Weekend Breaks

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.

Picturesque blue domed churches and white-washed towns and villages perched on a cliff-top, high above the vivid blue waters of the Aegean Sea could only be one place; Santorini. For a long time now...

Over the past two years I have visited Gdansk in Poland three times, and during each visit I fall in love with Poland a little more. I love the city of Gdansk and the cuisine. My three trips have inspired me to explore more of Poland, so when some friends asked me to join them on a Krakow city break I didn’t hesitate at all.

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.

For a long time I have been intrigued by the beauty of the Portuguese island Madeira, from its striking rugged coastlines to its vibrant countryside and beautiful ornate botanical gardens. This year my birthday conveniently fell on a Saturday, so I decided to book a three night Funchal city break so I could explore this unique Island.

When driving from northern to southern Spain the most direct route is from San Sebastian to Madrid then on to the Costa del Sol via Granada, which is the route that I have taken on all my previous trips. However, on my must recent trip with my father to southern Spain we decided to take the Autovia Ruta de la Plata, in English this means the Silver Route.

After much deliberation I booked my trip to Beijing, but within days of booking I had already booked some internal flights to Shanghai so I could enjoy, not only a trip to Beijing, but also a Shanghai city break.

With its grand tree lined avenues with many lavish villas and palaces to the aromas of fresh coffee and pastries from the abundance of coffee shops and cafes, Vienna is a city that will stir up your senses in many ways.

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.

Budapest is one of my favourite cities in Europe, and a place I enjoy returning to time and time again. Will my summer Budapest city break be better than my previous visits in winter? 

My previous trips to Belgium have only taken me to Brussels, so when an opportunity arose for an impromptu trip to Brugge I just couldn't resist. It was a Friday morning when I was asked if I fancied tagging along on a road trip to Europe which would involve an evening stop in Brugge. Brugge has always been somewhere which I had wanted to visit, so I agreed without hesitation, and that evening I headed off for my Wonderful Evening in Brugge.

Despite France being one of the closest countries to the UK, I realised that apart from travelling through France by road, I've not properly visited France in almost 8 years, and so I thought that this would be the year to change that.

I have been to Venice many times, it's one of those places that I could return to time and time again and would always find something new to see or do. While perusing the destinations on offer in a British Airways sale last year I found a deal to Venice for £100pp for flights and hotel, and at that price I couldn't resist booking myself a cheeky Venice city break just before Christmas 2017.

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.

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.

Hidden away amongst the snow capped Julian Alps in Slovenia are the crystal clear waters of Lake Bled. The turquoise waters glisten in the sun and are surrounded by colourful forests and vivid snow-capped...

Poland has always been somewhere I have wanted to visit, and after my failed attempt in getting to Wroclaw last year I've been longing to book another trip. Earlier this year I saw a great deal on flights to Gdansk with Wizz Air and I just could not resist booking a Gdansk city break.

The last stop on this years trip to Spain was to spend a few days at the family home, near Marbella in Andalusia. Most people who visit Andalusia head for the sun-soaked beaches of the Costa del Sol, but I wanted to spend my time here exploring some of the less touristy places.