City Breaks in Europe

Anon2013

Hi
Just wondering if anyone had any ideas for short city breaks in Europe, we were thinking of London but the hassle of having to change money and the fact we have been there many times before and lived there is putting us off. Anyone got any ideas of places that use euro and people speak relatively good English?
Thanks

Easypeasey

The majority of European cities staff in hospitality industry have good English and cater for tourism through English.
Plenty of places to recommend, top 3 for me:
1. Krakow is one of my favorite cities, fantastic food, beautiful city and very good value for money. Not in Euro though if thats a big draw back for you?..
2. Brugge, much smaller "city" but beautiful and great bars for beer
3. Madrid, fantastic restaurants, great young lively city, plenty to see

munchkin_utd

for English speaking comfort, Malta might be an Option seeing as its one of their official languages. (it was what swinged it for us for the honeymoon)

Otherwise Berlin or Amsterdam or Prague are good options as they really have a lot of english speaking tourists. In Hamburg or Munich you'd also survive pretty easily.

Anon2013

Thanks will look at them place. The country using Euro would be handy but it's not a necessity. Was thinking about Krakow, but if I went there then I would have to visit Auschwitz and the person that I am travelling with doesn't really want to visit a concentration camp, unfortunately. The same would probably happen in Germany, I have heard Munich is close Dachau.

munchkin_utd

Anon2013 wrote: »

Thanks will look at them place. The country using Euro would be handy but it's not a necessity. Was thinking about Krakow, but if I went there then I would have to visit Auschwitz and the person that I am travelling with doesn't really want to visit a concentration camp, unfortunately.

The same would probably happen in Germany, I have heard Munich is close Dachau.

Dachau is a 10minute spin from Munich main Station. Theres english tours all right, but you'd need to time the run to make them.

Theres also a new documentation centre opened in Munich last week (after 60+years of trying to get it up and running) that focuses on the People and experiences, another Exhibition in the City Museum that focuses more on what munich was like during this period (in comparion to other cities) and tours of the remaining nazi architecture (including 1 building which still has SS helments in the lintels over some windows!)
Munich was the "capital of the movement" so theres plenty of traces of that period.

Nürnberg is only an hour and a bit spin then to the north and the marching grounds and documentation centre there are very interesting.
The court for the Nürnberg Trials is open to the public at the Weekend and is supposed to be virtually unchanged from the 40s.

2 hours to the south east is Berchtesgaden which was the base for the Nazi Party and Hitler during the summer. Theres also a documentation centre there along with the "eagles nest" which is a bit of a mountain hut built by slave labour during the war.

DoYouEvenLift

By refusing to go to places where they use different currency you are really missing out on amazing places like Krakow and Prague that are perfect for short trips. Same goes for Croatia. I think Prague would be the perfect city to go to if there are only two of you going, there's so much cool stuff to do and see there so be sure to research it all and plan it out because otherwise you'll be overwhelmed by the choices lol.

Anon2013

Thanks will look up them places, munchkin-ltd that sounds like my ideal holiday. So much History! DoYouEvenLift can you recommend any hotels in Prague in the city?

ben.schlomo

Anon2013 wrote: »

Thanks will look up them places, munchkin-ltd that sounds like my ideal holiday. So much History! DoYouEvenLift can you recommend any hotels in Prague in the city?

Mosaic House and Residence V Tunich are both really nice and cheap. Neither are hotels as such.

damianmcr

The hassle of changing money? Easily done on a lunch break.

That's like turning down a night with a supermodel because you don't want to take off her knickers. Sorry for the crudeness.

barry55555

I would highly recommend Residence Agnes if you go to Prague.
Just read the reviews on bookings and tripadvisor. It's a small guesthouse but the service is excellent.

