Underrated city breaks

[Usernamen]

I’m going to Manchester this weekend and I’m super excited. I think it’s the most underrated city in the UK, if not the whole of Europe!

I go about twice a year and love:
-the restaurants
-Night life esp. Northern quarter
-the people - they’re so FUNNY and down to earth
-the prices (I’m from London 😜)
-how football mad they are
-hidden gems I seem to discover every time, like John Rylands library on Deansgate - you can just walk in!

So what are your most underrated cities and why? 🤩

Not yet, but thank you for the recommendation! 😊

@karmalama 100% agree, Alicante City is awesome, very Spanish, great restaurants, shopping, architecture, marina. Loads of Brits fly into Alicante for the costas and miss the city completely, such a shame.

I’ve never been to Leeds! What am I missing out on?!

Sounds fantastic! Perhaps I’ll go for one of the bank holidays in May next year.

Thanks for all these suggestions 🤩

Warsaw. Went on a cheap flight a few years ago, had a blast. Dd was 10 and she was tickled they don’t do children’s portions so she ate what we did. Loved eating ice creams at ten at night in the street.Great for history buffs, excellent cafe culture. Sophisticated food.

I'd second Lyon. It's a great city. I struggle to see Rome and Bruges as u stayed. Tourist ho eypots both.

Under rated.

Newcastle, lovely city

I'm off to York for the Xmas markets next weekend with my mum. We go every year and love it 🙂🎅

We were meant to be in Lyon this weekend but there's a French train strike 😪I was surprised by how pretty it is and indeed, lovely food.

I'd 2nd Bratislava as mentioned above. Also Wroclaw in Poland and Cadiz.

I'd love to go to York for the Christmas market and go to Castle Howard too just before Christmas, it looked gorgeous on tv the other night - it showed the Castle being prepared for Christmas visitors- magical.
Perhaps next year. 🤞

@Soccermumamir I meant to add "Enjoy"

Since life started to get back to normal post-covid, I have had very enjoyable short breaks in :

Liverpool
Belfast
Nuremburg

All highly recommended.

Bratislava - definitely good. Like a compact Prague!

Riga - I didn't get the vibe there. But Vilnius was absolutely fantastic. Great friendly people, lovely pretty city.

Lille in France. Lovely lively city, plenty going on. Very easy to get to.

Another vote for Valencia too.

Lisbon - An absolutely fantastic place (as a capital maybe doesn't come under "underrated")

Granada, I just returned from there are absolutely loved it.

I loved Liverpool. Mainly went to see a show at the Tate but felt like there was lots of other stuff to do too.
Used to live in Glasgow and love it. Beautiful, very green, people are hilarious, friendly and fabulously articulate, lots going on, all walkable.

Abroad, Madrid may not be underrated as such, but I went recently as a friend invited me (it hadn't been on my 'must-go' list before) and I had a surprisingly brilliant time. Friendly, loads to do, easy to find nice places to eat and drink. And of course it has the Prado and Reine Sofia galleries too.

I'm about to go to Granada – any tips? (I'm going to see the Alhambra, obviously, and have booked tickets.) What's the weather like/what should I wear? Nice cafes/food? Good art? Hidden gems like churches people don't know about?

Granada can be cold this time of year due to the altitude. We visited one Christmas from Nerja and whilst we were in tee shirts on the coast (day time anyway) we needed coats in Granada .

Bergamo

Thank you, yes, I'm imagining it a bit like Madrid in winter (if you've been); warm padded jacket weather, although not full-on long/wool winter coat. Is that about right? Or is it colder and I should break out the fake-fur coat?
(sorry to hijack, everyone).

Probably best to check forecast before you go. I've just had a quick look and it's around 15/16 degrees this week (max) so not too bad. We only went for the day and I can remember it feeling really cold when we arrived - I imagine I had a short padded jacket as that would be what I would normally take for evening wear in southern Spain in the winter . Perhaps we were particularly unlucky !

Ghent is wonderful, highly recommend it. Rotterdam is incredible too.

In the UK, Liverpool, Gateshead, Leeds and Glasgow are definitely ace.

Towns like St Austell, Bakewell, Hebden Bridge and Malton are all lovely.

Thank you, yes, 15–16 sounds pretty mild but I know it can be surprisingly cold at high altitudes if the sun's not out.

@CheeseIsMyPatronus I work in Gateshead and am intrigued to know what it is you like about it? Genuine question- not being snarky