burnessie
I’m a huge fan of a city break. Being able to fit in a whole world of new food and culture in a few short days without the need to use loads of your annual leave – what’s not to love?
However, city breaks can get stressful and what should be a relaxing long weekend can get hectic very easily! As a seasoned traveller, I’m sharing advice on how to have a stress free city break.
Read on for my tips on how to get the most out of a city break, and ensure you return home feeling like you’ve actually had a break rather than needing another holiday immediately on return!
Stress Free City Breaks Contents:
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1. Have A Rough Itinerary
City breaks tend to be a long weekend in length or sometimes even shorter, so it’s best to get a bit organised in advance of your trip to maximise your time. I like to know roughly what I want to see on each day – a bit of organisation goes a long way to achieving a stress free city break.
Not everything has to be laid out down to the hour – this is a holiday, after all, but checking the opening times and crucially in Europe – days, of places and restaurants you want to visit is going to save you time, stress and disappointment.
It’s also worth doing a bit of research to see which places on your hitlist are close together so you’re not darting across the city in a rush only to realise that you were just around the corner visiting that museum yesterday, and you could’ve grouped them together.
This is particularly smart in places such as New York and Paris, where distances can be great, journeys can get long and neighbourhoods are easily explored in little pockets.
2. Have Five Things You Definitely Want To Do, And Do Them
A part of the joy of discovering a new city is leaving some things open to chance and spontaneity, and I’m in no way suggesting you don’t leave some time to wander aimlessly and take it all in.
As much as it’s great to hit every single tourist hotspot a city has to offer, it’s exhausting and you can often feel like you aren’t getting a genuine feel for a place if you don’t leave some time to sit back, have a long lazy lunch and watch the world go by around you.
Most cities cannot be fully explored in a short few days – imagine trying to do that with London! It’s impossible. That said, I always have a handful of places to go or restaurants to eat in that I absolutely do not want to miss, and I plan my time in a new place around them.
Have a hit list of five or so places you definitely want to see during your trip. This will avoid frustration, whilst satisfying the wanderlust that brought you to this city in the first place. You can always return to the destination, and it’s nice to have an excuse to go back – but do plan to get the things you were most looking forward to ticked off!
Getting lost in a new city can be great, but it can also be really stressful. Having an idea of where you’re going and how to navigate a new place in advance definitely helps have a stress free city break.
My mobile network allows me to use my data allowance in most European countries, which I find comforting to avoid getting lost – especially as a solo traveller. However, Google Maps allow you to download areas in advance to navigate offline, which is well worth doing.
I also love using Citymapper, which many cities have now – it’s a great way to see all the different options for getting between places, and will show you the quickest routes and how much trains and taxis will cost.
Public transport in most cities is easy to use and cost efficient, and hotels and Air BnB hosts will readily give you a map and some instructions as to how to get around with ease, but I like to look up how to get around a new city before I arrive. At the very least, I recommend looking up where your accommodation is situated in relation to the sights.
4. Book In Advance
These days it’s annoyingly necessary to book certain attractions and restaurants in advance to avoid disappointment.
Popular sights such as the Royal Alcazar in Seville or The Vatican and the Sistine Chapel will book out entirely so it’s vital to purchase tickets in advance if there’s something you definitely want to do. The advantage with booking in advance is there is sometimes a discount, and you’ll get to skip the queues with an allotted time slot.
Increasingly it’s the same situation with restaurants. If there’s somewhere you’re desperate to eat, book in advance to avoid the stress and panic of trying to get a table on a busy weekend night.
5. Consider The Timing Of Your Flights
The timing of your flights can have a direct effect on how relaxing a city break is. Everyone’s different, but consider how you like to travel when booking. Do you like to max every hour out, or do you prefer a more leisurely expeirence?
I’ve always been someone to max out the holiday days I have, which often means going somewhere over a weekend or bank holiday, but the older I get the less I appreciate taking a flight at the crack of dawn. I don’t enjoy starting a trip exhausted, and if the trains aren’t running yet you’re looking at a spenny cab to get to the airport – often cancelling out the cheaper early flight.
That said, if time is limited, it’s not necessarily the best use of time to get a later flight and inadvertently spend the whole day travelling. I’m starting to see the value in paying for an extra nights accommodation and travelling after work in order to wake up in a new place rested and ready to take on a whole day of city break-ing.
6. Choose The Right Accommodation For You, In The Right Location
The type of accommodation you book should be right for you. For a lot of people the ease and comfort of a hotel with 24 hour reception and concierge is going to be the best way to a stress free city break.
As a solo traveller, I love an Air BnB. There are so many amazing, quirky and beautifully decorated properties available to stay in and for a solo traveller they usually work out a lot cheaper. I’ve had a great experience with hosts being really helpful on recommendations and early/late check in too, which definitely eases stress.
The most important thing to bear in mind when booking your accommodation is the location of wherever you do choose to stay. Do your research – is it close the city’s main attractions, to bars and restaurants? Is it a safe area? Or is it too far out from everything that will eat into your long weekend away? City breaks should ideally maximise your time – don’t spend it travelling into the city you’ve come to visit.
7. Plan Where To Leave Your Luggage
If you have a late flight, which most people do during a city break to utilise the most of their short time away, remember to plan what to do with your luggage on your last day.
Fine if you’ve been staying at a hotel as you can always use their left luggage service, but if you’ve been staying in an Air BnB or will spend the day far away from your hotel, logistically it may be better to leave your luggage in a more central location.
Check out Radical Storage for a good left luggage service in your city of choice.
8. Pack Well
Make sure to check the weather forecast before packing for your trip – it’s too easy to assume everywhere that isn’t the UK will be warm and sunny. This year in Sicily I had the misfortune situation of the weather turning and only having one pair of leggings and no coat. Being cold and wet is not conducive to a stress free city break!
This should go without saying, but given city breaks tend to involve a lot of walking around and climbing up monuments and old cathedrals for the views, be sure to take comfortable shoes to wear. There is nothing that will make you more miserable than trying to push on through a city on foot with blisters all over your feet.
My final packing tip to help have a stress free city break is to take a back up charger to charge your phone on the go. There’s no need to worry about not being able to use your phone when navigating or missing out on some photos of the amazing places you’re seeing because your phone is dead. I swear by this one.
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