Long weekend beginning October with a teenager

[Newshoes123]

Hi all,

A little last minute, but My DD’s school is closed on a Friday at the beginning of October. I’d like to make the most and take her away for a long weekend somewhere. She is a teenager and loves to explore. We could fly from any of the London airports or alternatively drive somewhere.

We have done Paris before so looking to do something else, but I can’t decide what.
Any ideas gratefully received!

Nice or Barcelona tend to have frequent flights and short / easy transfer at the other end. Lots of sight seeing and nice food, and beaches. Barcelona would have the edge for me for a teenager. The Gaudi buildings are really funky. Cable car over the harbour, boat trip, aquarium. Lisbon too actually has lots to do and is relatively compact.

Thank-you, MissAmbrosia. They are great suggestions. I hadn’t thought of Barcelona. I particularly like the idea of Nice and will look up some options, to see if I can make that work.

Ghent is a good base for teenagers with a day in Bruges.

Copenhagen!

Krakow - cold - but can visit Auschwitz and enjoy the beautiful city. We flew one night after school, and returned end of the day one day later, great way to maximise the time there

Marrakech?
culturally amazing, good shopping in the souks, beautiful gardens with camel rides
we took ours there a few times as teens and they really enjoyed it

I took DD 17 to Vienna this summer and she loved it.

We found viral pancakes in plum sauce, hoovered up loads of art galleries and ate cake in many cafes.

Very quick to get to, easy transport from airport and into the city centre.

She's also loved Paris, Barcelona, Nice, Dublin.

If you aren’t bothered about being by the coast, or looking for warmth, what about Budapest? Interesting city, you may like the thermal spa baths, and we liked the food.

If you do want warmth then any of the Spanish cities are worth a visit. Barcelona probably has the shortest flight.

Fly into Amsterdam, less than an hour.

Either stay in Amsterdam or public transport is fantastic in The Netherlands, including directly from the airport. Easy travel to Den Hague or Rotterdam.

I really liked Nice. Train service into Menton and Monaco too. Good wandering opportunities!

Amsterdam is easy to navigate but crowded. Delft worth considering and Ghent. Bordeaux is worth a weekend and Berlin.

Thanks so much everyone for the great ideas. I will enjoy researching them all. Would anyone have particular hotel recommendations?

We stayed at the Westin Grand Berlin. Handy for Parliament building and museums. Obviously transport is needed in a big city. Easy access from airport too.

Nice - we stayed at the Aria as far as I can remember. Amsterdam - a hotel on the Keizergracht canal - Canal House. Not cheap! Well placed though.

Thank-you so much. There are some fantastic ideas here and I really appreciate all the comments and recommendations. Lots of inspiration for a few trips for us over the coming years.

Copenhagen is wonderful with teens, loads to do and very easy to navigate. Just expensive to eat out.

Copenhagen we stayed D’angleterre hotel which was a great location. Barcelona also very cool for a teen, so much to do, I would stay quite central, but I did like staying on the Eurostars gran marina, away from the hubbub on the port but part of enjoying Barcelona is probably the hubbub so maybe a hotel around the Placa Reial. Amsterdam, The American hotel or one round Prisengract canal.

Amsterdam
Edinburgh
Dublin
Iceland

Bilbao. Really good for a quick break.

Re hotels for Marrakesh- if you’re both fairly well travelled, stay in the Medina, look for a place with a rooftop terrace for good views.
areas around Bahia palace are convenient.
otherwise, there are Mercure/Ibis types near the Koutobia, close to the Djma el Fnaa where all the action is!

you can get a taxi out to the plantations a couple of miles out of town for peace and camel rides!

Krakow has been my fave with the kids, so much to do educational and fun (and lots of delicious food). Also they really enjoyed Luxembourg, Prague, Berlin and Cologne.

We have been to Dublin, Milan, Billund, Brussels, Tallinn, Riga and Helsinki. I would just find some cheap flights and then research on things to do when you are there. I tend to stay slightly on the outskirts of the city we are staying in, usually an apartment to keep costs down meaning we can travel more. Then the public transport adds an adventure part to the trip! If you haven't been before, then I think there is value in visiting anywhere, you can find things to fill a few days.

Depends what she likes too, lots of theme parks that are excellent around Europe. Prague had an amazing waterpark. I have a few planned in the next 6 months. Oslo, Gothenburg, Rome and Pisa. I have folders on Tik Tok labelled with the city name and save ideas into those as I go so if anything pops up I can put it in there. So many places on my list. Love exploring with the kids and trying to fit lots in before they get too old and don't want to do it anymore!

Seville, Cadiz, Nuremberg or Munich would be my suggestions

In Barcelona we stayed in Hotel Quatre Nacions in the middle of La Rambla. Everyone says avoid that area but it was fine, we loved it. As long as you're happy to be around tourists. Walk to the harbour, cable car to the castle, etcetera.

Bilbao