Nice people thread 2 - now even nicer

JonnyBravo

Talinn is indeed a stag party destination now...... in very large numbers.
Avoid.
Unless in a stag party.
If in a stag party it is great. As is Riga.

Bruges appeals ever since watching "In Bruges" a superb film.

My favourite cities of the last few years are Prague, Istanbul and Barcelona. (However having re-visited Barcelona I'd now not go again, much dirtier than first visit)

Prague has lost most of the stag party stuff, its gone to Riga, Talinn etc as it's cheaper. It has beautiful architecture and if you stay out of the main squares it is still very cheap. It's all about being confident enough to try that sort of place etc. The Mrs and myself ate two courses and had 2 beers each for £14 total. Only 100 yards away from £3/half pint, but off the touristy main squares where everyone speaks English. Just take a good tour book and learn a few basic phrases. Apparently very few tourists learn any Czech at all.

Istanbul is amazing. Lots of east meeting west. Not at all intimidating as a few might imagine. Again some amazing buildings. (eg Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque) Just don't go in height of summer as very hot. We went in April and was already mid 20's which is just right for walking round some sights and sitting drinking in cafes etc.
Oh yep, only "problem" being you'll be woken at dawn each morning by the call to prayer.


Oh.... doing Dubrovnik this year. Looks fab.

SingleSue

Can vouch for Prague.....our hotel was out of the main tourist area but still close enough to reach the main areas in less than 10 minutes and food was so cheap. Me and eldest had a two course meal including (soft) drinks for less than a fiver, mind you, this was back in 2005. We certainly noticed the price difference when we had a meal in the tourist area but then it was just the one meal and we soon learnt to stay away after that (although the wine was still a very good price, I ordered what I thought was a glass because of the price - £2 ish and it turned out to be a bottle...hic!)

Edit - I did learn some Czech before I went...it's a little OCD thing of mine, I have to be able to order meals, say hello and goodbye, thankyou etc in whatever country I am visiting...used to drive hubby mad.

silvercar

Having done the weekend away without the kids, I'm going to really practical. You must have an earliest time you can leave and a latest return time. So work from that, you want a flight out as early as you can and one as late back as possible. Otherwise a day of your away time will be spent waiting to leave. As lovely as the duty free shopping is, you need to get there, to enjoy every minute you have.

carolt

Thanks for all the helpful advice. Am off to google Strasbourg and Lisbon (bit later - ought to get on with work now...). And Croatia/Belgium are other possibles - do love Belgium. Good for chocolate.

Prague and Eastern Europe aren't on my list - a little bit far, plus Prague I would not go back to, as it's the only place I've ever personally experienced overt racism; I'm dark haired and in this country am frequently asked if I'm Spanish/Italian etc. In Prague, they took me for a gypsy - I was refused entry to empty restaurants etc. They have a real problem with their attitude to gypsies (or had - this was many years ago). Which really put me off the country.

Thanks silvercar for the practical advice - am trying to focus on the travel, as this wil be the sine qua non of wherever we go - must have smooth, easy travel arrangements at both ends. We're hoping to head off Friday at some point (MIL permitting!) and return Sunday night, to cram in as much time away as possible...

Pobby

Brugge, little Amsterdam. Wonderful place and so easy to get to. Easy to travel over to Holland and France from there. Not far from the sea for the kids and if, like me, you like history it`s first class.

lostinrates

carolt wrote: »

Thanks silvercar for the practical advice - am trying to focus on the travel, as this wil be the sine qua non of wherever we go - must have smooth, easy travel arrangements at both ends. We're hoping to head off Friday at some point (MIL permitting!) and return Sunday night, to cram in as much time away as possible...

Much like a parent, we have to weekend away around the critters and whatever cover I have....hence my mad Brussels/paris combo. we'd done three differen Eu cities in three days, like vulgar Americans ''Doing Euuuurope'', and while not to be recoomended for a holiday - this was commitments both business and social/family. Good packing into hand luggage is key IMO...any delay in airpost security is a nightmare.

which reminds me, last time I traveled my see through bag was not the right size and that caused a significant delay, when they've never minded before!
so make sure you bag for liquids etc is the right size!

silvercar

We're hoping to head off Friday at some point (MIL permitting!) and return Sunday night, to cram in as much time away as possible...

Yes. We used to get them off to school and then disappear. If you can persuade MIL to do the school run monday morning, you don't need to reappear until school finish time:)

carolt

silvercar wrote: »

Yes. We used to get them off to school and then disappear. If you can persuade MIL to do the school run monday morning, you don't need to reappear until school finish time:)

Sadly, MIL works full-time herself, so I'll count myself lucky if she can leave early enough on the Friday to pick the kids up/be back shortly after we do.

Luckily, she's young, fit and fabulous with the kids, as looking after all 3 of them on one's own is pretty hard work... :eek:

SingleSue

I've never done the weekend away thing without the kids, the most we got was one night in a local hotel for our anniversary.

Even my speedway GP trips I had to take eldest while hubby stayed with the other two...he on the other hand, got a whole week in spain on his own!

silvercar

I've never done the weekend away thing without the kids, the most we got was one night in a local hotel for our anniversary.

Our first night away was in Bolton!
Woken up early by the workmen on the site next door.

Our first abroad trip was our tenth anniversary. We went to Zurich and were woken early by cows with bells round their necks in the field next door.

Fifteenth we went to Rome, no early morning wakening but I remember the Trevi fountain was being repaired and empty.

Twentieth we went to Milan, stayed centrally near the Dombe, where repair work started early in the morning.

( I got married young BTW:))