Cheap break in Europe in August

[MrsTerryPratchett]

TIA for any advice. We thought about Bruges. Edinburgh is out because the festival makes everything too expensive. Belfast?

Not Paris, Prague (been), Italy (really, anywhere too hot in August) too expensive or crap. We like cities, food, culture, more food. Flying or train is fine, not driving. Could be the UK but somewhere like Cornwall is busy in August.

I'm struggling.

Maybe Germany is a good shout. I think Croatia is all a bit experience and hot in August. I'd love to go though.

Plus their Eurovision entry was the best.

Expensive, sorry.

Last year a friend of mine paid 18 euros for an Aperol spritz in Dubrovnik. I paid 9 euros on average in Hamburg.

I liked Hamburg in general and found plenty of interesting things to do.

I also liked Cologne and Koblenz, but we were there in June - I'm not sure how hot they would be in August

Krakow, Poland. It really blew me away and it's super gorgeous, and the countryside surrounding it. It can be quite hot there in summer but the pastries are lovely and there are pierogi's! Also the Polish are super friendly and most know a decent amount of English

@dayaftertomorrou kind of like a cross between Amsterdam and Bruges- has a lot of bars and cafes along the canal below street level- never really seen anything like it- good shopping area,

So Porto and Bilbao would be good temperature wise, it was max 24/25 degrees when we visited Porto in the last week of July 2022 (which is normal summer weather), and price wise it's very reasonable. I keep looking at Bilbao for us this year and it seems very similar price and temperature wise to Porto. Gdansk in Poland was lovely when we visited at Christmas and is also very affordable (hotels and food). You mention Riga, we've not yet been but I reckon that is a good option as also has beach nearby at Jurmula. I struggling to find flights to Riga that don't cost a fortune, but we are in the north of England. Vilnius in neighbouring Lithuania is another option, flights only from Stansted though.

Defo recommend Norwich
Walkable into the city
<a class="break-all" href="http://www.thegeorgiantownhousenorwich.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.thegeorgiantownhousenorwich.com/
Lots to do, bus/train to coast & Norfolk broads
Massive covered market with lots of food stalls
2 cathedrals
Riverside walks, paddle boarding etc
Norfolk lanes for independent shopping and restaurants

https://www.visitnorwich.co.uk

https://www.lovenorwichfood.co.uk/2019/04/28/independent-restaurants-cafes/

Oh and also the castle, lots of theatres, plantation garden near the city

https://www.plantationgarden.co.uk/

Albania and Montenegro look nice.

@TeamGeriatric Gdańsk is a good option !

There was a piece in the Times yesterday about Slovenia (Rijeka?) and how lovely but cheap it was, something about a train being £7 then staying in air bnb but even the Hilton was only £130 a night.

Link! If it works as I'm a subscriber

One train, three countries and a £7 ticket: Europe’s newest rail trip

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/93620821-b68f-4a89-9fdd-064d7b6598fe?shareToken=7a751091fd947b89029f5a2712053c28

Rijeka is in Croatia. I really enjoyed it and have been multiple times, but not since Croatia joined the Euro, so don't know price wise.

Utrecht is like a mini-Amsterdam, except that actual Dutch people live there. Amsterdam city centre is like Disneyland these days, but if you want to go there it's 30 minutes on the train.

I also second Tallinn. No risk of a heatwave there. Plus this time next year it might be under Russian occupation, so go while you can. The police keeping order outside the Russian embassy will not object at all if you give the place the finger.

F

Thanks everyone. So many great options and a nice range of things to do.

Helsinki will be lovely...

Bloody hell that's not much different from Caffe Florian in St Mark's Square in Venice !

I think anywhere in the Adriatic will be roasting in August. Scandinavia will be much more civilised :)

Glasgow and then you can do a day trip to Edinburgh and enjoy the festival.