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.

Well don't just fly in. Start reading up on the country and area months before you go so you actually are interested in seeing it. Otherwise, you're looking at stuff purely because it's on a top 10 list.

Sounds like you just need a break from that kind of holiday for a while. Enjoy thinking about and looking at what else might appeal to you now!

Disagree! I love city breaks and get so much out of them. I also love the walking involved, and learning new chunks of history.

Beach holidays are not my thing - I get bored after one day. So maybe you're the same but opposite. That's fine isn't it?

We do a LOT of City breaks as DH hates sun sea sand holidays, hates anything involving water, so no island hopping or travel by boat etc.

I know what you mean. They all involve schlepping around busy cities.

But.. what I love is finding the unique aspects of each place. We both love art so if there are good galleries we look at a few favourite masterpieces. And then focus on what's special about that city.

In Lisbon we went to an amazing immersive theatre show about Pessoa, listened to fada, visited the incredible, weird castles in Sintra.

In Vienna we hiked up to the city vineyards and drank Sturm.

In Budapest we had a day in the thermal baths and visited the cave hospital museum.

These are all really different from each other.

But I do think holidays need a few lazy days too. When you are marching around hard pavements every day for 20k steps, you come home needing a break.

I will never tire of European city breaks, I love sightseeing, but we dont rush from place to place, we take our time and see the places that interest us. We mix in a long haul now and again, but I would be bored to tears sitting on a beach or staying in a country cottage.

Warning: weirdo incoming…

Yes, I know I’m odd, but I hate being away from home for more than 5 days. I love history, architecture, art, landscape etc so I LOVE a European city break. No long- haul, sometimes not even a flight, nice food, just walking about and stopping whenever I like. I go out of season, obviously.

I would hate a sun’n’sand holiday, a big resort or crowds.

I’m not adventurous in the least and prefer European food. I have no interest in going anywhere else either, which is tantamount to saying I eat babies these days, but it’s the truth! 😳. My husband has had to work a lot in North Africa and I’ve never had the slightest inclination to visit these places which so many people seem to enjoy. I just don’t think I get it.

There are so many options. We love to travel and mix up what we do every year. In recent years we’ve done…

Asia - busy city/wildlife adventure/beach.

European road trip taking in cities and countryside

Cottage in the UK with lots of walking

The Azores… walking and whale watching

Self drive safari in South Africa

I appreciate long haul flights can be expensive compared to Europe but we save up by
doing something cheaper on alternate years. Places such as S Africa and parts of Asia are cheaper when you get there for accommodation and eating out.

I don’t live in Europe but have travelled to almost all major tourist destinations (plus several less well known ones) on the continent. I’ve mostly enjoyed it but you’re right, after a certain point you won’t find the experiences that different or new. It sounds obvious but I would suggest traveling outside Europe - other continents (especially Asia, Africa and Latin America) are much bigger geographically and more diverse in terms of the culture and unique/different things to do.

I love a city break & we tend to do a small 'tick list' of the main attractions & ensure we also research & do something different & not so touristy, we've also covered a bit of rail travel so almost like a 2 centre holiday (we like trains). As some posters have said I'm quite drawn to nature/scenery so we're off to Switzerland for a 2 centre rail break this month & I'm really looking forward to it. I also think visiting cities out of season & main attractions very early in the morning helps. Enjoy whatever you do.

My parents were like you. Adored Europe. They learned several European languages, travelled often in France, Italy, Spain and occasionally Germany or Switzerland. But zero interest in the rest of the world. Even when DSis lived somewhere stunning for several years and had small children. It was as if the wider world just didn't exist. Weird (to me). But DS2 seems similar.

But if you love history, art, architecture, landscape etc, there’s an enormous variety of these outside of Europe.

I'd love to know what some of your less touristy highlights in European cities were.

Do you have a sport or activity that you love? That can be an AMAZING holiday....for example, I love equestrian sports and ride myself. My dream holiday would be to attend one of the big Global Champions Tour shows (theres one on the go at the moment at Schonbrunn in Vienna), or th ebig CCIO show in Aachen etc etc. For other folks who love golf, they would probably love to attend a Ryder Cup - F1 enthusiasts one of the grand prixs etc etc.
Its still a holiday, but indulging in something you love - awesome sports related shopping, meeting like minded people from around the world etc etc !

