THAT'S IT.....We've decided.....
 

Myself and a few friends are heading off into the pale blue yonder for 2/3 nights to celebrate my (gasp and shudder) 40th birthday.

We want to fly from either Cork or Shannon to some city in Europe...Paris is out,unfortunately,much as I love it.I've travelled there alot over the years and I'd like to discover somewhere new.We're leaving children behind and would love a great break .As we're a group of differing tastes/interests the place we select will have to have access to most things...ie. culture/shopping/gourmet food/good pubs.etc...



Please give me the benifit of your experience.I was considering Prague but one of our group was fairly put of by the seedier side of Prague,on her last trip there.There was prostitutes hanging around the lobby of her 5 star hotel (although the more cynical/well traveled of you may say that that occurs most places - though usually out of sight.In this case they were readily identifiable!!!)
Edinborough is a possibility...Any ideas?Anyone...Anyone at all?

Cheers
Runnerb

Barcelona or Berlin?
Amsterdam?

Hi R,

Rome
Salzburg
Vienna
Copenhagen

((I))

Give us a list of destinations reachable from Cork or Shannon.

It's Edinburgh.

Out of Cork there's the choice of Amsterdam,Barcelona,Berlin,Lisbon,Munich,Prague,Ro me,Carcassone,and Glasgow.

Out of Shannon there's Brussels,Edinborough,Milan,Turin and Venise.

Any thoughts?

Barcelona - will tick all your boxes.

At the moment I seem to have it narrowed down to either Barcelona or Rome out of Cork with Aerlingus or Edinborough out of Shannon with Ryanair.

Am I right in feeling apprehensive about traveling with Ryanair ?Their customer service record is abit daunting?
Cheers,
Runnerb

We loved our 5-night visit to Amsterdam. It's so charming, the people are very friendly, it felt safe 24/7.

Not at all what I expected re: pot-smoking and the red light district. It's easy to avoid those two influences, if you choose to.

And, the restaurants we found there were amazing. I have details in a trip report, if you're interested.

"Am I right in feeling apprehensive about traveling with Ryanair ?Their customer service record is abit daunting?"

I'd say it is inexistent but they are very cheap and you get what you pay for. Beware however, they don't fly to Barcelona but to Girona. You'll have to take a bus from Girona (90 jm).

You have some good destinations available to you. I don't use Ryanair but, to be honest, Aer Lingus is going the same way except that they don't seem to have the same forthright bloody-mindedness; they pretend to care.

Berlin offers some great value for money, lots to see for people of different interests, reasonable shopping (can't say too much, as we didn't shop a great deal there), good restaurants, good drinking.

Lisbon has loads of charm, great seafood, very good shopping (Herself is very fond of her "Lisbon coat"), a really great short excursion on local train to Sintra, fun trams, possibly gentler weather. I liked the people. Beware of pickpockets on Tram 28, but you should use it anyway because it is such a good route. Overall, it is relatively inexpensive.

I'm sorry your friend had a bad experience, but I wouldn't let it put me off the entire city of Prague. I just returned from there and loved it. Fortunately, I didn't notice any prostitutes around my five-star hotel (the Intercontinental Praha).

So If you were offered a free trip to one of these cities which one instinctively which one would you choose?What is it about this city that does it for you?The pastries, the buildings,the people..?

runnerB asked: "So If you were offered a free trip to one of these cities which one instinctively which one would you choose?"

Carcassone. Because it's the only one of them I have not yet been to. That's no help to you.

Bear in mind that if the trip is to happen before about March, some of the destinations might be very cold. That would bother some people. You know yourself and your friends.

By the way,I love it......"Herself is very fond of Her Lisbon coat"...Magic

We just returned from a trip which included Prague and Budapest. We liked Budapest more than Prague.
The Hungarian goulash soup is worth the trip to Budapest.

Budapest has the 2nd oldest metro line in the world. There are wonderful swimming pools and baths. The big market building with all the small kiosks was interesting and fun to go through.

We had dinner at The Spoon which is a restaurant on the Danube - not an excursion boat - just a restaurant.

There is much to see and do there.

Wow...Thanks for all the fabulous responses...The suggestions are great.....I have a number of questions so far...

BUDAPEST.

How far is Budapest from Prague?Is it possible to do in a 2/3 day visit?How did you travel?Is the Big Market Building like a bustling market with food and clothing or enclosed seperate shops under one roof?Are the people friendly and the atmosphere welcoming and safe ?What about night life?

EDINBOROUGH.

What are the must see castles/sights here,the must visit resturaunts and bars?Where is a memorable place to stay?

VENISE.

Is it as magical as it sounds...Or should I save it to visit with Him indoors!!!?Is it the more expensive option...unfortunately money is a consideration.

ROME.

Architecturally /culturally sounds great but does it match the magic of Venise .Does it have good craic going on anywhere at nighttime.We're not wild but we're not dead yet either!!!

Unfortunately AMSTERDAM is out of the picture.....on account of one spouse casting suspicions over our motives for travel !!!!!!!!!....unfounded they may be,but nonetheless,for peace sake Amsterdam is out of the picture.Awgh.....Thanks anyway for the suggestion Peaceout.

LISBON.

Can you reccomend a memorable place to stay?How big a city is it?Luckily,we can travel anytime up until June so we should get at least mild if not warm weather in April/May.Thanks for the reccomendation Padraig,I just feel very ignorant not knowing anything at all about Lisbon.I'll definately look into it.
Cheers,
Runnerb

I love Rome - and would pick Rome over Venice for a 40th Bday... I got engaged in Venice, so I have great memories of that, but I LOVE Rome, and it is definitely a good friends city. I also would definitely pick that over Budapest - but I just think Rome is extremely interesting, and there is so much to do....

There is nothing as magical as Venice however I have visited it with my best girl friend and with DH and I much prefer to visit Venice with DH,the love of my life!

If you have not seen Rome it is a really amazing place.So much to see and the food is wonderful.

Don't feel bad about Amsterdam,I detest it.Way to seedy for me.

I would pick Rome over Venice too. Loved Venice, been there twice, but Rome has a different kind of energy. Budapest is close to Prague but you'll spend close to a day traveling by car. If you have 2/3 days, I would suggest pick one or the other. Budapest is beautiful and there are lots of places for day trips if you get tired of the city. The big market is one huge building with little stalls of merchants selling cheese, vegetable, meat, pastry, etc on the ground level, touristy stuff and fast food up stairs and seafood downstairs. Haven't been to the other 2 on your list so can't comment. We just flew Ryanair from London to Budapest last month. Nothing fancy about Ryanair, cheap, no seating assignments so board and take your pick. Didn't have any problem with the airline.