AIBU to find city breaks absolutely exhausting?

I think the trick for say a long weekend if you’re working is:

• somewhere with flights at decent times so you aren’t up at the crack of dawn or stressed out - eg leave home 10/11 Friday and be home by 8pm Sunday
• flight time under 2.5 hours
• transfer time under 45 mins or so
• a small city without too many “must sees” so you don’t feel pressured to run around ticking everything off
• plenty of time in bars / coffee shops / sunny squares just watching the world go by
• not feeling like you have to eat three square meals a day

How active are you at home? This is key I think.

Also yes to taking it easy. Lie in. Stop for a drink.

I live in north London, so I have the option of Eurostar and onward train for many. Much easier if you don't fly, especially not using an airport.

I think the trap is feeling like you need to do everything when you’re there. But if you both break a lot you can return to the same place.

choose things you really want to see - boom a break near there. Do that and just wander/ potter. If something else you really wants to do comes up then book to go back as one of your other breaks - potter some more.

if you enjoy city breaks and plan to do more when you retire you can add a list of places to visit and tick them off. But don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need to do everything today or this trip. You could return in 5 years

We love city breaks and they are our main type of holiday. We're Londoners so very used to a lot of walking and busy public transport. We often append them to Mr Monkey's marathon running schdule. He is a bit of a freak of nature and will walk and walk. For example he was happy walking miles and miles around NYC two days after running Boston marathon.

The trick is to be selective about sights - we tend to do one or at a push two of those a day, always have a good rest back at the hotel before going out in the evening. A lot of strategic stops for refreshment are good as well.

Also as others have said you need to view it as a different type of holiday - you will come back tired - but I tend to see that as evidence of a good holiday!

God I love a city break. Will take this any day over lying on a beach or by a pool. I also don't understand why it has to be exhausting. You're not obliged to go to every tourist destination. Some of the best elements of going to a city are just tooling around the neighbourhood you're staying in, walking in parks and eating in restaurants and bars. If you go for a weekend you can have one activity day and one chilled day. Or, as PPs have said, try to go for a bit longer.

City breaks are exhausting! Guaranteed >20,000 steps. I would class myself as an athlete (competitive triathlete in my 50s) and I still find a city break tiring! Bus tours are great, river cruises also, coffee stops and a nice leisurely lunch make them more manageable. But I always expect to be knackered on a city break! Still enjoy them. Just accept the knackered-ness.

54, love city breaks. Just back from a Spanish city for 4 nights. First 3 days did lots of walking, stopping for coffee, drinks, tapas etc. clocked up 18-20k steps a day. The last day we went to the beach and got sun loungers. Flew back the next day. We are already big walkers so it’s not a stretch for us. What is tiring is eating out every night( didn’t want to waste evenings in an apartment) and the copious drinks! 🤪

I don't find (overseas) city breaks very restful to be honest! I find it's a lot of time in airports for just a few days away. But I travel fairly regularly for business so maybe that's why I don't find them relaxing! Also have a toddler who isn't a great traveller yet so I guess I'm not really in the city break stage of life! I much prefer to go somewhere for a week so I can ease into the trip and take time to orient myself.

We do a city break every 3 months for 4 days. I love an itinerary and spend ages planning it, plus a big selection of bars/ cafes/ restaurants with good reviews. We are both awake at 6 am and never lie in.
We are 66 and fit so walk miles.
Always lots of time for people watching in bars as well as galleries/ exhibitions/ historical buildings.
I hate heat, the beach and doing absolutely nothing.

Please don't do this. It's not 2015, have the awareness to not contribute to the rent price crisis for those of us in cities

I love city breaks and go on many with the same friends. Like pp research like crazy, book all things, research trams etc. It's not cheap though.

I’ve just come back from a 4 day city break and yes you do cram everything in in a short space of time . We walked an average of 20,000 steps a day but broken up with coffee / food stops it was very manageable. It’s a trade off , see everything you want but prepare for busy days or not see everything. Alternatively stay for longer to pace yourself.

You'd be welcome! And I'm happy to share any recommendations of stuff we've done in various places if you're planning a trip & we've been there!

I love asking people for their recommendations & sharing ours

Ayr is lovely. We have friends live there so we get for free, and go by bus via the ferry its only about £20 return Robbie Burns Country, lots to see so a car is handy, but you cant get the bus easily in to Glasgow and Edinburgh from it . Lovely beach, beautiful walks, a pretty busy town centre and some quite historical . Very friendly place but Ive got to be honest and say I wouldn't put it on a city break list unless I was driving

I’d love to go on holiday with you!

