A weekend destination accessible from Frankfurt…

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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 18 total)

  • MartynSinclair
    Participant

    I have a free weekend February 16th. Can anyone suggest a destination for either of the following:

    1. to find some sun, within 2 hours (max) flying from Frankfurt….

    or

    2. A small boutique style top end hotel, with a good restaurant, bar and scenery, outside of a major city… and not in the snow…. easily accessible from Frankfurt…

    Its important… many thanks indeed…


    MarcusSorensen
    Participant

    Nice is for me the perfect getaway – just about 1,5 hour flight from Frankfurt. Book a hotel near Promenade des Anglais – the bus will take you directly from the airport. Spent a day in the Old City and eat at some of the good restaurants.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    An interesting challenge and I’m not sure of the answer as at this time of the year it’s hard to guarantee sun (at least warm sun) just two hours from FRA. Malta and Cyprus came to mind but are over the two hour limit, and having been to both in February and March, believe me can be cold, wet, and windy.

    Given the 2 hour limit, I’d be looking at PMI (slightly over 2h) as once you get away from the squalor of the Arenal area, there are some beautiful places up in the north of the island which would fit most of the requirements. Or there’s Tunisia, which might have a better chance of sun but I doubt if it would fit the other requirements very well. As sort of compromise.

    Other suggestions would be Verona/Florence, Pisa, or Venice (the carnival is over, it was this weekend). All will be cold.

    Hmm …. NCE. I’ll put my cards on the table at the start and say that I am no fan of anything French. In February, it might get some sun and it’s less than 2 hours flying from FRA. Other than that, I don’t see it fitting Martyn’s requirements at all.

    It’s a major city, France’s third or fourth largest I think, and it’s crowded, noisy, has major traffic problems, and apart from one small area, totally devoid of charm, as are the people who work in the ‘hospitality’ industry. In my view, it’s a foul place, but that’s just me.

    There are some villages in the hills inland from there and along the coast which offer scenery and typical French restaurants, which are a matter of opinion as to whether that’s good or not. St. Paul de Vence, Villefranche, Beaulieu sur Mer, or Eze Village come to mind and they probably have ’boutique’ type hotels with high prices and snooty condescending French service. However, sun not guaranteed.


    Swissdiver
    Participant

    Rome or Florence are indeed good ideas. Alternatively you could look at Salzburg or Prague.


    AlanOrton1
    Participant

    Valencia – could be between 15-20c and generally sunny.
    Lots of great Tapas restaurants, and wide range of hotels from boutique to 5* by the beach.


    rjhcambs
    Participant

    Bologna. If the weather is not good at least there are plenty of good restaurants.


    canucklad
    Participant

    Maybe something and somewhere a bit mote quirky Martyn ?

    I’d highly recommend Vigo in Northern Spain ( Galicia,)on the Atlantic ocean. I’m sure that I saw an LH flight on the boards when I was there at the end of last year.

    Off the beaten track, real Spain, few tourists to dilute the feel of the place, great restaurants (apparently -me and my mates survived on tapas) and quite a few things to do , including……

    Nearby Santiago de Compostela, easily accessed by the frequent train service
    A beautiful nature reserve called Cies Island
    and tons of bars along the lovely promenade.

    the best day we had was just getting lost, its a very compact city, so one minute we where in the city centre, next minute sitting in a suburban pub and then 1o minutes later back to somewhere we recognised.


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    Two suggestions Martyn.
    One is Athens. Beautiful now and not too hot. Hotels are also quite cheap.
    The other is Porto. Some great hotels, check LHW.com. A fantastic shopping centre nearby if Mrs. MS is with you, great food, especially fish, at very reasonable prices.
    Keep us updated.


    fults_flyer
    Participant

    For the 2nd request, I would suggest a nice spa resort on Lake Constance. A 50 minute flight from Frankfurt down to Friedrichshafen and Lindau is an exceptionally beautiful small town on the lake with very good restaurants, quiet atmosphere and some very nice spa hotels for a proper relax. For example Hotel Helvetia. The long range weather puts it at 9C and sunny with no snow.


    icenspice
    Participant

    I will second that suggestion, fults_flyer, although I have only been to the western end of the lake…Konstanz, on the Swiss border. Also in winter.

    Otherwise, Bologna is a great idea. And Venice, of course ?


    capetonianm
    Participant

    Of all the suggestions made here, the one that would most appeal to me is Lindau, one of many attractive places in the area.

    I had thought of OPO (or LIS) but they are slightly over the 2 hours flight limit.

    Martyn please let us know what you decide!


    MarcusSorensen
    Participant

    @capetonianm; I guess we are not here to criticize each others proposals but to give inputs to Marty


    capetonianm
    Participant

    Marcus, it was not my intent to criticise each others’ proposals. I appreciate that many people like Nice. I happen to loathe the place, but I did concede that there are some places in the area which might suit Martyn’s requirement.


    sailandfly
    Participant

    Hi Martyn,

    Will add few options in Croatia to list of the suggestions.

    Hotel Lone In Rovinj (region of Istria) gets lots of good reviews and if you are into design hotels & truffles you could enjoy big time in Istria.

    Hilton outside city walls of Dubrovnik is not a huge establishment and in mid Feb Dubrovnik is not occupied by GoT fans.

    Heritage Hotel Antique Split in Split is small, serves just breakfast but it is centraly located and few really good restaurants around.

    For Rovinj Trieste is the closest airport and from there it’s 2.5 hrs drive. LH and OU fly directly to SPU and DBV most of the days and flight time is less than 2h.

    Weather forecast for that wend says overcast, 12-13°C but weather in Feb is hard to predict.


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    Thank you all for your suggestions.

    bearing in mind this is a strict 24 hours away…

    I have been to Porto for a meeting, overnight – but on reflection any flight is going to lose us at least in each direction, 90 minutes from leaving the city to boarding + 90 minutes flight (min, except of course for fults_flyer’s suggestion) + 1 hour minimum getting to our destination hotel or back to our starting point in Fra. That’s 8 hours of our 24 gone = only 16 hours – left.

    I think the sun will be the problem. So, we have decided to get in a car and drive to the nearest schloss, which needs to have a fabulous room, superb restaurant and decent grounds to get some fresh air….

    To make all your wonderful suggestions work, we need longer than 24 hours… this has been noted….

    Thank you all once again…

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