Good value city break

genuinegal

wattywattwatt wrote: »

From what I've heard there's lots to see and do .......... a salt mine and some scenic mountain trips readily available.

sounds dead exciting for a young couple, lol

apt

Just because a country is in the EU does not mean it has the Euro as a currency. Neither Poland nor the Czech Republic are in the Euro. Croatia is not in the euro, but its currency is tied to the euro. Berlin is not beautiful, but very lively and good value for a capital city. Nearby Potsdam is also well worth seeing.

Hobsons_Choice

I'd go for Krakow. I've been three times recently and am about to go back in ten days time! There's never enough time to see everything, let alone trips to Aushwitz/Salt Mines/Tatra Mountains. Not in euro-land (it's the zloty) and hotels/restaurants/bars are very reasonable - especially if you stay away from the main square. Ryanair fly from Birmingham Airport.
Take a look at Trip Advisor.

Pelican_eats_pigeon

Avoid Norway as your spending on food etc will quickly take you over budget. I would go with Poland - Krakow and Wroclaw are both lovely places and the weather is usually hot and sunny in June. Szczecin and Katowice are also supposed to be nice though I haven't been to either of them yet. Even though the exchange rate is about 10-15% worse than it has been, the £ is still relatively strong in Poland and you will be able to live well on your budget.

Beware of dodgy hotels (brand names like Novotel are not so reliable in some polish cities, for instance) - check Tripadvisor first!

totallybored

I'd recommend Lisbon or Istanbul.

Although they use the Euro, I found Lisbon to be really good value for drinks (a beer was only 1 euro in some bars!). There is lots to do, they have fantastic custard pastry things and good nightlife.

Istanbul is a bit pricier to get to but excellent value once there. A meal for 2 including beers can cost around £20 and a beer was less than £2 a pint in loads of places.

Of course there are many other things to do apart from drinking and both have plenty to see and do that doesn't cost too much. I found both to be much better value weekend breaks than most other European cities even though the flights were more expensive. Our of the 2 I'd go for Istanbul.

minimoneysaver

How about Marrakech for something a bit different? You can tailor make your own holiday really cheap and it is so amazingly cheap there and very different to the UK unlike some other city breaks. Same time zone and just over 3hrs away. The airport is only 5 min out of the city and the weather is improving daily.

richardw

Ryanair have flights from EMA to Belfast from £5 and has £sterling as the currency.

ellay864

genuinegal wrote: »

Prague is in the EU, therefore its currency is the Euro

UK are also in the EU but the Euro hasn't reached us yet...so it should be really cheap to live here??????? :rotfl:

wattywattwatt

genuinegal wrote: »

sounds dead exciting for a young couple, lol

Oh dear, have I misread the original post, I can't seem to see where it says anything about this being for a young couple, maybe the term boyfriend suggests it. So I take it young people these days are not interested in culture, history or beautiful scenery? I can only assume that genuinegal is one of this new breed? Of course there are many other things to do in Krakow, as in any other city, as other contributors to this forum have pointed out. I was only trying to be helpful as I thought that was what these forums were for, not there as a platform to rubbish other peoples suggestions.

sleepless_saver

JenniferB wrote: »

I'll check Ryanair tomorrow, so basically the best thing is to keep checking until they have a deal? I seem to be missing a trick everyone seems to keep referring to Ryanair!

Thanks again

It's easier to use the MSE flightchecker to search for flights in your budget rather than to keep looking at the Ryanair website.