City break-possibly Germany

[Pastaallday]

End of March for just a couple nights or up to a week. We've been to Prague, Budapest, Croatia, Krakow, Barcelona, Amsterdam and a few others.
We would like a pretty old town to wander around, nice restaurants to explore in the evening. Good and drink not too expensive so ruled out Scandinavian countries.
Thoughts? Berlin, Munich, other German cities? Or Bulgaria was another option? Thanks.

Munich is fab. I preferred it to Berlin. Loads to see and do and some lovely restaurants

Tallinn is a lovely place for a short break and would definitely tick all your boxes plus cheaper than Germany. March might be a bit cold up there.

We had a weekend in Hamburg this summer, and would happily go back as there is so much to do and see.

Köln is lovely. I'd recommend. My mouth is salivating at the thought of all the bread and cheese there! So good.

Freiburg. Bloody lovely place.

Cologne or Dusseldorf.

Another vote for Freiburg. My inlaws live very close to it, and it's a lovely city. The Black Forest is very close by if you want to explore a bit.

Berlin is impressive but not a cosy old town type feel. I can't recommend anywhere specifically but maybe look at smaller places in Eastern Europe?

Bruges in Belgium is fabulous too

Thanks! Will look at those places in Germany. Yes we've been to Bruges before and loved it!

Berlin is a fab place for a weekend - so much to see & do there’s no chance you can see it all in a weekend.

Munich is also a great city for a weekend but I wouldn’t recommend Cologne - it’s a small city with an amazing cathedral but the rest was very disappointing.

Ghent is great if you haven’t been there - like a larger, more real Bruges. Munich is attractive but big - it’s a proper city.

I was quite young when I went to Köln but I remember it being a good launch pad to explore the Rhein Valley. Go through Mainz if you can, it's beautiful. Köln is quite near France too (Naturel Parc Vosges du Nord).

Munich is lovely. The Old Town is nice for walking around, has beautiful baroque churches, the Residenz palace. Then short walk to Marienplatz which is lovely, the Viktualenmarkt if you are foodie. Lots of Bavarian places to eat in the centre of town with lots of atmosphere.

If you like art and museums you are spoilt for choice as there are museums of Egyptian, Greek and Roman art - last two on the historic square where Hitler held his rallies, Roman museum is worth seeing for the building itself which is beautiful although heavily bomb damaged, the Altes and Neues Pinakothek for Old Masters, the Pinakothek Moderne for modern art, another for contemporary OK we skipped that and our favourite the Lenbachhaus full of German Expressionist Art from the Blaue Reiter who formed locally. And I haven't even mentioned the Museum Mile.

That's without mentioning the Science Museum on it's own island or the Allianz arena if you want science or sport. I did not but mentioning for completeness

If you want more castles the Nymphenburg palace is a short journey on the metro. Plus numerous more in day trip distance.

Oh and lots of shopping. Lots.

And for culture there's the 2 opera houses.

We aren't particularly into visit in museums or galleries, we just like strolling through the old towns and stopping of for a drink to enjoy people watching etc. Quite relaxed but wanting somewhere quite pretty.

Heidelberg, perhaps? Berlin is awesome, but it falls down in the "pretty old town" front. You have to put in effort to find the pretty bits.

I'd still suggest Munich as it is lovely and the Residenz is worth it.

However if you want lovely wandering about, have you thought about Italy?

March would be a great time to visit Venice which seems ideal for what you are looking for - stunning, wandering about, popping in and out of places, getting lost. As long as you aren't in San Marco, you are away from the hordes and it would be much much quieter in March. If you love Bruges, which is also teeming with tourists, Venice is Bruges on steroids.

Alternatively, what about Madrid? We did a tapas tour and ate some of the best food of our lives, then followed their recommendations for the rest of the stay and came back v fat Place is food heaven - tapas, ham, churros... Also will not be freezing cold or raining in March.

Oh, another idea - if you are flexible on dates, Valencia for Las Fallas festival.

DH was there last year accidentally for a conference, says it was great. Massive procession of floats and giant puppets which are paraded and then torched, preceded by huge fireworks displays and general several days of parades.

Plus lots of paella. And a beach.

I recommend Nuremberg:
tourismus.nuernberg.de/en/

We've actually already been to Venice (loved it) and Madrid!
Has anyone ever been to Sofia, Valencia, Bologna or Malta? These are coming up as fairly cheap flights. Alongside Germany.

Valencia and Bologna are both fantastic places for a short break. Can you get cheap flights to Lisbon as that’s probably my favourite city of all.
Sofia has lovely parts but I wouldn’t put it in my top 10 cities that I’ve visited in Europe. A lot of it was very run down.

Following. Also want to book a short city break - somewhere pretty to photograph

I've actually been to Lisbon! Agreed was nice. I would be keen on Valencia or Bologna but weren't sure if either of these had nice towns to wander around for few days. Interested in Italy mainly for the delicious food!

Bologna is definitely worth a visit and I’m sure you’d enjoy it. It’s very pretty and there’s some lovely markets and lots of little cafes and restaurants

DH is German and regularly do city breaks there.
My favourites are Nuremberg, Freiburg and Munich

We also love Seville to chuck a curve ball in