City break in March?

[newberry]

Sorry for the very vague question but have just under a week booked off work in march (19th - 24th) and looking to do a short break somewhere with my partner. I suggested Tallinn and Bratislava just because neither of us have been, but also like the idea of a little warmth so thought Morocco? But open to any suggestions and recommendations please. Would like a flight of under 5 hours if possible.

[vixen1700]

Weather should be quite nice in Seville (21degrees average in March), it's a lovely city to walk around and you'll have some great food.

[newberry]

Thanks Vixen, never even thought about Seville. I'll have a little look, do you have any first hand experience or recommendations?

[djc206]

I don’t know if you’ve completed it already but we were in Budapest last weekend and really enjoyed it. Beautiful city, very friendly, lots of good restaurants and bars, reasonably cheap, very easy to get around. The only thing lacking is the little bit of warmth you’re after.

[nancyheady]

I recommend Spain for a short break in March. I visited there a few years ago, and it was lovely with temperature of around 22°C.

[ramblo93]

We're just back from a pleasant few days in Rome. 18 degrees most of the time. Beautiful city, incredible food, so much history as you walk around. Would definitly recommend.

[omniflow]

You really do have a whole heap of choice - it's all down to either the type of thing you like to do, or a city that's on your radar.

Any of the following would be an excellent place to spend a few days in March:

Venice
Florence
Rome
Lisbon
Madrid
Barcelona
Seville
Bilbao
San Sebastian

You'll be able to tell from an Atlas (or Google Maps) roughly how warm each of those will be

However, if you actually like the sound of Morocco, then go there. It will be completely different to all of the above. Only you will know if it's somewhere you actually want to go.

[redrabbit29]

omniflow said:

Venice Quite pricey but absolutely stunning. I love this place and would return tomorrow.

Florence Extremely pricey but it's probably one of my favourite places on the planet. I love it, amazing food and architecture, easy to walk around.

Rome It's good but I found the transport network lacking which meant getting to different areas was a bit of a ballache. There is a metro system but it doesn't seem to have many stops in the centre. Would return though as I'd like to see more and Italy is my favourite country.

Lisbon Not been but going in March for a half marathon and 4 night break. I've heard endless good things abuot it

Madrid It's ok but my lease favourite place in Spain. I found it more of a working city, and wouldn't return based on all the other options there are

Barcelona Loved it, the architecture is amazing, easy to walk around, the beach was stunning and unexpectedly nice. Always think about going back

Seville No comment... I went but was in bad place personally so my views are really skewed. I wanted to go for years. Going to go back at some point to experience it properly. One thing I would say is I found a lot of the people really rude, mainly in restaurants and bars.

Bilbao Not been
San Sebastian Not been

Also:

Valencia - I went in December and it was lovely. It's not as touristy as other places and I went for the marathon (watching not running) but really enjoyed it. There's a big park that runs through the entire place, it's 7km in length so you can cycle or walk this and be away from all the traffic and noise.

Morocco - Sadly, I've not heard many good things about this. A lot of people say you get aggressively hassled. I remember I went to Egypt where this happened and it meant leaving the hotel was just stressful and unpleasant.

[Shrugging for victory]

We're off to Madrid for the 1st time in March, as we fancy some warmth as part of a city break. Have you considered Barcelona? There's plenty to keep you occupied and the Dali museum is a short train ride away if that's your thing.

[omniflow]

redrabbit29 said:

Also:

Valencia - I went in December and it was lovely. It's not as touristy as other places and I went for the marathon (watching not running) but really enjoyed it. There's a big park that runs through the entire place, it's 7km in length so you can cycle or walk this and be away from all the traffic and noise.

Valencia in March will quite likely be in the middle of Fallas. Brilliant fun, but flights and hotels will be a challenge. It's also very tiring (firework displays starting at 1:30am) and very very busy.

[essayer]

I think Marrakech is worth a look. Lots to see within walking distance, some decent restaurants and spas, airport very close.

[vixen1700]

newberry said:

Thanks Vixen, never even thought about Seville. I'll have a little look, do you have any first hand experience or recommendations?

Went about three years back and really liked the place, it was just a lovely modern city with a genuninely nice vibe about it. A far cry from touristy Barcelona.

We stayed near the Mercado de Triana food market on the river which also has a tiny (20 or so seats) Flamenco theatre which was incredible and left us totally shell-shocked. Well worth a visit!

Edited to add: We're off to Valletta in Malta for the first time in April for a short break, dunno what it'll be like, but another little city to consider with nice temperatures.

Edited by vixen1700 on Thursday 22 February 10:45

[MesoForm]

newberry said:

Sorry for the very vague question but have just under a week booked off work in march (19th - 24th) and looking to do a short break somewhere with my partner. I suggested Tallinn and Bratislava just because neither of us have been, but also like the idea of a little warmth so thought Morocco? But open to any suggestions and recommendations please. Would like a flight of under 5 hours if possible.

