European Destinations

Lisbon, the city of seven hills, has a unique character and charm, different from most European capital cities. One afternoon a few weeks ago I stumbled across a deal to a top hotel in central Lisbon, that really was too good to miss. It did not take much persuasion for me to quickly book some flights. I had long yearned to visit Lisbon and here was an ideal opportunity.

With wonderful memories of the Christmas markets in Salzburg some years ago, I already had high expectations for Innsbruck. I was not disappointed. The...

After a difficult couple of years, and with no travelling outside the UK, I finally took to the skies again in early 2022 to resume my love of travel. 

The Tinwood Estate is located just three miles from my home, on the edge of the South Downs national park. Tinwood first set up their vineyard in 2007, and since have been producing three fantastic varieties of sparkling wine. From their Blanc de Blancs, and their Estate Brut to their cool refreshing Rosé.

Hidden away amongst the snow capped Julian Alps in Slovenia are the crystal clear waters of Lake Bled. The turquoise waters glisten in the...

The next three months are going to be an exciting time for me. I have five city breaks planned over the next three months, I will be returning to a couple of my favourite European cities which I have visited over the past couple of years. I also plan to visit a few places for the very first time. Here are my next five city breaks which I have planned, and some of the things I plan to do.

A while ago I read about a great Sunday night deal offered by Hotel du Vin, so I thought I'd give it a try. The deal allows you to book a room for the night for as little as £30, with the condition that you spend a minimum of £75 on Sunday evening in their bistro. For this trip I decided to book a stay at the Hotel du Vin Cambridge as this was the ideal location for a place that I wanted to visit in the vicinity.

When I planned my recent trip to Budapest and Vienna I had to decide how I was going to travel between the two cities and I decided that I would take the train.

Italy is a country I find myself returning to time and time again, I don’t necessarily go back and visit the the same city every time though. Don’t get me wrong, I have been to both Rome and Venice more than once, but I do like to explore some of Italy’s other fantastic cities. For this trip I decided to visit a brand new city and found myself booking a Bologna City Break.

Bilbao, known as the capital of the Basque Country, is a port city located on Spain's northern coast. Surrounded by rolling green hills, Bilbao is located in a valley on the banks of the River Nervión, and is the 5th largest urbanisation in Spain. Bilbao city centre is a mix of modern skyscrapers as well as many traditional buildings in the old town. Some say Bilbao is the home of authentic Spanish cuisine, and this was something that I wanted to find out for myself on my recent Bilbao city break.

I have always regarded Seville as the rustic heart of Spain. Known for its stunning tapas, beautiful Moorish architecture, and its labyrinth of narrow cobbled streets, Seville has long been on my to-do list. So when British Airways announced a daily service from London Gatwick, I didn't hesitate in booking some flights.

Reflecting on all the wonderful European city break destinations that I have visited in recent years, I was surprised that Berlin was one of the destinations that I hadn’t yet visited. Just over a year ago I decided to take a trip to Berlin to visit the annual ITB Berlin travel trade show.

I have visited Granada briefly on a couple of occasions in the past, but these visits were flying visits, maybe for a meal, or just a passing visit on the way to or from the ski resort in the Sierra Nevada. When I booked my Spanish trip for this summer, I decided that as I would be passing through Granada I would stop here for a mini Granada city break on my way to southern Spain.

One of my local wine stores, Hennings Wine Merchants of Chichester often holds wine tastings on Friday evenings. Each evening is usually themed on a specific wine region or wine. A couple of weeks ago they held a Croatian wine evening, and after having been to Croatia a few times and enjoyed the local wines, I decided to book to go with some friends and experience more of what Croatia has to offer the wine world.

Copenhagen has long been on my city break to do list, so one evening when I stumbled across some cheap flights I decided to book a Copenhagen city break. I booked my flights with Norwegian, who fly between London Gatwick and Copenhagen 5 times a day. The return flight cost just under £50pp. Norwegian is a low cost airline which is rapidly expanding their services from London Gatwick, and have the added advantage of free wifi onboard.

For this years Christmas market break I wanted to try somewhere completely different to the destinations that I've visited previously. One of my friends suggested Italy and after some research I concluded that the Turin Christmas markets were the ones which I wanted to visit.

Earlier this year I spent the perfect weekend in Prague - a belated birthday present to myself as I have always wanted to visit Prague. By researching online before my trip, I ended up with a list of places I wanted to visit and things I wanted to see and do during my short stay in Prague. As always, my list was far too long for a mere two night stay, so some things had to be cut out for this trip or I just wouldn't have had time to stop, let alone sleep. So here is my list of 5 must-do things for a short stay in Prague - you won't be disappointed!

For the first of my Autumn 2016 trips I decided to visit Bergen, in Norway. Bergen is located on the west coast of Norway, and is the gateway to the famous Norwegian Fjords. Bergen is also famous for its picturesque harbour, with its colourful wooden-cladded buildings lining the water front. I have always wanted to visit the Norwegian Fjords so this was at the top of my to do list on my Bergen City break.