I’ll be working in Belfast in early March. After the event, I’ll have time off from Sunday afternoon until I fly out of Belfast the following Saturday morning. I’m trying to see if there are any European capitals I could fly to nonstop from Belfast. You’d think this wouldn’t be so hard to determine – but I’ve hit dead ends so far. FYI, my flights in and out of Belfast are being provided -- so I can't fly in or out of any other city.

We are hoping to fly to Rome, but all the flights require layovers that essentially turn it into a full day to get there – and another full day to return. It would probably be too late to leave Belfast on Sunday (March 6th) so we’d be looking at traveling all day Monday (March 7th). We’d have to return from Rome on a morning flight on Friday to be able to stay at an airport hotel Friday night and fly out of Belfast Saturday morning. That would only give us three days in Rome – and that’s an awful lot of travel for just three days.

I checked into taking a bus from Belfast to Dublin—where we could get cheap nonstop flights to Rome—and then, a bus back from Dublin to Belfast. But by the time we factor in getting to the bus stop and the almost 2-1/2 hour trip between Belfast & Dublin it’s not much of an improvement.

Is there an option I’m missing – or another destination that would be easier to get to? We’ve been doing this event for ten years so we’ve already thoroughly explored the U.K., and recent years have brought us to Amsterdam, Florence, Venice, and Paris.

Thanks!

songdoc - Flybe fly from Belfast to a number of european cities, albeit that are not direct. We did this into Hannover and out of Stuttgart about a year ago, and the connections were fine, apart from the 3 hours we had to spend at B'ham on the way out. These are proper connecting flights- you don't need to collect your luggage until you get off at the final destination.

sadly they don't got to Rome, but they do go to Milan, Madrid, Malaga, Alicante, Vienna, Nice - quite a choice.

you'd have to look at the timetables to work out whether any of these would work for you.

Good luck!

sorry it wouldn't post the link, but if you go to the Flybe website, I'm sure that you can work it out for yourself.

Jet2 offer seasonal non stop flights to Rome, or you can connect in LHR or AMS with BA or KLM.

This links show where you can fly
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George...d_destinations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfas...tional_Airport

but cross reference with the airports' websites.

Lots of cities - but to misquote the Stones you can't always go where you want

http://www.belfastairport.com/flights/destination-map
http://www.belfastcityairport.com/Fl...rmation/Routes

Looks like EasyJet flies non-stop from BFS to CDG and BFS to AMS. A week in Paris (even in early March) is not to be scoffed at. Check "skyscanner" and "whichbudget" websites to see other non-stop destinations from Belfast.

As Flanner points out, there are two airports in Belfast. If you follow his links you can see all the availability

You said European capitals - apart from London (it is in Europe!) the only destination seems to be Paris. Amsterdam is not the capital of the Netherlands.

There is plenty to do in Paris to fill up a week with ease but if you want to see more you can always travel to other destinations using the excellent TGV trains.

if you want a capital try Vilnius

though Malaga would be my choice as a gateway to Andalucia - Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Cadiz

sofarsogood - I second you on Andalucia.

Easter is early this year and the holy week in Seville is magical whatever your religion.

A good tour for the week (hiring a car) is should cover Ronda - Seville - Cordoba - Granada.

Make sure you are in Seville for Thursday night which is the crucial night for the processions through the city.

Belfast (or Northern Ireland) has a link with Granada - Game of Thrones.

Thank you all so much for your replies. Unfortunately, all the research points to the same fact: the only places I can get to without using a full travel day each way are Paris, Amsterdam, and points in the U.K.

I've been to Paris and Amsterdam in the past 18 months. (Loved them both, but I'm not ready to go back.)

I'm now leaning toward Edinburgh. I haven't been there. It hasn't been on my bucket list, but I can get there from Belfast in 50 minutes, and it looks like it has many attractions I'd enjoy.

I'll be posting some questions under "Scotland."

Thanks, again!

Have you thought about going from the International?
I did a quick skyscanner search and found Switzerland and Poland on the list... Along with Iceland (which I may have to suggest to my husband as a quick holidays sometime soon!)

http://www.skyscanner.net/transport/...senabled=false

K8LM: the OP booked into Edinburgh and has another thread getting advice re that city.