Favourite European city

yourdeadwright

Hey folks
Myself and the other half both in our 30's are looking to get away for a nice romantic long wekeend somewhere in Europe, What cities would you recommened, now we have been to Paris,Rome and Barcalona some what recently so somewhere else ?,
Also be nioce if there was plenty to do and see

Thanks

Jocelynel

I was going to say Rome, my favourite now
what about Florence and Pisa, about 50 minutes on train you can get to the walled city of Lucca, it's just stunning
also Madrid, Prague or great places in germany...Munich or my own favourite Heidelberg

whomitconcerns

Budapest is fantastic. Try get the hilton near the castle. Great views!

Paco Rodriguez

Budapest is great and the people are really nice.

Evenstevens

I would second Florence. Stunningly beautiful , even just to walk around it.

I would also second Madrid which is one of the nicest places I've ever been. It has loads of museums, art etc. The food is great, the city is old and historic and lovely to walk around, it's very reasonable also. Recommend you try the hot chocolate and churros. Yum.

Would also put a punt in for Berlin which is a really cool city. There is so much going on there all the time. Lots of different districts but then there is the history too, Checkpoint Charlie, Reichstag, Jewish museum and of course they have loads of German beer which is always a plus. It's very modern but lots of history too.

Jamie2k9

Budapest, Krakow or Prague.

JackF1

Evenstevens wrote: »

I would second Florence. Stunningly beautiful , even just to walk around it.

I would also second Madrid which is one of the nicest places I've ever been. It has loads of museums, art etc. The food is great, the city is old and historic and lovely to walk around, it's very reasonable also. Recommend you try the hot chocolate and churros. Yum.

Would also put a punt in for Berlin which is a really cool city. There is so much going on there all the time. Lots of different districts but then there is the history too, Checkpoint Charlie, Reichstag, Jewish museum and of course they have loads of German beer which is always a plus. It's very modern but lots of history too.

Berlin is great but lacks romance!

Vienna is spectacular. It is undoubtedly very very beautiful and historic but not stuck in the past. It always impresses me even though I'm there nearly monthly I still stop and pause and make time for coffee and cake.
Stay at lmperial or the grand or the Bristol.
Interestingly it's actually quite a reasonably priced place. No €8.50 coffees a la Paris or expensive. A 72hour travel ticket runs to €12! Even the airport train is only €8.
The Austrians are a nice bunch a little stuffy but less Germanic than the Germans.

jt_dublin

+1 for Madrid. Have been about 10 times now and just keep going back.

Indestructable

Venice, is gorgeous and for romantic can't be beat, lovely food and reasonably priced if you avoid eating in the touristy areas. Plenty to see and do if you're interested in history and the surrounding islands like Murano have a charm to them too.

Prague is also fantastic!

cloudatlas

Salzburg. Very pretty, historical, has a castle, romantic, dramatic views of the mountains.

HenrikL

Paris,Prague,Venice, Florence,Kracow,Rome,Brugges

Zcott

Have ye tried Mullingar?

DoctorEdgeWild

Italy:

Siena - Absolutely stunning place, not huge but ideal for a short break. Particularly nice in Summer/Spring. Architecturally fascinating and lots of pockets of historical interest if you are into history.

Lucca - My favourite place in Italy (I've not explored the country extensively though) Very quiet and a lovely place to just stroll around if you are more into the quiet things in life. Fantastic bakeries and food there. A really nice water gardens too but the name escapes me as it's been a while.

UK:

Birmingham - Don't laugh! It has a poor name and certainly doesn't ignite the excitement of some of it's illustrious counterparts on thread so far, but I love it. There is loads to do and see and can be as action packed (nightlife/excitement) or low key (museums, parks, shopping, sea life centre etc.) as you wish it to be. Plus accommodation/flights can be very cheap.

Just a few suggestions, maybe if you indicated what you enjoy, please would be able to suggest something suitable?

whomitconcerns

Prague...is gone very stag nighty..didnt like it last time I was there and I was there for a stag night!!! Not nice atmosphere at night.

