Where to go in September for 3-4 nights

Toast4532

Hi,

Myself and my boyfriend are looking to get away in September for 3-4 nights.

We'd like somewhere warm, but we don't want a beach/sun holiday, we'd like a city or somewhere we can do things

Somewhere in Europe would be nice as we don't want a long flight for such a short trip.

Would appreciate any suggestions on where to go.

Budget is €600-€700 (for both of us), incl accommodation/flights, we're hoping to do it for less, but that is the most we're will to spend.

jacko1

A couple of places to recommend

Bilbao - great city , nice weather, flights with aer lingus(ex Dublin) approx €110/120 return

Bologna - my favourite italian city - wonderful food, wine and people. Nice warm weather in September - direct flights out of Dublin with Aer Lingus

Toast4532

Thanks so much for your reply, going to look up both of those places now.

I forgot to say in my OP, that we could go in October either, if it was a bit cheaper, but we won't go on the mid-term break as it's too expensive.

Toast4532

Is Bologna expensive? I know generally that Italy is expensive, but is it all of Italy, or the more tourist/well known parts? Rome, Pisa, Venice etc.

Would also appreciate others suggestions...as we're still stuck on ideas.

schemingbohemia

Bologna is a bit student city so lots of cheap food and drink.

Sicily might be an option, lots of historical monuments etc

Barcelona, Madrid are great cities to visit too.

Toulouse, Bordeaux, Biarritz?

veetwin

Dubrovnik? Flights about €160 return in September. Lots of cheap accomodation and food and drink options. Stunningly beautiful in September.

Toast4532

Thanks everyone.

veetwin wrote: »

Dubrovnik? Flights about €160 return in September. Lots of cheap accomodation and food and drink options. Stunningly beautiful in September.

Thanks, but I've been to Dubrovnik before, it's hugely expensive and I was there for almost 3 weeks (family wedding) so have seen most (If not all) the things there is to see.

What we could do also is, fly to London and take a train from London to somewhere in Europe? We wouldn't mind a day or two in London either as we both love the place

mel.b

Madrid is fantastic and some great day trips too. Or what about Morocco - not quiet Europe, but you can get cheap flights and would be cheap there.

sillysocks

Gdansk or Krakow? Both lovely, but not huge, cities. Quite cheap to get there, and hotels would be cheap enough too.
Gdansk has Sopot very nearby (tram/taxi distance) which has a lovely beach/pier are so good for a day trip.

spurious

sillysocks wrote: »

Gdansk or Krakow? Both lovely, but not huge, cities. Quite cheap to get there, and hotels would be cheap enough too.
Gdansk has Sopot very nearby (tram/taxi distance) which has a lovely beach/pier are so good for a day trip.

I was about to post the same. Weather-wise September is a lovely time in Poland. Big fan of Gdansk here.

Toast4532

Thanks so much everyone.

We have thought of another idea - we could fly to London and visit family for a day or two, then take the train to Paris, then from Paris maybe to go Beligum, Germany, Spain, Italy then back to Paris and then back to London.

Would 10 days be enough for Spain/Germany/Paris etc? We were thinking maybe 2 days in each place?

Would say, €1k between us be enough to cover accommodation, flights, trains, spending money?

We don't want anything expensive and will stay in hostels if needs be as we'll only be there for two days max anyway.

Would appreciate any suggestions.

mel.b

Personally I think you're going to be really rushed trying to fit in all of that. I'd narrow down the countries and especially where you want to go in those countries. For example, Barcelona, Paris and Rome if you want to hit the capital cities are a long way apart by train and by the time you spend getting to the train station, the trip and then to your accommodation, you've easily lost half a day or more. Paris - Belgium (inc Brugges & Ghent) - Cologne might be doable, or Venice - Florence - Pisa - Milan.

Also 1K between the two of you will be tight for 10 days. That's 500euro each - 50 euro a day, say 20euro for a hostel, leaves you 30euro for transport, meals etc. Maybe in you were based in Spain where its a bit cheaper than France/Italy/Germany you could do it.

