Nikki

Four nights in Paris, plus the night on the plane from Boston. It was the first of the trips I've taken since my kids became old enough to make it practical for me to travel. I have taken many more since then, and for periods from five days to three weeks, but that first long weekend in Paris was possibly the most exciting. I loved every minute.

pommefrites

Paris for 2 days!

My husband, daughter and I flew to Paris this past January for a long weekend. We left after work and school on Thursday and flew back home on Sunday - so that gave us 2 full days in Paris. It helped that we had nonstop flights to limit our travel time and maximize our fun time.

We are very familiar with Paris so we didn't need a lot of adjustment time. We knew what we wanted to see and which neighborhoods we wanted to hang out in so we really didn't feel rushed. On the last day we attended mass at Notre Dame - with our carryon luggage - on the way back to the airport.

I'd do it again!

dutyfree

My transatlantic vacations are everyweek for work and they consist of a 24 hour layover.Worth it-definitely! I think of it as my minivacation everyweek even if its only for dinner?

grandmere

Four nights in London plus the one on the plane from PIT to LGW. It was great, and the shorter flight (as opposed to the "continent&quot and also only 5 hrs. difference in time contributed to the relative ease of this short trip.

marty

I suffer much less from jet lag on a short duration trip than on a long one. When I returned from a 2.5 week trip to Europe, I was exhausted and dizzy for days. Could it be that our bodies do not have enough time to adjust to the new time zone before we are back home again?

FrankS

We did a 3 day with some FF miles that were going to expire...ya know what? It was a great trip

fairfax

I wanted to go to a wedding, but had NO vacation time. I left from Baltimore on a friday overnight flight, arrived in London early the next morning. Took the train to the wedding location. Went to the wedding. Spent the night and took an early morning train back to London, to the airport and back to Baltimore on Sunday afternoon. It was a killer, but I was SOOOO glad I did it.

Weekender

Leave Thursday night-arrive in Europe Friday and home Sunday. Do this 3 or 4 times a year.

111op

I've done at least 3 (literal) weekend trips -- leave from NYC Friday night and return Sunday night. One in Madrid, one in Brussels-London, one in London.

I've done quite a few long-weekend trips in Europe (i.e. leave Friday night and return Monday night -- or the equivalent).

I've done a long weekend trip when I was in a different city each night (Easter 2006: Rome, Paris, Amsterdam: Three days, three cities).

I've done a long weekend trip where I was in five cities in one day (Brussels, Gent, Bruges, Antwerp, Amsterdam -- on all arrival day).

I've done a 4-day trip where I went to five Italian cities (Bologna, Florence, Venice, Padova, Siena).

I've done a 4-day trip where I flew as far as Tel Aviv (few hours in Paris, right in the midst of the transit strike in 2007, two nights in Athens, one night in Tel Aviv, left Tel Aviv early the last day with about 24 hours from touch down to departure).

I've flown to Istanbul and back and spent two nights there.

nygvic

Did Paris in 2006 from Thanksgiving Friday to the next Wednesday.

This year leaving for Madrid on Thanksgiving eve and returning on Tuesday.

Short trips are worth it in great places. You can see sights, get great food in a short time and make excuses for returning again.

basingstoke2

3 day weekend in Italy. Didn't mean it to be that short but that is how it turned out.

Dorothy01

Our shortest transatlantic trip was slightly less than two days in Paris in February 2006.

We were originally scheduled to leave DFW on Thursday evening with a return from CDG on Tuesday. Our flight was over booked; we volunteered our seats for $800 each in AA vouchers (our RT tickets were around $400). We were rescheduled on the same flight the next day and the flight was over booked again; we volunteered and recieved $800 more in vouchers. We were booked on the Saturday flight; it was not overbooked.

We arrived in Paris on Sunday morning. We flew back on Tuesday morning (my daughter had to be at work on Wednesday).

We managed to do a lot of sightseeing in that brief period of time. It helped that it was our fourth trip to Paris in a 12 month period. We used our AA vouchers to fly to Paris, London, Paris, and Zurich and received almost 100,000 AA miles for those flights.

SeaUrchin

If I lived on the East coast I would probably do it but not from the West coast!

But a friend visited me when I was in Cannes years ago, she flew from LAX on a Friday, arrived Saturday, she went back home on Monday and even stopped into her office late Monday! I thought she was nuts, I wouldn't do it but she had a nice time and said she would do it again.

BKP

Seattle to London for 3 nights -- but it was a relocation scouting trip and our only job was to find a house -- which we did -- so it was 100% successful! Would I do it again? In a heartbeat . . . anywhere the company wants to send us!

ChicagoDallasGirl

Cimbrone - Yes. I would definitely go for five days. Once, I spent 4 days in Ireland for a marathon and on another trip we had only 6 days in Italy. I want to go back to both countries whenever time and funds permit. And, yes it was definitely worth the flight. I doubt anyone here would tell you otherwise unless you were attempting a day trip! LOL. Happy Travels!

taitai

I have done long weekends in Istanbul, London, Florence and St. Petersburg. All were crazy and fun and very much well worth it.

taitai

LSky

If I lived on the east coast, I wouldn't mind taking a short hop over to Paris but not from California. 10 days is the shortest we've gone.

If my boss wanted to send me over for a few days, I'm almost packed.

suze

Because I'm in Seattle, I will only go if I have at least two weeks. I have a very hard time with jet lag and time change. So the first few days are always miserable for me.

That said, if someone ELSE were paying, I'd go for any length of time

BTilke

In 1998, a good friend of ours made three round trips on the Concorde (NY-London) in four days. For a business reason that turned out to be totally, utterly, unnecessary.*
Despite the hectic schedule, he had a great time anyway. Loved the plane. Gave us some of his Concorde souvenirs (pen/pencil sets, which we still have).

On the third day, the Heathrow security people pulled him over for intense questioning. When he told him why he was there (with proof), they just rolled their eyes and let him go. He loved how they said all the Concorde FAs were wondering and talking about the "mysterious Mr. X."


*A certain European company was being profiled on a morning talk show all week regarding some dubious part of their corporate history. The company had my friend tape the interview then rush by limo to JFK for the flight, after which he handed off the tape to a company rep at Heathrow. Then flew straight back to JFK, where a waiting limo took him back to a (the?) Trump hotel.
Only later did the company realize the TV show posted complete transcripts of the segments online just a few hours after the broadcast.

travgina

Left Detroit on Wednesday night, arrived Paris at noon on Thursday. Flew home Monday afternoon. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.