Holiday advice needed please.

[jmh740]

I want to take ds 16 somewhere over the holidays I've never been abroad and am very nervous. Looking at 3/4 days away with a £500 budget. Flying from Manchester or Liverpool.
Was looking at Rome but think it will be too hot. DS would like to go to a capital city he's been to Amsterdam on a school trip and doesnt want to go there again.
Can anyone suggest where I can take him please

I’m sorry to put a dampener on it, but I think that budget will only cover very short haul flights, and most of the half-decent accommodation in any capital cities close to us will either be booked up or way over your budget. Madrid, Berlin or Lisbon might be doable. Paris, Dublin, Edinburgh and Copenhagen will be very expensive.

Belfast?
flights from £30

Agree that £500 wont go far in the capital cities.

We got V cheap to Hamburg last year (but couldnt find cheap flights back so we flew back from another country and made it a journey)

Eastern Europe will be better on that budget, Hungary or Poland. Accommodation is much cheaper than Rome/Paris etc.

Don’t be nervous, English is widely spoken. All the info you need is on the internet.

Break it down into steps.

Hope you both have an amazing time, it’s so awesome that you’re doing this for your son.

£500 will be insanely tight. Belfast could work. Maybe Warsaw?

Yeah Poland is good. I know he wants a capital but Krakow is a good shout.

Poland would be best. Best value for money and people say it now has the best cities in Europe.

Belfast has the Titanic museum. Could be excellent.

If you can get to Bristol airport, they have flights to Kaunas in Lithuania with RyanAir. My mate and I went for a long weekend staying in a decent hotel right by the main street and it cost about £350 for flights and accommodation. Obviously you may find similar deals from other airports. I always book flights and accommodation separately as I find that's best for the city breaks we take. I usually look at closest airports and which cheap airlines fly from there, and where do they go. Then I check out accommodation from there.

Another vote for a Polish city. I don't know much about Warsaw, but Wroclaw or Gdansk would be good. Wroclaw has a water park as well as being a picturesque city that's nice to wander around. Gdansk is also a lovely city and you can get the train to the coast in 20 mins. Both good value for eating out, loads to see and accommodation also relatively inexpensive.

You can get very cheap flights to the island of Ireland, so Dublin, Belfast or Cork would be good, but more expensive while you're there, especially Dublin.

Look on Skyscanner (search for everywhere from Liverpool or Manchester for the month of August as a starting point) to see where you can get well priced flights and then check you can get accommodation in that city.

You can also fly to Brussels cheaply from Manchester but I'd imagine accommodation and eating out is expensive there although you might be able to stay in Bruge or Ghent for less and take the train into Brussels for a day or find a self catering apartment and mostly eat takeaways/supermarket food. Berlin might also be a good choice.

Poland would definitely fit your needs , Wroclaw or Krakow have plenty to keep you occupied. English is widely spoken by the vast majority in both places . Signs are in English and Polish , even down to the instructions to pay for things in shops on self service machines. Eating out is cheap too. Ubers are really easy to use to get from airport to hotel and very reliable and again very cheap.

Brussels might work over August as accommodation costs can fall a bit as there is less business travel. Ghent and Bruges are also b pretty

Berlin is definitely a cheaper city to fly to in our experience but obviously not as cheap as somewhere like Poland once you're there.
We've also found flights to Brussels Charleroi reasonable before.
I would say your best bet is looking at where you can get to with Ryanair. They often fly to smaller airports on the edge of bigger cities for less than the price of the main airports.

If you go with Ryanair, make sure you understand the luggage rules and see if you can manage with one of the smallest bags each. Or try sharing one larger bag between the two of you. It is sometimes cheaper to pay for a hold bag than one that goes in the cabin. But it will still cost from around £50 return for the bag, so quite a dent in your budget.

Also be aware that they'll separate you on the flight unless you pay to sit together and on booking the first bag/seat combo they offer you isn't always the cheapest way to do it.

Tirana or Zagreb? We went to Tirana in September for around £200 each for 3 nights. Theres a lot of history with Soviet Union and a couple of sky high bars with lovely views and not too far if you want a beach day.

Dublin?

Blew the budget and we're off to Barcelona for 3 nights tomorrow.
Nervous and excited 😊

I love Barcelona!! Have an amazing time 🤩 The Picasso Museum was one of the highlights.

Just back from Krakow - would recommend on your budget. Bolt taxis very cheap, accommodation cheap, eating out especially if eat in milk bars are really budget friendly. Plan it correctly and you can visit museums for free on certain days. Public transport really good and 7 day ticket for trams and buses is £14. Trip to Auschwitz is more expensive at £60 to £70 but is a full day. If weather is warm can swim at some parks along the river and go to man made beach for free. Beautiful city and very walkable. Clothes shopping also cheaper if shop in Polish chain stores.