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Weekend between a two week business trip to Amsterdam

Posted by (Valley Forge, PA) on

Hey travel pros:

I have to be in Amsterdam for a two-week business trip in late January. Will have the weekend of the 27th and 28th to go somewhere. I have spent a weekend in Amsterdam before, and I want to save a future trip to bring my wife over to hit the Amsterdam sights, so I want to go somewhere else for the weekend. I have spent a fair amount of time in London, Paris and Ghent in the past. I'd probably leave Friday evening and return Sunday evening.

Any suggestions? Train/plane doesn't matter. My co-workers were talking Sicily, Spain, the Med coast, but I don't want to spend 6-8 hours to get there. Besides, after spending 50+ hours with them per week, I think I'd prefer some time alone.

Thoughts I had: 1) quick flight to Dublin for some pub partying; 2) Bruges for some killer beer (although probably not much else to do in mid-winter); 3) London for the museums I missed last time...and can I ever get enough of my favorite city?

Thanks in advance.

Posted by
392 posts

Save Bruge for a trip with the wife, even in mid winter it's very romantic. Can you ski? Head to a trendy ski resort for great mix of exercise and drinking!

Posted by
4008 posts

I'd go skiing. If that's not for you, return to your favorite city and have a blast.

Posted by
3254 posts

I would do London. You're already familiar with the city so you can start enjoying yourself immediately.

London is no slouch in the pub category - that is, if you can tear yourself away from the museums. Hope The Wallace Collection in on your list!

Posted by
129 posts

Thank you for your suggestions. Methinks London is the way to go too. Didn't get to spend enough time in the British Museum last time through.

Now, fly or train? Pretty cheap airfares, but not familiar with the "non-Heathrow" airports. Is it relatively easy to get to the other airports (Luton, Gatwick, Southend, Stansted)? EasyJet only flies to those. Given that I hail from 5 generations of locomotive engineers, I do love trains, but the cost for a weekend seems high compared to flying.

Posted by
392 posts

London City airport is by far the best connected airport in terms of public transport. Flybe, KLM and BA all fly that route, Flybe is probably likely to be the cheapest. You can get off your train and if you have carry on luggage only you can literally be stood on the platform for the DLR (Docklands light railway) in 5 minutes and it's easy connections for the tube. You'll be in Central London in 20 minutes. Even if the flights are a bit more expensive than going to Stanstead or Luton you'll be saving on the expensive train connections to those airports not to mention time. Plus when you take off from London City you get a fantastic view of London!

Posted by
129 posts

I've always wanted to fly via LCY, although it's about $235 round trip vs. about $100 less via Gatwick (although I need to add about $40 for the Gatwick Express round trip) for my desired times. I'm grabbing a free Marriott on points in Westminster only a 10 minute walk from Victoria, so both the GE and the tube will work just fine. Plus, my leftover Oyster Card has about 25GBP on it.

Hmmm...interesting alternative--thank you.

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