h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi all,

I'm looking for somewhere to go on holiday for a week.

The criteria are:

Not too expensive.
Nice local food.
Things to do/see during the day.
Hotels, again not too expensive (I liked the idea of Rome, but the hotels are pretty expensive when you get there, which bumps the cost up loads!)

Has anyone here taken a short break somewhere recently and really loved it?

What time of year?

My mum is planning a trip to northern (turkish occupied) Cyprus...she said it was insanely cheap and that the hotels where all top notch.

Irish holiday companies were banned from flying direct from Ireland to North Cyprus because Ireland (and the UN) does not approve of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

If you want to go to Greece, Peta, it depends very much on what time of year you want to go. It gets very hot in Greece in the summer which is not good if you want to do and see things.

Crete is nice in May/June but too hot for me in July/August. There's plenty to see if you hire a car and are interested in Minoan ruins.

Corfu is more pleasant than Crete (greener) but there's not much to see or do.

Barcelona is fantastic and a little bit cheaper than Rome.

Budapest or Krakow are both great and quite cheap. Need to go no earlier than late Spring though otherwise you'll freeze. A week might be a bit long - you'd need to head out into the countryside/towns around.

Sprout

When to go... Now!

I'm planning on heading off the week after next, that's somewhere around the 16th February...

Left it a bit late again, haven't I?

I highly recommend Prague for a short break. The town is stunning to look at and food and drink are still very cheap. I went last Easter and it was cold at night but lovely during the day.

go to reading berkshire it has a great car parking system of multi-storey car parks and count it 2 shopping malls hotels are good easy accses to windsor, london, henley and oxford and whitley was rated the 80th worst place to live in the country.

Not Greece, then!

I was in Paris about three weeks ago and it was lovely, but I think three full days is enough. The food is very cheap, at least compared to Ireland, but the hotels are expensive.

Have you every been to Venice? This should be a good time, when it is not overrun with tourists. But again, three days would be enough.

No I've never been to Venice, it sounds lovely though.

Prague has been in the back of my mind too as an option, that's a definite maybe too!

*Adds to list*

Have you considered the south of France? It's not all Nice and Cannes.
There are some very nice places in Languedoc-Rousillon, such as Perpignan and Carcasonne.Very good food at low prices, if you look around, plenty to see too, and weather can be good this time of year
Here's a link to a very reasonable hotel chain, not luxury, but clean and comfortable, and hotels in loads of places



http://www.envergure.fr/campanilefr.html

Seamus

I would add a vote to Munchkins for Prague, (but bear in mind I went with him )
Prague has lots to see, we only had three days, and ran out of time

Barcelona was also very good, but a bit more expensive.

Venice is nice if you like dilapidated 16th century palaces gradually crumbling into the canal. Some people are disappointed because they expect it to be all clean and shiny.

I think most of the former east-block countries are still reasonably cheap.
Another very fine city is Boedapest in Hungary.

Italy is jam packed full of things to do and see - great food, loads of culture and museums and art, nice wine , friendly locals, history, scenery.....

Ryanair to Pisa. You can climb to the top of the tower these days, which is just amazing.

It is a strange experience, a leaning stair! We almost got seasick many years ago, when it was still possible.

Especially on the 'low' side, you get the feeling of slipping and falling out

We took a day-trip to Bruges, Belgium a couple of years ago. If you like beer, it's great, and the food is very good as well. You might struggle for a week-long trip, though.
If you do choose Prague, take the opportunity to visit the cathedral in the old quarter. You can see it from almost anywhere on the river, and it is very impressive.