How To Plan A City Break

When it comes to travelling I have the same cliché ambitions as any other dreamer, being able to quit your job and just travel the world with nothing but a camera and backpack to keep you company. But frankly, I'm just not ballsay enough, my funds are insufficient, and this dream crosses my other life-plan of owning cute country cottage with enough land for a Shetland pony. So, the next best thing for keeping my travel bug under bay is a city break.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love two-week holidays, especially when I come back feeling fabulously tanned, but this year we thought we'd go for something a little different, not that it took me four months to bring in some dollar. Neither me or Jay have ever been on a city break, so knowing where to start was a challenge. But we got their in the end, and as of 5:15pm today I will be bursting out of the office a little like this.

1. CHOOSE YOUR DESTINATION
This is probably the hardest decision of them all, unless you know exactly where you want to go. With the popularity of city-breaks rising, there are so many new places popping up that you've probably never heard of. From this moment onwards Trip Advisor should be your new best friend. Take time to research into the city, to understand the best time of year to visit, the types of things you can see and do whilst your there, what food is on offer. More importantly, ask around. The best travel tips come from those who have already experienced it- it's the main reason as to why we chose Barcelona.

2. SET A BUDGET
Be realistic. I'm not suggesting you do something crazy like try and stick to only spending £462, but give yourself a price range. It'll help with the whole deciding on where to go part, and when it comes to booking flights, the earlier you book, they cheaper they are!

3. FIND A HOTEL
This is one we pondered over for far too many evenings. I spent hours on Booking.com, Trip Advisor and Airbnb searching for that perfect accommodation. Reality check, if it's a city break then you're most probably only going to be using the room to sleep in, so don't stress out. The most important factor is location. We've settled for a quirky, but budget, hostal that's has the most perfect location, there's a Mango Outlet store just across the road, meaning we can spend more of our budget on enjoying the surroundings, eating good food and buying a whole new wardrobe.

4. CREATE AN ITINERARY
I'm not one of those weirdos who has every single minute of their holiday planned out, but it turns out I do like to have an idea of what we want to do. When you're going away for a long summer holiday its quite easy to go with the flow, but when you only really have 3 whole days, you want to have some kind of kick-ass plan. Trip Advisor is great for getting the inside info on what you can't miss, and even if you don't go with anything pre-booked, you can still have a few ideas floating around.

See ya on the other side