wrenwood

We would love to do a long weekend in a small European City or town. Fly in, get a charming place to stay and just enjoy. We're not interested in a large City like London, Paris, Rome. Have thought of Edinburgh, York, Salzburg, Brugge. Enjoy Old World Charm, we don't need sophistication.

Most of the time when we travel we avoid cities, we rent a car and head to the countryside. Would be perfectly happy to take public transport ( for instance to Brugge) or rent a car for a short drive.


We are able to travel pretty much at the spur of the moment so we can check weather. We don't want beaches and hot weather, some chilly weather okay.

So, I need your best nominations! I've also thought about Italy but I know nothing about Italy.

We had a great trip to England, Wales, and France this past September, due in part to all the incredible knowledge and tips fom this board. THANK YOU!

Wrenwood

W9London

Hmm. The answer would depend greatly on where you'll be originating from. If you're talking of extended weekend as Friday-Monday and if you are NOT based in Europe, flight time would get a good chunk of your time (as well as limited direct-flight gate city options).
If you have a choice, I would avoid mid-Feb, which coincide with school half-term holidays in UK (and part of France?).

wrenwood

We would be leaving from Washington DC ~ However a Thursday night flight arriving Friday morning and not leaving until Tuesday morning would be possible ~ so I guess you'd have to say it's a long long weekend!

How would I find out when the school breaks are?

W9London

OK, Thurs night-Tue does make sense.
Half-term holidays are scattered around so it's hard to pin-point. Most of UK schools are off 2nd week, heard half-term holiday for French schools are spread out. This can become a potential issue if you're booking ski resorts, esp. family-type resorts, but your initial post looks like this is not the primary objective. Also lots of British families fly to Florida--again, shouldn't be an issue if you're from Washington DC.
As for destinations, we did a nice weekend trip to Bruge a few years back--very accessible by train from Brussels. Would fit your bill of European charm, a lovely, romantic city. I've heard of some nice Edinburgh hotels--though you'd probably have to fly via London (which cuts into travel time) so you might be better off just staying in a manor house or posh country house in south of England.

BTilke

If you can catch a direct flight to Munich, then Salzburg is an easy reach by train. Plenty to do there. Has lots of charm and you won't be there in the height of tourist season.
A flight to Brussels then train to Brugge also sounds good.
Or a flight to Frankfurt then train to any of several smaller cities...Rothenburg, Freiburg, even Baden-Baden if you wanted to do some spa relaxing and day trip to Colmar to Freiburg or Basel etc.

wrenwood

What about Cornwall? Apparently it is one of the warmest parts of the UK, and I think there was a local airport that we could fly into from one of the London Airports. Anyone been there in March?

We've been to Rothenburg twice, charming town. We stayed at the Burg Hotel and ate at Hotel Eisenhut. Love it! We will probably go back this fall for an extended Switzerland or Germany and Austria trip. Salzburg is a definite possibility, only thing we saw in Salzburg was the train station! Would enjoy being there without the crowds.

Would it be crazy to fly into Milan and drive to Lake Como?

So many temptations!

travelhorizons

My two nominations, both of which involve flying to Paris.

(1) There is a charming fishing village on the Normandy coast called Honfleur. Get up before dawn to see the soft light of the sunrise on the harbor. (You'll see immediately where the Impressionists got their inspiration). You can also get a big bowl of moules at any restaurant.

(2) Take the TGV train right out of CDG to Avignon. This is a small city in Provence, a former residence of the Pope. See the Palace of the Popes (one of the best tours in France) and the Pont d'Avignon.

W9London

I won't consider Cornwall a good weekend destination Jan-Mar. Weather would be very unreliable. Ryanair has one flight daily from Stansted, though not sure if this is all-year or only for the summer or not. It would take at least 5hrs one way either by train or by car.

BTilke

If you opt for Brugge, don't go for the last week-end of March as Sunday, April 1, is Palm Sunday, and Brugge happens to get very crowded on that and Easter week-end.
OTOH, if you're planning to go up to Lake Como, you may find that many places, esp. in the small towns, may not be up and running til after Easter (April 8).

sylvie80

I am going to Budapest for a long weekend over President's day weekend, also flying out of DC. I am not sure if Budapest qualifies as a 'small European town.' However we have found incredible winter rates at hotels, and expect that (after airfare, sigh) it will be an inexpensive long weekend, and based on the hotel rates, fairly tourist free (and snowing, we hope).

annhig

Hi, Wrenwood - sorry i have to agree about cornwall in February - can be glorious but it can be like it is today - wet, windy and foul!

I would pick a medium sized place with the option of museums to fall back on if the weather doesn't cooperate - how about Prague? Budapest? Krackow? Dresden?

mclaurie

In your place, non-stop flights from your airports would be where I would start. I have no idea what options you have.

Spain would be a logical place for proximity and weather in Jan-March. If you can fly into Madrid or Barcelona non-stop there are lots of options (do you know about the website whichbudget.com which shows the low cost inter Europe carriers?) I'd love to go to Bilbao, and a long weekend would be about right.

site59.com is a good website for last minute packages.

wrenwood

Many good suggestions! Avignon sounds possible, and I will look into Honfleur. And I had forgotten that one of our friends said that Prague was beautiful. Bruge and Salzburg are still on the list.

I visited site59, hadn't known about that one, thanks! We have never booked a package, prefering to choose a place to stay when recommended by Fodorites, Trip Advisor and or Karen Brown, but theres always a first time!

I still have hopes for Cornwall or Edinburgh. We would literally be able to decide a day or two before we left, so I'm hoping global warming might bring a stretch of decent weather to the British Isles. I will have to be vigilant checking weather forecasts!

I do however like the idea of Italy and France, especially if there are mountains or sea/lakes, charming countryside, villages. We're not the type for fancy city museums although we do enjoy small local museums that portray the history of an area.