On the Lash With Euro Trash

A mate of mine is off to Lisbon for a boozy weekend 'City-Break'. This led to a lively discussion on where was the best place to go for a cheap and sunny long weekend, on the lash in Europe (excluding the UK, which has its own type of charms and consideration ~ Whitley Bay and Blackpool come rated highly for drinking cultures, but not for the sunshine or culture).

So, much research took place (over lunch time) ..... which is still probably more than most men would ever do, apart from over football fixtures. The end result was a league table (of sorts) of the best places to go for a Euro City-Break drink-up holiday based on:

(a) Available cheap flights from UK, with shorter travelling times (from London, or Manchester).
(b) Reasonable accommodation costs.
(c) The price of alcohol for a large (about 12 drinks), mixed round of drinks (including Wines, Beers and Shorts with spigot mixers).
(d) Based on £1.00 = Euro 1.30 ish at time we did this. (Always check prices before travelling as pound is falling fast at the moment until Brexit day).

Its assumed that these are summer only visits, and that there are some fairly lively club and bar scenes in each of these party towns. In the interests of anyone who is planning such a trip, here are our findings in a regional sort of way:

Eastern Europe is King:

1. Prague in The Czech Republic ~ Scenic and Sunny in summer. Reportedly a large round of mixed drinks is especially cheap at around £30.00 (one cheapskate, said that even with a few girls drinks, he managed a round of ten drinks for £25.00).

Prague Booze Ups Could Be Rather Sedate Affairs ...

2. Budapest in Hungary ~ See Prague. Again a round costs approx £30.00 for a mixed drink round of about 12 people.
3. Krakow in Poland ~ Scenic Medieval town. A round costs approx £35 for a similar round of drinks
4. Berlin - Germany's party capital. A large round is now about £60.00

Nordic Rules:

1. Riga in Latvia ~ Another scenic town. A large round is now about £51.00
2. Tallinn in Estonia ~ Another scenic town. A large round is now about £59.00

Club Med:

1. Palma ~ Majorca. Lots of sunshine guaranteed and with a round for 12 at about £57.00 one of the cheaper main *Mediterranean destinations. You can also go to Benidorm as an alternative.
2. Barcelona ~ In my personal opinion not all that scenic, apart from the Ramblas and waterfront. A round for 12 we reckoned at about £62.00

*This I thought was rather subjective and we discussed this a lot. For instance there are cheaper drinking destinations but it has to be a long weekend destination, and so that rules out most of the Adriatic and Eastern Med. Similarly Madrid was in range but not especially cheap so we dropped it.

North West Europe:

1. Amsterdam ~ the old standby is still scenic and has numerous attractions for nearly every taste. Weather is a bit dodgy though, however a round for 12 comes in at about £62.00

This Lonely Dutch Girl Lives In Amsterdam ....

London would have been an option (if not in UK) and at a round £62.00 for a round of drinks is in price range, but its not cheap to stay in and has no heart (being a number of small centres linked by underground) .... Similarly Edinburgh and Dublin are party centrals, but not especially cheap for accommodation or drinks, and definitely can't give you sunshine.

No idea if this is of much use to anyone, and I am sure it changes a little over time .... still if this is your thing, I can assure you that a number of drinking veterans helped compile this list.