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Short Trip from Madrid - Advice Needed!

My 21-year-old son is studying in Madrid this summer for two months, and is eager to do a quick weekend trip somewhere else in Europe during his break (basically 5 days at the end of June). He's seen a bunch of Spain already (Barcelona, Toledo, Valencia, etc.) so is eager to head to a new country with friends. Money is an object (e.g., they are hoping to find reasonably priced accommodations - hostels, etc., will fly a discount airline, etc.).

He's already visited (with his family) Paris, Nice, London, Rome, Venice, Naples, Lisbon so he would ideally go someplace different (although he's not averse to returning to one of those places since he'll be with friends this time).

I know so many people on this forum are expert travelers, so I'd appreciate any advice you have. Thanks!

Posted by
6783 posts

With money being tight, I would look at flight prices first. Google Flights has a great feature: if you have your dates, you can set your departure city and just leave "Europe" in th destination field. Then add filters for, e.g., direct flights or flight length, and you will have a map show up with prices for all possible destinations from Madrid.
At a quick glance with dates set between 25-30 June, flights to Porto are looking very cheap, and Porto itself is affordable too, so that could be fun!

Posted by
3874 posts

I think Poland will fit the bill perfectly! It's very affordable, has fascinating culture and history, and good food and beer.

I'd recommend either Krakow or Wroclaw, they're both old University towns with a youthful atmosphere and a popular city break with young Europeans.