Travel talk

Top 5 cities I want to see next

Since getting back from the sunny shores of Kos at the beginning of the month, I have found myself in a slightly unfamiliar situation: I have no future travel plans. I have some ideas, sure, and Iā€™ve spent many a night on Skyscanner seeking out miraculously cheap tickets, but I have no flights booked ā€“ not even a train.

Iā€™m not complaining in the least – the world is my oyster. (Provided it fits into the four days of holiday I have left until January.)

So for that reason, Iā€™m going to do something a little bit different for this post.

Here are the main contenders for my next getaway. Now, Iā€™m not going to do anything silly and ask you to vote for where I should go, IĀ just want to showcase why it is Iā€™m ā€˜drawnā€™ to these cities, and if youā€™ve been and have any tips for me ā€“ great; if not ā€“ no worries.

(*Please note that – for the first time – none of these photos are mine.)

Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen

The Danish capital is a strong contender for a number of reasons. Firstly, and somewhat bizarrely, one of the reasons I want to go is because Iā€™ve never really wanted to go before. That sounds odd, but Iā€™ve spent a number of years planning and waiting to visit cities, sometimes even studying them in depth at uni, to the point where I already know a lot about them ā€“ thereā€™s something refreshing about a city thatā€™s still unfamiliar, which is the same way I felt when visiting Oslo last year.

Secondly, Denmark won this yearā€™s Eurovision, and Iā€™ve always wanted to start a tradition of visiting the victor of Eurovision every year, if only because it might take me to countries I might not ordinarily visit. Like France. Or Azerbaijan. (Just kidding ā€“ Iā€™d love to visit Azerbaijan.)

Also, Copenhagen looks really, really beautiful.

Pros:Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā  Regular, cheap weekend flights from Manchester with easyjet. Never been to Denmark before.
Cons:Ā Ā Ā Ā  Hugely expensive accommodation.


Budapest

Budapest

Budapest

Budapest has been high on my list ever since Malev Airlines went bust and Ryanair began offering amazing deals. I studied the city quite a bit in my final year of uni, and being a big Eastern European buff, its history definitely appeals to me, but itā€™s the beauty, size and grandeur of the place that everyone I know whoā€™s been raves about.Ā  The photos look amazing, but I need to see it for myself.

When I finally go, Szobor Park will be high up on my list to visit first.

Pros:Ā Ā Ā Ā  Regular, cheap flights from Manchester with Ryanair. Never been to Hungary before. Affordable.
Cons:Ā Ā Ā Ā Flights fall on slightly inconvenient days.


Bratislava

Bratislava

Bratislava

Years ago, a friend and I decided that we would one day go to Bratislava (or ā€˜Brattyā€™ as we have come to call it). I canā€™t really remember why or when exactly that was, but ever since, good olā€™ Bratty has been in the back of my mind. Five(-ish) years later and we still havenā€™t been. And I canā€™t think of a single reason why.

Iā€™ve seen beautiful photo after beautiful photo, heard unending praise with the lone criticism being that the city was ā€˜a bit small.ā€™ For a while there was a plan to see Bratislava and Budapest in one fell swoopĀ this Autumn, but budget restrictions may put an end to that, and Bratty may have to wait another year.

Pros:Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā  Itā€™s Bratty. And Iā€™ve never been to Slovakia.Ā Easy distance from other cities, namely Budapest.
Cons:Ā Ā Ā Ā  Would have to fly from Liverpool.


Belfast

Belfast's Titanic museum

Belfast’s Titanic museum

There seems to be a bit of a buzz about Belfast at the minute. I read quite a few good blog posts about Northern Irelandā€™s capital at the beginning of the year and have continued to hear good things since. Whilst there might be pockets of unrest now and again, Belfast has done a lot recently to open itself up to tourism, including the renovation of the Titanic Quarter.

Belfast is another city Iā€™ve never been that interested in and thus know little about, but Iā€™m keen to learn more. I really do need to see more of the UK and I think Belfast must be one of the most interesting cities in the country – itĀ definitely offers a history and culture you canā€™t find anywhere else.

Pros:Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā  Cheap andĀ regular flights from Manchester with easyjet and Flybe.
Cons:Ā Ā Ā Ā  The ā€˜itā€™s-so-close-I-could-go-wheneverā€™ attitude.


Porto

Porto

Porto

Porto looks ridiculously amazing. I have seen nothing but good photos of the place. The city only really appeared on my radar earlier this year when I realised I hadnā€™t been to Portugal before, but after a bit of digging and reading some persuasive blog posts, I canā€™t believe Iā€™d never considered it. The city strikes me as incredibly beautiful, but still a bit off the usual tourist trail, particularly in comparison to Iberian cities like Madrid or Barcelona.

Thereā€™s also the Lello bookshop, said to be J.K. Rowlingā€™s inspiration for Hogwarts and just generally beautiful in every way.

Pros:Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā  First foray into Portugal. Chance to work on photography skills.
Cons: Ā Ā Ā  No direct flights from Manchester, and very hard to find cheap flights from Liverpool.

So thereā€™s what you might call my ā€˜wishlist for now.ā€™ Of course, thereā€™s every chance I may end up going somewhere completely different (or, depressingly, nowhere at all), but these are the handful of cities Iā€™ve been eager to visit all year and if I donā€™t make it this year, at least thereā€™s another 25 days of holiday waiting in 2014…

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