I think it's this which is not working for you: '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'. Sounds like you might be better picking one town and exploring at a much more leisurely pace. I always include a bit of time for people watching/cafe/book. I also try and do something 'normal' like going to the cinema (subtitled if I don't understand the language), see the less touristy bits, try and soak up the feel of the place.

We’ve started staying longer in cities. So having a week or 10 days. Did that in Mexico Cite a couple of years ago and Georgia, do day trips, have time to relax, no pressure to tick off all the sights. You get more into the pace. And mix it up with more nature type holidays.

to be fair we live in the arse end of nowhere so I’m pleasantly pleased by cities ans simple things like a choice of things to do and places to eat!

I didn't used to love city breaks but I do now. I think the main difference is that I don't run around trying to tick everything off my list. I will look in advance if there's anything that looks especially appealing then just see that and spend lots of time sat in cafes, looking round shops etc just soaking it up. Sometimes just a nice wonder, sometimes I'll see an excursion and do that. I don't really ever rush and I don't go to the famous sites if I don't fancy it. I think not having fomo helps.
I also love a beach holiday and a trip to the countryside though, I like to mix it up. Places that I enjoy most are places like Nice which has all of those things!

I know what you mean, and I find the things that help are 1. Staying for a week rather than a few days. You can have resting days or slower days where you are only out for a few hours 2. Staying in an apartment or house rather than hotel so you don’t have to go out for dinner or get up for breakfast at a certain time (although I really like a PPs idea of staying outside the city in a smaller town). 3. Having an event to focus on, like a music festival. 4. Going when the weather is cooler and there are fewer people (Rome in April was great, Venice in June less so).

I cannot recommend Biarritz enough. (for summer obv)

It’s a beautiful and vibrant small city surrounded by beautifully, unspoilt beaches and towns like Bayonne and Saint jean de Luz nearby.

Only 45 mins from San Sebastián.

If you have never been there, i would recommend for a mixture of beach and sightseeing.

Why not find things relevant to your interests and visit those? We went to Singapore and skipped so many of the big ticket items and spent a day wandering around a lake that locals jog around but was surrounded by rain forest. We saw lots of wildlife and had a great time.

I love animals so we visit a lot of rescues and wildlife spots. I think the off the beaten track places are always the best. I also think it’s good to vary the type of holiday you do, so you don’t get fed up of that particular type of holiday.

Maybe it's not really about needing a different type of holiday per se. I've heard people say similar things before and always wondered if it's actually a bit of existential angst - you know ultimately it can all feel a bit pointless repeating what are essentially very similar experiences multiple times a year for decades. Western, post-Christian life is all about distracting us from the inevitable and activity-crammed holidays are a good way to do this.

Maybe what you're really craving is some sort of meaningful connection/ experience? I always think staying with a local family and experiencing a new place with the people who actually live there might tick this box. Or maybe some sort of spiritual retreat if you crave a bit of peaceful reflection surrounded by nature? Obviously, I'm also aware this might be some people's definition of hell 😅

I would say Im sort of similar, except that the countries in the ROW that I want to visit are all war zones or unsafe

I have zero interest in the US, Aus, Canada etc. I would like to go to latin America, Mexico and definitely Cuba but the price range and long flight put me off

If I could, my list would be Russia, Israel, back to Egypt again as I loved that, Iran, Afghanistan, the silk road

But I dont really want to go there at the moment to those areas.

I possibly have my eye on Pondicherry in India, that is a possibility with no issues I think.

Been there. Now I only do short breaks in the UK for walking or bicycling, or proper long-haul ones.

Thank you @Brooklyn70! I have always fancied Biarritz and your recommendation has really piqued my interest.

I think you could be onto something there @Jamclag, thanks for your thoughtful post. More and more I am coming round to the idea of doing some sort of quiet week away on my own, or in a small group, but not sure how DH and the DC would take that!

I agree with all of this. Especially the apartment idea - in a centralised local (upmarket?) residential neighbourhood rather than tourist area - it’s much better way to make the most of downtime - you can eat at arguably must better local restaurants or just get a takeout.

I am so over hotels - I want to be able to sit, relax and rest on a sofa (not my bed!) and to eat simply in private - not have to get up, showered, dressed etc to adhere to some breakfast timetable.