European weekend city break recommendations

mark66

mark66

mark66

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Hi,

Looking to take the wife away end of October for a surprise European city break and looking for recommendations. We have done Paris and Amsterdam. I know she would like to go to Rome, so would be interested in recommendations on good areas to stay for sight seeing as well as nightlife, bars and restaurants etc.

I also found a previous thread from 2016 and Budapest was well recommended and some great hotels are being returned on Expedia for <£500 including flights. Most hotels are on the Pest side, any thoughts on which side is preferable?

Thoughts appreciated!
 
The tube in Budapest is so good that it doesn't really matter what side you stay on it's all very accessible. Make sure you see the houses of parliament and the shoes on the Danube.

Prague + Bratislava are other good options.
 
Budapest is cool, I've normally stayed on the Pest side in district 5, plenty of bars, restaurants etc... the other side is where the castles etc.. are.
 
My wife and I do like a city break.

Prague, Krakow, Budapest and Berlin are all great shouts. I've stayed in nice hotels in all of them, and it's never cost me more than £250 for 3/4 days. I've been to many other cities, but those four stand out for me on the basis of value/access/food/people.

My advice for any of them is to try and do a walking tour on your first morning and, if possible, one of the food tours. The former are often free (running on donations and tend to last about three hours with plenty of sites and historical information), while the latter can be quite expensive (cheapest one I've done was Berlin, 40E, up to 70E in Prague - which was incredible), but you learn a lot about local foods and get the historical stuff too. If you do the latter early on, you'll find nice restaurants/bar to visit later - and know more about what to eat. You can also learn about the public transport - in Berlin, Prague and Budapest the undergrounds were pretty good (don't forget to validate your tickets!) and can save you a lot of shoe leather. Unless you're like me and like to walk everywhere.

Happy to be more specific on any of the above if you have questions.
 
Just got back from Switzerland. Went to Zurich and surrounding areas. Very nice place and clean but very expensive. Standard sized Mac D's is £10, so that's an idea how expensive it can be.
 
rome can be wet later in the year...but its still a superb place to wander round

you will never see everything in a weekend so dont rush round trying to do it all..just accept the fact you will need to go back another time
 
Thanks all for the responses, most useful :)

Mason- said:
The tube in Budapest is so good that it doesn't really matter what side you stay on it's all very accessible. Make sure you see the houses of parliament and the shoes on the Danube.

Prague + Bratislava are other good options.
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Thanks, I am leaning towards Budapest as it looks fascinating and it also looks like we will get a little more for the money ;)

Pookie Bear said:
My wife and I do like a city break.

Prague, Krakow, Budapest and Berlin are all great shouts. I've stayed in nice hotels in all of them, and it's never cost me more than £250 for 3/4 days. I've been to many other cities, but those four stand out for me on the basis of value/access/food/people.

My advice for any of them is to try and do a walking tour on your first morning and, if possible, one of the food tours. The former are often free (running on donations and tend to last about three hours with plenty of sites and historical information), while the latter can be quite expensive (cheapest one I've done was Berlin, 40E, up to 70E in Prague - which was incredible), but you learn a lot about local foods and get the historical stuff too. If you do the latter early on, you'll find nice restaurants/bar to visit later - and know more about what to eat. You can also learn about the public transport - in Berlin, Prague and Budapest the undergrounds were pretty good (don't forget to validate your tickets!) and can save you a lot of shoe leather. Unless you're like me and like to walk everywhere.

Happy to be more specific on any of the above if you have questions.
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Great, appreciate the ideas ref the tours, the food tours espcially, I didn't know such things existed!

BigT said:
Just got back from Rome yesterday. Second time for us and still not bored.

Can't recommend this place enough stay if you want romantic. Central location and rooftop terrace overlooking two piazzas.

http://www.hotelcampodefiori.com
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Thanks for the recommendation - looks really nice. I see their cheaper rooms are in the 'nearby historical building' and a nice double in the actual hotel is €500 for 2 nights. Did you stay in the main hotel?
 
mark66 said:
Thanks for the recommendation - looks really nice. I see their cheaper rooms are in the 'nearby historical building' and a nice double in the actual hotel is €500 for 2 nights. Did you stay in the main hotel?
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I did. Got a superior double for 145 euros a night but I was staying Sunday to Wednesday. You can still wander over and use the terrace if you stay in one of their apartments, you just don't get breakfast. You're allowed (encouraged really) to take up your own snacks and drinks too. Handy give there is a supermarket opposite with wine one fifth the price of that which the hotel serves!
 
If you want a cheap break try Belgrade. I spent a week there last summer on work and found it much more interesting then places like Zargreb which is just a clone of Vienna flushed with EU cash. The people in Belgrade are extremely friendly and food is amazing, with Serbia being outside the EU prices are a lot lower.
 
Copenhagen is amazing. Lots to see and do, it's a beautiful city, got a amusement park in the middle which is very pretty and good fun. Amazing food, and great cocktails! I've been to a fair number of the city break destinations in Europe and Copenhagen is easily my favourite.

Ricochet J said:
Did you get a chance to go to Kødbyens Fiskebar?
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It's amazing in there! Probably my favourite restaurant I ate in. Fleisch is also highly recommended by me which is in the same area. Also, get a cocktail in Ruby's. You won't be disappointed.
 
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