Winter City Break for Two...
Discussion
As I've already bought and handed over the Wife's main Christmas present (a Mondaine watch) I thought I'd get her something we both enjoy to open on Christmas day. A friend of mine is treating his missus to a weekend in New York, but as we're already off to the Cayman Islands for 20 days at the end of Feb/beginning of March, funds don't stretch that far.
Looking for an interesting, safe and fun place to go for a weekend in Jan/Feb which we can fly to from Southampton. I quite fancied Madrid, but no flights from SOU.
Would prefer somewhere which is walkable around, not too cold (above freezing on average please!) and not too expensive. Anyone got any experience of the destinations in the link?
I've already discounted:
Glasgow (went there last year)
Paris (it's s
t)
Malaga (go there a lot as Grandparents live there)
Places that I thought might be good, but need an opinion on:
Dublin
Dubrovnik
Split
Amsterdam
Nice
Salzberg
Verona
Cheers!
Looking for an interesting, safe and fun place to go for a weekend in Jan/Feb which we can fly to from Southampton. I quite fancied Madrid, but no flights from SOU.
Would prefer somewhere which is walkable around, not too cold (above freezing on average please!) and not too expensive. Anyone got any experience of the destinations in the link?
I've already discounted:
Glasgow (went there last year)
Paris (it's s
t)Malaga (go there a lot as Grandparents live there)
Places that I thought might be good, but need an opinion on:
Dublin
Dubrovnik
Split
Amsterdam
Nice
Salzberg
Verona
Cheers!
Salzburg is a little boring, go there for work about once every three months, I wouldn't recommend it.
Lived in Dublin for three years and is okay if you really enjoy the pub atmosphere but just a little too "Stag n Hen's" night for me. If you chose Dublin then go to Johnnie Foxes pub in the Wicklow mountains, touristy but hey, thats what you are. Does a Riverdance style show out the back and pretty good for drinks/dinner. Small bus leaves from most Dublin hotels. The Quays are okay too but just the same as Liverpool quays and others.
I have a Factory in Nice so there about once a month. It's very quiet this time of year and some nice hotels like the Beachside Holiday Inn:
(Ask for a Garden Room, they'll also negotiate the room rate)
As I said though it is quiet and probably polar opposite to Dublin. But if you want 'quiet time' then it's perfect. Also suggest going to Monaco for dinner/walkabout, some great cars, boats and Russian women there to ogle. In fact, if you can stretch to booking a room in a Monaco hotel that would be the ticket. There's a nifty helicopter transfer from Nice that's only €110 per person but makes you feel very rich and privilleged.
Lived in Dublin for three years and is okay if you really enjoy the pub atmosphere but just a little too "Stag n Hen's" night for me. If you chose Dublin then go to Johnnie Foxes pub in the Wicklow mountains, touristy but hey, thats what you are. Does a Riverdance style show out the back and pretty good for drinks/dinner. Small bus leaves from most Dublin hotels. The Quays are okay too but just the same as Liverpool quays and others.
I have a Factory in Nice so there about once a month. It's very quiet this time of year and some nice hotels like the Beachside Holiday Inn:
(Ask for a Garden Room, they'll also negotiate the room rate)
As I said though it is quiet and probably polar opposite to Dublin. But if you want 'quiet time' then it's perfect. Also suggest going to Monaco for dinner/walkabout, some great cars, boats and Russian women there to ogle. In fact, if you can stretch to booking a room in a Monaco hotel that would be the ticket. There's a nifty helicopter transfer from Nice that's only €110 per person but makes you feel very rich and privilleged.
Edited by robm3 on Monday 14th December 14:03
escargot said:
Can you get to Lisbon from So'ton? If so, the old town is visually stunning.
Yeah, I was thinking that too. Used to live there when I was a kid, but no flights anywhere near from SOU unfortunately.pugwash4x4 said:
Bruges every time- its a beautiful city in the winter- quiet but some lovely warm bars with open fires. Very very romantic.
Take plane to brussels and then train to Brugge, very quick and very easy. its not the cheapest place, but shouldn't cost much to get there.
How far is it from Brussels? Would it be worth the flight+train or should we get the train from London?Take plane to brussels and then train to Brugge, very quick and very easy. its not the cheapest place, but shouldn't cost much to get there.
