Suppose you had a short amount of time to spend in some city in Europe, basically a long weekend. Which city would you pick (or have picked) and why?
I’m in Boston so I can get many direct flights or flights with one stop. I just got back from Berlin, and have been to London. Tops on my list are Barcelona, Paris, and Amsterdam, since I know people in all of them.
If people have done trips like this before, how have you arranged it? I’d probably get a hotel in near good public transport and not rent a car. Rather than spread myself too thin, I’d just stay in the city.
If you’re there for just one weekend and you’ve already done London, I recommend Amsterdam. From your list, it’s definitely the easiest to get around without a car and there’s a lot of things you can fit in to just one weekend (The Van Gogh museum, Ann Frank’s house, a canal tour, etc - see Coldie for more on what exactly you can do) and of course, the nightlife is legendary.
It’s a beautiful, interesting place, most people speak English and it’s relatively small but with a whole lot going on.
It’s ofcourse the most beautiful city in the world ;), but besides that; It has art [contemperary or van Gogh and Rembrandt etc.] , day & night fun, all people speak English [of a kind], you can relax, or see the beautiful landscape.
Public transport is good **and ** the Guilder is cheap!
Let me know if I can help with anything, if you decide to do the right thing.
I would advise you post this question on http://www.fodors.com (travel talk, then europe), where you could probably quickly get a lot of useful answers. I believe it’s amongst the best travel boards (at least for non budget travellers…there are other boards dedicaced to budget travel).
Another vote for Amsterdam. Mme. Nostradamus and myself spent a few days there in 1999 and we had a great time.
I second the comments made by Daffodil and Francesca and will add that I just loved the trams.
We are thinking of visiting Barcelona later this month but Mme. Nostradamus is slightly concerned about several bombs which have been going off in the area recently.
Madrid. Very easy to find decent affordable accommodation right in the centre of town. Great public transport. Unbelievable nightlife (which, I might add, goes on a lot later than Amsterdam’s does!). Sangria. What more do you need?
A great weekend spot is Malaga. It is about a half hour drive from Gibraltar, a great weekend getaway spot. Gibraltar is definitely a must see. Make sure you take the cave tours and ride to the top, preferably with a private taxi driver, and see the monkeys.
Ibiza or Majorca - great three or four day vacation spots. Ibiza is definitely a great spot for younger travelers, in fact you will probably despise it if you are over thirty. Majorca is a much sleepier island; mostly a bunch of quiet resorts that cater to older English, Germans, and Dutch.
Salzburg, Austria. A wonderful one-day fortress and a very pleasant shopping area.
Munich, great for a two-day during Oktoberfest. I can’t really see myself spending over two days here at any other time.
If you can get a flight that isn’t too expensive, I’d go for Prague. Gorgeous architecture, some of the best beer in the world, and it’s cheap to boot.
Absolutely gorgeous setting and wonderful city. I found the altstadt or Old City very nice for walking tours, and Mozartplatz has a tourism bureau where several bus tours are available at a reasonable price. I toured the Salt mines which were very interesting. Hotels aren’t outrageously expensive, considering the high quality of accomodations.
Nightlife is great, as well.
The food is wonderful, the desserts even better, all at reasonable prices. The famed Austrian service was evident as well, it’s not a myth. They go out of their way to make sure your time their is relaxing.
Thanks for all the advice. I’d thought about Prague and may eventually go there, but probably not on this trip.
Any ideas about how to deal with the jet lag for such a short trip? Usually when I go to Europe for a longer trip I fly overnight then take a short nap in the morning when I arrive. For this short a trip does it pay to just push through the day and try to get to local time immediately?
I’ve never had the guts to do a long weeked trip to anywhere in Europe. That’s an exciting idea. I’ve taken longer trips to England, Germany, and Italy. I think I’d echo the other Dopers here and say Amsterdam. It seems like it would be more doable in that short amount of time.
As for jet lag, I advise staying up and trying to get on local time ASAP. That is what I’ve done on my longer trips and it really seems to help me.
Good idea, Prague takes more than 2-3 days to enjoy. I spent a week there three years ago and wanted to go back rightaway to see some things I’d missed, or to re-see some things I did see.
A slightly off-beat suggestion is Cracow in Poland. This is one of very few Polish cities that was not bombed flat in WW2. What you see is all authentic. Fantastic town-square ,lovely castle perched on the hillside and side trips to a salt mine, the Tatra mountains and Auschwich. Food and beer is also very good and cheap. It has a large student population and so is a lively city.
