[Closed] So, the best weekend city breaks..

Mowgli

Went once for a day trip from Brussels, there's a Chocolate museum which is quite entertaining, partly through how bad it is. The beer is good, the chocolate is very good, we did a horse drawn tour which was nice too. Overall though a nice, but reasonably quiet city to hang out in, clearly better than Hull though 😉

ps - thanks for asking by the way OP, also my wife's 40th in Jan.

Bruges is nice, picturesque and comfy rather than hit you between the eyes. They've got the indoor life pretty well sorted: waffles and hot choc / insanely strong and worrying drinkable beer. Not very hipster...

I've been a few times by bike from the ferry which works well.

If you're concerned about carbon footprint or whatever reason for not flying, you can Eurostar it. In fact that was one of the first Eurostar adverts, made me laugh: "voulez vous crochet avec moi?"

(Not that you'll hear any French spoken but hey...)

Girona; much quieter than Barcelona, generaly cheaper for accommodation, less touristy in winter, and full of far more than you can see and do in one weekend.

...and for Gda?sk that'd be "you Gda?sking? You asking? I'm asking. I'm Gda?sking."

Only no one's got anything to say about it so may have to look again at BP.

B'jasuz....has no one suggested Barcelona? Surely in the top 3?

Bordeaux
Nice
Florence
Sienna
Pisa
Naples
Vienna
Venice
Bilbao

They have, Rockape, and after a year working there I'm in no hurry to go back. Taragona, Seville, Valencia, Cordoba but I now have an allergic reaction to Barcelona.

Bordeaux is a better destination in Spring or Autumn when combined with a day in the Medoc and a day in Arcachon. Florence likewise, go in the Autumn and spend a day in the hills. January is cold and dark in most of Europe so choose a place you can do things inside or go skiing.

I've been through Barcelona a few times recently, last stayed there a few years ago, and I found it had become far more touristy than when I first went nearly 20 years ago. It's still great, but it's lost that chilled out vibe it had over other big cities, imo. Hence my preference for Girona. Just as easy to get to for us, with the benefits mentioned earlier.

Edukator - Reformed Troll

Bordeaux is a better destination in Spring or Autumn when combined with a day in the Medoc and a day in Arcachon. Florence likewise, go in the Autumn and spend a day in the hills

In Your opinion.

Had a superb December visit to Florence. Low winter sun sloping in through windows of a quiet and near empty Uffizi... Day tripped a hilltop village in crisp sun. There were butterflies. I'm sure it can be crap though.

Venice, that's supposed to be a sewage-smelling, overcrowded rip-off in the summer months.

I love Naples, it's mental.

Places i've enjoyed are Malaga, Seville and Palma De Mallorca in Spain, Bruges and Antwerp in Belgium, Cologne in Germany, Paris and Prague.