Top 3 city breaks

3 – Bydgoszcz (Poland)

Where: Bydgoszcz, Poland

Getting there: fly to Bydgoszcz from Birmingham direct in 2 hours.

Built on the Brda river, Bydgoszcz makes use of the water flowing through it with lovely renovated old mill buildings which now serve as eateries and museums. As the NATO capital of Poland, Bydgoszcz feels welcoming and relaxed. We stayed on a floating houseboat on the river directly opposite the Bydgoszcz opera house which made for an incredible early morning view from the deck and there are numerous cafes along the waterfront serving lovely breakfasts and dinners. The Pierogarnia Stary Młyn Bydgoszcz was a particular highlight, serving delightful traditional Polish pierogi in large quantities but very high quality. 

Młyny Rothera on Mill Island is a gorgeous open space with grass parks, water features, cafes and renovated mill buildings where you can spend hours enjoying the weather and view. You can hire a kayak or pedalo for €17 for an hour and we rowed upstream and saw the city buildings from the water, including the famous floating ‘tight-rope walking’ stature from underneath. The Saint Andrew Bobola's Church is a pretty 19th century, gothic looking church just outside the city centre surrounded by parks.

The city centre at Stary Rynek has a large open square with cafes and bars circulating the perimeter and the Restauracja i Apartamenty Katarynka serves fantastic ice cream, often accompanied by quite a substantial queue of hungry people. At night, the city centre lights up with coloured lanterns overhead and cafes become bars serving local and international beers.

For a quick and cheap weekend getaway, Bydgoszcz is a really nice alternative to over-touristy destinations such as Amsterdam and Bruges. It lacks in size but makes up for it in relaxed attitudes and friendly people and could easily be added to a larger Eastern European itinerary.

2 – Kaunas (Lithuania)

Where: Kaunas, Lithuania

Getting there: fly to Kaunas from London Luton for as cheaply as £20. 

Kaunas is a gorgeous fortress town built at the point the Nemunas and Neris rivers meet. It is roughly the size of Nottingham, so it is big enough to spend a weekend here without seeing the same things over and over again but at the same time everything is a walkable distance away. 

There is a gothic castle (€4 entry) built in 14th century at the centre of the city with some delightful gardens which back on to the river peninsula for a nice afternoon stroll. Along the cobbled city streets, the Church of Vytautas the Great has a picturesque tower and the town hall at the centre provides a large square for the classic European café culture to thrive. There are some excellent cafes and restaurant serving lovely breakfasts such as the Brunch Bar and Marsas Mieste and while we were there in late September, there was an art and culture exhibit in the garden of the at the Istorinės LR Prezidentūros parkas which continued as market stalls selling arts and crafts all through the town. The Yard Gallery is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it street art installation with quirky painted wall murals and elegant sculptures (free entry). 

The Uno Park is an outdoor adventure treetop climbing centre where you get buckled into via ferrata and climb and zip line yourself through high-wire obstacles (€22 each). We managed to complete the children’s entry-level green course before giving up, realising our fear of heights was to much and the small 6-year-old girl stuck behind us was getting bored of waiting. Still, if you like heights and climbing, then this is the place for you! There is a water-ski training facility here and a nice sand beach to relax on with a beer. Get a taxi or Uber to this car park and walk the 10 minutes down the lake side to reach the complex. The Kauno marių regioninis parkas is a large lagoon fed by the rivers with some beautiful nature trails around it and longer hikes if wanted.

For a short weekend trip away in late summer / early autumn, Kaunas is such a treat. Cobbled streets and café culture blended with some lovely buildings and outdoor pursuits makes a really fun weekend for relatively cheap.

1 – Eger (Hungary)

Where: Eger, Hungary

Getting there: fly to Budapest and get the train (2 hours) or fly to Košice (Slovakia) and get the train (3 hours). You may need to change at Füzesabony.

I first discovered Eger in 2009 on my first backpacking trip around Eastern Europe and I’ve been back 4 times since (2010, 2015, 2022, 2023) and it is my favourite place on earth. I rarely re-visit places at all but given that any trip through Eastern Europe tends to go through Budapest and that Eger is only 2 hours away on a train, it seems rude not to!

Eger (pop 53,000) is a town famous for the downfall of the Ottoman empire. Allegedly (and depending on who you talk to) legend has it that 100,000 Ottoman Turks arrived at the door of the fabulous Eger Castle (Egri Vár) ready to invade. The night before, the 1,000 odd Hungarian soldiers realised their time was up and in celebration of the end, put all of their wine into one massive vat, making it dark and rich in colour. They all had a good few glasses but upon the incoming morning of the invasion; were essentially still intoxicated. This Dutch courage gave them a little more than just bravado as the Ottomans thought they had been drinking the blood of a bull due to the dark red patches on the Hungarian beards and their overzealous emotional state. This was enough to deter the Turks, so they scurried off, much to the bewilderment of the castle owners. This is the legend of the Hungarian Bulls Blood wine, dark in colour and menacing in appearance. 

Eger has 4 main attractions, the castle being the first, a gothic structure from the 1400s which costs £5.30 to enter per person. An hour or so spent here with a lovely view of the town is more than enough and then it is on to the least expected part of the town: a genuinely excellent Beatles museum (£8.80 entry). The owner, a very eccentric Hungarian Beatles obsessive, has collected an astounding amount of Beatles memorabilia over the years, including replicas of the guitars and amplifiers used in their recordings and the museum won the prestigious Star of Eger awards in 2021. Most of the displays are interactive including an upstairs room with guitars, ukuleles and songs books for you to jam along with and if you’re lucky; the owner will let you play his special John Lennon Apple Building performance style Rickenbacker guitar. 

Next up on the list is the gorgeous Egri Termál- és Strandfürdő, an outdoor hot spa which the town was originally built on and hangover-cure-in-chief (£11.70 entry). There are dozens of outdoor pools at varying different temperatures and the difference in quality and space (not to mention price) between this and the Széchenyi Thermal Bath in Budapest is incredible. You can literally spend all day here soaking up the steaming hot water, playing a game of chess on a floating board or just relaxing in the gardens. After you’ve finished your swim, catch the land train from outside of the hot spring to the most exciting part of Eger (and possible the whole world): Szépasszonyvölgy Eger, otherwise known as the Valley of the Beautiful woman.

On the outskirts of town, you’ll find a small horseshoe shaped path at the end of an unassuming road surrounded by Hungarian restaurants called Szépasszonyvölgy Eger. This is where roughly 30 wine cellars are built into the rockface, and you can go in and drink a glass of house wine for less than £1 per glass. Each wine cellar has its own vibe with some playing live music and all offer snacks and water but let’s face it, you’re here for the wine. Each place has probably 6-10 different wines to chose from and it is your duty to make sure you try produce from as many outlets as possible. There is even a central wooden area where you can light fire pits and cook your dinner if camping or just stay warm into the night. This place is utterly enchanting and goes hand in hand with a visit to the glorious spa the next morning to help sweat out the hangover. 

Eger is pretty, quiet and there is a real feel that only Hungarians know about this place. It is such a treat to visit this wonderful little town, and I’ll be certainly heading back for a 6th (maybe 7th) time for a 6th (maybe 7th) glass of wine. Use our advice or not, remember: it’s what you know, not who you know.