To be slightly done with Eurpopean city break type holidays?

[LindorDoubleChoc]

My one holiday this year involved 10 days split in a
much loved European city, equal time in a smaller town a few hours away, plus a day in a pretty much unknown town just over the border in another country. And of course the inevitable 2 days travelling.

All very pretty but all quite similar! Most of the 10 days of my holiday involved 12 to 15k steps because we had to see as much as we could while we were there. And, tbh, I just thought - this is all very nice but I could be in Rome/Barcelona/
Lisbon/Paris/Amsterdam/Bruges/Prague/Sienna/Montpellier/Munich/Faro/Seville/Cadiz/Cherbourg/Dinan/Porto ... anywhere I've already been really. We walk around and take photos for the sake of saying or feeling like we've been here. We will take in the major sights, read a bit about the city's history and not remember a thing about that after a few days! I won't be putting photos on IG or FB because that's not my thing. So why am I doing it?

Perhaps I need a different type of holiday.

Sorry I disagree. I love my European city breaks! I find each city different and appealing in different ways.

I would love a ‘europop’ break though. Reminds me of eurotrash (for the older amongst us!)

Your choice, just as beach holidays are not for everyone.

I think a mix of city break and somewhere on the coast, mountains and lakes is the best combo. That's assuming you don't want to do AI hotel/cruise type holidays (I don't).

Very good, So what will you do instead then?

It’s up to you, if you don’t like doing it then stop. However you cannot say all those cities are the same because they clearly aren’t.

I agree - especially when the streets and ‘attractions’ are so crowded (recognise that my presence contributes to this also) - I realised this when shuffling around a rubbish cathedral in Sicily. I don’t like a tourist tick list. I don’t mind going for a specific event or exhibition with the city as a backdrop - but prefer going off the beaten track to smaller rural towns and villages.

This is what I am asking ...

I have stopped doing city breaks. I find the constant eating out - having to book - a bit wearing after a while and I'm not that into art or churches. Our last trip was to Amsterdam and I really didn't enjoy it. We had a nightmare getting there (train hold ups) and there was so much building work going on.... I realised I much prefer being in nature, self catering and taking the car, so we have been going to Wales instead.

Agree. I pretty much always go back to cities I know now. I can stay in different hotels in locations I love, use the indoor and outdoor pools and swan around to new or favourite restaurants or sights like a local.
Everywhere is so tourist driven these days it’s much nicer to just enjoy the holiday as a break in itself.

You could do a combo. Like you I was getting fed up of being like a bird swooping in, then flying around, and swooping out again when in many cities. Although I do enjoy places with a bit of history and others with fantastic scenery.

Recently had my very first trip to a longed for city - Rome. I had some time off so decided to go for 8 days. However, I stayed in a great beachside place on the coast 30 minutes by train from Rome. Up early, took the train, did the sightseeing, and came back to base by the sea, quick shower and sat readin on the balcony sunbed in late afternoon. Out for dinner where I didn't have to book three days in advance, and the atmosphere was very relaxed, unlike Rome which was crazy - as expected.

I think I'll try that in the future and combo a city and either countryside or seaside. I am not a beach holiday person.

Time for a change! Exciting. What kind of holiday appeals?

Beach?
Country cottage?
Camping?
Adventure travel?
Holiday park?
Hiking?
Retreat?
Stay at home with a few day trips?
Other?

Oh thought of another old favourite:

Road trip!
Maybe a cruise?

What's you immediate thoughts? Is it more beach type holidays, getting into skiing? Personally I like to do a mix, or revisit places we have been so that pressure to see and do everything is removed, youre able to more immerse yourself when you revisit a city.

I get this. Have travelled to most of the places you have listed for 2-5 day holidays, most without kids, some with- and looking back it was just traipsing around, eating and drinking. Tick must see things off lost. Take a photo. And coming home not feeling recharged at all. Of course each city is different, but the beats are the same.

i do like churches/galleries/museums very much and I am very pleased I have seen some of the things I have seen- but the times of this being a ‘holiday’ is over.

i will also tie in the city break with a concert or show…or return to my favourites like a pp poster has done.

i have fully embraced the fly and flop. My life is busy and enriching enough that i don’t need to be mentally stimulated for my annual leave.

or being in nature.

