City Breaks

ravenhead

Hi All,

Little bit of advice needed, I'm thinking of going on a city break in say late november early december but I can't decide on where to go, I was thinking of either Venice or Paris but I'm not really sure,

Can anyone give me some advice on either city, if they are worth seeing, are they expensive & if possible with Venice, so info on getting there, I've tried a couple of travel agent websites & there is nothing on offer for venice?

thanks in advance...

sanncoo

Hi THere

I visited both last year. I tried Venice in Aug and went to Paris early December. Both with Ryan Air.

Paris direct from Shannon and Venice from Shannon via Stansted. Venice was a fantastic bargain. We met people there who hadn't even thought to try the cheapie way and were gutted when they asked how much it cost us....

Venice is absolutely beautiful, lots to see. Plenty of museums , The Peggy Guggenheim is good if you are into that sort of thing. Using the water buses, (get a 3 day pass unlimited travel), goiung on the gondolas, walking across the bridge of sighs....I have such fond memories of the place. Going in Aug, gave us the added option of visiting the beaches. We bought a guide in the airport that became our bible. It had a map and everything in it. I'll post the name later.

For the sheer magic and history, I would choose Venice above Paris. It seeps out of every stone, it's just so different from any city in Europe. Plus the italians love the Irish and they treat you with a bit more respect than the French!

Paris is way more expensive than Venice. We (my sis and I!!! How romantic!!) could not get over the price of food and drink in Venice......we came home with lots of change in our pockets. Expecting to be fleeced in Italy we could not get over how much we are actually fleeced at home.

I'll log on from home later and post the name of our 'bible'.

If you need any more info, just holler!

S

ravenhead

sanncoo wrote:

Hi THere

I visited both last year. I tried Venice in Aug and went to Paris early December. Both with Ryan Air.

Paris direct from Shannon and Venice from Shannon via Stansted. Venice was a fantastic bargain. We met people there who hadn't even thought to try the cheapie way and were gutted when they asked how much it cost us....

Venice is absolutely beautiful, lots to see. Plenty of museums , The Peggy Guggenheim is good if you are into that sort of thing. Using the water buses, (get a 3 day pass unlimited travel), goiung on the gondolas, walking across the bridge of sighs....I have such fond memories of the place. Going in Aug, gave us the added option of visiting the beaches. We bought a guide in the airport that became our bible. It had a map and everything in it. I'll post the name later.

For the sheer magic and history, I would choose Venice above Paris. It seeps out of every stone, it's just so different from any city in Europe. Plus the italians love the Irish and they treat you with a bit more respect than the French!

Paris is way more expensive than Venice. We (my sis and I!!! How romantic!!) could not get over the price of food and drink in Venice......we came home with lots of change in our pockets. Expecting to be fleeced in Italy we could not get over how much we are actually fleeced at home.

I'll log on from home later and post the name of our 'bible'.

If you need any more info, just holler!

S

Cheers sanncoo,

It sounds like Venice would be the better choice, any tips on accommadation?

sanncoo

I got a great deal through ratestogo.com. It turned out to be a boutique hotel, marble floors, chandeliers....the works. The room cost us 80.00 a night B & B. I think we were just very lucky.....

If you are going to try and get there the Ryan Air way, try using Charleroi as a hub instead of Stansted. You can stick with Euros that way....no messing with Sterling!

S :cool:

zag

Just a quick note to say, I was in Paris this time last year. I don't know if you are into this, but we went to the Disney Halloween ball. It's usually on on Halloween night, but I think it runs for a few nights in succession. It starts at 8pm and goes on until 2, all the rides are open, and it's fancy dress! It was good crack, I would recommend it.

ravenhead

zag wrote:

Just a quick note to say, I was in Paris this time last year. I don't know if you are into this, but we went to the Disney Halloween ball. It's usually on on Halloween night, but I think it runs for a few nights in succession. It starts at 8pm and goes on until 2, all the rides are open, and it's fancy dress! It was good crack, I would recommend it.

Yeah i've been reading up on it, it looks like good fun, I really don't know what to do, i've gone onto RYANAIR & the flights to Paris for the two of us is €72.48!!!! I mean that is just soooo cheap. I tried Venice & it's working out at nearly €300 each ...... The thing is will it balance out after the cost of eating out extra? I mean Paris is supposed to be VERY expensive?

zag

What I did last year, was keep the fancy dress thing under my hat, and got two wicked costumes in Dublin, brought them in a spare suitcase and all.
Paris is expensive, but it depends where you go. It's not a whole lot more than Dublin, so I wouldn't worry about it. And besides, if you are only going for a weekend, sure how much can you spend anyway? If you were going for a week, it would be a consideration, but a couple of days won't break the bank. Brussels is also another lovely city to visit, and it's not expesive. BTW- If you were going to the Disney thing, you could stay in the Kiriad hotel for the night, it's just 5 minutes by bus(and its free) to the park, it's two star, but you wouldn't think it. It cost around 45 euro pps.

sanncoo

Zag

That sounds like so much fun........

Raven

If you can get to Paris for that money go......it'd be a pity to waste a deal like that......you can always keep an eye on the flights to venice and go early next year.

I went to Paris with my best bud last yr, like 2 big grown up kids it was our treat to each other for christmas! We went to EuroDisney on the friday and had a ball....it was all done up for christmas with lights etc

There is a fantastic parade at the end of the evening with bubbles as snow....

We had a ball, it was really crisp and wintery!

S

Tiriel

Been to both cities too and definitely would say go for Paris.. there's just something about the place!! have gone back a few times and love it. Venice is lovely too but can be a bit grimy.. not as romantic as you'd expect.

trotter_inc

ravenhead wrote:

Hi All,

Little bit of advice needed, I'm thinking of going on a city break in say late november early december but I can't decide on where to go, I was thinking of either Venice or Paris but I'm not really sure,

Can anyone give me some advice on either city, if they are worth seeing, are they expensive & if possible with Venice, so info on getting there, I've tried a couple of travel agent websites & there is nothing on offer for venice?

thanks in advance...

Check out the post on 'What to do in Prague' - it supposed to be a great city - I'm going over the xmas holidays - might be worth checking out that post - loads of info on the city in it.

trotter_inc

trotter_inc wrote:

Check out the post on 'What to do in Prague' - it supposed to be a great city - I'm going over the xmas holidays - might be worth checking out that post - loads of info on the city in it.

Most travel agents are doing a 2 nite package to Prague for €189 (flights and accomodation included) between now and January if you are interested.