Is a long weekend trip to Europe worth it? In short (and in my opinion), YES!
If you check out my blog post, 3 Days in Madrid: Travel Guide, you’ll see that recently, Rick and I took a long weekend trip to Madrid. The idea of taking a long weekend trip to Europe had been living rent-free in my mind for awhile, but when I first brought it up to Rick a few months back, he thought I was crazy. Why would we put ourselves through two nine-hour flights and a big time change for only a few days? Well, here is my reasoning:
I LOVE traveling. If I go more than a few months without a trip, I get restless. I crave that adventure. However, with a full-time, nine-to-five job, it can be hard to plan vacations numerous times a year without taking too much time off. So for me, it is essential to plan each and every one of my days off to a tee!
Europe is my love language. It’s my favorite place to travel to, and Rick and I have tried to go there once a year for the past few years to scratch that itch. However, I wanted to see if we could go more often than that. So, with Mardi Gras approaching and therefore having 2 days off of work for the festivities, I thought, why not test it out? If not now, when?
So I finally convinced Rick, we did it, it was completely manageable, and I’m now here to share my tips and what I learned with y’all!
TIP #1: Go somewhere that doesn’t have too many tourist sites that you feel obligated to go to, or go somewhere you’ve been before.
When we were deciding to do a long weekend in Europe, the first question was where? Since we were only going to be there for a few days, we wanted to either (1) go somewhere we had gone previously (so we would have already visited all the main tourist sites and wouldn’t feel the need to tour them again) or (2) go somewhere that wasn’t going to have an overwhelming amount of sites to see or museums to visit. For example, I didn’t want to go somewhere I hadn’t been to in the past, like Rome, where there are so, so many things I’d feel like I HAD to see. We also wanted to stay closer to the western side of Europe because the flights were more likely to be shorter and the time change would be a bit less.
We ended up choosing Madrid for those reasons. While Rick and I have been to other parts of Spain together before, neither of us had ever been to Madrid. Madrid is closer to the western side of Europe, our flight only had one lay-over, and there wasn’t an overwhelming amount of sites we felt obligated to visit. Also, we have both been focusing on learning Spanish lately, so we thought it’d be good to practice our new language skills, as well!
TIP #2: Take an overnight flight.
Like I said, we had off Monday and Tuesday for Mardi Gras. We decided to take off Friday, as well, and were able to find a late night flight on Thursday after work, which meant we would arrive in Madrid Friday afternoon. Our flight home was on Tuesday afternoon, so all in all, we had approximately 4 days in Madrid.
If you want to do a long weekend in Europe, my number one tip is to take an overnight flight! I find that an overnight flight leaves so much less room for jet-lag. Yes, you’ll likely still be tired, but flying overnight kind of forces you to sleep on the plane, and you wake up at a time that would be morning in the US. Plus, as an added bonus, an overnight flight means one less day that you have to take off of work. For example, instead of flying out Thursday during the day, pick a Thursday evening or night flight. This way, you still arrive in Europe the next day, but you don’t have to take that extra day off.
TIP #3: Utilize your off holidays!
I realize this may not apply to everyone, but if you are able, utilize the holidays off that you are given! If you have a Monday off for Memorial Day, leave the Thursday night before, and return that Monday or Tuesday. That way, you’re only taking one or two days off, but you’re essentially getting 3-4 days for your trip. Also, just as a side note, I find that the jet-lag isn’t nearly as bad on the way back to the US from Europe, so, referencing my Memorial Day example, it’s definitely manageable to arrive back home Monday and go to work on Tuesday. Will you be a little tired? Of course! But, I like to remind myself that I won’t remember how tired I was for a few days. Instead, I’ll remember the memories I made and the adventures I had.
TIP #4: Stay in centrally located accommodations.
When you travel abroad, especially to major cities, it can be extremely time consuming to commute. In my opinion, while staying in the city center, or the “old” town, may be more expensive, it is worth it when it comes to time–especially when only traveling over a long weekend. I recommend staying in a central location that is close to the majority of the sites you plan to visit!
TIP #5: Write a checklist of everything you’d like to do before arriving at your destination.
Before you arrive in your city of choice, make a list of all of the attractions you’d like to see, restaurants you’d like to go to, and things you’d like to do. I don’t like to go into a trip with a set schedule, but I do like to go in with a guide. With just a few days in the city, it can be a whirlwind, and if you bring a guide, you can divide the things you’d like to do between the days you’ll be there and make sure you don’t miss out on anything critical.
TIP #6: Book tickets in advance.
If you are planning on visiting a museum, a castle, or another tourist attraction, check the website and buy tickets in advance if you are able! Many sites (like the Prado Museum and the Royal Palace of Madrid) have extremely long lines that can take hours if you try to purchase tickets in person. However, their websites allow visitors to purchase tickets online, which, in turn, allows visitors to bypass the long lines. In my opinion, buying tickets ahead of time is really critical if you only have a few days in a city!
Like I said, we arrived in Madrid on Friday afternoon and left Madrid on Tuesday afternoon. While we were in Madrid, we decided that the trip would have been worth it even if we had left Madrid on Monday instead. Before our trip, Rick was a skeptic, but after being in Madrid for only 24 hours, Rick conceded and said he was so glad we made the trip!
So there are my tips for traveling to Europe for a long weekend! I realize that this may not appeal to everyone, but in my opinion, it was so worth it, and I hope this helps inspire one of you to take that weekend trip you’re dreaming of!
XX, Danielle