I'd suggest going somewhere that gets too hot in summer - Bratislava is great for a couple of nights but it 'only' gets up to an average of 27 degrees in July so you could go anytime, but somewhere like Seville gets up to 36 which makes it a struggle to walk around (for us, anyway) and enjoy properly. So in March I'd recommend somewhere in the Mediterranean instead of central or Eastern Europe.
We did Bratislava as a day trip from Vienna (it's an hour on the train), I think one day and one night is enough to be honest.

[smithyithy]

Lisbon - great city, great food, great people

[Speed 3]

smithyithy said:

Lisbon - great city, great food, great people

Agree and pretty good value for a European capital city.

[omniflow]

There are threads on here for alot of these places. There's definitely one for Barcelona and also one for Lisbon - both of which I found very useful

[2HFL]

vixen1700 said:

newberry said:

Thanks Vixen, never even thought about Seville. I'll have a little look, do you have any first hand experience or recommendations?

Went about three years back and really liked the place, it was just a lovely modern city with a genuninely nice vibe about it. A far cry from touristy Barcelona.

We stayed near the Mercado de Triana food market on the river which also has a tiny (20 or so seats) Flamenco theatre which was incredible and left us totally shell-shocked. Well worth a visit!

Edited to add: We're off to Valletta in Malta for the first time in April for a short break, dunno what it'll be like, but another little city to consider with nice temperatures.

Edited by vixen1700 on Thursday 22 February 10:45

I visited Malta a couple of years back, hired a car which enabled me to visit the majority of the island and also take the ferry over to Gozo.

Valletta was really nice with plenty going on (sights/food/drinks) but there’s so much more to see in Malta than just this town imho.

In your shoes I’d be heading south-west as others have suggested. Lisbon is fab or the Algarve around Faro, Ohloa, Tavira will provide plenty of interest and warmer climes.

Seville is beautiful and Malaga / Granada potentially would offer what you’re after.

[blue_haddock]

Speed 3 said:

smithyithy said:

Lisbon - great city, great food, great people

Agree and pretty good value for a European capital city.

And another vote from me, we really loved lisbon.

Was great exploring all the trams, funiculars and lifts around the city.

The food options were great especially the timeout market

[The Leaper]

Wife and I love Italy, and I recommend Verona for a few days in March. Here's a post from me made two years ago.


r1ch,

Apologies for a delayed response to your OP.

You ask Verona or Venice....? IMO impossible to answer!

Mrs. L and I have been holidaying regularly in Italy since 2006, often 2-3 times a year. We usually go for a week, base ourselves in one town so as to immerse ourselves in the Italian way of life as best we can, and take day trips usually by train, maybe bus. So far, we have based ourselves in 19 different locations, and we have also visited over 30 other towns, cites etc. Sometimes we’ve gone for 10-15 days and have based ourselves in two separate towns and travelled between the two by train. The Italian train services are usually excellent, by the way.

We have been to Venice once and to Verona 3 times. We would probably choose Verona as our favourite place in Italy, if it’s possible to make that choice!! Verona is good because:

• Plenty of flights from UK
• Verona Airport is a short trip to the town centre
• There’s a good selection of acceptable 3-4* hotels near the city centre
• Lots of good cafes and restaurants. Every time you turn a corner there always seems to be another 2 or 3. Easy to move from one piazza to the next, have another Peroni etc.
• We reckon the food in Verona is second only to Bologna as far as Italy is concerned. And the local Veneto wine is always excellent. The wine festivals in Verona are really enjoyable.
• The Veronese are usually most friendly and welcoming
• Plenty to see and do in Verona if you like culture, eg art etc. Quite a lot of it is in churches.
• The Roman amphitheatre is world famous for the annual opera season. However, what is less known is that it has other productions as well, eg in the past Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Les Miserables have been there too.
• The main pedestrian area is great for a stroll and has high quality shops.
• And, a major plus, for a day out you can get the train to Venice, Padua, Vincenza, Mantua, all easily doable in a day..nice to stroll take in the ambience, have lunch etc. Also, Lake Garda for the day is an easy train ride too.
• Many fewer tourists than, say, Venice and Florence. Verona is especially good at night when it’s mostly the Veronese who are and about.

Earlier posts have suggested that Venice and Verona etc are one day towns. If that keeps tourists down, that’s good, but IMO they are missing out on so much.

If you'd like any more info, simply ask.

Mrs. L and I are planning our next visit to Italy for this year. It will likely be to Verona or to Ravello which overlooks the Amalfi Coast.

oOo

We did go to Verona back then and we have now been there 5 times! I guess we really like it!

R.

[redrabbit29]

The Leaper said:

I recommend Verona

I went there last summer and loved it too. We were in that region for a week and split the time up as follows:

3 nights Verona - this was very nice
3 nights Lake Garda (Bardolino) - this was amazing
2 nights Lake Como (Bellagio) - this was underwhelming