To be going bonkers over trying to book a holiday?!

[peachAAAY]

I think I'm going out of my mind. My husband and I have unexpectedly found ourselves child free for a weekend later in June and since I've been dreaming of a weekend away for what seems like forever, we've decided to treat ourselves to a weekend away (Hoorah!)

HOWEVER, I've been trawling the internet looking for cheapish flights and hotel and it all seems to be insanely expensive and the cheaper options then have extra costs like having to pay extra money for flights that don't last 10 hours etc etc etc. I just want two nights in a nice european location (heart set on paris really) - why does it have to be so hard?

I was so excited and this is taking all the fun out of it!

Those of you who are good at this kind of thing, please could you recommend me some websites to hunt on? Or other destinations that might be a little cheaper? Would massively appreciate any help.

Where are you OP? If in commutable distance to the Eurostar then that may be easier than flying.

P.S. I prefer Bruge to Paris, and well worth a look.

I can't second the Porto recommendation! I lived there for 6 months and have never been so happy to leave a place.

If you're just booking flights, be sure to check momondo, as it usually shows cheaper deals than skyscanner.

Bruge on the train?

If you are talking Eurostar then Ghent or Bruges are worth thinking about, as is Lille as mentioned earlier.

You can fly to Paris from Edinburgh for £99 pp. where are you flying from?

Here is a perfectly nice looking air bnb for £56 per night, ten minutes to the city centre by metro!

So that would be £368 for two nights in Paris - not too bad!

I highly recommend the orangerie to see the monets which are beyond belief and for some reason it's much quieter than other galleries!

The louvre is very crowded - worth it if art is really your bag but it is a crush.

Going up the Eiffel Tower not worth it IMO if you're only there for 2 days because you'll queue for hours.

The musee D'orsay is really excellent and has a lovely roof terrace with great views

Breakfast somewhere in le mouffetard

For a longer trip I always tell people to go by train to giverny to see monet's garden but you probably won't have time on this trip!

Paris is sometimes seen as a cliche but for good reason - it's just so gorgeous and there is so much to do. Definitely tell your DH it's worth the spend!

Whoops forgot to link to the airbnb! Here it is abnb.me/5ANOx8R9wN

Amsterdam or Berlin often have cheap flights, but for only 2 nights it's still going to be a lot of traveling.

As a pp said maybe consider a really nice hotel closer to home? Or a luxury lodge with hot tub? We did that last year, it was awesome

Crazy idea but what about a city in this country that you've never done.... Edinburgh or York both fab destinations and you could blow the budget on nice hotels and food!