Best value city break?

lea2012

Thinking of booking a budget city break for next year (February half term) and have found flights for less than £40 each return to a number of places but having never been to any of them I wondered if any could offer any advice. Would only be going for a couple of nights so would like to know which has the best sights, best food, best value accommodation etc?

Options are:
Most of the German cities - stuttgart, hamburg, nuremburg, frankfurt, Berlin
Gdansk and Warsaw
Brussels
Milan (bergamo) or Bologna
Porto
Bratislava

I'm thinking Poland or Slovenia might offer the best value for.money? Don't mind cold and snow but would like to have a good choice of places to eat and drink and some nice sights and scenery to see and wander around. Don't just want a concrete jungle!

Thanks

koalakoala

Think you're right about those two being the cheapest options. Bratislava possibly better food choices imo

stewie_griffin

NoBratislava is the capital of Slovakia . The old town is very nice but the rest of the city still had a communist vibe to it when I went (10 years ago).

It's really compact (well the parts worth visiting) and if I recall had very good public transport. It was also exceptionally cheap but I did go the year before the Euro was introduced.

You can do Bratislava in 2-3 days but somewhere like Berlin you really need at least 5-6 as there's so much history and things to see and do. Personally I'd choose Berlin as it's such a fantastic city but if you're on a tight budget then Bratislava would work better.

Another idea would be Budapest as you should be able to get cheap flights and last time I went (about 3 years ago) it was still very cheap. It also has a great public transport system (as does Berlin).

theonlywayisup

I would recommend Brussels - amazing city with some superb top quality restaurants. Milan - an easy city to walk with lots to see and do and quality food is available to suit all budgets. Good value and interesting (not just the town but the journey there on a tiny plane from Helsinki) is Tallinn. It's compact but enough to entertain for a weekend break, or you could do a dual break and hit Helsinki on the way there/home. I would also recommend Formentera, Dubrovnik, Malta, Vienna (going again at the end of November for the Christmas markets) - in fact the list is infinite so I'll leave it to other posters for their suggestions.

lea2012

Thank you for the replies so far.
Sorry, yes Slovakia. I'd been reading another post earlier that mentioned Slovenia and got mixed up!
Bratislava sounds manageable in our time frame so will take a closer look at that. Accommodation seems good Vale too with 4* hotels coming in around £60 a night. Will look into. Milan more too.
On this occasion we're tied to just 2-3 nights so I would prefer to visit the likes of Berlin and Budapest when we have more time. Its also a bit of an impulse booking based on the cheap flights, so definitely a budget break for this one. Thanks for the other suggestions though will consider those for future breaks.

richardw

If the flight is to Bergamo perhaps consider Bergamo and not bother with Milan.

zagfles

I found Berlin surprisingly cheap, got a B&B for EUR40 a night a few years ago and food/transport were quite cheap. However eastern Europe is likely to be cheaper, AIRI Bratislava is quite cheap and very close to Vienna if you get bored there and fancy a day trip.

PompeyPete

lea2012 wrote: »

Thank you for the replies so far.
Sorry, yes Slovakia. I'd been reading another post earlier that mentioned Slovenia and got mixed up!
Bratislava sounds manageable in our time frame so will take a closer look at that. Accommodation seems good Vale too with 4* hotels coming in around £60 a night. Will look into. Milan more too.
On this occasion we're tied to just 2-3 nights so I would prefer to visit the likes of Berlin and Budapest when we have more time. Its also a bit of an impulse booking based on the cheap flights, so definitely a budget break for this one. Thanks for the other suggestions though will consider those for future breaks.

For future breaks to quality destinations, and without the €uro price tag, have a look at Sarajevo [Bosnia], Skopje, + Lake Ohrid [Macedonia], Transylvania [Brasov, Sibiu, Sighisoara].

Have done them all in the past 12 months, and wish we'd gone to all and beyond years ago. Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Romania are fabulous destinations.

Croatia too, but prices are much on a par with most EU countries.

katejo

lea2012 wrote: »

Thank you for the replies so far.
Sorry, yes Slovakia. I'd been reading another post earlier that mentioned Slovenia and got mixed up!
Bratislava sounds manageable in our time frame so will take a closer look at that. Accommodation seems good Vale too with 4* hotels coming in around £60 a night. Will look into. Milan more too.
On this occasion we're tied to just 2-3 nights so I would prefer to visit the likes of Berlin and Budapest when we have more time. Its also a bit of an impulse booking based on the cheap flights, so definitely a budget break for this one. Thanks for the other suggestions though will consider those for future breaks.

I was in Bratislava for a couple of days in June and would recommend it. i may go back for a weekend break sometime. Apart from seeing the city there, it is also very convenient for a day trip to Vienna. I went there by train and came back in a hydrofoil along the Danube.

Doshwaster

zagfles wrote: »

I found Berlin surprisingly cheap, got a B&B for EUR40 a night a few years ago and food/transport were quite cheap. However eastern Europe is likely to be cheaper, AIRI Bratislava is quite cheap and very close to Vienna if you get bored there and fancy a day trip.

Berlin is probably the best value capital city in western Europe (with the possible exception of Porto) but for real value you need to head east and out of the Eurozone.

I'm planning a long weekend for mid-November and on my shortlist are Gdansk and the three Baltic capitals (just can't decide which)

lea2012

Bratislava seems to be getting a thumbs up, I am very tempted by Berlin too though but don't feel I would get to do it justice in the time we have.
I like the idea that's its compact and easy to get around and accommodation seems good value. Gdansk is also looking good, I've had a look at things to do and the World War 2 museum there looks very interesting.
Thank you to PompeyPete too, those places all sound amazing. I intend to try and do more cheap city breaks next year so will take a look at these.

Thanks everyone.