Which European city would you recommend for a long weekend by train or car from London? Easy to get to, culture, good food, interesting vibes as taking DD in 20s...

[loveyouradvice]

The obvious answer is Paris BUT Olympics.... so where would you go in the next couple of months? By train or car, not too far - interesting, fun, good food and good art... even better if funky alternative clothes or design shops....

Antwerp
Ghent
Bruges
Amsterdam
Brussels

Love all those places. Went to Rotterdam last year but didn't like it much. Only time me and DH have felt uneasy abroad

Amsterdam. Was there for a few weeks working while backpacking in my 20s and I loved it. Ann frank museum and a loads of others boat trips, bikes, leidseplein, parks, amazing architecture, coffee shops, interesting people, shops, tram ride to coast.

Putting something else out there - Copenhagen! Absolutely fantastic city and lots to see/do. If you go during the Midsommar festival, it's amazing!!

Amsterdam, there's often deals on for the Anantara hotel which is so central and easy to get to from airport and then super easy base to get around.

Not Bruges. It's nice enough but not standout. Food was rubbish too.
Amsterdam is easy but it's not my bag either. I'd pick Paris over it certainly.

Maybe Bordeaux? Is 7 hrs from U.K. by train too much? Really lovely city and obviously wine and food is fantastic everywhere.

Years ago I stayed in Haarlem, outside of Amsterdam, think train between the two was only 15/20 minutes. Hotels and restaurants then were certainly cheaper there than in Amsterdam. Haarlem itself was really nice with galleries/museums. Would certainly go back.

How would you get to Berlin by car or train just for a weekend? It’s a long way

Eurostar to Amsterdam.

I thought it was a very interesting city with lots to see and you can do one of these canal boat trips and here about the city history that way :)

Great museums and markets.

People are friendly and the majority speak English.

Another vote for Brussels.

@WonderingAboutBabies I would have suggested Copenhagen as we lived there- lovely city however it's not really easily doable on train or driving. Hence I suggested Amsterdam on Eurostar- Utrecht and The Hague are also excellent and easy to do- Utrecht was a real suprise to me- very lovely

I'd go to Paris via the Eurostar and catch the sleeper train to Vienna.

Lille, second stop on Eurostar and not far from Calais.

It's a nice small city with some lovely architecture and great restaurants.

Ghent is apparently where it's at. According to the telegraph travel

Den Hague, great squares, full of bars and restaurants, museums, music and we visited a flea market. Great shopping too. Tram out to the most white beaches with loads of beach bars.
High parking/car charges though so train or the very short flight would be better. Public transport and bike hire are amazing. Hotels far cheaper than Amsterdam.

Rotterdam, much more gritty, but some cool shops and the market hall is amazing.

Budapest, but further away.

Found this about getting to Bordeaux

• London to BordeauxOption 1, by Eurostar & TGV via Lille. The easiest option. Take Eurostar to Lille Europe in 1h30 and make an easy change in Lille onto a direct double-deck TGV Duplex to Bordeaux now taking as little as 4h26 with no need to change trains and stations in Paris. Relax over a glass of wine as you swish past the French countryside. However, although this avoids the need to change trains and stations in Paris, there are only a few options each day and most involve an easy 500m 6-minute walk between Lille Europe and Lille Flandres stations, as shown by the little 'f' against their departure time from Lille.
• Option 2, by Eurostar & TGV via Paris. This is the most frequent option, and often the cheapest. There are hourly Eurostars from London to Paris Gare du Nord taking 2h20, take the metro or a taxi to Paris Gare Montparnasse and hop on a TGV to Bordeaux St Jean taking as little as 2h04 since the Tours-Bordeaux high-speed line opened in July 2017. Some of these TGVs are single deck, but most are now double-deck TGV Duplex Océane.
• Option 3, the ferry alternative: It's slower & usually costlier than Eurostar, but if you want to avoid the Channel Tunnel, live on the south coast, or at short notice when Eurostar is expensive, it's an option. Travel from London to Paris by train & ferry either via Dover-Calais or overnight via Portsmouth-Caenas shown here. Then take onward trains from Paris, booked at www.raileurope.com orwww.thetrainline.com.

If that's too far how about Reims? Lovely cathedral city and if you drive you could see a few champagne houses.

I would probably go to Amsterdam. Lot's of great art to see there. Plus stuff like the Ann Frank house and Heiniken Museum of Beer.

I think there are only a few cities I am really interested in going back to in europe :

Paris.
Rome.
Amsterdam.
Stockholm.
Prague.
Athens.
Budapest.
Vienna.
Venice.
Florence.
London.

Everywhere else I have been I could take or leave.