Best family European city break for October?

[difsa]

As the title suggests. Travelling with a 15 and a 12 year old. Looking for somewhere not too far (as only 3 nights), and not too major (don't want to take on a Rome or a Paris just for a couple of days). Just a nice city with some fun things to do and see, and nice food. Don't care much about weather - not sun seeking. Front runner so far is Copenhagen, but had a look on Expedia (admittedly quite briefly) and direct flights plus a nice-ish hotel was nearly two grand! So ideally somewhere a bit cheaper (or any tips for where to book cheaper last minute deals?). All ideas welcome, including less well known cities.

Not Barcelona or Berlin, for the same reasons you’re vetoing Rome and Paris. Amsterdam is doable in two and a bit days - with dc that age I’d do Anne Frank’s house, a pancake boat cruise, the diamond factory tour, tea at the smallest house, This is Holland, Moco museum and the Nxt musuem.

Seville

Rotterdam? Accommodation in Rotterdam is generally a lot cheaper than in Amsterdam and there is plenty to see and do there: harbour boat tour, Euromast, Maritime Museum etc. Easy to get around on public transport. Getting a Rotterdam Welcome card gives good discounts on both attractions and transport.

Or how about Ghent or Antwerp? Ghent is just lovely, while Antwerp has more of a modern, busy feel. Again, plenty to see and do in both.

Brussels via train. Or anywhere via Eurostar and a quick further train. Assuming no strikes. Dublin could work or Belfast. Copenhagen is great but you need to plan ahead.

Def Seville

Vienna!

Seville or Madrid, we love both of those.
We’re planning on a 2 stop trip, Berlin and Cologne for half term with a train trip between them but we have done Berlin before.

I’ve just looked at BA flights for half term. The prices are very reasonable! I didn’t look at their hotel add ons but I did look at Booking.com. It’s easy enough to get a holiday for three nights at under £1000 if you don’t stay in the centre. That doesn’t entirely matter for Copenhagen as there are really good other areas. So your pricing is way too high. I would see what hotels BA has. But it was easy enough to find multiple beds. I got 3 return flights for under £400 from BA. It would be more for better timings but it’s perfectly easy to do it.

Riga or Tallinn

Amsterdam was my first thought, and you can fly or get there by train.

I'm just back from Valencia, it was absolutely beautiful!

Another vote for Valencia!

Just had a quick look at sky scanner and can fly to Budapest for £50 each return .. hotels/ apartments also look v reasonable . I'm tempted - anyone been? Actually sounds like lots to do with kids, there are thermal waters , zoo, castles etc

Copenhagen. Easy to get around, lots to see and do for families, including Tivoli.

Obviously now I've read the end of your OP I see that was already front runner 🤦🏻‍♀️

Really easy to get around so maybe worth looking at hotels a bit further out?

Some great ideas, thank you. Amsterdam and Brussels are both perfect, but DH and I have been there before, and I quite fancy somewhere I've never been either. All of the other suggestions are definitely now on the table. The Dublin suggestion is interesting - for some reason I never think of Dublin, though I've never been there (I have been to Belfast, which I loved).

Any more ideas welcome!

Someone upthread suggested you need to plan ahead with Copenhagen - is that in terms of arranging your trip, or just regarding prices?

@difsa We were there the week after October half-term last year and didn't plan a single thing in advance aside from one restaurant booking for a place DH really wanted to go.

I therefore assume the PP means pricing 🤷🏻‍♀️

Malaga - great transport links, good weather, history, good food

Prague always used to be lovely - perfect for a mini break - but I think it's been destroyed by stag and hen weekends. It's worth checking recent comments/reviews because the atmosphere can change in a matter of weeks if it gets traction on sm.

Dublin would be handy and lots to do. I originally thought of Palma, nicer weather and I really liked it.

We are hoping to get away before November for a few days and planning on Malaga.

Valencia or Palma

We went to Copenhagen last Easter and it was a fab city to explore but ridiculously expensive - just short of £100 for 2 adults and 2 children to have a pizza lunch for example. If you do go, take a suitcase just of cash 😉

Ljubljana - a really lovely, compact city with plenty to do over a couple of days and relatively inexpensive.

Would Reykjavik be of interest? It will be expensive but it's so worth going to!