🇳🇱 NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam
Canal boats, bike rides and pancakes, with a direct train from London.
City break✈️ 1h3 to 4 nights£££
BEST TIMEAPR–AUG
🏙️ HOLIDAY TYPE
City breaks
Museums, markets, parks and a good place for lunch. Here's where to go for a city break, how long to stay and the best months to visit.
City breaks: 47 guides
🇺🇸 UNITED STATES
Austin
Spring-fed pools, barbecue and a million bats at sunset.
City break✈️ 11h4 to 6 nights££
BEST TIMEAPR–MAY, OCT–NOV
🇹🇭 THAILAND
Bangkok
Golden temples, river boats and night markets, the classic start to a Thailand trip.
City break✈️ 13h3 to 4 nights£
BEST TIMENOV–FEB
🇪🇸 SPAIN
Barcelona
Gaudí's fairy-tale buildings, a city beach and tapas for dinner.
City break✈️ 2h3 to 5 nights££
BEST TIMEMAY–JUN, SEP
🇳🇴 NORWAY
Bergen
Wooden wharf houses, a funicular up the mountain and fjords on the doorstep.
City break✈️ 2h3 to 4 nights£££
BEST TIMEMAY–JUL
🇩🇪 GERMANY
Berlin
Huge playgrounds, a zoo in the middle of town and history on every corner.
City break✈️ 2h3 to 5 nights££
BEST TIMEMAY–SEP
🇺🇸 UNITED STATES
Boston
Follow a red line through history, see whales off the coast and catch a ball game.
City break✈️ 8h4 to 5 nights£££
BEST TIMEMAY–JUN, SEP–OCT
🇷🇴 ROMANIA
Brașov
Medieval squares, a bear sanctuary and Dracula's castle in the Carpathian Mountains.
City break✈️ 4h4 to 5 nights£
BEST TIMEMAY–JUN, SEP
🇿🇦 SOUTH AFRICA
Cape Town
Penguins on the beach, a mountain with a cable car and a jet-lag-free flight.
City break✈️ 13h10 to 14 nights££
BEST TIMENOV–MAR
🇨🇴 COLOMBIA
Cartagena
Colourful colonial streets, old city walls and island boat trips on Colombia's Caribbean coast.
City break✈️ 11h5 to 7 nights££
BEST TIMEDEC–MAR
BEST TIMEJUN–SEP
🇩🇰 DENMARK
Copenhagen
Old-fashioned fairground rides, harbour swims and the home of Lego next door.
City break✈️ 2h3 to 4 nights£££
BEST TIMEMAY–AUG
🇦🇪 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Dubai
Winter sun, water parks and the tallest building in the world.
City break✈️ 8h5 to 7 nights£££
BEST TIMENOV–MAR
🇵🇱 POLAND
Gdańsk
Tall painted merchant houses, amber shops and Baltic beaches a short train ride away.
City break✈️ 3h3 to 4 nights£
BEST TIMEJUN–AUG
🇧🇪 BELGIUM
Ghent
Canals, a real moated castle and chips by the water, without the Bruges crowds.
City break✈️ 1h2 to 3 nights££
BEST TIMEMAY–JUN, SEP
🇨🇦 CANADA
Halifax
Lighthouses, lobster rolls and the world's highest tides on Canada's Atlantic coast.
City break✈️ 7h5 to 7 nights££
BEST TIMEJUN–OCT
🇯🇵 JAPAN
Kanazawa
Samurai streets, gold-leaf ice cream and one of Japan's most beautiful gardens.
Culture & history✈️ 13h2 to 3 nights££
BEST TIMEAPR–MAY, OCT–NOV
🇵🇱 POLAND
Kraków
A castle with a fire-breathing dragon, an underground salt mine and great value.
City break✈️ 3h3 to 4 nights£
BEST TIMEMAY–SEP
🇵🇹 PORTUGAL
Lisbon
Yellow trams, custard tarts and beaches a train ride away, with no time difference.
City break✈️ 3h4 to 6 nights££
BEST TIMEAPR–JUN, SEP–OCT
🇸🇮 SLOVENIA
Ljubljana
A green, car-free old town, a castle on the hill and Lake Bled less than an hour away.
City break✈️ 3h4 to 7 nights££
BEST TIMEMAY–SEP
🇺🇸 UNITED STATES
Los Angeles
Disneyland, movie studios and miles of beaches in the sunshine.
City break✈️ 12h7 to 10 nights£££
BEST TIMEAPR, JUL–OCT
🇲🇽 MEXICO
Mexico City
Pyramids, colourful boats and some of the best food on earth.
City break✈️ 12h5 to 7 nights££
BEST TIMEMAR–APR, OCT–NOV
🇺🇸 UNITED STATES
Miami
Turquoise sea, airboats in the Everglades and Cuban food in Little Havana.
Beach✈️ 10h5 to 7 nights£££
BEST TIMENOV–APR
🇨🇦 CANADA
Montreal
A taste of France in North America, with festivals, bagels and a mountain in the middle.
City break✈️ 8h4 to 5 nights££
BEST TIMEJUN–OCT
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When to go
Where's at its best in each month of the year.
- March
- Cape Town, Cartagena, Dubai, Mexico City, Miami, New Orleans, Oaxaca, Singapore and 2 more
- April
- Amsterdam, Austin, Kanazawa, Lisbon, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, New Orleans and 9 more
- October
- Austin, Boston, Halifax, Kanazawa, Lisbon, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Montreal and 13 more
- November
- Austin, Bangkok, Cape Town, Dubai, Kanazawa, Mexico City, Miami, New Orleans and 3 more
City breaks: common questions
Where is good for a weekend city break?
Places like Amsterdam, Paris, Prague, Porto, Vienna and Kraków are short flights from the UK and easy to see in two or three nights.
When is the best time for a city break?
Spring and autumn suit most cities in Europe and North America: it's warm enough to walk all day without the summer crowds. Each guide shows its best months.
Where can we go for a city break in winter sun?
Dubai, Bangkok, Penang, Cape Town and Miami are all at their best between December and February.
Other kinds of holiday
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