City breaks.. yes or no

[SouthMumof2]

had a City break in Barcelona recently.. what can I say… busy, noisy, smelly… gave me massive anxiety! It didn’t help the Ramblas was being dug up so like a massive building site, could not escape the sound of diggers ect, nowhere nice to sit outside and eat, either next to massive bins or next to a traffic jam. Also the whole place smelled like a toilet. Lovely buildings to look at and all the food we ate was great, but had to keep escaping down the the beach / marina area for some fresh air and views as I was actually getting so anxious in the city! Never felt like that before… anyone else felt like this during a city break? I am now firmly back into countryside/ beach camp for holidays and breaks!!

City breaks are not an enjoyable thing if you don't like cities - who knew!

I would loathe a sunbed/AI resort holiday - so guess what, I don't go on them.

It sounds as if you wouldn't like any large busy city so Barcelona probably wasn't a great choice. Also, if you think Barcelona is just La Rambla then you got whst you asked for as it's a horrible place with or without roadworks. As mentioned by a previous poster, the Eixample area is much nicer and likely to be far less stressful for those who have a low tolerance to noise/people.

For me, personally, it’s not a holiday without a beach. I like to swim in the sea, snorkel and eat pizza and ice cream. I basically have the holiday tastes of a 7 year old 😁

So many lovely city breaks - you would most likely enjoy a more compact city. Alicante has a nice mix of city and beach, and other options such as Salzburg, Verona, Bruges, Palma, Krakow etc are beautiful, interesting and very walkable and feel pretty safe for tourists.

Harsh

If you do decide to try again these are cities that I found charming, interesting and not overwhelming. As a pp said, cities (IMV) are best seen outside of Summer hols and school half terms!

Ghent
Bilbao
San Sebastian
Bayonne
Padua (a firm favourite, half an hour by train from Venice too!)
Narbonne
Verona
Cordoba
Cadiz

I probably sound like I'm showing off having been to all these places (and more), but it was over a number of years. 😊

Barcelona is an overwhelming city and completely freaked out my disabled son. Florence is now simply too busy in Summer as is Rome. Basically all the large cities are overwhelming. I love Florence thought but oh my goodness the crowds.

I have a soft spot for Vienna - it’s clean and well organised and the architecture is amazing. Also you can easily get to other places eg Salzburg etc.

Seville is pleasant and easy to get to Cordoba and Grenada.

Verona is a great base for Mantua, Venice, Milan and Sirmone etc. mantua is stunning with the Palace Te.

Perugia is another good city with easy links to Assisi and Orvieto etc.

Paris can be overwhelming but it’s truly spectacular especially the Musee D’ Orsay. Before getting married as spent 19 days in Paris and were never bored. You have the Louvre, Rodin museums, Versailles etc

You can combine the two in many places eg Malaga, Palma, Alicante, Valencia, Valetta, Ibiza, Bilbao, Nice all have city beaches or a short journey away, with frequent public transport, because it's a city.

Girona is another good option but the beach is a little further away. It doesn't have to be all one or the other ie laying on a sunbed doing nothing or haring round museums etc 24/7.

Also Gdansk or Copenhagen (lots of swim spots not sure about a beach) if you don't want too hot.

I don’t think it is harsh. If OP doesn’t like big, busy cities (they “give her anxiety” apparently 🙄) why did she go to Barcelona in the first place and why didn’t she do even the most basic research to discover that Las Ramblas is crowded and full of pickpockets? There are some lovely areas of the city but if big and bustling is not your thing it is a curious destination to choose.

Gdansk is great and we enjoyed taking the short train ride out to Sopot for the beach.

My issue with combo city-beach vacations is that the weather doesn't always quite jive- like I want nice warm weather and water to be able to swim at the beach, but prefer cooler weather for city touring. It can be tricky to find that sweet spot. That's just me though!

For city-only breaks as a family we also really enjoyed Tallin, Copenhagen and Krakow, all visited outside of the busy summer season. Paris didn't go over as well but it was super crowded and overwhelming for the kids, we also visited Normandy on that trip and they preferred it..