Sagrada Familia are both stunning examples of the city's most famous son (Gaudi)

Vienna is lovely but my heart lies in the Alps in Austria so would be more inclined to go to Salzburg or one of the Mountain villages for a few days. But if you do go to Vienna, you can get dirt cheap (standing only) Opera tickets hours before the show starts - just make sure the Opera isn't Don Carlos as it goes on for about 6 days and standing for that long is quite the challenge.

Others:
Brugges - Quiet, but great food, beer and hospitality. If you want a chilled out few days with options to visit larger cities via good transport, it's really good. The Half Maan brewery tour is really good too.
Munich - What's not to love about Bavaria? And you can do a day trip to Dachau if you want a day of culture (and haunting depression...but seriously, it's worth the visit)
Berlin - Loads of WW2 history (obviously), and generally a great city - but absolutely massive, so getting around can be a faff.
San Sebastien - if you want the best food you'll find in Spain.
Florence - Best food you'll eat in Italy. Can be a bit expensive, but I much prefer it to the likes of Venice and Milan etc.


If you want any specific recommendations mate, just drop me a message.
 
Oddsocks said:
So it’s been a crap week and I’ve decided to take the misses away last minute. Looking in the UK and costs for even glamping pods seem stupidly priced.

Krakow(Poland) and Budapest(we’ve already done) have come up as well as places like Valencia, Vienna, Rome, Barcelona.

Hotel isn’t a deal breaker as she just needs to shut off from work, any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Margate?
 
Barcelona will cheer you up, it's lovely and also chilled.

Nice? Not mentioned but a lovely part of the world and a quick flight from anywhere in the UK.

If you like your history, and to be stunned by the scale of stuff, Rome is brilliant. Also a good time to go as at the moment there will be virtually no long haul tourists that jam up the city. Easier to get around than normal.

I haven't been to the other cities and so can not comment.
 
In no Order, Lisbon, Venice, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome, Berlin, Brussels, Vienna, Porto.
 
Aztecs27 said:
Valencia is a great city - I have friends there who would happily recommend some stuff too.

Others I'd recommend (we did a 3 month city tour back packing round Europe 15 years ago)....

Rome - If you love Roman history, it's bloody ace. The Colosseum is absolutely breathtaking (as is most Roman architecture) - Food is good, but it can be touristy so try and stick to side streets for the best places. Don't bother with the Sistine Chapel unless you are *really* into art. I found it most underwhelming and it's not worth the (likely) lengthy queues.

Barcelona is nice and has a good buzz about it - just be careful on La Ramblas as there's some very opportunistic pick pocketers. Park Guelle and the Sagrada Familia are both stunning examples of the city's most famous son (Gaudi)

Vienna is lovely but my heart lies in the Alps in Austria so would be more inclined to go to Salzburg or one of the Mountain villages for a few days. But if you do go to Vienna, you can get dirt cheap (standing only) Opera tickets hours before the show starts - just make sure the Opera isn't Don Carlos as it goes on for about 6 days and standing for that long is quite the challenge.

Others:
Brugges - Quiet, but great food, beer and hospitality. If you want a chilled out few days with options to visit larger cities via good transport, it's really good. The Half Maan brewery tour is really good too.
Munich - What's not to love about Bavaria? And you can do a day trip to Dachau if you want a day of culture (and haunting depression...but seriously, it's worth the visit)
Berlin - Loads of WW2 history (obviously), and generally a great city - but absolutely massive, so getting around can be a faff.
San Sebastien - if you want the best food you'll find in Spain.
Florence - Best food you'll eat in Italy. Can be a bit expensive, but I much prefer it to the likes of Venice and Milan etc.


If you want any specific recommendations mate, just drop me a message.
Click to expand...

Fully agree with Rome. as far as food goes look into the side streets for busy restaurants with plastic patio furniture and you'll have found where the locals are eating.

Second Barcelona as a choice, also Vienna; if you go, visit the Spanish Riding School. Bruges is also good and if you're in Munich the BMW museum is worth a visit if you're any sort of petrolhead.

SwingsitlikeHogan said:
Lisbon. Heading home this evening after three nights in Lisbon and a couple in Sintra. Marvellous. Lisbon is just one splendid chilled and not too hectic quite small city. And the food is superb.
Click to expand...

Lisbon is also well worth a visit. (y)
 
Florence. Incredible buildings, museums etc. Very easy to walk round too.

Brussels is a favourite of mine too. Best bars in the world.
 
We did Brussels last year for the Christmas fairs and wasn’t overly impressed. Given the consistent good reviews I’m convinced there was a part of forgotten about as I recall a Brussels trip in 2002 that was pretty good.
 
We had a long weekend in Riga last month, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lots to see, easy to walk round and felt very safe. Great beer, food and drink prices in the Old Town were on a par with the UK, hotels very reasonable, we were less than £100 a night for b&b in a fantastic 5 star hotel in a prime location.
 
I know you have decided now, but for others looking in, I travel a lot for work (or did, before you know what) Some cities I enjoy going back to and would take the mrs for the weekend.

Madrid
Copenhagen (have done with Mrs)
Berlin
Bucharest
Munich (have done with Mrs)
Sofia (have done with Mrs)
Ghent
Amsterdam (have done with Mrs)
Athens
Bratislava (probably next for us, and you can get here from Vienna to double up cities, often cheaper to fly into vienna and get a taxi)
Prague
Dublin
Edinburgh
Nice
Istanbul
 
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