I have to be in Zurich for business this coming October. My D is studying in England and I wanted to arrange a short mother daughter weekend. We would travel Friday, have full days Saturday and Sunday and travel back home Monday. I thought she could either travel to Zurich and we could take a train somewhere for the weekend or we could both fly somewhere and meet there.
Currently, we set our hopes on Seville, Spain. However, the logistics are not favorable. Direct flights are few and some of the schedules arrive too late in the day. There seems to be a mandatory stop over in Madrid, which wastes at least 2 hours of the travel day.
We are looking at other options and hope that someone suggests something we have not thought about. It needs to be easy to get to by train or plane. I prefer not to take the budget airlines (Easy Jet, Veuling) because I will have check-in luggage due to the business trip and it adds up. I would like it to be safe, affordable and walkable. I am not looking to rent a car. We usually like to explore cities and try local foods. We love markets where we could find something local to take home.
Here is the list of places we have been so they are not on the list: Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Barcelona, Madrid, Brugges, Edinburgh. I have also traveled within Switzerland during prior business trips so I prefer to see something new.
I’m a huge Italy fan and its very affordable right now. How about Venice? Or Florence? Both very walkable and plenty to do in a few days and great food.
Or Milan? If you are in any way a foodie, there is a giant international food expo going on until the end of October and can combine it with other sightseeing. A family member just went and enjoyed it.
Nice problem to have! I hope you have fun. Have you considered German cities - Berlin is very popular with young Brits (I’m told). I don’t know your interests, but world class museums, Charlottenburg Schloss or Potsdam (simple public transport) for Frederick the Great Palaces, WW II sites, etc, etc. Not the charm of Prague or some of the other cities you’ve mentioned since it was so heavily bombed and re-built, but an easy city to explore with very helpful, friendly locals. I did not check air or train from Zurich. Also not clear if you are returning to the states from your mother/daughter destination or going back to Zurich, so don’t know how it would impact your personal plans. Another idea - Budapest is wonderful and 3 days is great. Beautiful city just for wandering - whereas Berlin is maybe more for planning.
For fun and the “dream on” factor, I looked at today’s Zurich Airport departures. Lots of choices, but then I didn’t get into the analysis of budget vs non-budget airlines - which I fully understand and appreciate or analyze schedules. But - if we haven’t come up with the ideal for you, that might be an easy way to “shop”.
Thanks everyone. Great ideas! I am saving Italy for a milestone trip with DH but it is quite tempting, especially the food festival in Milan. Budapest sounds interesting… Vienna and Innsbruck were discussed and it might be something we want to see but when the Christmas markets are up. Sadly, we are just before they start. Making my list. We are also adding Copenhagen. It seems to be only two hours from both London and Zurich.