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Posts tagged ‘city break’

Sep 2

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3 Great Alternative Autumn City Breaks in Europe

Strasbourg, France

Cosmopolitan and cultured, Strasbourg packs a lot in and provides the perfect alternative French city break.  Crammed with some of the best musuems in France (the Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame and the Musée Historique to name just two) your days are best spent combining visiting a musuem and hanging out in one of the student filled bars in the pretty old town.

Strasbourg is cycle friendly so if you get lucky and have fine weather, take advantage of the vast cycle network and pedal around the city on the local cycle hire scheme.  One of the most-sees in the city is the famous Petite France, a quaint and historic area which contains riverside parks and narrow lanes, providing the perfect setting to soak up the atmosphere of the city.  Our favourite activity was rowing boats within the beautifully kept lake in the Parc de l’Orangerie – just be careful to stay away from the swans!   Strasbourg has some great places to eat – we recommend S’kaechele (the little kitchen), a cute, bustling restaurant that serves some great local food at reasonable prices.

More Info:

Strasbourg

Photo by Geoterranaute.

Hamburg, Germany

A city synomonous with the early days of the Beatles legend, Hamburg has got a lot more to offer than 1960′s music nostalgia. A port city in spirit and style, it offers the visitor a hedonistic night scene with the famous Reeperbahn mixing an edgy red light district and bouisterous bars and clubs.  With a real mixture of immigrants living in the city, a wide variety of international food including German, Asian and Portuguese offer a wide range of delicious restaurants.  Also, if you are lucky enough to visit on a warm Autumn day, the artificial river beaches are great fun to sit back and enjoy a beer with the locals.

Wherever you are in the city it seems you are surrounded by water (The city’s 2302 bridges are more than Venice, Amsterdam and London combined) and some of the best restaurants and bars are located next to picturuesqe waterside spots. However, our best meal was at the aptly named Meatery, located close to the Botanical Garden and serving some great steak and wine – make sure you book before as its very busy.  If you are looking to try some fresh fish, we also loved Fischereihafen, located closer to the water and serving popular dishes to a local   and international crowd.  If you want to visit the bar where the Beatles played their famous night long sets head to the Indra Club, and kick back and enjoy the unique slice of British Rock history in a fascinating, undervalued city.

More info:

Hamburg

Photo courtesy of Luxtonnerre

Budapest, Hungary

Probably the most ‘unalternative’ of our featured ciites, Budapest still doesn’t quite have the number of tourists it deserves.  All the better for the visitors who do make it to this breathtaking and character filled historical city.  If Budapest is not near the top of your list of next cities to visit, shift it there now.  Situated on the Danube River and with the backdrop of the Buda Hills, Budapest offers a strikingly beautiful architecture and a real sense of the unknown.  It boasts fantastic food, stunning baroque and neoclassical history, mixed with a varied and high quality restaurant scene and nightlife.

We spent our days wandering the streets and taking in the sights and distinct character of the city.  Budapest offers low prices and you can therefore wine and dine with a sense of freedom.  We enjoyed a few (too many) cocktails in the famous Gresham Palace, an oppulant Art Nouveau masterpiece how renovated into a Four Season hotel.  We loved the island oasis of Margit-sziget, the perfect destination to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city – the island contains two public baths fed by thermal springs and an outdoor theatre.  Our favourite restaurant was easily the Pozsonyi Kisvendéglő -  it was the ultimate local Budapest experience and it did not dissappoint with huge portions of the classic beef goulash.  You also have to check out the upmarket Gerbeaud Cukrászda, which serves delicious cakes and pastries to Budapests young and affluent inhabitants.

More Info:

Budapest

Photo courtesy of R. Melero

May 1

Dusseldorf – A day in photos

A photo diary of a Spring day in Dusseldorf, Germany. These photos were taken in the Alstadt, Medienhafen and Pempelfort districts!

Dusseldorf Factfile

Population: 585,000

Highlights:

Hotel:

Eating:

Day Trips:

Dec 30

Aarhus in Winter

60 second interview: Where in the world did you go Sarah?

For our Where in the world did you go feature we have a winter special we have Sarah from London telling us all about a long, wintry weekend in Denmark.

Hello Sarah, tell us where you had the pleasure of getting to last week?

I went for a three day trip to Aarhus, which is the second-largest city in Denmark.

And why did you choose Aarhus as your destination?

Well, a friend of mine is from Denmark and she has been asking me to come for quite a while – she told me this was the best weekend to come as they opened the local Christmas Market and there would be a band and a procession going through town.  I am sucker for ‘glühwein’ and all that wintery stuff so I thought it would be a great little trip.

Aarhus Christmas Market

How much do you think the whole trip cost?

Mega cheap £25 ticket with RyanAir (but I had to wake up far too early!) let us keep the costs down a bit but Denmark is expensive.  My friend Lina recommended we stay in the Helnan Marselis hotel, which was £140 a night for a double, and then general costs like going out eating was a little higher than London prices.  I recommend trying to avoid taking taxis – they are super expensive.  For everything I would say I spent around £500, but I did a fair bit of shopping and eating out!

Aarhus Christmas Procession!

What are your top recommendations from your trip?

Well I discovered that I really love Danish culture – everyone was so friendly and I definitely want to go back one day.  One of the highlights of the trip was meeting a group of students at a local micro-brewery – I probably tried 5 different types of Christmas beer and they were all lovely!

So I guess I should start with the hotel – I would recommend it, especially as a place to go in the Summer as it’s right next to a beach with a lovely view over the harbour.  I thought it reminded me of the dock areas of Lisbon but everyone said I was talking nonsense – maybe so.  The town was also interesting – there was a few different shopping areas including the Latin Quarter, which had some really nice little independant shops and cosy restaurants.  If you want to do some real shopping then stay on the high street “Strøget” – there seemed to be a lot of shops selling expensive homeware.

