To ask for short haul/European break recommendations

[BecauseICan22]

Sorry for posting in AIBU, shamelessly looking for traffic.

DH and I got married in March this year. We've had 4 losses, latest being yesterday an Ectopic which I'm now being treated for.

Between the wedding, buying our new house, blending 2 families and commuting between London & the Midlands, we're utterly exhausted and emotionally spent. We love the life we are creating and we feel very grateful to have all that we do. However, we just need a break away. Our respective children are going to be with their other parents over October half term. Where can we go for 3 nights which will be far enough to be a break but near enough to only be a short flight? We want some downtime, a nice hotel, great food, museums and lovely walks.

Any recommendations please?

Strasbourg is lovely and you can get there by Eurostar

So sorry for all the trauma you have been through.

I would recommend Barcelona, so much to do and some lovely hotels. Also Malaga. I haven just got back from staying in the Hotel Vincci Posada right in the old town. Its a beautiful old city, not loads to do but definitely enough for 3 days.

Seville and Malaga were my favourite.
Particularly Seville.
We're off to Dubrovnik in October.

I'm so sorry for your losses, OP.

My suggestion is Stockholm. I hope you have a relaxing break, wherever you choose

Riga. I went there on a bit of a whim a few months ago because the flights were cheap, and it was beautiful. If you like architecture, cathedrals etc, that's the place for you. My hotel was lovely and not too expensive at all - the Konventa Seta in the old town.

Don’t head to Porto for great food

We visited Seville at the end of October and the weather was gorgeous. I prefer it to Barcelona. Also loved Dubrovnik, Lisbon, Valetta, Palma, Cadiz, Jerez. People often bypass Malaga but it's a great place in it's own right.

Bruges is gorgeous 😍

Madrid or Lisbon. (Just back from 3 days in each)
Any Italian art city- Rome, Florence etc. The tourists are back, but with no Chinese yet travelling they are still far less full than in the past.
Sorry for your losses.

Nice. The weather should be lovely. The airport is close by too. Old town is lovely. Food great.

I loved Porto. We were self catering, but on one of the days we headed for the beach by bus. Weather was lovely in December. After Christmas and before New Years.

So many choices, incl the obvious large cities/capitals.
But I would add:
Nice
Lucca (fly to Pisa)
Split
Bologna
Padua (fly to Venice)
Ghent (Eurostar)
Utrecht (fly/train to Amsterdam)
Konstanz, on the Bodensee (fly to Zurich)
Stockholm

Palma. We stayed at Nakkar Hotel.

Lisbon
Malaga
Seville

Valencia, Tarragona, or Avignon.
Barcelona and Sevilla are both wonderful too, but more touristy.
I've always wanted to go to Budapest but the politics are putting me off; homophobic, mysoginistic, and pro-Russia.

I'm so sorry for your losses OP. As soon as I saw the title I thought Budapest x

@AuntieMarys We stayed there too ! Loved it.

Copenhagen.

super relaxed vibe and lots to do

I’d definitely go by train . Then you can start relaxing. Amsterdam or Lyon.

Lots of fabulous cities but I'd decide first whether you want to fly or not.

Eurostar is so much less hassle than flying these days (usually), especially if you live near one of the main UK stations. It can maximise the time you have and you can worry less about luggage size.

Rome. Absolutely beautiful - so much to see and do, or just wander around the streets taking it all in. My very favourite city

Another vote for Lisbon or Seville here. Loved them both!

Amsterdam?

I went there in May on the Eurostar and it was a really stress-free journey.

Really great city with plenty of museums (the main ones like the Van Gogh museum are all in the Museum Quarter so it is easy to see everything in one day) and lovely architecture and markets.

You can do one of these boat trips as well to see a lot of the city without having to walk :) and the guides are really good about sharing plenty of information about the city history.

Friendly people and everyone speaks English. Easy to get around too using public transport.

Or I would do one of the Italian cities. A lot to visit and wonderful food.

I'm going to vote for Prague as well. It's a lovely gentle place.

Gentle?