Short City Breaks Abroad?

[Halsu]

Hi , my son is paying for a short city break abroad for hubby and I around end of February. we like sightseeing and good pubs etc,. Places such as Prague, Belgium, Bruges, Amsterdam all floating around at present His budget is around £ 250 ish ( without spends) , just wondered if anyone had any recommendation s

[jno]

Bruges is very nice

http://www.short-breaks.com/special-offers/Eurostar-Bruges-Specials

[MargoTester]

Prague is a wonderful city with absolutely loads to see and do. Just to give you some idea, we stayed at the Euro Star Thalia 4*hotel which is fairly central and it cost £75 per room per night including breakfast ( which was extremely good)The river cruise at night was excellent but we went in May, it might be a tad cold in March. We have also been recommended to try Budapest for this year's mini trip. Both countries are outside the euro zone so are cheaper when you are there.

[rockyracoon]

I second Bruge, it has the added bonus of being accessible by train. Munich is lovely as well, though I'm not sure you'll do that on £250.

[rockyracoon]

Krakow has been highly recommended to me by Polish friends.

[Buenchico]

Bruges is indeed a lovely city but it might be better to wait until the summer (or at least the spring) to visit it. That's because it's an excellent base for visiting the Belgian coast (with Oostende about a quarter an hour away by train, and several other resorts easily accessible).

Amsterdam is a lovely, compact city, which has great bars and restaurants, as well as loads of things to do and see. (Cat lovers will find a museum dedicated to them!).

It might be worth checking out the prices of flights to Barcelona's three airports, which are often really cheap because there's so much competition. (BA, Jet2, easyJet and Ryanair all fly to the wonderfully-named El Prat airport. Ryanair fly to Reus and Girona, but from only a few UK airports during the winter). Barcelona is a fantastic city for sightseeing, restaurants, bars, etc.

Paris is a possibility but it might depend where you're stating from. (Eurostar return fares start from £69 from St Pancras, Ebbsfleet or Ashford. Booking on the Eurostar website, rather than buying separate tickets, allows you to travel from many other parts of the UK for around £89).

Another suggestion that comes to mind is Bordeaux. It's an elegant, refined city, with stunning architecture and a great deal to recommend it. Being in the southern part of France, the weather will probably be far better in late February than in places like Prague (where temperatures often don't rise much above freezing, if all).


If you'll will be booking travel and accommodation separately, he should take a look at this website for cheap accommodation:
http://www.hostelworld.com/
(Don't be put off by the word 'hostel' in the title. Simply enter your dates and destination and start your search. You can then use the filters to remove 'hostels' but to retain 'B&B's' and 'Hotels'). I've found excellent accommodation from that website, such as a good quality central hotel in Madrid (which is another possibility, BTW, if you can find cheap flights), with air-con and free wi-fi, in peak season for €32 per night.

[Halsu]

Ooooo as a cat lover the cat museum jumped out at me!!! But think hubby won't be best pleased. Ha ha . Ah you are all so helpful it's nice to hear people's experiences of the places.

[Buenchico]

I can't resist posting these two links if you're a cat lover:

A virtual tour of Amsterdam's KattenKabinet:
http://www.kattenkabinet.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=39&Itemid=61&lang=en

and my five feline friends:
http://ukcatlover.rajce.idnes.cz/

[Halsu]

Fantastic

[Cathyhuns]

Most of the towns mentioned in your list will likely be colder than UK at end February. This may limit what you can do on your break.

[ladyalex]

Lisbon is beautiful and will usually be warmer than UK at the end of February which makes walking around much pleasanter.

[janbee]

I visit Bruges several times a year and at various times of the year It's a nightmare in the summer. Waaayyy too many tourists, like everywhere I suppose. March - June or Sept - Dec are the best times. There is a GORGEOUS Christmas market there from mid Nov . For a break at the end of Feb, I'd choose Jersey/Guernsey. Wherever you go Halsu, have a lovely time. I'm very jealous. xx

[thugulike]

Krakow without a doubt. Lots to see and do in a compact area all at reasonable prices

[MargoTester]

Janbee - if you can get to Jersey on a budget of £250 for two it would be a miracle! I love Jersey but it is so expensive, even b&b's cost a bomb. Beautiful island though with loads of things to see and do.

[-Talbot-]

Look on e-bay for a hotel, some great bargains.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-days-holiday-Rome-4-Best-Western-Hotel-Universo-Deluxe-city-trip-Italy-/311219902762?pt=UK_Tickets_Travel_Accommodation_ET&;hash=item487626d92a

[Mamyalynne]

If you do decide on Prague, there is lots of info on this thread, my daughter lived there for a while and she kindly passed it on....as of course did lots of other kind people.


http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Travel/Question948108.html