Krakow is very beautiful but the proximity to remnants of WW2 can make for a different sort of weekend. Depends on what you want. But I wouldnt go to Krakow without going to see them....so maybe not for romantic weekend

fricatus

So many places, so little time!

Places I've been to, loved and would recommend (and in brackets, have heard great things about, though I haven't been there)

UK: Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh - beautiful, all three, (York, Lincoln)
Belgium: Bruges, Brussels, (Antwerp, Ghent)
France: Lille, Paris
Spain: Madrid - lived there, loved it
Germany: Berlin - not romantic, but cooool, Munich, (Hamburg, Heidelberg, Regensburg)
Austria: Vienna
Poland: Krakow, (Wroclaw)
Italy: Florence, Bologna, Rome... been to Naples too, though not sure what to make of it. Maybe good for a visit any month other than August, which probably goes for any Italian city
Czech Republic: Prague
Ukraine: Lviv - the situation is a bit hot there at the moment, but this and Bologna are the two cities I would go back to in the morning, all things being equal!

Fantasy list: Moscow, St Petersburg, Istanbul

zagmund

Istanbul is well worth a visit. Romantic - check. Things to see & do - many, many checks. Europe - check. Asia - check, if you cross the bridge.

z

whomitconcerns

Wroclaw! definitely recommend. More so than Krakow!

fricatus wrote: »

So many places, so little time!

Places I've been to, loved and would recommend (and in brackets, have heard great things about, though I haven't been there)

UK: Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh - beautiful, all three, (York, Lincoln)
Belgium: Bruges, Brussels, (Antwerp, Ghent)
France: Lille, Paris
Spain: Madrid - lived there, loved it
Germany: Berlin - not romantic, but cooool, Munich, (Hamburg, Heidelberg, Regensburg)
Austria: Vienna
Poland: Krakow, (Wroclaw)
Italy: Florence, Bologna, Rome... been to Naples too, though not sure what to make of it. Maybe good for a visit any month other than August, which probably goes for any Italian city
Czech Republic: Prague
Ukraine: Lviv - the situation is a bit hot there at the moment, but this and Bologna are the two cities I would go back to in the morning, all things being equal!

Fantasy list: Moscow, St Petersburg, Istanbul

LorMal

My tuppence worth:

London - just a brilliant city
Milan - area around the Duomo is mega
Zurich
Munich
koln
Stockholm
Lisbon
Jerusalem (incredible)

Cienciano

Hard to beat Florence or Venice, but definitely don't go to Venice peak season.
Madrid has been mentioned, fantastic city, and a hell of a lot nicer than Barcelona imho.
But from all the places mentioned, I'd recommend Bruge OP. The perfect place for a few days with the girlfriend. Although imho, it's more of a city to visit in winter than summer.

whomitconcerns wrote: »

Wroclaw! definitely recommend. More so than Krakow!

That's on my list, I heard it's a great city.

yourdeadwright

Thanks for all the replys folks,
There is so many cities to chose from its really tuff,
I want a nice rustic place that has a charm about it, where you can have a lovley stroll through the streets with a coffee ,
It been nice to have things to go visit like history musems and cultural things ,night life isn't important
We would be going early Arpil ,

Is Berlin nice ? iv been to Munich and loved it

AppleD

Amsterdam. Nothing like whizzing around on your bike in the sunshine.

Madam

In no particular order:)

Paris
Barcelona
Dubrovnic
Prague
Lisbon
Bruge(only in wintertime though)
Quimper( bit out of the way but a marvelous place imo)
Cork(I know, I know??? But I have lovely memories of the place:o)
Edinburgh(love the city itself - not the people so much)
Brighton;)

Noelsagan

For somewhere a bit different why not consider Dresden? It's a truly beautiful city that has so much character and variety. Stunning art and architecture in the Aldstadt and young, bohemian, vibrant scene in the Neustadt. Great restaurants and loads of shopping too. I was there twice last year and I can't wait to get back in June for Arcade Fire :-)

You can get a bus (www.berlinlinienbus.de) directly from Berlin Schönefeld airport for €9 if you book it early enough. It takes 1h50min which isn't bad when you consider it would take the guts of an hour to get to the west side of Berlin on the S-bahn.