I think any type of holiday can become samey if thats all you do. Cruises/beach holidays/ forest retreats etc are all the same.

The answer is to keep changing it up. Get a mix of active versus complete relaxation.

Mandarinaduck has suggested some good alternatives.

I usually incorporate one or two of my hobbies into holidays. That could be something active like running/hiking/cycling/swimming/skiing/sailing or something arty/craft/food-based/exploring something of the culture that is linked to something you enjoy (e.g. make crepes in Paris, pasta in Rome or cinnamon buns in Copenhagen). Doing something I love in a new place is a fabulous experience. Not sure what you enjoy doing but would definitely recommend spending your holidays doing things you enjoy rather than taking all the expected photos for social media.

We walk around and take photos for the sake of saying or feeling like we've been here. We will take in the major sights, read a bit about the city's history and not remember a thing about that after a few days!

Do you go through life just following the herd and doing things for the sake of doing them? I really think all adults should have worked out what they're genuinely interested in and what makes them tick, and plan their life accordingly.

You don't actually seem interested in history, architecture, culture or any of the things that make the cities you listed completely unmistakeable from each other. And you don't have to be! But if you'd rather be doing sports or going hiking or lying on a beach then do that instead of bovinely doing city breaks just because you see other people doing them.

I love city breaks but I pick and choose which major tourist sites I bother with depending on my own interests. I don't go out of my way for churches but I'll always go to a city's best art gallery. I will travel far and wide to go to the best restaurants but things like the Spanish Steps are very "is that it?" for me.

Have some self-knowledge and do the things that excite you!

This sounds fantastic! I’d never thought of that but what a great idea. I love staying out a bit and using public transport, did it in Amsterdam once to be out of the crazy city.

Instead of choosing a place to visit, choose an event (or series of events) to attend? Give yourself a reason to travel.
What are your interests?

And choose accommodation that offers more than a bed and breakfast - a hotel with a pool or spa, for example, so you can have some down time to read/chill out? I like a bit of activity/sightseeing, but not all day every day!

How about a walking/cycling holiday where your bags get taken to the next village B&B. You see the countryside and stay in picturesque villages/towns.

Difficult finding the ideal break, I’d agree with OPs comments that, with few exceptions, you just end up thinking, it’s really good to see but it’s another city. Beach holidays bore me after a couple of days, it’s trying to find a compromise, places like Salzburg as an example, things to see but equally walks in the countryside nearby

I think you can have over saturation with travel. I had some inheritence and went a bit travel crazed for a year or so and it wore me out! I became a bit jaded with the whole "business" of everywhere. The queues, the other tourists, the thinly veiled resentment in the market traders eyes when you are looking for presents... I think travel has become something very different to when I was in my 20s and it was about discovering culture and really connecting with the idea we are all the same and all valid despite our background. Now you have people who tie flags to lamposts to keep foreigners out of our country visiting cultural areas they don't fully appreciate just for a photo to show the neighbours they can afford it. It's lost any meaning.

Exactly this. You’re not actually interested in any of the things that make urban holidays interesting, yet for some reason you keep doing them.

I adore art and architecture, so will choose places that can saturate me in both. Opera and good food for vegetarians are a bonus. I don’t do ‘major tourist sights’ unless they’re something that specifically interests me.

There’s no such thing as a general ‘must see’ anywhere. My ‘must see’ won’t be someone else’s.

My ‘a few days in NY’ is the Frick, Met, the Whitney, the Cloisters, the Met Opera, something off-off Broadway if there’s something interesting on etc. I spent a few days solo in Madrid earlier this year and spent them entirely in the Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornemisza. I was easily walking upwards of 20k steps a day, and was exhausted at night, but I enjoyed every minute. That wouldn’t necessarily have worked for another person.

Well, what do you enjoy doing? Probably best to base a holiday around that!

I used to be like that with city breaks but later realised when you're rushing around ticking off sights it leaves no room for spontaneity, which is usually when the best things happen. When you stumble across a gem of a bar or just sit in a cafe people watching and absorbing the atmosphere.

Multicentre holidays might be a good option. Explore a city and then move on to the coast/hiking/safari/yoga retreat.