Over the last couple of years, staycation has become, by default, the preferred kind of holiday. Even now, with restrictions lightening, for many it’s the most straightforward way to take time off and get away with your family. Today we’re taking a look at your next city break to see how you can make it really special.
See a New Side of the City
The problem with many city breaks is that there is, for want of a better word, an authorised way to see the city you’re going to. Renowned restaurants, historic churches, parks and museums. To make your next city break really special, you need to discover a new side to the city.
Finding a London scavenger hunt, for example, is a great way to explore the city with new eyes. Clues and riddles will help you learn more about an aspect of the city’s history, find hidden architectural gems and take you down streets you’d never thought to explore. It’s a great way to rediscover a city that has become a rotation of the same big museums, West End musicals and expensive restaurants.
Spread Your Wings
When you’re choosing a city break in the UK, the choice often comes down to a few favourites, the historic delights of Bath and the Oxbridge university towns, London’s theatrical delights, and the film and TV playgrounds of Edinburgh and Belfast.
This is a list that’s easy to exhaust and pumps up your budget. Look a bit further afield and you’ll find some options that are new, exciting and easier on the wallet. Newcastle is a city with a rich industrial history and a recent spate of regeneration along the waterfront that means exciting restaurants and bravura architecture. Manchester is a media and foodie capital!
Go Local
One of the most important bits of advice for truly special travel – whether you’re travelling in your home country or around the world – is to ditch your guidebook and follow the locals. While seeing tourist attractions and obvious sites can be fun, it can also be expensive, and means you end up with the same stories to tell as everyone else.
Follow the locals and you’ll make new discoveries – the bars and restaurants the actors go to for a cheap meal after the show you’ve just seen. The small parks and public gardens that are the heart of the micro-communities that make up a big city. They’ll show you a new city, full of new discoveries, well worth making.