Other than that I would add to the throng of thumbs up for the wonderful Budapest and also to the thumbs down for Prague - still a nice city but tourism and creep of western comsumerism is eroding what made it so different and special.

Cienciano

Has anyone been to Tallinn? Supposed to be amazing, was going to go last year but ryanair only do seasonal flights. Definitely worth looking into OP

LorMal wrote: »

My tuppence worth:

London - just a brilliant city
Milan - area around the Duomo is mega
Zurich
Munich
koln
Stockholm
Lisbon
Jerusalem (incredible)

I wouldn't have thought Koln as a place for a romantic getaway. Concrete square boring buildings.
Milan is definitely one I wouldn't recommend either. Bit of a dump.

fricatus

Cienciano wrote: »

Milan is definitely one I wouldn't recommend either. Bit of a dump.

The core area of Milan around the Duomo is beautiful though - Piazza del Duomo through the Galleria and over to La Scala.

There's also a lovely area called Navigli, which runs along a canal near the Porta Ticinese. Great restaurants and bars, and a huge market on Sundays.

And if you're into shopping, it's probably the best place in Italy.

schemingbohemia

Budapest, Berlin and Madrid are great cities for weekends with a fantastic mix of history and "now" - hip pubs/clubs/restaurants.

Someone asked about Tallinn, I really liked it but I think it became over-run with stags etc, not sure what it's like now it's a decade since I was there.

Steven81

Would you try Scandinavia, either Stockholm, Oslo or Helsinki. You can take a boat trip to Talinn for the day from Helsinki aswell.

yourdeadwright

Iv been to Helsinki to play in a football tournament for two weeks and i loved the place it was a really nice but the people where a little on the borning side, ev

spurious

Noelsagan wrote: »

For somewhere a bit different why not consider Dresden? It's a truly beautiful city that has so much character and variety. Stunning art and architecture in the Aldstadt and young, bohemian, vibrant scene in the Neustadt. Great restaurants and loads of shopping too. I was there twice last year and I can't wait to get back in June for Arcade Fire :-)

Big fan here too of Dresden - lovely spot.

Cienciano

A few of my friends have gone to Copenhagen last year and reckon it's amazing too, Lisbon the same.
Of german cities I've been to, Bremen was really nice. Cool centre and lots of nice pubs. But I reckon leave Bremen till the christmas markets are there.
Madam mentioned Edinburgh, forgot about British cities! Edinburgh is a great town, it's almost like 2 cities in one with the old town and new town. Great place to go with the girlfriend, loads to see and do.

fricatus wrote: »

The core area of Milan around the Duomo is beautiful though - Piazza del Duomo through the Galleria and over to La Scala.

There's also a lovely area called Navigli, which runs along a canal near the Porta Ticinese. Great restaurants and bars, and a huge market on Sundays.

And if you're into shopping, it's probably the best place in Italy.

There's one or 2 nice little areas, but in general, the place is a but of a dump and not a nice place to stroll around. Shopping may be good if you're a millionaire, the designer shops are crazy expensive. Compare with Florence where the entire centre of the city is really nice, and a great place to wonder around, Rome too. Even Turin city centre with it's big squares, grand covered footpaths and nice relaxed atmosphere is far nicer than Milans.

mickyellow

Some of the obscure cities I've been to in Europe and I'd highly recommend.

Brugges - Amazing place.....great food and beer
Seville - My favorite city in Spain
Stuttgart - Loved my time here. Fantastic main square & stunning hotels
Gdansk - Stunning as any of the Irish who saw it during the euro's will verify.
Ljubljana (Slovenia) - stunning city. was over 10 years since I was there
Southampton - Great seaside city
Antwerp (Belgium) - Buy the missus an engagement ring

Some of my least favorite:

Hamburg (seedy and a kip)
Athens (filthy) couldn't wait to leave
Poznan (too industrial)
Naples - all of the above.......

tibor

Cienciano wrote: »

Has anyone been to Tallinn? Supposed to be amazing, was going to go last year but ryanair only do seasonal flights. Definitely worth looking into OP
.

