Regular weekend getaways/trips

bannerboy95

Hey how's things really interested in starting to travel and have been around a good bit so far just Europe really but not as much as I'd like to cover....did France for the Euros this summer and really enjoyed that also did Madrid for a few days and was in Belgrade for early September for the Irelands match also have London planned for a weekend away in the coming weeks along with Amsterdam the week before Christmas then London again for new years! so have a good bit to look forward to

Just for January and February is there anywhere in particular I should be looking to travel to? Would really like to do Rome seems to be a lot there but could anyone give me some inspiration to go somewhere else?! willing to fly out of Dublin to make life easier for myself....really enjoying getting away and travelling at the moment so if ye have any recommendations please pass them on...all ideas appreciated thanks lads

lc180

I did Pisa, Florence and Rome in one trip last year. You could also add Milan too pretty easily. The train network seems good in Italy from my experience and quite reasonable too.

I flew into Pisa with Ryanair, went to look at the Tower and then hopped on a train to Florence. Doesn't seem to be any reason to actally stick about Pisa. Florence is nice for a couple days and Rome is top notch, with countless things to see and do.

munchkin_utd

ach theres so much out there no distance from Ireland.

with the weather in the winter not being great, an outdoors holiday in the country mightnt be the most advisable.
So looking at city breaks

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Belgium is great - so Bruges, Antwerp, Ghent (bruges being the most popular for tourists, but is REALLY dead in the evening even at the height of summer). Just 10 minutes from Brussels airport is Leuven which is full of students (just under 100000 in a relatively small city) so heaps of life and bars, and fairly cheap too. Its also home to Stella Artois so is good for beer.
Flights from Dublin with Ryanair to Brussels are for next to nothing.

You cant disregard Germany. Cologne Dusseldorf are reasonably interesting, but have great bars and restaurants. Hamburg or Berlin have way more to see . Ryanair flies to Cologne from Dublin, Aer Lingus to Dusseldorf from Cork and Dublin.
Or look to the east. Prague and Budapest have no lack of cosy bars, often hidden in basements, and they are both impressive in their own way. I've heard great things about Krakow too which is supposed to be lovely. As for flights, no idea as they keep changing.

munchkin_utd

oh, and i should also mention that theres a sale through accor hotels at the moment for the next few days which mainly gives cheap weekend accomodation on the continent (novotel, mercure, ibis and all those hotels)

You'll need to sign up for their loyalty card, but thats actually a positive as you accumulate points very quickly and suddenly you have 40 or 80 euro credit towards another stay!

bannerboy95

Cheers thanks lads for the information above have settled on Copenhagen though 60 return flights! for the last weekend in January another country off the list hope to get out and see a bit there and taste the local cuisine.....next breakaway will be St.Paddy's weekend as it falls on a Friday this year the Easter weekend hope to keep on exploring....thanks for the ideas lads keep them coming

munchkin_utd

bannerboy95 wrote: »

Cheers thanks lads for the information above have settled on Copenhagen though 60 return flights! for the last weekend in January another country off the list hope to get out and see a bit there and taste the local cuisine.....next breakaway will be St.Paddy's weekend as it falls on a Friday this year the Easter weekend hope to keep on exploring....thanks for the ideas lads keep them coming

you may start saving to cover the cost of a weekend in Copenhagen.
Its not where you'd go for a budget weekend away, but if youre copped on (avoid city centre irish bars, get meal deals, etc) you can limit the worst of it.

grimm2005

looooads of great cities in Europe that are cheap and easy to get to. Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Krakow, Barcelona, Lisbon.

Krakow is definitely up there as one of my favourites, and don't be afraid to pay a little extra for flights, a weekend in Krakow will cost almost the same as a night out in Copenhagen

Also really recommend Lisbon, very relaxed, chilled out city and also close to two lovely but very different areas (Cascais and Sintra) so loads to do on a weekend and very affordable.

Just got back from a weekend in Sofia, not as much to see as the above but got flights for €60 return and it was the cheapest place I've been so far, like crazy cheap! Enough to see in a few days too, museums, walking tours, Rila monastery is not too far away and you're a short ride away from the Vitosha mountains for a hike or even skiing. Also about 90 minutes from Plovdiv which is meant to be worth a visit. If you want a random but fun and very cheap trip I'd recommend Sofia.

bannerboy95

Thanks for the reply's lads..lookung forward to Copenhagen tbh I think it'd cost me the same as a weekend in Dublin bit different too from your general Eastern Europe break...heard good stories about Krakow would love to go definately on the list...main problem for me at the moment is to decide which month next year to head to Italy and which areas to explore as more than likely I will only have a week or less!