European break for couple 3-7 days - Go!!

[ToothFairy2023]

Help wanted we are fairly recent empty nesters (but we have done our time with little to no family support) and are looking to go away.

Europe - less than 3 1/2 hour flight.
Time of year - either mid April or early June.
Duration - 3 to 8 or 9 days
Departure Airport - Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool or Manchester (in order of preference).
We like good food, cafe culture, laid back, some nice scenery, nowhere too industrial not hiring a car.
We would like somewhere warmer than the UK if it was April or if June a temp of late teens or early twenties max.
Budget: for flights and hotel £800-£2000.
Hit me with your suggestions.

Ideally, not Dubrovnik, Florence or Paris as have been fairly recently.

Wondered about Budapest, Malaga, Rome, Vienna, Barcelona or anywhere I may have missed. Finding flights from the north, a nice looking hotel in a place we want to visit is proving very difficult.

Thanks 🙏

How about Krakow from Newcastle, or Seville from Edinburgh?

Girona ticks all your boxes and there are direct flights from Newcastle.

Thanks @TinDogTavern tell me more about Girona have never been, can you recommend any accommodation and who is the flight with.

@Gloschick a friend recommended Krakow last year I haven’t been and Seville sound very good too. I am considering Krakow for April but wasn’t sure if the weather would be too like the UK and Seville sounds lovely who flies to Seville from Edinburgh please?

I started messing about with Ryanair, EasyJet but if the flight out looks very cheap then any return flights are ramped up and by the time you have added on the hidden extras it is often more expensive than Jet2. People living in the south or near London get by far the best deals.

Malaga Seville and Budapest are all beautiful, and totally fit the bill. If Budapest leave til June as will be warmer.

barcelo hotel in Budapest
zenit hotel in Seville
stayed in apartment in Malaga but lots of great choices

Cadiz or Split

Don’t know about the flights but my friend was raving about Salzburg yesterday

Places I've been and enjoyed
Malaga
Porto
Seville
Lisbon
Cadiz
Valletta

Malaga flights are really cheap from Newcastle!

You've got it all there - beautiful city, great food, and the coast. We got the train to Nerja for the day which was lovely.

@ToothFairy2023 ryanair for Edinburgh Seville. I'm sure it would be lovely in April.

Thanks @Gloschick.

@popncrisps I really like the sound of Malaga and a Newcastle flight would be so easy. Is that with Jet2? DH not keen and thinks it is more of a Benidorm drinking type of place. Have tried to reassure him but he’s still not keen and its a birthday treat for him. Can you recommend any accommodation? He fancies Porto and Lisbon. I have visited Malta and Valletta before many years ago and really wanted somewhere new but unsure if temps will be too hot in early mid June for DH and I don’t know anything about Cadiz.

@Lesina Split I fancy but no flights or holidays were coming up for April and worried it maybe too hot for DH in June.

Thanks @Chocbuttonsandredwine I will check those hotels and flights out.

@Squirrelsonthescaffolding DH was keen on Vienna but I can’t seem to find any flights for Vienna or Saltzburg at those times of the year.

Lisbon
Bilbao
Rome
Venice

Honestly Malaga is beautiful and not at all chavs abroad. It’s got a beautiful old town, beach and so much culture. In the past 3 years we’ve done Malaga Lisbon, Budapest, Palermo, Valencia, Rhodes, Munich, Belfast, Seville and a few other places and Malaga and Budapest are absolute favs

Really would recommend Seville, Milan, and Barcelona. Milan has cheap flights but the spends can be considerably more. Seville may be the cheapest option?

We've done Malaga, Alicante, Valencia, Rome, Budapest, Copenhagen, Vienna, Reykjavik, Barcelona, Dublin, Paris and Seville.
Seville is my favourite. Highly recommend.
Off to Palma in May and Lisbon is next on the bucket list.

Thanks @Chocbuttonsandredwine I am now leaning more towards your two favourites.

His are Lisbon and Porto but they are more complicated to organise and the costs are more difficult to work out. It would have to be DIY so a bit of risk if we can’t go for any reason and by the time you have factored in hidden airline costs to sit together, take a selection of clothes along, looked at transfers and accommodation costs what looked like an absolute bargain break is actually a lot more expensive than you first thought.

Have a look at the Azores, notably São Miguel, the main island (the airport is Ponta Delgada). More or less constant 20° year-round. Great walking and you can get around by bus. Great seafood and generally pretty cheap to eat out or have a beer or coffee.

Budapest all day. I've been 3 times and would happily go again tomorrow. You can walk everywhere. Beautiful city, wonderful food (and lager), intriguing history (so sad in some parts) and the architecture is out of this world. Can I come too? 🥹😂

I thought Malaga would be Benidorm, English breakfasts, pub kind of place.

Totally wrong. It's so lovely. And the airport is only like 20 mins from the town so a short transfer (Ubers are really good there).

It's got culture, art (birthplace of Picasso) beach, port, great food, scenery. We were only there for a few days but if I'd had more time we would have day-tripped to the Alhambra and maybe hiking in Antequera.

Honestly, it's super nice.

Oh yes Palma, did that too… was least favourite but still lovely

@Sunnnybunny72 our lists are very similar 😂

Porto is extremely straight forward to arrange.

Regarding flight seats - we don't bother booking to sit together and just check in online. We have never been separated but tbh its only 2 hours.

You can find some really nice accommodation on airb&b or Booking.com. The train is literally outside the airport and easier than a taxi.

We stayed 3 nights in Porto and 3 in the Douro Valley. Both places are fantastic.

Thanks all @Sunnnybunny72 what times of year did you visit and what was the temperature like?

Thanks everyone particularly @Sunnnybunny72 and @Chocbuttonsandredwine now to check these out, more research to areas, look at areas and hotels, price up and decide whether April or June would be best to visit and then convince DH.

Originally I thought Rome, Malaga or Budapest if we went mid April. Or somewhere in Croatia (apart from Dubrovnik) or somewhere in Italy that we haven’t visited before if we went early June.

I can recommend Krakow and Lisbon.
We're off to Porto in a few weeks, so looking forward to it. Think Malaga or Seville will be next on my list.

@PizzaPastaWine which airline did you fly with and airport, would an April visit or a June visit be best (if we don’t want it too warm or too cool), can you recommend where you stayed?

I love Lisbon for a short break. Also Budapest or Malaga.

@cailingaelachKrakow and Lisbon both sound nice my friend visited Krakow in early July last year and she said the heat was sweltering so they didn’t visit anywhere. What time of year did you visit both and what were the temps like?