Nice looks nice (hur hur!), but not really the sort of thing we want to do - already got the beach/relaxation break sorted in the Caymans. Also, I could never go to Monaco without a car to hoon around the Grand Prix circuit, and then it would look like I just bought a holiday for myself.
Could also get from Bournemouth quite easily. Any on that list worth visiting? Don't necessarily want somewhere warm, but colleague's suggestions of Stockholm and Oslo were pushing it a bit!
Another option I'm considering is something we do from time to time - a weekend in London. It's only an hour and a bit on the train, but we always end up finding something nice to do. I could book a nice hotel, good restaurants etc. beforehand. It just seems a bit less adventurous, and as we have lots of friends up there now I know we'd just end up on some messy night out somewhere with them.
Venice?
I've only been twice, both times in January, and it wasn't at all as I was expecting. Very quiet, not at all smelly and best of all, beautiful if you get snow. Bit chilly and fairly expensive, but if you're lucky, you'll feel like you've got the city to yourself.
ETA - Oops, just seen your desire to fly from Southampton. You can't.
I've only been twice, both times in January, and it wasn't at all as I was expecting. Very quiet, not at all smelly and best of all, beautiful if you get snow. Bit chilly and fairly expensive, but if you're lucky, you'll feel like you've got the city to yourself.
ETA - Oops, just seen your desire to fly from Southampton. You can't.
Edited by gmk666 on Monday 14th December 21:33
John MacK said:
Inverness, depends how long you are going for and what you want to do, but Inverness is a nice enough wee city.
A few good restaurants and hotels, plenty of pubs.
Hell no. For her 21st I flew back from where I was based in West Africa to surprise her with a long weekend in Skye. Had a lovely hotel booked, hire car from Inverness airport...A few good restaurants and hotels, plenty of pubs.
When I got there I was informed (despite what I was told on the phone) that I had to be 25 to get the hire car, and I was only 21 at the time.
So we had to get the bus into Inverness, then wait for the coach to take us from there to Skye. Of our 4 day break, we spent two days in Inverness, two nights on a coach so badly driven it made us both feel sick, and only one full day on Skye. Inverness is crap.
robm3 said:
Salzburg is a little boring, go there for work about once every three months, I wouldn't recommend it.
Lived in Dublin for three years and is okay if you really enjoy the pub atmosphere but just a little too "Stag n Hen's" night for me. If you chose Dublin then go to Johnnie Foxes pub in the Wicklow mountains, touristy but hey, thats what you are. Does a Riverdance style show out the back and pretty good for drinks/dinner. Small bus leaves from most Dublin hotels. The Quays are okay too but just the same as Liverpool quays and others.
I have a Factory in Nice so there about once a month. It's very quiet this time of year and some nice hotels like the Beachside Holiday Inn:
(Ask for a Garden Room, they'll also negotiate the room rate)
As I said though it is quiet and probably polar opposite to Dublin. But if you want 'quiet time' then it's perfect. Also suggest going to Monaco for dinner/walkabout, some great cars, boats and Russian women there to ogle. In fact, if you can stretch to booking a room in a Monaco hotel that would be the ticket. There's a nifty helicopter transfer from Nice that's only €110 per person but makes you feel very rich and privilleged.
I think most places would become boring if you went there that often. Lived in Dublin for three years and is okay if you really enjoy the pub atmosphere but just a little too "Stag n Hen's" night for me. If you chose Dublin then go to Johnnie Foxes pub in the Wicklow mountains, touristy but hey, thats what you are. Does a Riverdance style show out the back and pretty good for drinks/dinner. Small bus leaves from most Dublin hotels. The Quays are okay too but just the same as Liverpool quays and others.
I have a Factory in Nice so there about once a month. It's very quiet this time of year and some nice hotels like the Beachside Holiday Inn:
(Ask for a Garden Room, they'll also negotiate the room rate)
As I said though it is quiet and probably polar opposite to Dublin. But if you want 'quiet time' then it's perfect. Also suggest going to Monaco for dinner/walkabout, some great cars, boats and Russian women there to ogle. In fact, if you can stretch to booking a room in a Monaco hotel that would be the ticket. There's a nifty helicopter transfer from Nice that's only €110 per person but makes you feel very rich and privilleged.
Edited by robm3 on Monday 14th December 14:03
I'd recomend Salzburg in an instant, In fact we're off there soon. Been there a few times now, and bloody love it.
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