October city breaks

[bingohandjob]

Would love to hear your recommendations for extended city break (around a week) to interesting European/short haul places - we love live music, walkable cities, food, history (we usually take a food/history walking tour and try to visit some local live music/jazz clubs), spas/thermal spas. Have loved Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Porto, Stockholm, Reykjavik, Krakow, Venice, Rome, Prague - where would you suggest next that you've loved and what are your top recommendations for places to stay and things to do there. Planning way ahead ahead for all kinds of logistical reasons!

Recommendations for two city trips that are easily manageable by flights or trains most welcome!

Thank you in advance.

Your list of already visited places is quite long!

I'd maybe add Seville, Budapest and Croatia (Dubrovnik and Split)

Bordeaux

Vilnius

Seville, Granada and Málaga or Cordoba are all doable as a multi-city break and October is a great time to go.

Athens is a lovely temperature in October and the crowds are beginning to ebb.

Vienna and Budapest

Riga and Tallin

More cities in Italy perhaps such as Florence.

Lisbon and Porto.

Malaga and Granada.

We've just been to Riga last week and it was beautiful! Perfect autumn city break

Nice, Seville, Cinque Terre, Bari/Lecce/Monopoli, Verona, Taormina/Ortigia, Montpellier, Lisbon

Bologna. Not sure about Spas, but it is well connected for day trips to Ravenna, Parma, Ferrara, Modena etc. Food is great and so is culture and history. Alternatively, two centre Sicily. Hotels have spas. Plenty of places have concert halls and theatres.

Barcelona, went last October and had warm day so did manage a few hours on the beach!

I've just come back from Marseille by train, and really loved it. 23 degrees at the beginning of November....and it has beaches! ❤ It's right next to the Calanques National Park, which is absolutely stunning- I went snorkeling. A much wider variety of food than most French cities, because it's so multicultural- we had Spanish, Japanese, Tunisian- perfect for a vegetarian. And the friendliest, chattiest people I've met in France! Some find it a bit rough but it just made me nostalgic for London in the 90s 😆

If we'd been able to stay longer, we'd definitely have done day trips to Avignon, maybe Cassis, Arles, Aix-en-Provence or even Italy too- all easily accessed by train.

Thank you so much for all these suggestions - lots of lovely ideas to explore!

Nice/Monaco/ Cote D'Azure

We were in Budapest the other weekend (4 days). Famous spa (which i cant spell!)- could definitely have spent longer there esp if you book a massage . We did a gig too at Durer Kurt. Missed a couple of museums due to time. Lots of tiny cute statues all over the city- and there's a trail you can do. Wine v good. City very accessible by public transport- 72 hours tram/metro/bus pass about £11

It's only 2 hours by train to Vienna apparently....

Montpellier, Carcassone...

Naples - you can visit Pompeii, Vesuvius and Herculaneum, take the train down to Sorrento or get a ferry across to Capri or Ischia, and the city itself is mad but brilliant.

Another vote for Napoli - everything @mamaduckbone says!

Bruges & Ghent

Haven't been there yet myself but have a long trip planned to Vienna

Bratislava for a few days then short train ride away from Vienna for a few more days

Great suggestions - thank you!

Lyon
Nimes
Dubrovnik

another vote for Barcelona or Budapest

Lille and ghent with the option of a day trip from Ghent to Bruges on the train. Lille is easy to get to on Eurostar and surpassed my expectations. Easy direct train to Ghent which is beautiful. I was a bit underwhelmed by Bruges and thought Ghent was much nicer, Ghent has more to see/do. But Bruges is pretty.

Brugge, do a lovely market on a Saturday. It's small, so very walkable. Lovely chocolate shops and lots of lace goods like table cloths. It's very pretty, as lovely old buildings with Spanish steps style of roofs. You can ride on a boat, on the canals. We had a horse and carriage ride too.

Oh Lille is surprisingly nice - especially pre-Xmas when the shops all have beautiful decorations. The Xmas market is small though, Prefer Ghent to Bruges - though Bruges is indeed prettier. I love Antwerp. Lovely squares and quirky shops and not packed with tourists.

It’s a good time of year to visit morroco. Marrakech but maybe Fez, Rabat or Essouria. Ryanair and easyJet fly there so although you’re out of Europe it’s still close/ cheap. You’ll be able to get a nice riad there for cheaper than a hotel in most European cities,