The Old Town in Tallinn is really beautiful, and a few beers in the Depeche Mode bar(yes, that's a thing) after a meal off the main square is a fine way to spend an evening.

paddyh117

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Thanks for all the replys folks,
There is so many cities to chose from its really tuff,
I want a nice rustic place that has a charm about it, where you can have a lovley stroll through the streets with a coffee ,
It been nice to have things to go visit like history musems and cultural things ,night life isn't important
We would be going early Arpil ,

Is Berlin nice ? iv been to Munich and loved it

As you're going in April, and going by what you're listed i would recommend Florence and Venice - do both - you can get from one to the other easily (by train) and both are amazing but also quite different (obviously in the case of Venice)

While overall I think Paris is slightly better city, Venice should be seen once by everyone to be believed - by going in April you can see it before the summer crowds and the smells!!

Florence is also amazing, and i would rate them (plus Rome and Paris) and my 4 favourite cities.....along with London it has to be said

tibor

mickyellow wrote: »

Seville - My favorite city in Spain

+1 for Seville. Lovely spot.
If you had time you could squeeze in a trip to Granada too.

Early April will be the build up the Easter so you might get lucky enough to happen upon some of the prep for Holy week?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Week_in_Seville

Teabreak

I would say Galway as it is in Europe

yourdeadwright

im going to bite the bullet and book somewhere on Friday, still no idea where haha

miamee

yourdeadwright wrote: »

im going to bite the bullet and book somewhere on Friday, still no idea where haha

The price of flights should help focus your mind

I went on a short trip to Florence and Bologna in September alone and it was beautiful, I would really recommend Florence as a romantic city and going off-peak is probably the best idea. It was busy enough in September, I can only imagine it in the middle of summer.

Siena was near enough to do a day trip and sounds like a beautiful and amazing place although I sadly didn't have time for that which was disappointing. It might be a possibility depending on how long your weekend trip is going to be.

Nalz

tibor wrote: »

The Old Town in Tallinn is really beautiful, and a few beers in the Depeche Mode bar(yes, that's a thing) after a meal off the main square is a fine way to spend an evening.

Depeche Mode bar, I was in it...

whats so special about it? Run down kip imo. Looks like the downstairs in Bruxcelles off Grafton st

tibor

Trilla wrote: »

Depeche Mode bar, I was in it...

whats so special about it? Run down kip imo. Looks like the downstairs in Bruxcelles off Grafton st

Oh, it's definitely not for everyone, indeed I can imagine it being some peoples idea of hell. I loved it for the novelty value - non stop Depeche Mode tunes in a cave with cheap booze and friendly mix of locals and tourists - good craic.

Back on topic...

I'd throw Split, Croatia in the mix. A lot more like a real city than the picture postcard Dubrovnic but still maintains a beautiful old town, extensive Roman ruins on the edge of town, relaxing beaches, buzzing nightlife and some of the most intense football fans if you can get to a Hadjuk match. Also has Hvar and Trogir within easy reach(and Korcula a little further afield) for day trips.

Stojkovic

Trilla wrote: »

Depeche Mode bar, I was in it...

whats so special about it? Run down kip imo. Looks like the downstairs in Bruxcelles off Grafton st

Me too.

Had one drink and left.

The place didnt reach out and touch me at all.

Tallinn's lovely though.

carolinespring

Budapest is stunning
Venice is a "must" do
Prague is beautiful
Seville is stunning.
Istanbul, is a really interesting
Florence is breath taking beautiful
Salzburg is so so pretty
Vienna is Oh WOW!!!
Liverpool. Love it... sorry but it is really nice!
Brugges is on my list. My brother & OH did it and said it is truly amazing.

Sorry I can't be more help

juli123

Amsterdam is my all time favorurite!!