Taking a holiday alone

jason1231972

Thanks for the great suggestions, all.

I've 'narrowed' (!) it down to the following, based on budget flights from two local-ish airports. I've excluded places I've already been, or places that don't grab my interest.

I've excluded Tel Aviv because whilst Israel is such a tiny country, it's so big in terms of culture, history, politics, etc. Definitely somewhere I'd like to explore with my partner.

I've also discounted Paris for now as I'm getting not-so-subtle wind of a possible 'surprise' break there.

Athens is also a no-go for now, just because I don't really fancy getting caught up in riots, etc.

So....

Bilbao
Copenhagen
Corsica
Bordeaux
Gibraltar
Lisbon
Lyon
Naples
Nice
Salzburg
Budapest
Dubrovnik
Pisa
Milan
Rome
Venice

It's gotta be France or Italy, hasn't it?

zagfles

Stay in youth hostels (you don't have to be young!), you'll meet new people every day and loads of solo travellers. It's the only way to travel alone as far as I'm concerned!

jason1231972

zagfles wrote: »

Stay in youth hostels (you don't have to be young!), you'll meet new people every day and loads of solo travellers. It's the only way to travel alone as far as I'm concerned!

Not 'young' as such, but definitely open to the idea of YH's - cheers

VfM4meplse

jason1231972 wrote: »

It seemed obvious to me, too. I'm not the biggest Francophile, but wouldn't rule it out.

If you live close enough, start hinting about Eurostar - much better than flying.

jason1231972 wrote: »

Bilbao - I liked it, but it is a bit industrial and Guggenheim aside, you might struggle for more than 3 days
Copenhagen - plenty to see and do, but expensive
Corsica
Bordeaux - I quite fancy this: http://www.grapeescapes.net/
Gibraltar - fine if you don't mind being bored sh*tless
Lisbon - great city, lots of potential for day trips out to interesting sites close at hand
Lyon
Naples - avoid, avoid, avoid unless you specifically wish to stay along the Amlfi coast.
Nice - Nice, but boring - however you can do Cannes and Monaco at the same time
Salzburg - can be done in a day, and arguably better towards the winter with the Christams markets
Budapest - Cathedral aside, I found this boring, and surprisingly expensive
Dubrovnik - great for a day or two max, you really need to travel out
Pisa - can be done in 4 hours flat, usually as a stop off on the way back from Tuscany / Umbria (which are worth spending a few days in)
Milan - great for a weekend
Rome - you could easily fill 5 days if you are interested in history
Venice - 3 main sites on Piazza San Marco, lots of museums and a great place to mooch around, but a weekend is long enough.

It's gotta be France or Italy, hasn't it?

Personally, I would go for NICE, hire a vehicle and move on from there.

HTH

Norma_Desmond

Rome and Venice will knock your socks off, but I can't help feeling that they're even more special 'done' as a couple.

Milan can't be described as the most beautiful city - it's big, brash and of course commercial - not the real Italy by a long chalk.

Apart from the leaning tower, Pisa is just a rather attractive university town; we only spent a day there on our travels.

Now Naples is a different animal - downright dirty, chaotic, verging on the lunatic, some poor soul's house just fell down whilst we were there.........and I love it!

The museum is out of this world, the people exuberant but friendly and the food is divine.

You've also got the benefits of Pompeii, Herculaneum, the Amalfi Coast and Capri.

Wish I was there.

Person_one

What about Florence if you're thinking Italy? I much preferred it to Rome, and its a must if you're an art lover.

I loved Copenhagen, could happily live there, but it was soooo expensive to eat out and do stuff.

jason1231972

VfM4meplse wrote: »

If you live close enough, start hinting about Eurostar - much better than flying.

Personally, I would go for NICE, hire a vehicle and move on from there.

HTH

Nowhere near Eurostar, but great post, thanks.

jason1231972

Norma_Desmond wrote: »

Now Naples is a different animal - downright dirty, chaotic, verging on the lunatic, some poor soul's house just fell down whilst we were there.........and I love it!

All I know about Naples is that it's pretty squalid. Strangely, this intrigues and attracts me!

jason1231972

Person_one wrote: »

What about Florence if you're thinking Italy? I much preferred it to Rome, and its a must if you're an art lover.

Is it accessible from any of the Italian ariports as listed above??

I loved Copenhagen, could happily live there, but it was soooo expensive to eat out and do stuff.

So I hear...

Have completed counted out Zurich and Geneva for much the same reason. But, they look s--t places to visit (apart from on business) anyway, unless anyone thinks otherwise??

Person_one

jason1231972 wrote: »

Is it accessible from any of the Italian ariports as listed above??

I got to Florence on a train from Venice, took about two hours and wasn't too much trouble or expense, but if you're only going for a few days I can see why you wouldn't want the hassle.