a short vacation
 

hey everybody,
I have a bit of a general question. I have some free time between semesters, 18/2-1/3 and I'm thinking of taking a short break.
I'm a 29 old female and will be travelling alone. can you maybe recommend something for around 5 days?
I'm guessing that it's not the season for hiking, which I love so I'll have to settle for a short city (or a couple of cities) trip.
I've been to London and Berlin already so these are off the list.
I was hoping for something "light", not all museums, churches, cathedrals etc.

Where are you traveling from? With 5 days, I would visit Paris. It is a beautiful city with something for everyone. No hiking but lots of walking. Enough to keep you busy for 5 days without spending a lot of time in the world-class museums, churches and cathedrals.

I've been actually researching this myself. Paris would be great, as mamcalice said. Once there, you could just wander and enjoy the loveliness of the city, with a day trip somewhere, if
you chose.

I'd also consider the Sorrento area. It'd be warmer than Paris, and you could do outdoorsy things, like Pompeii, Ercolano, Capri (not sure of ferries,openings, at that time of year, etc.)and could hike around the Amalfi coast.

appreciate the replies. I visited Paris as a teenager with my parents around 12 years ago. I realize it won't be the same now and by myself, but I'm not entirely sure I want to go there again.
I'm flying from Israel and a direct flight would be great. I was considering Vienna cuz flights are cheap, but wondering if it's not too..."heavy", architecture, churches and stuff.

Just because a city has lots of museums and architecture, that doesn't mean that's what you have to visit if you don't want to (though that is what Vienna is well known for - that and traditional pastry-heavy cafés).

What do you want to see? Late February will still be cold and short days, so not really suitable for outdoor activities.

Amsterdam?

Dublin?

Rome and the Ostia Antico

Barcelona?

Lisbon---good prices !

It's not about which city you choose, it's about what you do when you get there. Anywhere you CAN choose to go to a bunch of cathedrals, museums, historic sights. OR you can just go and wander around and check things out. Depending the weather parks and outdoor events, sitting in cafes drinking coffee or wine and people-watching, going to book stores, whatever your interests.

I'm not a "museum person" myself but I love to visit European cities and just hang out.

I'd start with pricing plane tickets and consider flight times. Since you only have 5 days, where can you get to cheapest and quickest (even non-stop?).

Nothing wrong with Vienna.

a reply to everybody :)
first thing, it doesn't have to be exactly 5 days. I have about 2 weeks of free time, so the number of days is only a matter of total cost. I can go for 6 or 7 if I can find a cheap flight (a flight to Vienna for example will cost me around 260$, I consider that cheap).
what I'm basically looking for is a place where a young woman won't get bored by herself for a few days. I don't mind splitting the trip between 2 cities, I love riding trains.
flights to Dublin are a bit expensive for me.
Amsterdam I'm also considering (can't recall flight prices).

Barcelona is a good suggestion - a better chance of better weather than further north, and plenty to see and do.

<a place where a young woman won't get bored by herself for a few days.>

Again, I'll say, this isn't about the city it's about YOU and how you plan your trip. I can't think of a major city in Europe that wouldn't have enough to see and do to keep anyone occupied for a week.

Agree with suze.

If you can fly to Vienna cheap, have a go at it. It's an absolutely great city if a little underrated as a lively place. And you can take a 75 minute hydrofoil trip to Bratislava as a day trip. Or you can visit Melk via train.

We'll be there again the first of April.

Once you pick your city you can do online research easy enough to find things that interest you. Maybe order a copy of "Let's Go" guidebook or similar for that city to give you more ideas (and maps).

Any city will have all the mainstream architcture, churches, museums, etc. but also plenty of off-beat things you can find to do depending on your interests (i take dance classes when i travel, a friend like fabric and textile exhibits, as examples).

Rome.

My stop off place enroute to Israel is Istanbul. May be a bit cold in Feb/Mar. Amsterdam would not be boring at all but won't be warm either.