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 I’ve spent many a night on Skyscanner seeking out miraculously cheap tickets, but I have no flights booked – not even a train.

I’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, I’m going to do something a little bit different for this post.

Here are the main contenders for my next getaway. Now, I’m not going to do anything silly and ask you to vote for where I should go, I just want to showcase why it is I’m ‘drawn’ to these cities, and if you’ve been and have any tips for me – great; if not – no worries.

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

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 I’ve never really wanted to go before. That sounds odd, but I’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 – there’s something refreshing about a city that’s still unfamiliar, which is the same way I felt when visiting Oslo last year.

Secondly, Denmark won this year’s Eurovision, and I’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 – I’d love to visit Azerbaijan.)

Also, Copenhagen looks really, really beautiful.

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

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 it’s the beauty, size and grandeur of the place that everyone I know who’s been raves about.  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:     Regular, cheap flights from Manchester with Ryanair. Never been to Hungary before. Affordable.
Cons:    Flights fall on slightly inconvenient days.

Bratislava

Years ago, a friend and I decided that we would one day go to Bratislava (or ‘Bratty’ as we have come to call it). I can’t really remember why or when exactly that was, but ever since, good ol’ Bratty has been in the back of my mind. Five(-ish) years later and we still haven’t been. And I can’t think of a single reason why.

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

Pros:      It’s Bratty. And I’ve never been to Slovakia. Easy distance from other cities, namely Budapest.
Cons:     Would have to fly from Liverpool.

Belfast

There seems to be a bit of a buzz about Belfast at the minute. I read quite a few good blog posts about Northern Ireland’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 I’ve never been that interested in and thus know little about, but I’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 – it definitely offers a history and culture you can’t find anywhere else.

Pros:      Cheap and regular flights from Manchester with easyjet and Flybe.
Cons:     The ‘it’s-so-close-I-could-go-whenever’ attitude.

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 hadn’t been to Portugal before, but after a bit of digging and reading some persuasive blog posts, I can’t believe I’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.

There’s also the Lello bookshop, said to be J.K. Rowling’s inspiration for Hogwarts and just generally beautiful in every way.

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

So there’s what you might call my ‘wishlist for now.’ Of course, there’s every chance I may end up going somewhere completely different (or, depressingly, nowhere at all), but these are the handful of cities I’ve been eager to visit all year and if I don’t make it this year, at least there’s another 25 days of holiday waiting in 2014…