Early 60's and both of us working just 20 hours a week ( me on NMW ) so we aren't rolling in it, but we get a couple of city breaks a year

Being in NI we have to fly so I just go to google flights and search the cheapest destination month by month ( I can fly to Edinburgh return cheaper then it is to book a suitcase on the flight for example ) and then start researching

UK and it's a cheap Travelodge on a RO basis - breakfast in Wetherspoons when we are ready for it and half the price of a hotel breakfast . Lunches are from bakeries or meal deals, and dinner - we do love an Indian and can easily eat it every night we are away . UK cities and museums/ art galleries are usually FOC - if its free, we will go :)

Europe ( Eastern Europe flights are usually good ) and its an Airbnb , have a bottle in the apartment, tea and toast for brekkie, bakery or street food during the day, and an inexpensive restaurant at night. Public transport is cheap and efficient , you do have to pay in to many museums/ galleries but its not much. Eat away from the main tourist areas and you can eat really well for 10 - 15 quid a head with a drink

Tight budget would be £60 a day, a relaxed budget is £100 - for two - after flights and accommodation is paid. Just be prepared to go somewhere you had never thought of going to ( went to Newcastle cos I got return flights for £40 lol and had a fantastic time - amazing city )

I love Madrid!

I've done all of those UK cities bar Ayr, and can thoroughly recommend all of them!

I still work FT as does DH. I am thoroughly pissed off because I applied a year ago for flexible retirement which would allow me to work half the week, and have time to travel, and my hateful manager won't approve it!

We do several city breaks per year and try to do a bit of research beforehand, so DH and I will each pick one or two "must see" things then we work around those. We don't try to do everything and we often end up just sitting in a pavement café for the afternoon watching the world go by. Or we might just laze around in the hotel room for the morning and not go out until afternoon.

For example in Paris my choices were Musee d'Orsay and Montparnasse tower. DH's were Montmartre/Sacre Coeur and something else. The Louvre and the Eiffel Tower weren't at the top of either of our lists so we didn't try to cram them in. Maybe if we go again.

I used to want to fill every minute and see absolutely everything but I had a bit of an epiphany about 10 years ago and realised that it's a holiday and down time can be a good thing sometimes.

Do one in the UK — Oxford, Bath, Edinburgh?

I think @Lamelie and @AreMyEyesGreen probably make an important point. If you’re not used to walking a lot and/or using public transport, aren’t used to a city environment, or simply aren’t used to being out and about from morning till night, I imagine you might find them draining. I love them.We just got back from six days in Madrid, two fiftysomethings and a 13 year old, and had a wonderful time. We got back Friday night and had friends over for dinner on Saturday.

My DM has just turned 80 and declared she’s too exhausted to do any more city breaks after a week in Paris. Not like it was in the 60’s

Yep we love a city break.

Was in Krakow in March and away to Prague in October

Until recently, because we had allowed our passports to lapse our breaks were all UK - York, Edinburgh ,Ayr, Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool - we are in NI so a flight required no matter . And under-seat bag is included in ticket price and is plenty big enough for 4 or 5 days

We can easily do 20k steps a day or more

We have coffee in the apartment in the morning, then head on out. Stop to eat when hungry , stop for a coffee or beer when tired

I research like crazy before travelling. I make a list of "must sees" and use google maps to plan what and when - so we aren't walking back and forth. So we are in an area and we see what we want to see in that area. I will also have a short list of bars and restaurants in each area

I also research the public transport system- knowing what tram or metro station we need, how to buy tickets etc. Anything that may be difficult to get tickets for whilst there, I book before hand

We plan on doing two pay in attractions/exhibitions a day and taking in the free sights as we go

We also have Bolt downloaded so if we are knackered and the far side of town from where we are staying - a taxi is with us in minutes. Im more of a walker then DH so whilst I can keep the pace up all day, I make sure we stop every couple of hours to sit with a beer or coffee

Whilst it sounds regimented, it's not. We wake, see what the weather is doing and decide then what we are doing that day. Some days we are away out at 7am, others it will be closer to mid day

And some cities have so much to see and do its madness to try to do everything in a couple of days - been to Liverpool 4 times and still not covered it all - but that's ok, means we get to go again :)

Good shoes are a must on a city break , esp those cobbled cities. And layers. Being uncomfortable , be it feet hurting, or too hot or cold or wet makes for a miserable tiring trip

I wfh since Covid, so I don't have a commute. I do attend meetings some days away from home but the majority of time, I'm at home doing meetings via Teams.

I don't walk half as much as I should! I seem to cope somehow when I'm away! I think it's because I have the motivation. I really struggled to walk in New York last year and was constantly afraid I would fall at one of the crossings and be extinguished by one of the massive beasts of cars!