3/4 Day Break Europe (City)

[echokilo]

From experience, where would you recomend for 3/4 day ciy break in Europe? Rome, Paris, Bruges, Salzburg and Vienna are all done. TIA

[excelsior-1]

bilbao is very iconic

[Mick-Talbot]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/9772908/Eurostar-to-sell-150000-seats-from-59-return.html

[jno]

Bilbao is excellent, I went there in October. But again, it depends what sort of place you want to go to.

[spudqueen]

My friend and I have got into the habit of going for a city break for 3 or 4 days once a year. So far we've done Paris, Barcelona, Venice, Rome and Athens, this year is going to be Amsterdam. I would highly recommend both Barcelona and Venice as you've not done them. There's loads to do and see in both places and we loved them both. If you ever go to Athens then I highly recommend the Plaka Hotel, definitely the best hotel we've stayed in.

[echokilo]

Amsterdam will probably be the one Spudqueen ...... where are you staying?

[giveup]

IMO nothing beats Rome.

[Mick-Talbot]

Is Rome that bad then?

[sunny-dave]

Barcelona - been twice, would go again tomorrow - fascinating place.

Brussels by Eurostar - a surprisingly good place for a long weekend - try to go during the yearly Jazz Marathon at the end of May - the place is just alive with music of all kinds.

[thugulike]

Stockholm, Krakow, Florence

[spudqueen]

echokilo - I must admit I've had trouble finding a hotel in Amsterdam that meets my requirements (twin beds, en-suite bathroom, hairdryer, room safe, no steep stairs, or at least a lift and preferably breakfast). Some of the hotels are just too trendy for their own good, with baths in the middle of the room or with clear glass walls between the bedroom and bathroom. Not even sure I'd like this if I went with Mr Spudqueen let alone a friend! Anyway, we've settled on the Hotel Nicolaas Witsen, paying extra for a deluxe room as it's slightly bigger (some of the hotels seem to have very small rooms, including some L-shaped with a bed in each part of the L!).
Just be careful about when you book if you're into museums and art galleries as both the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum are having the finishing touches put to their refurbishments and I think that both will be closed completely for a couple of weeks. We're going in about 6 weeks when we won't be able to visit the full museums, but will be able to see their most famous exhibits, the Rijksmuseum is in just one wing of the building, and the Van Gogh has moved to the Hermitage Amsterdam.

[echokilo]

Thanks Spudqueen .... your hotel looks nice - but have now booked at http://www.hotelrembrandt.nl/ which seems nice too .... I struggled with hotels as wanted a quieter location and not too far out, but with decent quality and price - hopefully I have found it. Enjoy your trip - let me know how it goes. Not especially interested in art galleries, but would like to see the most famour pieces if possible, so thanks for the info.

[lardhelmet]

Barcelona is brilliant. Would go back there with no hesitation...

[echokilo]

Will do Barcelona next I think, but this year, in July would be too hot I think Lardhelmet