Prebooking trains will help keep the budget down, although not all can be pre booked. www.bahn.de is great for timetables for most of europe but then you need to go to the individual countries websites to actually book.

Toast4532

Would London > Belgium > Paris > Germany > London be more doable do you think?

I've never done inter-railing before and am getting lost and confused with it all lol

mel.b

To me, London - Paris - Belguim - Germany (then fly back to London/Ireland) would be a more logical route.

Paris to Stuttgart is 3 1/2 hrs and 120euro on the TGV
Paris to Frankfurt is at least 4hours and similiar price
Paris to Colonge is a minimum of 3 1/4hrs and 80 euro.

Brussels to Cologne can be done in under 2hrs and is between 40 - 50 euro
Brussels to Frankfurt can be done in 3hours but is around 110euro.

I find google maps really good for planning trips to like this - it will give you an idea of how far away places are and help you plan a logical route without backtracking.

Toast4532

mel.b wrote: »

To me, London - Paris - Belguim - Germany (then fly back to London/Ireland) would be a more logical route.

Paris to Stuttgart is 3 1/2 hrs and 120euro on the TGV
Paris to Frankfurt is at least 4hours and similiar price
Paris to Colonge is a minimum of 3 1/4hrs and 80 euro.

Brussels to Cologne can be done in under 2hrs and is between 40 - 50 euro
Brussels to Frankfurt can be done in 3hours but is around 110euro.

I find google maps really good for planning trips to like this - it will give you an idea of how far away places are and help you plan a logical route without backtracking.

Thanks so much, you've been very helpful. I never even thought if Google Maps, going to have a look now.

MadsL

Cities: Prague if you have never been, or better Zagreb.

Train. Flight to London, Eurostar one night Paris. Overnight train to Zurich, sidetrip to Lucerne. Fast Daytime/Overmight train to Rome. Train to Venice. Flight home.

Some of the best of Europe right there.

More ideas of train travel (London to Australia by train anyone?) The Man in Seat 61

Toast4532

Toast4532 wrote: »

Would London > Belgium > Paris > Germany > London be more doable do you think?

I've never done inter-railing before and am getting lost and confused with it all lol

Think this is the option we'll prob go with. .

We could also fly direct to Brussels, and go from them to Germany, then Paris and get the train from Paris to London.

We were thinking 2-3 days in each place, then onto London. Not sure how long in London, but we'll be staying with family to transport/accommodation isn't an issue there.

Roughly how ,much would we be looking at for accommodation in those places? Either hotels, hostels or b&b's, preferably b&b, but we'll look at all options

When we work out transports and accommodation costs, then we can work out our spending money

mel.b

Look at www.hostels.com and www.hostelbookers.com for prices but i'd budget at least €25 per person / per night.

For b&b's you can use www.booking.com or go onto www.tripadvisor.com and then type in 'brussles accomodation' ( for example) and search through the reviews for the b&b's and go directly to their website for prices.

3 days in Brussels bore you to tears so book in a trip to Brugges (and ghent if you want). Brugges is only an hour by train from brussels.

Have fun (and the planning is half the fun too!)

Toast4532

mel.b wrote: »

Look at www.hostels.com and www.hostelbookers.com for prices but i'd budget at least €25 per person / per night.

For b&b's you can use www.booking.com or go onto www.tripadvisor.com and then type in 'brussles accomodation' ( for example) and search through the reviews for the b&b's and go directly to their website for prices.

3 days in Brussels bore you to tears so book in a trip to Brugges (and ghent if you want). Brugges is only an hour by train from brussels.

Have fun (and the planning is half the fun too!)

Thanks so much, you're a star. Is there really not much to do in Brussels? I assumed there would be loads to do, but I've heard a few people say that there's not much there actually.

So maybe one day in Brussels, one day in Bruges and then onto Germany?

Is there much/anything to do in Flensberg or would we be better in a city, Berlin etc?

mel.b

Personally I think a day in Brussels is enough. The Grand Place is stunning.

