2nd Anniversary... marriage not great.... need a romantic city break to save us!!

[Toothache]

As many of you will know DH and I have not been getting along very well lately.

But we have decided to dump the kids with his folks in Liverpool and go away for 2 nights for our 2nd anniversary in October.

2 nights, one of the last 2 weekends in October would suit best. We need ideas! Have looked at Dublin, Barcelona and Paris, but can't really see any fab deals.

We will be flying from Manchester. Anyone seen any great deals??? Or know any fab websties I should look at???? Looking to spend about £450 MAXIMUM for flights and hotel.

Thanks in advance.

What about Seville? Or somewhere like Lake Como in Italy (think you can fly into Milan and travel from there).

I almost think you need to go somewhere slightly off the normal weekend break routes in order to fit within your budget....

I'll see if I can think of somewhere else....

Oh I thought my budget was pretty average!!

try here

Toothache - oops - didn't mean you to interpret that comment the way you did! Sorry - hope I haven't upset you!

I think your budget is reasonable....don't get me wrong. I just remember trying to do something similar for me and dh a few years ago, and found it was difficult to get something in one of the more popular places unless we were to compromise on proximity to the city, method of transport or quality of accomodation..

Berlin! wonderful city (tho not conventionally romantic), loads to do, fairly cheap to eat out, and I can give you some great tips if you decide to go there
Air Berlin fly from Manchester.

I love Rome

expedia.co.uk have lots of choice

That's not to say that it is unachievable now however...especially as there seem to be so many more cheap flight / weekend break places around.

Remember too that the last two weekends in October are half term - aren't they? This could push up prices and availability.

paris wodul easily be the cheapest flights though woudlnt it
t is lovely and hte language wont be too much of a problem

yu can eat out sheaply and hte flught is short

go paris this itme

haev some hotel ideas

we stayed here last year

ot was fine
rooom not huge but location great

freind said this was in a good spot too

and thats 328 euros for two nights

LAst weekend in October I found a deal on expedia, flight and hotel for £402.72, to BArcelona. But you have to change in frankfurt for some reason. It will only link to the home page though.

Hesperia Sant Joan Suites, the hotel is called.

Hi - sorry about your woes - I am trying to persuade hubby to take me to Marrakesh, and I saw some good deals on lastminute.com for 4 * hotels/flights all in - £389... I think Marrakesh looks fab and romantic and warm - nights watching sunset in slinky dress with cocktails???

oops sorry realised you meant £450 all in - but Marrakesh might still be available...
Or you could go for a romantic weekend in this country - so many beautiful hotels in Lake District/Cotswolds/Cornwall?? Barcelona is my favourite place but more for shopping!! I imagine Rome as everyone suggests is lovely. Or maybe somewhere a bit different like Copenhagen - my husband's been there and says its spectacular. Try cheapflights.co.uk or sometimes BA do good deals on their internet site. I was quite impressed with lastminute.com - give them a try? Good luck

There's a site called something like Easy-Breaks that does nice breaks here, seems geared towards couples. Very reasonable.
I'd do flights with Ryanair or someone similar & Alpharooms or Octopus Travel for hotel. My SIL does these kind of breaks a lot, no kids to consider. They did Stockholm last year at the start of November & tho' it was cold they had a fab time & she said it was very romantic. Prague looks very fairytalesque (new word), heard quite a few bad reports about Barcelona recently, pickpockets & muggings altho' that was all-girl trips.
Hope you get something nice.

I would go for either Florence or Venice for real romance. www.jet2.com for cheap flights to Venice or Pisa (near Florence) from Manchester. The Guardian's website's travel section has good deals on hotels in Italy, we had a lovely stay in Rome at Easter. Sorry, I'm cr*p at links

Thanks for the suggestions folks!

Went to the travel agents on Saturday and was offered loads of fab deals. The best one was 2 nights in Dublin (1 mile from city centre!!) in a Jury's hotel, flying with Ryan Air..... total cost £280!

However..... dd fell asleep in her buggy and ds fell asleep on the chair next to me, so I suddenly felt this air of calm and realised I had LOADS of time to spend with the agent....... result being..... I've booked a fortnight in Menorca next summer!

Does anyone know of any ridiculous deals out there with flights for like £10. I'm always hearing of people flying out to Dublin/Amsterdam/London etc for only the price of air tax, but I never hear of these!

Coz we still want to go away for the weekend. I'll have a look at all those links today. Thanks again!

I hope you can regain some of the romance and intimacy again, toothache.

You've had an awful lot to deal with in the first years of your relationship, including two small children as well as everything else. But you're still together looking for a romantic weekend to focus on each other - if the willingness is there why shouldn't you succeed? Have a wonderful time.

Thanks Anorak. I just feel like I made the suggestion of going away for the weekend and DH just agreed with me..... I don't think he's looking at it as a marriage-saver like I am.

We have been through so much.... but I don't think we've ever actually overcome anything..... just brushed things under the carpet.