Niche city breaks

[BreezyFish]

Looking to go on some city breaks next year which are niche.

which city is the nichest you’ve been to?

Lyon
Strasbourg
Salamanca / Segovia
Wroclaw
Zadar
Cadiz
Gdansk
Montpellier

I agree - we went last year, and it was wonderful. A real mix of old, modern, ex-communist architecture. Cheap dive bars and swanky cocktail bars. Modern shopping centres and old markets. Lovely people and an interesting history. Some fascinating museums.

We did a walking tour with a local, who explained so much about the effects of moving from communism to a democracy, and how it affected the local population

There are also trips out to the coast or castles, and there a cable car up to some lovely walks just a short (and cheap) bus ride away.

I'd definitely recommend it before mass tourism hits.

Glasgow, Chicago and Lille are all cities that I enjoyed visiting much more than I thought I would.

I am glad to see so many people recommend Gdansk. We were there earlier in the year and had a fantastic time.

We had a lovely weekend in Nuremberg
small city, super easy to get in from the airport. Nice beer, sights to see

Hamburg was also fun but a much busier, more industrial vibe

Polish cities are good though I’d avoid Krakow in summer (too busy)

I really enjoyed Sofia, Tbilisi and Yerevan.

I love Germany. From Berlin you can easily get the train to Dresden or Leipzig - both great places to visit. You could also do day trips (from Dresden) to Gorlitz (for Wes Anderson fans) and Meissen (for porcelain fans). Also recommend Heidelberg, Mainz, Bamberg, Wurzburg, Wiesbaden. If you like Art Nouveau then the Mathildenhohe in Darmstadt (train from Frankfurt) is worth a visit. I am planning to visit Hamburg/Lubeck/Schwerin next year.

Other nice towns, ulm, Freiburg, Baden Baden, koblenz , and I love Bonn - a lot of it is quite samey , but I always love a German trip

Thanks for the Germany recommendations 👍

Thank you to everyone who has replied

I've decided to book Madrid!

Oh that’s a disappointing outcome 😂

I wouldn’t say Madrid is niche.

Just home from Vilnius - amazing city.
wouldn’t say Madrid was niche but sure you’ll have a lovely time

Madrid isnt niche but its surprisingly untouristy, certainly not with lots of UK tourists anyway and had lots of hidden bits to it which are fantastic. We tend to stay in down town areas like Lavapies etc.

Ha, Madrid! Which is very nice and I guess not Barcelona.

Tirana is now on my list.

Bucharest I thought was fab, mix of communist architecture and crumbling art nouveau, plus it has a Dracula themed restaurant which was possibly unintentionally hilarious. Genoa is also lovely, great food, and Marseille.

Tunis would be a suggestion from me, you could do a great few days in the Medina with very atmospheric hotels, see Carthage and have a day at the beach. The national museum is great. Add another day and you could visit El Jem or Dougga which are both extraordinary Roman sites and will be almost empty. Not a break for kids though really. Easyjet and nouvelair fly there cheap.

Madrid is a good choice but def not niche

@BreezyFish Madrid is lovely -

Not really niche but Galway is lovely