Weekend away recommendations please

[seikoking]

Hi,

Mrs SK and I are looking to book a long weekend away, but not being seasoned travellers, we are looking for a little inspiration of where to go.

Ideally, I would prefer a flight time of under 3 hours and flights must be from a North West airport (or Bournemouth Hurn - I could tie that in with a family visit!) and we would like plenty to do whilst we are there. Of course we are aware of the all main places to go, Rome, Paris etc, but would welcome any more obscure choices.

Particular hotel recommendations are also welcomed because I find trailing the web for holidays an absolute toil...is it just me?!

Budget is flexible, within reason, so long as good value is on offer

Anyway, enough of my wittering, where can you point us?

Thanks in advance.

[village]

So many places.....

I will just suggest one of many. Seville...fantastic city,compact and easy to get around by foot,lovely climate.

[thegoat]

Reykjavik, amazing place and loads to do outdoors.
Budapest , a fabulous city with history on every corner..
These are two of my favourite weekend jaunts and would be more than happy to return again and again

[Rob Leeds]

What do you like to do?
Barcelona is an obvious one and has a bit of everything.
We have been to Nice recently and really enjoyed it.
It also included a train ride to Cannes and Antibes, the latter was a place we would liked to have stayed longer.

[Tony]

Genoa would be a great choice for somewhere relatively obscure.

[mr.st]

helsinki is very nice for somewhere a bit different
also istanbul was surprisingly nice ,say on the asian side loads of restaurants,bars ,bazaars,theres a doubletree hilton right on the waterfront with amazing rooftop pool
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_R...-Istanbul.html

[AndyMilts]

Florence very nice, Jerez good for sherry but loads of nice places to visit and bars, Dresden very cool, amazing buildings great watch shops, Copenhagen best people, lots to do, although expensive.

[Pathtower]

Don't know if it counts as obscure, but Berlin is a great place to visit - loads to see and see, easy to get around and good value in my opinion...

[Carlton-Browne]

Porto.

[Tony]

Porto.

I haven't been to Porto but I went to Lisbon for a few days over new year. Highly recommended - and cheap too.

[jwg663]

If you could stretch your 3 hour flight time slightly, and if you can get suitable flights, I'd recommend Funchal, Madeira. Loads of decent hotels to choose from, 5* downwards.

Plenty to do, both outdoorsy & cultural. Several companies offer half day & day trips to other parts of the island. Good food & wine, too.

[Bristolian]

My perennial favourites :

1 - Belfast. Easy to get to and get around when there, lots to do and see.

2 - Berlin. Compact, historic, impressive, surprisingly cheap for a european capital city. Public transport like no other

- and with better weather...

3 - Naples. Airport actually in the city (unlike some bargain airports destinations). Tons to see (stick to the tourist trail 'though), brilliant food, dirt cheap compared to Roma.

Common factor for all : local population actually quite pleased to see tourists - hence no French destinations in my list.

[Carlton-Browne]

Common factor for all : local population actually quite pleased to see tourists - hence no French destinations in my list.

You're obviously not familiar with the Berliner Schnauze.

http://www.thelocal.de/20090312/17967

[Bristolian]

You're obviously not familiar with the Berliner Schnauze.

http://www.thelocal.de/20090312/17967

Ha!

Every time I think I've run into it (usually in some administrative position) the gods of compensation conspire to introduce me to a smiling blonde fraulein with excellent English and a charming personality.

The last one for example...

[IMG][/IMG]

[odgreen]

Helsinki?

Clean, safe, and different for sure.
Besides; if you stay one extra day, you can visit Tallinn in Estonia by ferry because its just a few hours away. (Round trip EUR 19,90 leaves at 8.30am back at 21pm with 7hrs shopping time in Tallinn)

https://www.eckeroline.fi/en/Cruises/

-OD

[Trent]

Of all the city breaks that I have been on, Berlin and Budapest are my first and second. Barcelona probably third. Valencia is good too, and probably accessible on the cheap.

[Carlton-Browne]

The last one for example...

Ding dong. Matching bra and earrings - there's attention to detail.