Has anyone done a “extreme day trip”?

[inkyspells]

Well mines not a extreme day trip but will be 47 hours (2 nights ) in gran canaria
The one I’m looking at arrives at 5pm Monday and leaves 4pm Wednesday.
Do you think this is worth it ?
Hotel is 30 mins away
Will have to leave at say 1.30pm on the Wednesday

I could see why you'd maybe do it with a city but, Gran Canaria?! Why are you doing this?

We've done it with parkrun - fly out Friday and return Saturday evening. Usually Poland or Ireland

Not for me, you'll be at least 5 hours on the plane each way plus transfers. Why not do a city break with a shorter flight, Nice, for example has a beach and airport is close by.

No but I'm following.
I asked DD what she wanted to do for her 13th birthday and she wants to do an extreme day trip to Amsterdam to visit the museums. I'm kinda up for it. Seems doable.

Basically some warm sunshine

For one day? If you arrive 5pm Monday then you've missed the sunshine that day. And on the Wednesday you will have to leave at lunchtime to get to the airport for 2pm. I can't see the point personally.

Did it to Paris before Christmas. Arrived late at night and walked up to Montmartre for a nightcap, went to an exhibition we really wanted to see next day, visited St Chappelle, did some Christmas shopping and took the late train back. It was gorgeous. Felt like a long weekend when it was just 24 hours.

We did an extreme weekend in Amsterdam a long time ago when we were young and healthy. Went to the airport from work Friday, and were back in work at 9am on the Monday morning direct from the airport.....took about three weeks to recover!

Lovely place though and great museums.

Yes I've done a couple, BC (Before Children) Krakow, Copenhagen, Paris. They were fun and fab. Love my kids, but miss those carefree days.....

No I wouldn't do that, I did Venice for a day, I was in my 20's and was brilliant but exhausting, don't think I could do it now in my late 40's!

We did it to London from NE Scotland. Sleeper train down and back so a full day in the city and we got to see Les Mis. I had an oversized handbag with me for everything we needed.

I used to take regular day trips to Barcelona - I could get to Gatwick easily, it's only 15 mins from Barcelona airport to the city centre, and flights were at reasonable times. Just checked, though, and it's only 13° there atm.

It's the flight time to the Canaries that's making this 'extreme', but it could be fun if you don't mind sitting in planes and airports!

It's warmer (16°) in the Algarve and Morocco, but they've got heavy rains with flood risks ... yeah, go to the Canaries 🌞

No but I know someone who did a day trip to New York on concord.

We did Alicante for a day last summer. Early flight out at 6am (only needed a small cabin bag each), 15min taxi transfer and arrived in time for breakfast in local cafe. Walked around the hill fort and shops until mid-afternoon, had a siesta on the beach and then dinner before our flight home. We were back home by 1am, as we only live about 45 mins away from the airport.
A little tiring but would def recommend.

I’ve done it to Billund which was 1.5 hours each way to visit the Legohouse. I’ve also done 2 night city breaks, however the flight time has been just over 2 hours and I got 2 full days.

I’m not sure if I’d do over 4 hours on a flight for 1.5 days. Some of the busier airports have long queues to get through on entry and exit too

Worth it definitely if you have the time and cash to spare, we have done Barcelona and Amsterdam for 1 night each trip, arrived in time for a late afternoon wander then dinner and had until mid afternoon to sightsee. Worth it for the sun, wine and good food. Did LA in a long weekend pre kids, hectic but so fun.

While environmentally it’s not ideal, we ended up doing an unscheduled 24 hours in Spain last year for family reasons. We both commented on how surprised we were that it felt like a mini holiday…so I’d say yes, very achievable but I was exhausted when I got back.

I am in a facebook group for these, they look gret but I am worried I would be so knackered I wouldnt enjoy it after getting up at 4am

The whole concept of an extreme day trip is really irresponsible if you have any level of concern for the environment.

There's a whole spectrum of more responsible attitudes to air travel from "no fly" to "only fly when it's essential" to "fly less often and only fly for longer trips" to "don't fly for short trips if you can get equal value from a no fly trip".

Flying for extreme day trips is the opposite. The whole point is the drama and novelty of flying when most people would think it isn't worth it.

It's a big FU to anyone who thinks we are in danger of leaving a seriously damaged planet for future generations.

I knew a lady that stays no longer than 2-3 days pushing it.

In all parts of the world she gets there takes a pitcher looks around then flight home.

She went to Barcelona and back in a day.

Im thinking of doing the same, just up and go and home again.
Perfect for people like me that get bored quickly.

And for them op that say why, well if not why not.
Go get the thrill of it.
I want to live not survive.

Why not.

The only thing I would say is it’s a long way to go in search of the sun with such a short window. You might be unlucky with current weather patterns as they are.

In principle though I’d say go for it.

Go for a long weekend? We often go to Lanzarote or Feuterventura for four nights. Book cheap flights on average £80 return. Under seat free bag.. cheap accommodation. Just buy lovely fresh bread/ cheese/ ham/ salad etc from supermarket.
Can easy do it for less than £300 each .

Not a day trip, but did 2 nights in Miami which is just under a 3 hour flight for us. Left early Saturday morning and got back very late Monday night. We escaped -5C weather and were on a beach in 27C weather. The respite was fantastic and worth getting up at 4am!

I’ve never done it but it sounds very appealing for a city break. Not sure I could be bothered for a resort or anywhere more than a couple of hours flight away