A day in Brugges is also enough, however it is lovely to stay overnight, when the crowds have gone and a lot of the buildings are lit up.

I haven't been to that part of Germany and Berlin is a long way away from Brussels - minimum 7hrs by train

Toast4532

mel.b wrote: »

Personally I think a day in Brussels is enough. The Grand Place is stunning.

A day in Brugges is also enough, however it is lovely to stay overnight, when the crowds have gone and a lot of the buildings are lit up.

I haven't been to that part of Germany and Berlin is a long way away from Brussels - minimum 7hrs by train

Thanks a million.

Maybe we'd be better off leaving Belgium for another time?

What is Monaco like? Worth a visit?

We definitely want to go Germany and France and would like to fit another 1-2 countries in if possible.

Mike Clerk

I will suggest to try out the Scandinavian countries this time start from Stockholm to Helsinki via Oslo.

mel.b

Toast4532 wrote: »

Thanks a million.

Maybe we'd be better off leaving Belgium for another time?

What is Monaco like? Worth a visit?

We definitely want to go Germany and France and would like to fit another 1-2 countries in if possible.

I think belgium fits in well with your planned itinerary so i wouldn't discount it. Plus, the waffles, chocolate and beer....mmmmm

Haven't been to Monaco but it is at 6.5 hours by train from Paris in the opposite direction to germany. Also i think it might be a bit $$$ for your budget

Mike Clerk wrote: »

I will suggest to try out the Scandinavian countries this time start from Stockholm to Helsinki via Oslo.

The OP has a limited budget - at the moment around €1000 for 10 days. Scandinavia is too expensive - i spent €1000 in half that time in Norway alone

Toast4532

mel.b wrote: »

I think belgium fits in well with your planned itinerary so i wouldn't discount it. Plus, the waffles, chocolate and beer....mmmmm

Haven't been to Monaco but it is at 6.5 hours by train from Paris in the opposite direction to germany. Also i think it might be a bit $$$ for your budget

The OP has a limited budget - at the moment around €1000 for 10 days. Scandinavia is too expensive - i spent €1000 in half that time in Norway alone

Thanks so much for your help, my head is almost melted from this lol.

So I've come up with two ideas the original and a new one.

1st (original) - Belgium > Germany > Paris > London

2nd - Madrid > Barcelona > Monaco > Paris > London

As I said, we'll be staying with family in London so accommodation/transport etc isn't a problem.

3 days in Madrid, then on the 3rd afternoon/evening a train to Barcelona, for 3 days, then on the 3rd day, a train to Monaco and then onto Paris for 2-3 days?

At the moment the budget for both of us €1k, but it's possible we may be able to stretch it, we won't know for another few weeks though

mel.b

I like your second one i loved Madrid and there is plenty to do in three days there. Everyone i have spoken to who has been to barcelona alos loved it.

Barcelona to monaco is a minimum of 9hrs by day on the train and up to 20 hours depending on connections ...:eek i'd probably try to go for an overnight train as it will save you accomodation costs, although i personally hate overnight trains and never sleep well and feel grotty and like a zombie the next day

Toast4532

Thanks a million Mel.b, think we have definitely decided on Spain and France now.

We were thinking maybe 3x days in Madrid then on the fourth day heading to Barcelona, then 3 days in Barcelona and then on the fourth day heading to Paris, then maybe 2-3 days in Paris and onto London.

I was thinking maybe if we travelled on the fourth days rather than the third day in each place, we could travel during the day, see the scenery etc. and still have a decent amount of time in each place, not lose a night’s sleep and we'd still arrive early enough in the evening in the next place.

So it’d be

3x days Madrid

1x day travel to Barcelona

3x days in Barcelona

1x day travel to Paris

2 or 3 days in Paris and then onto London.

Maybe 3 days in Paris, then on the third day we would travel to London.

mel.b

Sounds like a plan to me while in Madrid, if you get the chance do a day trip to Toledo.