5 Perfect city day trips.

City day trips that TripAdvisor community talks you out of doing.

TripAdvisor is one of my most favorite resources when it comes to trip planning and research. I am a big TripAdvisor community, but sometimes it is very discouraging to read the community responses to questions about city day trips. Here is list of 5 perfect city day trips that I did in the past. I spend on average 6-7 hours in each of those cities and I’m glad I had a chance to see those amazing places even for a short time .

I wish I had an extra day in Tarragona to visit Roman Forum and just walk the streets.
I do not travel full time and do not plan to do it in the future. The longest I’ve been away from home was back in 2011 when I spent almost three weeks in Tanzania and I got really home sick by the end of my trip. I also got home sick couple of years ago by the end of our 12 days adventure in Italy. So, I have a full time job and limited vacation time, which  means that I like to maximize the number of places I see during my travel. I do not like to rush and run around either, which my husband will strongly disagree with, but everyone had different definition of “running”. While I love museums, sometimes I just prefer to stroll through city streets, watch people going on their day-to-day business and sip coffee in small no name cafes.

Here is five city day trips that I did in the past. I spend on average 6-7 hours in each of those cities and I’m glad I hasd a chance to see those amazing places even for a short time . I wish I had an extra day in Tarragona to visit Roman Forum and just walk the streets.

Victoria

I’ve read a lot about Victoria and always wanted to go there. When I was planning our 4 days kids free trip in Vancouver last November, I decided that I can’t miss the opportunity to visit Victoria.

I looked at TripAdvisor for suggestion on how to organize the trip. While I found lots of useful info, I also found about 5 pages discussion on why one day in Victoria is not enough and day trip to Victoria is practically a waste of time.

Ok, guys, we spent total of 7 and half hours in Victoria and it was more than enough time to walk around  the city center, see the harbor, Parliament Building, Fishermen’s Warf, Craigdarroch Castle, stroll though Chinatown, have lunch in great Tibetan restaurant and stop by two coffee shops. We were not rushing at all. 

We did not plan to visit Butchart garden and Royal museum. Of course, you can easily spend a week in Victoria, but I’m glad I was able to spend a day there.

Discovering the Charms of Victoria: A Day Trip from Vancouver.

Brussels. This was our day trip from London. TripAdvisor suggested to plan for at least two days at a minimum in Brussels.

We got to Brussels around 8 am and took a train back to London 5 pm. We walked to Grant-Place, had breakfasts in small cafe near Grand-Place, took bus to Atrium, visited Basilica of the Sacred Heart, got back to
Grand-Place, found Manneken Pis, had lunch and then best Belgian beer, bought chocolate and souvenirs and walked on Stalingrad street back to the train station. It was a great day trip, enough time, no rushing. 

Read more about My Brussels day trip in Brussels Discoveries post

Chefchaouen. I’ve been dreaming about this Blue City since I first saw it in travel magazine in nail salon a long time ago.

Chefchaouen is another great example of a perfect day trip. Before our Morocco adventure I research a possibility of doing day trip from Rabat to Chefchaouen and again TripAdvisor community strongly suggested against day trip from Rabat to Chefchaouen and spending this extra day in Rabat instead. Multiple comments talked about how Chefchaouen is very small town
with not much to offer and 3 and a half hour drive each way do not worth it.

Ok, now that I’ve been there, trust me it totally worth it. If you have been dreaming about seeing Blue City, do this day trip and you won’t be disappointed.

Tarragona. Last October I spent 5 days in Barcelona meeting my college girlfriends.

The girls wanted to take a hop-on hop-of bus tour on the last day and I had no interest in this tour. So, I decided to go to Tarragona.

I spent total of 6.5 hours there. It was enough to see sunrise on Mediterranean Balcony, have breakfast in small cafe by Roman Walls restoration area, see Roman Amphitheater, Tarragona Cathedral, walk along Roman Walls, see Prison, Roman Circus, have lunch at the market and coffee and in fabulous Arabic bakery and hop on the train back to Barcelona .

One Day in Tarragona-Best thing to see and do

Solvang was our brutal day trip from San Diego. Couple of months ago my girlfriend and I decided to get away from families and kids for day.

How to spend one day in Solvang: Best places to see and things to do

While one day in spa or on the beach sound like a good idea, that was way too easy for us. Two adventurous souls decided to drive 4.5 hours each way to see Solvang.

Solvang is a very touristy small town located on the west of San Ynez valley. We spent 5 hours in town walking along cute Dutch style streets, taking pictures and tourists watching. 5 hours was enough to have lunch, see Mills, visit couple of museums, do local wine testing,  stop by shoe store to try traditional Dutch shoes and have coffee and Dutch pastries.

I hope those 5 city day trips encourage you to travel more and see new places. So, keep dreaming, exploring and planning those city day trips.

 

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