Solo city break ideas

[StealMySunshining]

I would like to take a solo city break somewhere in Europe next spring and am looking for ideas. I would like somewhere that has the following:

A nice spa hotel
Interesting sights
Good food
Walkable
Not too far from an airport
Can also be a city in the UK

Looking for up to 7 nights, budget of circa £1000 for B&B+

It cannot be anywhere in Italy or Greece. Any ideas would be welcome.

Seville
without hesitation

Valencia. The best ice cream! Lots of nice hotels there.

Palma
Seville
Aix en Provence
Bath
York
Lisbon
Porto
Malaga

We enjoyed Valencia in February. Beautiful blue skies and 18/20 degrees. A small compact city, excellent transport links and a beach too. We stayed quite centrally and although our hotel had a nice pool and spa it wasn’t a spa hotel per se but I imagine you could find one. Oslo is my favourite city in Europe but it’s probably a bit grim in early spring and can be pricey.

Malaga

I loved Málaga and the transportation was excellent. We ate on the harbour, there's lots of Roman and Picasso stuff but it's still quite small and walkable.

Rome is really good fun. Lots of sightseeing and amazing food. It has a really good, easy tube. The tube line C is relatively new and so clean.

Barcelona is so vibrant and there's lots of eateries on the beach. There's lots of sightseeing and the buses are easy to navigate.

Stockholm is amazing. Lots to see and do although nowhere near as warm as other places and more expensive.

Budapest

Vienna. Safe, walkable, lots to see and do

Faro is lovely and everything is walkable. Good bus service from airport to town. It’s quite small so you’d only need a couple of days. A lot of the shops are independent rather than chains and there’s no high rise hotels.
Take euros for the museums and churches.

Berlin
Munich
Vienna
Salzburg
Bruges
Edinburgh
York

Budapest, especially for the spa part. Their thermal baths are world famous. Eminently walkable as well.

out of the many city breaks I’ve had I would happily go solo to Budapest, Porto, Copenhagen, Palma

Utrecht in the Netherlands. 30 mins or so on the train from Amsterdam and just a lovely place to wander around.

Venice. Not cheap but one of the safest cities in Europe where you can confidently walk around alone at night, even the narrow back streets.

Budapest, several thermal baths to choose from, very walkable city and public transport is easy to use. 100E bus from the airport takes about an hour or you can book private transfer which takes around 40mins (can recommend someone). We visited in May and loved it, there is loads still to see so we will return.
Definitely book a river cruise we did an unlimited Prosecco one.

People suggesting Rome and Venice, the OP did say not in Italy!

I can’t speak to the spa hotel (though I feel you may be pressed to get that for £1000 for 7 nights), but Lisbon is a magical city with amazing food.

I also really liked Malaga. Not like the coastal resort bits, but the city centre itself. It’s the place in Spain I’d most like to return to and I’ve spent a lot of time in Spain.

Gdansk

Can't get better imo

Was going to suggest the Gdansk area. Sopot is a nearby coastal town that is known for wellness and spas. Easily reachable by train from the airport, you can also go into the city. Great public transport, very affordable, nice city to wander around.

Thank you for these suggestions! I really like the idea of Gdańsk and Seville. I should have said I have been to Portugal before and didn’t really enjoy Lisbon, although I do appear to be in the minority there as everyone raves about it.

Would you mind sharing the name of the hotel ? Thank you!

We stayed at The Westin. Excellent breakfasts!

Thanks Calypso!

Lincoln - the finest English cathedral, and the city is without the perpetual crowds of York.
Luxembourg - Astonishing natural setting in a gorge, and the countryside is practically within walking distance (but the public transport is free).
Wroclaw - not to everyone's taste I suspect, but if you like gritty metropolises... and the Rynek is handsome.
Dublin - for the joie-de-vivre.