Where would you go & how would you book?

[KickAssAngel]

HELP!!

We're a family of 3 (DD is 15) who are British but live in the UK. Anyway - we'll be having an extended stay back in the UK this summer, and want to have a few days as a break for the 3 of us (the rest of the time we're seeing grandparents/cousins etc so not much privacy or downtime).

We'll most likely be near Bristol and have up to 6 days (5 nights) to go - somewhere!
Where?
Which websites would you use for booking?
We have US & UK credit cards so can pay in either currency (and UK cards will pay Euros then bill us, so that's possible).

We live somewhere with lots of sunshine & beaches, so don't need those. I was thinking of some 'culture' - Paris or Rome.

Also flying out of Gatwick possible, or getting train from London.
If we stay in the UK it's likely relatives will decide to join us so we want to fly away somewhere (seems like half our family are scared of flying).

Where would you go for 5 or 6 days, prob flying out of Bristol?
How would you book?

Sorry - first line should be we're British but live in the US!

Just look at the destinations from Bristol airport, and then book directly on the airline's website since it's unlikely you will have a huge choice. Don't bother getting the train up to London, Bristol has everything you need. Book your flight to Paris on easyJet, book an air B&B for the week, sorted. In Paris I'd prefer an air b&b over a hotel because then you can go to the markets and cook lovely things at home as well as going out.

I'm assuming you've never been to Paris before, in which case you must absolutely go once. If it's old hat and you go frequently, I'd go to Lisbon, Stockholm or Madrid for a city break.

Been to both Paris & Rome before (Paris a few times) but DD never been. She learns Spanish but there's nowhere in Spain I fancy - unless people can give me a good idea.

If we go from London, we have family nearby that we can head out from, and we need to end up there anyway as that's where we leave from to get back to the US.

Amsterdam is lovely for a few nights.

Not sure about flights out of Bristol but Valencia is a stunning city, and great for your DD to practice her spanish. Barcelona is also amazing but will be very busy and crowded . If you want something a little bit different how about Talin ...it's meant to be stunning and very gothic. There are so many cool, exciting cities in Europe, I would just see what fly's out of Bristol and book something

Bristol Airport has almost 100 destinations for direct flights!

But not Valencia or Talinn.

Too much choice!

Malaga?

Easyjet fly from Bristol and does city break packages, which might work out cheaper than booking separately.

But in Spain, do you not fancy Barcelona, Malaga or a combination of Seville, Granada, Cordoba etc? But will be very very hot so maybe not good for sight seeing so what about Iceland? Or Berlin? Or Scandinavia - Copenhagen or Stockholm? The latter has lots of interesting sounding museums for a start.

Or if you fancy Talinn, you could go to Helsinki and Talinn is an easy day trip by ferry.

If you can get UK Channel 4 online in the US, you could watch a few episodes of Travel Man which is about city breaks, to help choose?

Thanks for all the ideas - we're really not able to be flexible about dates, so have to go somewhere on certain days, although doesn't matter where.

DD is currently v excited about Paris, which is v v easy, so that's tempting. DH & I have both been, but not in the last 15 years.

Can't get flights on the rights dates for Seville. Madrid doesn't appeal. Been to Amsterdam too many times. Can't get flights/accomm. for Venice.

I fancy Rome, but hot & busy, plus a 4 hour flight so starting to be quite a long journey.

Any thoughts on Lisbon?

Lisbon is great. I would go there for the custard tarts alone, but there's loads to see and do and it's closer than Rome.

How about fly to Nice. Hire a car. Go to Grasse, Cannes, Monaco even Italy.

I'd probably stay in the UK and either do a mini tour of Bath, Stonehenge, Jurassic coast etc. Or visit Edinburgh and maybe somewhere else in Scotland too.

Krakow in Poland is a lovely city for a short break easy to get to cheap when you are there and lots of things to see

Hi, just noticed you've get Bristol to Rome as a four hour flight but it's less than that 1210 out of Bristol, landing at 1545. But that arrival time will be local time so one hour ahead. So flight time is actually 2 hours 35. ( now really hoping my maths is right ).

That sounds about right autumn, we do Leeds to Malta quite a lot and that's further and around 3 hours.

Is it a direct flight? Sounds like it could be landing elsewhere en route

Oops - forgot about time difference!!

OK - DD is now voting for Paris. Dh and I slightly prefer the idea of Rome, but it will be hot and busy. Paris just seems easier/cheaper for just a few days. We used to do trips like this all the time. Now we're out of practice & it seems a big deal.

I used to be able to speak French well enough for a holiday, but haven't been to France for about 11 years, so a little out of practice. I can still remember "deux biers, s'il vous plait" so we'll be good!

It's OK OP, the return flight from Rome is only an hour and a half .

But I'm sure you'll have a great time wherever you go. I went to Paris on a school trip as a teenager 30 years ago, we went on a coach as neither eurostar or budget airlines existed and I don't think I really appreciated it so would quite like to go advice again but haven't got round to it.