City break (week) with older teens: Barcelona, Prague, Copenhagen or Budapest?

[Snooks1971]

DC are 20, 19 and 17.

They keep saying they want to come on holiday with us still (!)

Last year we went to Berlin which was a hit. The older 2 boys go off together, younger DD 17 does a mix of going with them or us.

Where to this year? Travelling end of June. Thank you for any city break wisdom.

PS doubtful older DS20 will come because of working and other social commitments but atm he doesn’t seem to want to be left out…

Teen DD really loved Budapest, even more than Prague and Berlin.

My DC are 15 and 17 and loved both Barcelona and Budapest. We haven't visited Prague or Copenhagen. We particularly liked Barcelona as we got a train to Sitges, which is only 30mins away and a lot nicer than the beach in Barcelona with no pickpockets hanging around.

DS & GF early twenties have been to Copenhagen recently, they really loved it, but it was v expensive, prices are high, eating out, taxis etc. they had discover Copenhagen cards they found these to be good value.

My 20 year old went went with his mates to Prague in January and loved it.
We went to Copenhagen together in early June last year. We really enjoyed it. Lots to do, great public transport and easy to get around. Some good days out to beaches, castles, fjords and Malmo.It felt very safe and a lot more chilled out than other European cities we've been to.

It was a bit expensive to eat out, but it is a capital city. We followed our usual habit of having a big breakfast so didn't need to be buying both lunch and dinners. A couple of days we had a late lunch around 2 or 3 and then bought things for sandwiches etc to eat in the parks. The street food is also excellent.
The Copenhagen card was great value and saved us a lot of money. We didn't use taxis- the buses, rail and metro were fine.

Done them all repeatedly, Budapest gets my vote.

Thanks all - so Budapest is sort of in the lead right now!

To be perfectly honest we were leaning more towards Budapest or Copenhagen but wanted to keep the more popular options open too.

Budapest for the spas! We’ve been to Prague, Budapest and Copenhagen in the last two years and loved them all but the Szechenyi spa in Budapest is incredible and not too expensive per person.

@Harassedmum123 wow thank you so much!

I absolutely love Budapest, and in the summer would recommend the spas and also cycling in St Margaret's park to see the fountains, among many other things. However not sure if I'd want to spend a whole week there, perhaps you could do a few nights in another location (I cannot recommend anywhere personally but hopefully someone can).
Also love Barcelona, I would be tempted to do 2-3 nights there and then on to a nearby beach resort for a few nights.
As nice as Copenhagen is i do find it slightly dull so wouldn't fancy more than a couple of nights there.

Can I suggest Stockholm ? Not as expensive as everyone says (unless you want to eat on the front in a Michelin star) and has great weather, great food and the abba museum!

@CoolShoeshine thanks so much - that’s really interesting to hear (re not needing to spend a week in Budapest). Food for thought. And Copenhagen slightly dull, I need to research more :)

@beachcitygirl Stockholm - hadn’t crossed my mind - thanks!

@Ted27 how long would you recommend in Copenhagen please? From your experience

We love Prague and there’s always so much to do in and around the city.
We always stay in gorgeous serviced apartments called Mooo Downtown.
We’ve also done day trips to Kotna Hora, Dresden and Cesky Krumlov from there.

Thanks @NorthFaceofthelaundrypile !

@Snooks1971
We had 3 full days, (arrived Sunday night, flew Thurs morning )
I would have liked at least another 2 days, if not a full week.
We packed a lot in three days so it would have been nice to have been a bit more leisurely
Also as a big fan if scandi drama I really wanted to cross the bridge, and pop out from the tunnel in Malmo ! I'd also have liked to do a trip out to one of the castles.

Will just have to go again.

Thanks @Ted27 really need to make a decision…!

Definitely Budapest!

Loads of better cities in Spain than Barcelona. I'd go for Malaga, beauty, history, food, great weather, loads of flights, infinitely cheaper than Barcelona.

Budapest of those.
But preferred Seville and Krakow.

Apologies to jump on your thread OP but can I ask what the view is on Budapest for 3/4 days late December/New Years? For 3 similar age kids. Thanks!