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Original poster

To be slightly done with Eurpopean city break type holidays?

131 replies

LindorDoubleChoc · 30/09/2025 20:36

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.

OP posts:
inamo · 03/10/2025 11:42

JulesJules · 03/10/2025 08:31

This is exactly what my D1 and her bf did this year - they got cheap flights to Rome, then stayed in an Airbnb in Ostia. Then combined train into Rome for the sights with chilling on the beach.

Show quote history

That's where I stayed also. Nice buzzy town with great selection of restaurants. Not only was it close to Rome, it was two stops to Ostia Antica, the Roman site that is very well preserved, as good as Herculaneum without the crowds! I loved seeing it.

Nice to read of someone else who did the combo!

Crikeyalmighty · 03/10/2025 12:01

ZenNudist · 03/10/2025 08:41

I love European city breaks but I like to switch it up with beaches, spas, theme parks, hikes, bike rideas, funiculars, religious sites. I love art, history, architecture, culture and food!. This year I did:

  1. milan 5 days including the cool qc termemilano spa, last supper tour, food tour of navigli district, duomo absolutely amazing cathedral plus foundation prada but only to see the architecture and visit bar luce for aperitivo because of its notable designer.

  2. Barcelona 3 days, Drinking and tapas with the girls but we did visit parc guell.

  3. 7 day mix of Netherlands cities and sights (keukenhof, delft where we stayed and the boat trip there was fun, hire bikes to see the windmills at kinderdijk, dinner and a wander in dordrecht, hague to see the mc escher museum, 2 days at efteling theme park plus fitted in a bit of spa time at the bosrijk hotel. This trip was amazing)

  4. 7 days hotel relaxing in hilton malta, mainly by pool with a day trip to Gozo. Malta is great to mix relaxing with sightseeing. Valetta and Mdina are must sees from previous trips. I've not yet made the boat trip to comino and the blue lagoon and caves. One day!

  5. 10 days in Northern Spain. We stayed 5 days west of santander in a residential neighbourhood eating at home a bit, chilling on the balcony and the pool but doing day trip to the beach, labyrinth at villapresente because ds is mad for mazes, comillas to see Caprico de Gaudi but i love architecture, dinner and a wander in santillana del mar, plus 5 days in rioja staying in a resort where we had a pool and tennis courts etc for dc but also went hiking one day and food played a big part there. A vist to marques de riscal winery was top of the list as I've long wanted to see the Frank gerhy designed hotel.

  6. 5 days in Berlin still to come with my main focus being the reichstag but I also want to go to the zoo for ds(11) and East Side gallery and staying in a lovely hotel we can chill out in and snack in the exec lounge rather than eating in restaurants every night plus we have a pool and I'm minded to do a U2 related tour as a different way to see the city and pay homage to acting baby, an album I love.

I plan my holiday around a particular longed for site. I find doing booked tours less of a waste of money now. I like esoteric things that I'm planning holidays around. Ideas below:

Utrecht for the miffy museum, miffy traffic lights and Kastel van de haar

Lucky cat temple in Tokyo, Disney Sea, Hiroshima peace dome, Miyajima Island are the main things I want to see in Japan.

Lake bled, not at a busy time of year, plus a few nights in Ljubljana. Not planned this yet.

Turin for the qc spa termetorino plus Egyptian museum and food!

I'd recommend bilbao and san sebastian in one trip. I did this last year to fulfill a long held dream to see the guggenheim in bilbao.

I could go on...

Edited

That’s how we do it too - similar combos to you as well - even in Majorca where we go a lot we always do 2 or 3 days in Palma at the end of, to a nice central hotel in leafy area with lovely rooftop pool area..

WinterWarmerthanexpected · 03/10/2025 12:11

I have been to Amsterdam lots of times over decades
There are always new things to see !

Light festival
Indonesian food
Enormous second hand clothes & items market
Food markets
Towns to visit via public transport near the city
Museums
People watching

Crikeyalmighty · 03/10/2025 12:55

@WinterWarmerthanexpected I’m off in 2 weeks for 4 nights staying in Haarlem which I like. Thing is with Amsterdam it has 5 or 6 pretty big and pretty places all within 40 minutes on the very regular trains, so you can vary it up , plus the beach , seaside towns and national park around the same distance too . The food scene has changed a lot in recent years as well and now I’ve had some of my best meals anywhere around Amsterdam, Leiden, The Hague etc - it’s a damn quick flight, easy to get from airport and as my H says ( he likes books and records and flea markets and food markets) it’s a really good ‘potter’ if you know where to go - don’t just hang round Dam square or near central station etc - it’s also quite cheap - I’ve had many a ‘quality’ glass of vino for around 7 euros and splendid high quality main courses for around 21 euros

UnbeatenMum · 03/10/2025 13:33

I went to Barcelona a few years ago and realised my favourite day was actually when we got out of the city into the countryside. I do still do city breaks with a specific group of adults but if I'm planning it I do holidays involving more nature and less traffic/busyness.

Hellohelga · 03/10/2025 13:39

Squirrelintree · 30/09/2025 21:00

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.

Yes I agree, activity holidays are the most rewarding. I love skiing because I don’t have to research any places to visit or how to get there. I just get up each day and ski and eat. Photos are optional as snowy mountains all look the same.

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