City breaks

[WalkingOverRainbows]

Now the dc are older they are over the caravan style holidays. On the way back from the last one we stayed a night in Manchester and they loved having their own hotel room etc and have declared they would prefer city breaks as holidays instead now.
So I was wondering what they best city breaks are... where would you recommend and what should we see?
Upside is we could probably do more smaller trips now for cheaper than a week away in a caravan resort!

Oh yes, Brighton is good for teens.

I don’t think Cardiff has been mentioned yet but it’s a brilliant city.

We also had a great family trip to Edinburgh. Stayed in a Premier Inn and had a view of the castle from our room.

I know it’s already been mentioned but I highly recommend Liverpool.

So much to see and do, some brilliant restaurants and loads of choice of hotels. Chinatown, Baltic Triangle, and the docks are all worth visiting.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4177988-family-trip-to-liverpool?msgid=105103664
See this recent thread for Liverpool.

As well as Liverpool would suggest Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester

I fancy a trip to Leeds and Birmingham as not been to either

I visited Nottingham the other year and loved it.

I have mid teens too and having their own room is their favourite bit of the holiday!

I'd suggest:
Liverpool
Portsmouth. Spinnaker is great and you can abseil down if you're feeling brave!
Southampton (include a day trip to the Isle of Wight?)
Glasgow

mine really love a Premier Inn city break as well . We try to do London once a year, as there's always something we've not done. Other hits have been Oxford, Durham, Liverpool and York. Glasgow's booked for the summer.

Liverpool and London have been the best so far, but I have high hopes for Glasgow.

My two when they were about 4 and 7 thought hotel rooms were amazing. DS1 was wowed by the hospitality trays and mini fridges, and going down to the buffet breakfast was a definite hit.
We used to try and get a hotel with a pool.

I miss those days.

Leeds has the Royal Armouries if that interests you. Also street food trucks in the trinity centre in normal times, plus Yorkshire sculpture park and National Mining Museum a few miles away. Lots of big parks and smaller museums on outskirts.

I spent a weekend in Exeter in December just after the second set of restrictions ended, and found lots to do. Exmouth a short train ride away, trains to Okehampton coming later this year, and Torbay a short distance too.

DH and i had to spend a day in Lincoln when DS had a Uni interview a while ago. It seemed like a lovely town but not sure if there's enough to do?

I have older teens and have done city breaks for the past few years now. We combine UK and European city breaks.

In recent years, my children have enjoyed...

London
York
Liverpool
Edinburgh
Exeter
Bournemouth/ Poole

Bath and Oxford would also be nice, but they're too close to us.

Mine like things like York Dungeons, evening ghost tours, chocolate museum, shopping plus they can tolerate a historical castle / museum or two, the quirkier the better (eg my daughter liked the Cold War bunker at York, but found most of the ordinary museums boring!). If you can combine with a trip to a spa / swimming pool with slides (a splashdown type place) or a go ape activity. They're sorted!

Also, look for something like the York Pass... it makes it a lot cheaper to fit loads in.

York would fit that age group really well. DD is nearly 14 now and wants to go back to do the ghost tours.

I would try and find a location you can do other things apart from the citiy itself, GoApe or watersport, climbing, splash pool whatever your teens are into.

Friends combined a trip to Alton Towers when they vistited family in Liverpool. Bit of a drive but you could do it with a separate overnight stay.

Second Liverpool. Lots to do, with great museums and buildings.

London - do East and West / North and South trips though, way too much to do in one weekend.
Bristol
Newcastle
Lancaster
Brighton
Dundee
Glasgow
Edinburgh
Cardiff
York
Belfast
Dublin
Lincoln
Sheffield
Bath

Going to second Belfast - a great small city, nice for a city break and you can do a day trip to the North Antrim Coast and Giant’s Causeway/Game of Thrones sites. There’s also the Titanic Quarter/museum which is really good. Nightlife is great (and very safe if they’re of an age to be out themselves) and very reasonably priced restaurants/drinks.

London is always amazing and with the great hotel rates on offer at the minute I would definitely be giving it a second look - fantastic hotels at very low prices. Soho is also being largely pedestrianised for street dining evenings/weekends which makes an amazing continental street dining vibe, and teens will love the atmosphere.