So, city breaks are perfect for a number of reasons, but the main one being that it will be exactly what you make of it, and no matter what you want from your break, you will definitely find a destination that suits you. There is something perfect out there for you, but you just need to know how to find it. There may be so many obstacles in the way such as budget or flight time, but there is always a way around it! If you follow these simple but highly effective tips, you will find the perfect break!
1. Be flexible
The more flexible you can be, the better. This means with things like flight times and dates, departure airport, destination, location, budget, accommodation, everything really. If you can be a little flexible, you may get the perfect break for a fraction of the cost! For example: my closest airport is Birmingham, however when I travelled to Prague, it was much cheaper to travel from London Gatwick. In fact the money I saved on my flights payed for a night out in Prague! Also we found that it was much cheaper to stay a little out of the centre, so try to be flexible wherever you can.
2. Do your research
Make sure you do as much research as you can before you book your city break, and before you travel. Make sure you explore many different options, find out what is in the city that interests you, and also check the cost of living in the city before you book it! It's so easy to get sucked in with cheap flights and cheap accommodation, but when you get there the cost of living is extortionate! I always use numbeo.com as it gives you a break down of things like food, alcohol, cigarettes and leisure activities. You can also compare with your home city so you get a real idea of the difference. By doing this, you can weigh up the pros and cons of each place. You may find somewhere is expensive to get to but when you get there it's super cheap! Also if you do happen to fall in love with somewhere that is very expensive, at least then you can plan it properly and give yourself time to save, rather than just booking it and finding you get there you run out of money and miss out on the things you really wanted to see and do. How disappointing would that be? So save yourself the disappointment and research!
3. Shop around
NEVER settle for the first price you see! This goes for booking your city break and when you arrive. I wouldn't recommend booking your break through a company as a package deal, I would suggest booking everything separately yourself. For flights I tend to use Skyscanner.net which is a flight comparison site. It gives you a list of different companies who can book your flight with and the companies will be listed in price order. Make sure that if you are taking checked in cabin luggage that you check to see if it is included in the ticket price, as depending on the airline, they may not be included. I find that 9 times out of 10, it's cheaper to book flights directly with the airline, for example if you are flying with Ryan Air, then the cheapest tickets for your flight will be on the Ryan Air website. However don't book it until you've looked around first. For accommodation I would recommend booking.com, however still look at other sites first such as trivago or hotels combined.
4. Be organised and plan!
If you plan out your trip properly, you can get everything so much cheaper. For example find out what tours and packages are available before hand, or see if you can get a transport pass for your stay. Also city cards are always worth looking in to as most city cards include free transport, a free city tour, money off at restaurants and in shopping centres, and money off or free entry into the most iconic tourist attractions. However I would always look in to how much things would cost compared to the city card, as for some people they do work out more expensive. Just make sure that yo don't go overboard and plan every single second of your break in advance, you don't want it to be too predictable, you need to leave somethings to the imagination.
5. Keep an open mind
If you're feeling adventurous, try doing an "all destinations" flight search and see what takes your fancy. For me the budget is the main deciding factor when it comes to booking a city break. I booked Budapest, Vilnius and Skopje purely for the fact that they were the cheapest places to go, and although I didn't really know what to expect, Budapest turned out to be my favourite city I've ever been to, Vilnius was just the perfect Christmas break and Skopje was the most pleasantly surprising city I've been to.
So, I have shared all my tricks with you on how to get the most out of your city break, now the rest is down to you! Wherever you go, just make sure you really enjoy yourself and make lots of new amazing memories. Good luck!
