European day trips

[overthinkersanonnymus]

Does anyone do these on a regular basis, or at all in the past?

I haven't been abroad in forever and would like to build my self back up (anxiety disorder related) to travelling. I love the idea of just popping to Barcelona for a couple hours on the beach, a lovely meal, then back home to my own bed. Or a spa day in France eg.

Any tips or suggestions are very welcome.

Have done Copenhagen, Stockholm, Malaga, Madrid and Lisbon.
I live close to an airport (40 min bus ride, costs £1.75) fab Saturday trip solo if you work regular weekdays

I've done Alicante and Belfast and loved them both. Alicante was ridiculously easy to get to from the airport as the bus stop to the city is right outside the airport exit and it drops you at the beach. Have fun x x

Pisa has a great airport connection to city. Short ride on airport shuffle

@CrownCoats thanks for the input 😁

We used to do Dublin day trips regularly back in the day of Ryanair penny flights. Had plenty of adventures for 2p return.

OP, if you're near Manchester there is a very active EDT Facebook group and lots of supportive people who will help with planning. I'd suggest Cork as a starting trip, or Belfast. Both easily done from Manchester and you should get a reasonable price.

Did Paris by Eurostar for the day once from London. We were staying in London for a few days. Caught a train at about 8.30 am and got back at midnight so had quite a lot of time in Paris.
We don't really live near enough to an airport to make it worthwhile doing a day trip by air. Last time I flew from Manchester I met a group of women in the bar who were doing an EDT to Belfast - which is a very short flight. Might be a good one to start with OP.

I admire the morals of people who have no desire to leave the country because of environmental factors. I couldnt do as you do id feel i was missing out too much on culture, experiences, sun…

where do you spend your holidays? Id live to add more of england to where ive visited.

I do fly. I fly every 1-2 years. But I would never consider flying for the sake of a day trip, which is what this thread is about.

That was hilariously judgy from someone who does fly then.

In your mind, what is the difference in the op, who has not been abroad in a very long time, going on a two short flights in one day, and you, who goes on a flight every other year?

@CrownCoats so you've have at least 20 flights more than I have.

Tut tut.

What difference does it make if you only fly once a year wheather it's a day trip, week long trip, month long trip?

Hi OP, I actually agree that a day trip abroad could be a good way to ease yourself back into travel. Not having to think about accommodation takes one aspect of the planning away.

Try the FB group Extreme Day Trips and there are also FB groups especially for the regional airports so you could join the one for your local airport and see which destinations people have been able to visit from your local airport as well as pick up on tips on the best places to park etc for them.

There’s also a book for newbies to extreme day tripping (EDT) for sale on Amazon called Extreme Day Trips in Europe that’s useful.

Good luck with your travels.

Because most people who fly for day trips are doing it in addition to other overseas holidays, not instead of them. There are accounts on instagram and elsewhere promoting the idea of flying to European cities for day trips. I know many people who have done them and don’t stop to think about the environmental impact.

But this poster hasnt been on holiday in decades.

This poster isn't "most people" she has not been on holiday for 20 years. It is completely irrelevant whether her first holiday abroad in that time lasts one day or two weeks.

Wow was this with Ryanair?

Huge numbers of jobs and livelihoods are supported by tourism and air travel -massively outweighs the environmental concern - even the Labour government is intending to expand capacity at Heathrow.
I

join the extreme day trips page on FB. My son has done a few and we have done a few trips with 1 -2 night stays

Used to do booze cruises to France back in the day, grew up in south London m, most people did it, collected the tokens from the Sun.

Dh flies for the day but only for business

I went to Iceland for a day trip in 1999. Well worth it except the fish fingers I wanted weren't on offer .😂

I think some of the extreme day trippers like it in a warning there’s a major delay as they always say think of the combo and how many trips you can book with it

does the compo kick in after 3 hour delay ? And how much is it?

I would suggest booking a hotel for just one night so you can practice the whole holiday experience, it will be amazing for you (book as a package eg easyJet holidays then you get the security of an abta guarantee)

I'd choose a smaller airport if you can

I've done a fair few days trips like this.

The issue is now that we have to join the "all other passports" queue on arrival, instead of being able to go through the EU side. On a trip to Brussels last year I had to queue for nearly 2hrs to get through passport control. Which takes a big chunk out of the day. Sometimes you can still get through quickly but there's no way of knowing that in advance. I'm thinking of stopping it now for that reason.

You also need to be prepared in case your flight back is cancelled, which also happened to me. Ended up having to pay £200 for a room in a pretty basic hotel, just as it was so last minute. Hadn't brought any toiletries or sleep wear with me. It wasn't fun. I did get reimbursed by the airline but no compensation as it was weather related. Obviously I also had to wait to get the money back.

For someone with anxiety, I think there's just too many unknowns. You have to be pretty confident in travelling to do these day trips. I think stopping over for one night would be less stressful overall.

I think it was wizz air.

Never had a long que non eu and never nad a cancelled or delayed flight.