City or beach break in europe

[AlertCat]

I want to take dc (14) to an interesting city or to a nice beach somewhere for a few days at the end of March. Any suggestions? Ideally the whole trip including travel would come in at £500 or as close as possible. We have 4 nights max so her suggestion of Tokyo isn’t going to work 🤣

We like surfing, swimming, museums, art galleries, shopping, and coffee/meals out while watching the world go by.

Barcelona and do both?

Seville
Less pricy than Barcelona and much more relaxing I think

I'd say Barcelona but assuming that's Easter holidays you are going to struggle for 4 nights.

Ok so no beach or swimming but anywhere in Europe will maybe be a bit cold for beaches anyway. How about Lille, great shopping, nice museums, I went to an amazing art gallery/exhibition there. Get the Eurostar direct so super easy.

this was the art gallery we went to, we actually went to Lille to specifically go here https://www.lille.fr/La-culture-en-continu/Musees-et-arts-visuels/Art-contemporain/Le-Tripostal

I'd start by looking at what cheap flights are available from airports convenient to you.

Malaga has all those things and plenty of flights that are generally good value, and accommodation and eating out etc are well priced.

San Sebastián. City, beach and surfing.

Palma, Majorca or Malaga could work.

I agree with others, look for deals from your local airport. Malaga, Naples and see Pompeii, Catania or Palermo for Sicily. Cefalu and Mondeo aren't too far form Palermo.

How about Budapest? No beaches but swimming in one of the cities many spas. March will be too cold for sea swimming in Europe.

Not sure you'd get all those suggestions at the price you want to spend.

I want to visit 2 friends in London and hotel for one night was just short of 500 quid. What??!

I doubt Europe is much cheaper....

Lisbon?

Might be cheaper than some of the other suggestions.

We sometimes nip over to Alicante in Feb/March. I haven’t looked for museums etc there, but the beach is good for a swim, and the walk up to the castle is lovely, through the tiny streets full of cottages. It’s easy to get to - €6 or similar on the bus from the airport.

£500 for 4 nights to include accommodation and travel for 2 is probably nearly impossible if going abroad. Though saying that, dd went to Athens last month for 100 euros - 50 euros flight and 50 euros share of 2 bed apartment for 3 nights. I would go to Skyscanner, Google Flights or Ryanair and see who has the cheapest flights. If you can cope with 1 underseat bag and not sitting together this gives the cheapest option - dd swears by it. Then go to booking.com and/or HostelWorld and look at accommodation. Milan often has really cheap flights as many airlines fly there - lots to do and easy to visit the lakes or other towns... Happy to help more, but you need to identify the best flights first.

Honestly, I don't think you're flying anywhere for a few nights for 2 people for £500.

When you say look at which local airports have deals, what do you mean? Our local I guess is stansted or Luton. Would love to do the same as you, but agree, £500 seems impossible. Even just Friday to Sunday

Not sure if its £500 each or in total for your budget. I think it might be a bit of a struggle to get four nights + flights for <£500 in total, but with good checking it could be done. Spain is very inexpensive when you're there, it's getting there is the costly bit! Hotels in Seville are not hugely expensive but they are not cheap as chips either, same (or worse) for Barcelona.

What about trying for a short package to somewhere like Benalmadena. There is a handy train that will take you into Malaga for a few euro. You'll have it all in Malaga, it's perfect for a short stay, and the flights are frequent. You might be lucky to get a decent enough hotel to suit your budget in the city. Keep looking! Love holidays or TUI or whoever might have city break ideas, and they are very often much cheaper than doing it yourself!

I've just got 9 days in Nice for 900 quid each staying in the Mercure (room only though) and flights mid May. Trying to do it myself was over 400 more expensive.

EasyJet have short holidays for this price.

Are you including airport transfers, activities, food etc in that price?

Ideally!

Honestly packages are new for me, I have always done everything myself. Have no idea about prices or destinations!

Valencia! Gorgeous city, not expensive, lots of culture and beautiful buildings, plus a lovely beach.

Is Lastminute.com a decent site to use?

Duinrell in Holland. Near Amsterdam and lovely beaches.

malaga or Valencia

Malaga is great for a short break and pretty reasonable too

Say £100 return flight and £75 a night for a twin room, just about do-able. And then food and transfers included on top of that?
That will be a tough ask.