City break ideas for my 40th

[Kmj2018]

Hey everyone,

So I’m turning 40 in September and husband said he would take me away for a long weekend. I can pick anywhere I want to go. The grandparents are taking my little one so would like to go somewhere cultured with great food. Any recommendations?! I have Santorini in mind but would love to hear other suggestions.

Many thanks

Barcelona or Lisbon. Both with loads of interesting places to see, and great food

If you’re thinking Santorini, I guess you’re considering smaller, picturesque cities rather than big cities like Rome? I would suggest somewhere in Croatia - Split, Zadar, Rovinj, etc. Very pretty, plenty to see without being overwhelming, and good restaurants, bars and cafes to watch the world go by. Also well-served by budget airlines and only a short flight.

In Greece, Rethymno in Crete is lovely.

Thanks cloud pop, Great suggestions. I love both Lisbon and Barcelona but been to both more than once already. But defo would consider both if I can’t think of anywhere else

Thanks jammy dozen, yep you’re correct definitely prefer a smaller city as we live in London so want to go somewhere a bit quieter. I have already been to Rome which I love. I love the idea of Croatia and have been to Dubrovnik once which was perfect. I would like to go to split and Montenegro

Jammy dozen great suggestions

Malaga is a hidden gem.
Food market, lovely restaurants, Roman ruins, Picasso museum, decent shopping, marina and a beach.

Monaco, Palma, Bruges and Paris are all compact enough to enjoy mainly on foot.

I was going to say Palma. Or Seville/Granada. You can do both in a long weekend - easy train ride between them

I went to Iceland for my 40th
Cheap flight from Edinburgh which was only 2.5 hours long and cost £70 return.

We loved it there.

Or you could go to Portofino/Italian riviera. Only 30k from Genoa airport. Stunningly beautiful and food is amazing.

Ohhhh… great suggestions everyone . Love the idea of Iceland, Seville , Granada and portofino. Never been to any of those places .

Marrakesh is lovely with some great restaurants too.

Seville.

Croatia is lovely and the weather would be nice at that time of year.

You said smaller cities, so suggestions would be Belfast (had my 50th there), Edinburgh (spent my 40th there), Vienna is not as small but I spent my 30th there! Also Freiburg or Strasbourg (could combine the two in a weekend easily with flights to Basel or Strasbourg, and Basel is also quite nice itself). Bologna (particularly well known for good food) or Verona. Groningen in the Netherlands.

Valletta in Malta. Beautiful.

Florence!

A friend of mine has just been to Iceland for her 50th. Another friend went to Cyprus for her 50th!

Palma

Santorini is a very overcrowded small place

Lyon - gastronomic capital of France!
Amalfi Coast staying in Sorrento
Barcelona
Naples - home of pizza
Left-field choice -Copenhagen - stunning friendly city with amazing modern Scandi cuisine

Lucky you!!

Vienna is wonderful!

Also love Dusseldorf, lovely for a weekend break

Have a wonderful time wherever you go! 😊

Oh just saw you fancy Santorini. I wouldn't recommend it for a weekend or for the food. It's great for a morning getting great photos before you island hop elsewhere, but as pp said it's really small and really crowded and sadly overly touristy.

Loved Iceland, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Malaga.
My favourite was Seville. A complete surprise.

Yellowsun. Sorry when I said smaller city, just meant not a crazy busy touristy city like London, Rome and Paris . All your suggestions are great thanks

Oh that’s really disappointing. I didn’t realised Santorini was so overcrowded. Definitely don’t want that. I’m glad I’ve asked on here first.

Has anyone been to Montenegro?

Nice. Beautiful place and you can grab some rays on the beach and have a swim.

Biarritz is great too.

Have heard fab things about Dubrovnik.

Copenhagen?