Cheap City Breaks

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Purple

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I just thought of this topic after posting in the Uber thread.
I was in Kaunas in Lithuania recently and it's a really beautiful city with a medieval centre, fantastic parks and historical sites and great restaurants and bars. I never would have thought of it as a destination except that the flights were very cheap.
Can posters recommend other cheap off-beat destinations in Europe, of a bit further afield, for city breaks which are cheap and easy to get to?
 
Good idea,

We went to Plovdiv in Bulgaria last October and it was a brilliant break. Flew Ryanair but they aren't currently offering direct flights, hopefully this changes with the Autumn schedule.

1000's of years of history and beautiful weather in October.

Very good value accommodation and dining out, drinks etc. 4 bottles of Corona on table outside a shop cum off licence, 30 metres from the main pedestrianised street, watch the world go by for equivalent of €7.60 late last year.

Different walking tours, Roman history, Cold war Arch etc. so plenty to see and do.
 
We were in Porto this year and thought it was really nice. We were in Seville a few years ago and it was also very nice. Hamburg was also a nice city ..
We were going to Tallinn before the war broke out and hopefully it will go some time in the future..
 
I went to Sibiu in Romania (specifically in Transylvania) with Ryanair earlier in the year. It is a really beautiful small city with lots of museums, well worth spending two days in. We hired a car, there are lots of interesting places to visit between 30 min and an hour's drive.
 
Prague is probably a bit too generic for some people but if you are into shooting there is a class range there called Top Gun (how original) they will come and pick you up from your hotel and drop you back. Really good selection of guns, they take no messers, very professional, a cold beer and a sandwich are provided afterwards.

Also if you are in Rome and are looking for the best views of the Trevi fountain, go searching for the Trevirooftop (instagram handle)
If you stand in front of the fountain, look up behind your right should up to the top of the buildings, you will see a little rooftop bar.

If you go to the door below it, you will see a corridor leading to a lift that will take you up to it - lads if you get there early 10am - you can get the place to yourself for a very intimate proposal overlooking the fountain with no interruptions ;)
 
E30chick said:
Genoa is fab, just remember when the streets get narrower that means you are heading for the red light district hahah, I discovered that one of my stops there!!
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We were there last March. Stayed in the Hotel Palazzo Grillo in that area. Just up the alley from where Daniel O'Connell died. A lot safer than Dublin.
 
Mocame said:
I went to Sibiu in Romania (specifically in Transylvania) with Ryanair earlier in the year. It is a really beautiful small city with lots of museums, well worth spending two days in. We hired a car, there are lots of interesting places to visit between 30 min and an hour's drive.
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I was in Transylvania about 10 years ago. I flew into Bucharest and drove over the mountains to Sighisoara. It's one of the most beautiful places I've even seen. Definitely a place I want to go back to.
 
All of the former eastern bloc more or less you could put into this bracket of cheap city breaks especially if they don't use euros. Although the Ukraine war has now made them more expensive as prices have been driven up alot by inflation.
The golden era for travelling there was obviously the 1990s when it all opened up and was ridiculously cheap
 
In Spain, these 5, less travelled to places, are all relatively cheap to stay, eat & drink:

I would say, my favourite of these, is probably Seville, but avoid, due to severe heat from June To September, it regularly exceeds 40 C during these months, its an extraordinary place.

Direct Flights:

Santiago de Compostela
Valencia
Seville

No direct flights, but a 2 hour train/bus from Malaga or 3 ish from Seville:

Granada

No direct flghts, but can go via London:

San Sebastian

I heard Cordoba (south)and Bilbao(north east), are also very impressive, but i have not been there yet !

Madrid & Malaga city, are more popular places i’ve been to, that were quite reasonable, Barcelona, not so much.

On my list, is a multi stop Spain holiday, eg Seville->Grenada->Cordoba->Malaga, in that order, or in reverse, as all very accessible, you’l be able to move from one to the other in 3 hours or less, by train or bus.
 
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+ 1 on Genoa and San Sebastian as a previous poster said.

Durham in the UK and if you avoid the peak period, Edinburgh

Derry is actually a grand town and the way they've presented some of the history of the Troubles was interesting
 
I agree San Sebastian and Bilbao are well worth visiting. Also Prague and Vienna , none of these are very expensive either..
 
Verona a nice city also, and a great base if travelling North to the Dolomites.
Florence lovely city too. Actually, anywhere in Italy if you get a cheap flight is worth it - food, drink, architecture.
 
Cambridge is not so cheap for accommodation but you can cut costs and have a fun experience by staying in student rooms in one of the colleges (https://www.universityrooms.com/). It is very cheap and easy to get to get to. Just fly to Stanstead and it is three stops on the direct train from the airport. Many of the colleges are free to visit as is King's College chapel. Punting on the river is cheap if you are willing to share a punt and the Kettle's Yard museum is great. Plus walking around if free and Cambridge is just so beautiful.
 
Mocame said:
Cambridge is not so cheap for accommodation but you can cut costs and have a fun experience by staying in student rooms in one of the colleges (https://www.universityrooms.com/). It is very cheap and easy to get to get to. Just fly to Stanstead and it is three stops on the direct train from the airport. Many of the colleges are free to visit as is King's College chapel. Punting on the river is cheap if you are willing to share a punt and the Kettle's Yard museum is great. Plus walking around if free and Cambridge is just so beautiful.
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Brilliant link, many thanks.
I was looking at Cambridge previously, but was quite put off with the £200 + per night in almost all hotels, which seems to be the norm. Many think its a better choice than Oxford, though both are stunningly beautiful apparently, and the Stanstead, direct rail link, is a huge plus.
 
Yes, Cambridge is a beautiful city alright and the countryside around it is nice also, eg, Grantchester.
 
Trier the oldest city in Germany. Fly into Luxembourg. Lovely small city, situated on the Mosel river. If you hire a car, there are some lovely towns worth exploring nearby.
 
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