I would also recommend Budapest, Rome, and Madrid.

zweton

munchkin_utd wrote: »

for English speaking comfort, Malta might be an Option seeing as its one of their official languages. (it was what swinged it for us for the honeymoon)

Otherwise Berlin or Amsterdam or Prague are good options as they really have a lot of english speaking tourists. In Hamburg or Munich you'd also survive pretty easily.

what did you make of malta munchkin? did you think it was a place you could work and live in?

damianmcr

I was in Malta last year. It was OK. Theres not much to really do. I had a good holiday as all I wanted to do was relax and it was perfect for that. Mdina is very nice.

grimm2005

Lot's of great recommendations here. I'd echo Krakow, Prague and Budapest. Lisbon and Barcelona are lovely cities also.

As for the changing money thing, just use the ATM in the airport when you arrive and take out as much as you think you'll need for the trip. If you need more before the end just go to the ATM once more. No need to fuss about converting money over before you leave.

Living Off The Splash

The city of Maastricht is lovely. Ryanair fly here/reasonable prices. The city is also easy to access from the airport. Lovely restaurants and bars serving great Belgium beers. Definitely worth a couple of days.

whiskeyman

Are there any specific requirements from your break?
Do you want history?
Would warm weather influence your choice?
Is cost a heavy factor?


Also, don't necessarily limit yourself to the big cities.
There's some lovely cities within a short train journey of the larger cities that may be worth visiting.

Anon2013

Thanks everyone for the replies, some of these places look great!! And a lot of them will certainly be put on the list for the future. At Whiskeyman, it would be nice if it was dry and warm enough, but it's not a sun holiday we are looking for. I am big into my history so would probably go and see some historical sites. Budget wise preferably under €1000 euro, so that would be including hotel flights for 2 people. The plan is next year to go to Dubrovnik, where I have wanted to go for years so we're splashing out on that one.

Help!!!!

Vilnius for me - Ryanair flies direct, now using euros, most people speak English, plenty of history, castle, old KGB museum which I would really recommend. the old town has so much character, restaurants & bars. Best thing is you can still get beers for less than 2euro. Food is cheap also.

keithclancy

Living Off The Splash wrote: »

The city of Maastricht is lovely. Ryanair fly here/reasonable prices. The city is also easy to access from the airport. Lovely restaurants and bars serving great Belgium beers. Definitely worth a couple of days.

Ryanair stopped the Maastricht flight ages ago :mad:

show me the money.1

I went to Bratislava 2 months ago lovely city cheap flights and accommodation and in the Euro, would also recommend Budapest have been there 4 time's and will return again.

Hard to beat eastern Europe for Value and great city's.

Also if you go to Krakow an alternative to Auschwitz is the salt mines spectacular place to see, you wont regret it.

munchkin_utd

show me the money.1 wrote: »

I went to Bratislava 2 months ago lovely city cheap flights and accommodation and in the Euro, would also recommend Budapest have been there 4 time's and will return again.

Hard to beat eastern Europe for Value and great city's.

Also if you go to Krakow an alternative to Auschwitz is the salt mines spectacular place to see, you wont regret it.

Bratislava lovely ?
You sure you were in the same city I was ?

Living in Munich which has palaces, monuments and endless ornate buildings, and having visited dozens of towns and cities on the continent, I found Bratislava to be very underwhelming. A tiny old town, barely a street and a square, and everything else was commie wasteland. And not even as impressive a commie wasteland as Budapest, which is a seriously grand City, which it should be seeing as it was once a Major City in an empire. Bratislava though neither has the stature, scale or buildings to impress.
Its an accidental capital, and theres other regional cities in the former Czechoslovakia like Pilsen or Brno which werent granted "capital" Status and are much more worth visiting.
Not a lot of craic to be had either, and we even had a local lad who used to live in Dublin to guide us.

It kindof reminds me of reports of the greeks and spainish hopping blindly on airplanes and busses, and who presumed all the Jobs in Germany were in Berlin(which they arent).
Just because a City is proclaimed as being the capital, doesnt make it automatically grand and beautiful or lively or worth visiting (or an engine of industry/ fountain of Jobs)