October half term break 2024

[StiffyByngsDogBartholomew]

Dd and I have started a tradition of taking a city break in the October half term (although for the last two years we've stayed here). We like a mix of culture, chilling, boat trips and food.
So far we have been to Athens and Venice. We loved both.

Where have you been on a city break that you think a 14 year old would like ? She not into shopping or anything like that, she enjoys classical music concerts, doing arty stuff, zoos, wandering around and eating 😂

Oh I forgot. It has to be a flight from Gatwick as I have free parking due to my job.

I have been to
barcelona
brussels
bruges
frankfurt
paris
helsinki

so would prefer somewhere I have not been to

Istanbul!

I just got home from Sarajevo a couple of weeks ago - that's also a great option. It's not super touristy like other European capitals, but there are lots to do, there's lots of culture and history to explore there, it's a pretty unique place, and the food is good and cheap.

Valencia. Lovely weather at that time, beautiful old town centre to the city, that’s actually lived in rather than museumified. An easy bus journey out of the city is the City of Arts and Sciences - huge modern beautiful complex, with science museum, imax, amazing aquarium, gardens etc.
You can do a tour into the mountains to visit hot springs.
tons of culture etc in the city, fantastic food.
Our 12/14 yr old boys loved it.

Funnily enough Bosnia is on an Interrail plan I've concocted. How did you get there ? My research suggested there's no flights from LGW.

I'd definitely be very up for that. What was the weather like abd did you feel safe ? That's always something i consider as DH won't be with us.

Stockholm

Oh all these ideas I love ! Valencia sounds lovely and I've always wanted to go to Stockholm.
@ssd how does it compare for economy ? I usually have quite a limited budget so have to make sure where we are going it reasonable.

I travel to Bosnia all the time, because my husband and his family are originally from there, and we have a flat in Sarajevo. I have travelled all over Bosnia (and the Balkans, in fact), and I can DEFINITELY recommend it! HIGHLY! It's super safe, and child-friendly, also. I often travel to Bosnia without my husband or his family, and I have never felt unsafe, or experienced any issues with personal safety.

As for how I get there, I should probably mention that I'm from Scandinavia, not the UK. Depending on the time of year, there aren't always direct flights from my city's airport to Sarajevo, so I usually fly with Austrian, with a layover in Vienna.

As for the weather (when I was in Sarajevo 2 weeks ago), it was surprisingly mild. It rained a bit, but it was quite warm during the day (I wore a very thin jacket).

Seville - great food, history, weather!

Pics from our Valencia trip last October!

Rome
Copenhagen
Granada
Florence
Budapest
Bilbao

I would try to catch some warmth before winter kicks in and go to Seville or Malaga.

I loved Salzburg. There is a lot to do. They have boats that waltz around on the wide river to waltzing music.

Lisbon. Just lovely and weather can be amazing then.

I’d second Seville, I loved it when we went.

Barcelona.

I think Vienna would suit -
loads to do, concerts, museums, history, opera, Spanish riding school….

Also maybe Berlin or Paris?

Oooh yes ! I'd forgotten the Spanish school. Dd is really into dressage so this would be ideal. We could do two days in Vienna, two in Salzburg

Another vote for Seville, or Lisbon

Nice / Antibes

sunbathing \ swimming weather, great food, good shopping in Nice. Lots of culture too..
Flights from Gatwick

We went to Rome last October half term. I’m taking DS to Munich for the next one.

We've just returned from a week in Valencia. Agree with all of this - it also has a nice sandy beach - easy to get to on the same bus that goes down to the city of arts and science.

I like the sound of Valencia. Can I just what the weather was like for you? Also where do you recommend staying? In the old town or near the beach?

When we were there it was around 21-25 degrees and mostly very sunny, with a little cloud sometimes.

I would definitely stay in the old town - it’s much more pretty than the beach area. The beach is nice for a day trip but I don’t think it’s as beautiful a beach area as lots of other places. Maybe if you were in a big fancy hotel by the sea it would be good. But all the buzz is in the city in my opinion.

I second exactly what @Talipesmum says . We stayed in an apartment 5-10 mins walk from the square where the cathedral is .

I thought the beach seemed nice as golden sand - but I don't think there was was much going on in the area around there aside from a few restaurants for lunch.