Apart from that I would say get involved in the local cuisine – my favourite of the trip was Svineriet, a lovely looking restaurant which specialises in intricate Scandinavian food – delicious!

Sara 4 Aarhus

What would you advise to avoid?

Denmark is pretty expensive – as I said taxis are very expensive but hotels are also pricey so book early and use a website like trivago to get the best deal.

And finally, where are going next?

I am not sure if I am going yet but I plan to visit Canada in the early New Year, if I can afford it.

Nov 16

Stockholm Christmas

Our Favourite 3 Winter City Breaks

Read on for our 3 alternative European winter city breaks!

We asked the trusty team to come up with three great options for a city break this Winter.  However, none of the options were allowed to cover the more obvious winter city break destinations like Paris, Prague or our very own London. We wanted our staff’s top recommendations for somewhere a bit different, but  equally as fantastic for a short break.

There were lots of great ideas but we have condensed it down to our three best suggestions.  We have also included the lowdown on where to stay and eat.   And the best thing about this article? We have included a beautiful video of Bern, which rocks out to an ’interesting soundtrack’ – enjoy.

Malaga, Spain
Tips from Sara H
I went to Malaga last winter after reading a recommendation in the Guardian.  And I wasn’t dissapointed. I flew in on the Friday after work and stayed in the lovely Hotel Zenit Malaga, which was located in the city centre and looked after me very well. The city was made up beautifully for Christmas, with a real festive colours everywhere.  We also went to a free concert which I think they do every year.  Every restaurant I went to also had great food – my favourite was El Pimpi, which was a popular tapas restaurant that gives you a real feeling of going back in time.

Hotel I stayed in: Hotel Zenit Malaga
Favourite Restaurant: El Pimpi
Top Tip:  Go to the Tetería El Harén, which plays music and from Thursday to Saturday!

Malaga Christmas
Christmas in Malaga

Juanpol

Stockholm, Sweden
Tips from Marisa P
I have been to Stockholm a few times and it is a beautiful city, especially in winter. The last time I went it was covered by snow and, although it felt freezing, walking the streets gives you a real Christmas traditional atmosphere.   We walked for hours and also went on a lovely boat ride.  We didn’t catch this last year but on the morning of Lucia Day (December 13) a mythical figure called ‘Lucia and her maidens come early in the morning, before dawn, bringing light in the darkness’  - I have heard that is is a beautiful spectacle. Last time I went I stayed in the Berns Hotel, which is located in the Berzelii Park, and I thought it was great – very cool.  My favourite restaurant was definitely Gondolen, which served local food and it felt like a nice place to hang out.

Hotel I stayed in: Berns Hotel
Favourite Restaurant: Gondolen
Top Tip:  Just walk around the Christmas markets if it’s not too cold – so beautiful!

Stockholm Christmas
A Christmas market in Stockholm

Michael Cavén

Bern, Switzerland
Tips by Mathieu B
To be honest when I first invited to Bern I wasn’t that interested – I had never heard of it as a tourist destination and the few people I asked about it where of the same opinion.  So, after eventually being persuaded of it’s merits I headed out in December 2010 for a 3 day trip.  What a place - I loved it.  It’s everything you could want in a cosy Christmas trip – it has so much character (it’s actually a UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site).  The most interesting area is the old town, which has lots of well-maintained  historic buildings in amongst charming cobbled streets.  We also went to see the Bear Pits, which although it was cold, was a nice walk and are a throwback to Bern’s past.

(November is also a good time to go as they have the The Onion Market, which takes place on the fourth Monday in November with visitors ‘pour in’ for their onion’.)

Hotel I stayed in: Novotel Bern Expo
Favourite Restaurant: Metzgerstuebli
Top Tip:  I think the centre is just great to walk around and I found everyone I spoke to very friendly and there is a really a nice atmosphere in the old town.

Sep 14

60 second interview: Where in the world did you go?

Welcome to our brand new feature on the Not Just a Holiday blog, where we ask our avid readers about where the went on their last holiday and what they got up to!

This week we have Robin from London spilling the beans on his weekend break in Estonia.

Robin does Estonia

Hello Robin, where did you go last weekend?

Hello Not Just a Holiday, I hope you are well! This weekend I went to Tallinn in Estonia for 3 days.

And why did you choose Tallinn?

Well I go away with friends every year and we head to a different place each time. Last year was Brussels and this year we wanted to try something a bit different.

Where did you stay?

In a hostel bang in the middle of the old town and it was perfect. I recommend it. It’s called Viru Backpackers and it was around £15 a night.

Wow – that sounds like good value – How much do you think the whole trip cost?

I think it was about £215 pounds for everything.

What are your top 3 recommendations from your trip?

Hire bikes is definitely one! The old town is quite small so you can get round quite easily.  There is only 1 and a half million people in Estonia so it’s very small and we cycled around the suburbs and really got to see the old town and the new town and all the industrial estates, warships and that was really good.

Stay away from any stag parties that you see around – they all hang out in seedy bars and you if you go to the same ones you will end up paying over the odds.

And just walk around in the small alleyways and side roads. There are loads of little museums and restaurants that are great. Our actual favourite restaurant was Hungarian and was called Kapten Tenkes.  Vanaema Juures, an old fashioned Estonian restaurant, was also good.

Rule 1: Hire bikes

What would you advise to avoid?

Like I said it’s not a big place so there are quite a few stag parties walking about but it’s fine.  Avoid the main Irish bar in the centre and try to head to the smaller Estonian bars and you will have a good time and in the back streets there is lots of interesting stuff going on.

And finally, where are going next?

Next I am going to Bilbao, which is in October.

Nice and pretty

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