57 replies to this topic

[le chaton]

i'm looking to take a weekend trip in july. i like cities and places with lots of culture and history. not so big on drinking/clubbing/beaches/aussies. i have been to the following places before and thus not any of the below: -france (paris, aix, marseille, carcassone, nice, cannes, biarritz, normandy coast) -ireland & n. ireland (dublin, cork, belfast) -vienna -munich -prague -bratislava -italy (pisa, florence, sienna, venice, bologne) -spain (barcelona) i would like to leave GB and thus am looking for something on the continent. am already planning a trip to brussels. i've heard mixed things about amsterdam. want to make it to rome eventually but not sure i want to deal with all the tourists - same goes for berlin. am looking for other suggestions, or corrections if you disagree. let me know if you've got a city you would suggest!

[Slackmo]

Bruges

[le chaton]

why?

[BRANDON BOYD FROM INCUBUS]

please go somewhere without internet access and never leave

[le chaton]

aww, so sweet. you had your 2 years w/out me.

[Mitchell]

What's your budget?

[le chaton]

the cheaper, the better.

[throughsilver]

-spain (barcelona)

valencia. the thinking person's barcelona. lacks the touristy sights, but the city itself is lush as fuck. infinitely less tourists too

i also recommend a second trip to florence. that city is phat as fuck

[Mitchell]

Alright, ill you send some links later.

[le chaton]

-spain (barcelona)

valencia. the thinking person's barcelona. lacks the touristy sights, but the city itself is lush as fuck. infinitely less tourists too

i also recommend a second trip to florence. that city is phat as fuck

funny my friend is flying into valencia next month; if it's worth checking out i will meet her there. florence was amazing but SO TOURISTY. i heard far more english than italian. (not that i can really complain, as i don't speak any italian either).

Alright, ill you send some links later.

no, public forum! post the wealth of knowledge for us all.

[throughsilver]

i found that, when florence got too touristy (read: american), a quick trip to somewhere like borgo san lorenzo did the trick. that way you get the little matter of an hour-long train journey over the verdant, rolling hills of tuscana. very nice and i have to admit valencia's key draw is the finest women i have seen, so if that's not your bag you may not love it as i do. the boys are pretty fine too though. i spend all my spanish time sitting outside coffee places anyway

[Mitchell]

Not sure how interested SOMB is in cheap flights from Luton and Stansted but ok, when the football's finished

[clemsy]

Stockholm try Ryanair. from Frnce you can get pretty cheap flights so i figure in other countries too.

[feisty]

What about Portugal? Porto in the north is supposed to be a lovely place to visit. Not a good choice if you don't like tourists, but I enjoyed Amsterdam. I did a weekend there when I was in London. My travel criteria were similar to yours. It's a beautiful city, you can walk anywhere you need to go. Went to the Anne Frank Museum and the Van Gogh Museum. I only smoked once--at night, and as a polite, mostly sober American the people were very friendly to me (some thought I was Dutch!). I don't know where you're looking to stay, but we stayed at the Flying Pig--the uptown one, not the one in the red light district. It was spotless and surprisingly cozy. A friend of mine also went to Rotterdam for a weekend and loved it. Edit: Also, I remember when I was in London, a lot of people were planning trips to Morocco. There might be some extra passport hoops to jump through, but it could be interesting. And if you're coming from London, you'll practically make money spending dirhams all weekend.

[le chaton]

and i have to admit valencia's key draw is the finest women i have seen, so if that's not your bag you may not love it as i do. the boys are pretty fine too though. i spend all my spanish time sitting outside coffee places anyway

yeah, that's definitely not what i'm in this for. appreciate the honesty though - is it worth it otherwise?

Stockholm

why? anything particular about it?

Not a good choice if you don't like tourists, but I enjoyed Amsterdam. I did a weekend there when I was in London. My travel criteria were similar to yours. It's a beautiful city, you can walk anywhere you need to go. Went to the Anne Frank Museum and the Van Gogh Museum. I only smoked once--at night, and as a polite, mostly sober American the people were very friendly to me (some thought I was Dutch!). I don't know where you're looking to stay, but we stayed at the Flying Pig--the uptown one, not the one in the red light district. It was spotless and surprisingly cozy.

A friend of mine also went to Rotterdam for a weekend and loved it.


Edit: Also, I remember when I was in London, a lot of people were planning trips to Morocco. There might be some extra passport hoops to jump through, but it could be interesting. And if you're coming from London, you'll practically make money spending dirhams all weekend.

i've heard from people who don't go to amsterdam for the drugs that it's a dirty, worthless city - but i've also heard it's gorgeous regardless. appreciate the input.

as for morocco - too far for a w/e. would like to go for a longer bit though.

keep the suggestions coming! this is helpful.

[Damo Suzuki]

Nice is perfect for weekend getaways. Lovely place with great food (really great). When we were there all we did was walk about town, eat out and lounge around the pool.

[birdistheword]

I was told Belgium has some gorgeous towns, if you like to visit places that haven't changed much in 50 years.

There's definitely great museums in Amsterdam - I was planning to go but didn't have enough time and it was December (i.e. wasn't crazy about spending too much time in the colder, northern half of Europe).

This isn't a bad resource for what's there:
http://www.ricksteve...en/ben_menu.htm

[le chaton]

Nice is perfect for weekend getaways. Lovely place with great food (really great). When we were there all we did was walk about town, eat out and lounge around the pool.

looking for somewhere new (see first post).

[Damo Suzuki]

Don't be ridiculous. I don't read OPs. I imagine what the OP contains based on thread title and thread starter. To which, I reply appropriately.

[Binko]

Bruges

This is a good suggestion.

Also, and I'm a bit biased here, Budapest would definitely fit the bill. It's not as cheap as it used to be, but it's about 2/3 to 3/4 of the price of the US, which means like at least 1/2 price of the rest of Europe.

You can't go wrong with Amsterdam, except it's a little on the pricey side. And all the British tourists can get a bit annoying.

Have you considered the Croatian coast? Dubrovnik is absolutely gorgeous, and I'm someone who does not like beaches and sunshine. It's historical, still surrounded by the city walls dating back to the 13th century. It is easily one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen.

Also, the university towns of Germany are lovely, Heidelberg and Freiburg in particular. I'm much more familiar with Freiburg, but it's kind of the capital of the Schwarzwald (Black Forest), and makes a great base for exploring the nature contained therein as well as the very quaint university life in Frieburg.

I also like Berlin quite a lot; if you like history, museums, city life, that sort of thing, you will, too. Dresden is surprisingly nice, as well, and I'm a sucker for Hamburg, for its more rough-around-the-edges character.

If you're willing to get off the beaten path a little bit, and want a place that really still is CHEAP, Transylvania. Countryside is spectacular, the people and food are wonderful, but it's a bit more pastoral than my other suggestions. The one town I will highly recommend is Sighisoara.

Sighisoara is considered to be the most beautiful and well preserved inhabited citadel in Europe, with an authentic medieval architecture.