Time for a closer look at capital city breaks in Europe. Apart from Paris, most capitals aren’t considered as exciting as scrappy, wannabe second or third cities. Says who? We’ve tested six of Europe’s capitals for city breaks and they’re all amazing. Number 6 is a bit of a wild card – take a look.
Canal Ring, Amsterdam
1/6 Amsterdam: easy to reach and amazing year round
If you need more reasons for family city breaks in Amsterdam – apart from the museums, galleries, zoos, beaches, 300 plus annual festivals and pancakes as a food group – just think: the city’s an hour from the UK and there are direct flights from London every day, all year round.
It’s one of Europe’s smallest capitals too, so you don’t have to blow the budget on central Amsterdam hotels. Think about Noord or Nieuw-West instead and you’re 10 minutes from the Anne Frank House, Museum Quarter and Artis Royal Zoo, as well as Jordaan’s historic canal houses, ridiculously pretty De Pijp and shopping on De 9 Straatjes.
As an added bonus, Amsterdam beaches are incredible in summer. For water sports and sandy shores try Sloterplas urban beach in Nieuw-West. Or if you want to expand your horizons, head out of the city just a little and join the locals at legendary Zandvoort aan Zee.
Book a holiday home in Amsterdam
Book a family hotel in Amsterdam
Nyhavn district, Copenhagen
2/6 Copenhagen: colourful city breaks in the land of fairy tales
Denmark is regularly named one of the world’s happiest countries. So no surprises that Copenhagen is also one of the best capitals for European city breaks.
It’s the city of Hans Christian Anderson and Tivoli Gardens. Christiana Cargo Bikes were invented here and it’s one of the world’s safest cycling cities. It’s also home to Den Blå Planet aquarium and colourful districts like Nyhavn, Østerbro and Vesterbro.
Hop on a train and you’ll find big, big beaches 20 minutes from the city centre. Or board a Harbour Bus and sail round the historic waterfront with the locals and without tourist cruise prices.
Copenhagen is another small capital, you can walk around easily. But public transport runs 24/7 and kids under 12 travel free with a Copenhagen Card.
Book a holiday home in Copenhagen
Book a family hotel in Copenhagen
Museum Island with Fernsehturm in background, Berlin
3/6 Berlin: one of the best weekend breaks in Europe
It might be one of Europe’s largest cities, but city breaks in Berlin are very easy going. It’s more like a collection of friendly villages than an urban sprawl and U-Bahn and S-Bahn transport services run end to end and operate non-stop on Friday and Saturday.
Long weekend breaks work well here. Flights from the UK take under two hours and both Berlin’s airports are less than 30 minutes from Mitte, where you want to be for big hitters like the Brandenburg Gate, Museum Island, Checkpoint Charlie, Tiergarten and Berlin Zoo.
Magical Spreewald is an hour from Mitte if you want to go sailing or cycling in an enchanted land-that-time-forgot fairy tale. Head to Tempelhof on Sundays for everything from kite-surfing to skateboarding on the vast, repurposed airfield. Spend Saturday wandering round Kreuzberg to impress cool teenagers. And, if you want to get your bearings fast, the 203m high Fernsehturm observation deck is the best place to start.
