SHORT BREAKS NEW FLIGHTS DESTINATIONS 1 2 3 FAST FACT Dundee has gained its first international route, a Flybe service to Amsterdam, from May 23 to October 29 Time is of the essence on a cafes serving buttery pasteis is the vast Alexander Nevksy For a taste of the city’s Russian 4 5 short break, so the last thing de nata, while those craving a Cathedral, which is topped with legacy, clients should visit the travellers want is to waste it on mean mojito should visit the peppermint and gold domes Kadriorg district, influenced by the journey. Forget driving hours Bairro Alto, where reggae and and was built in memory of former Russian tsar and Estonia to another airport or the stress traditional fado music play across the 200,000 Russian soldiers ruler Peter the Great. The domed of a connecting flight – if they bar-filled streets. who died fighting for Bulgaria’s Russian Orthodox Alexander can’t get there direct from their “Lisbon’s must-see flea market, independence in the Russo- Nevsky Cathedral, designed local airport, it’s hardly worth Feria da Ladra, is held on a Turkish War. Also worth a by Tsar Alexander III in 1894, is the hassle. Saturday morning right beside visit is the National History another spectacular symbol of That’s why new flight routes the impressive Santa Engracia Museum, which holds some of its longstanding relationship with from regional airports not only church,” says Osprey Holidays the country’s most significant Russia. open up a host of enticing senior city breaks specialist Lisa collections of Bulgarian art. The A walk through the Kadriorg destinations to clients, but they Mackinnon. “It boasts a great pedestrianised Vitosha Boulevard district will take clients through also offer the perfect trigger for variety of clothes and trinket is where the best shops lie, while the eponymous manicured park you to sell a short break there. stalls and is ideal if you want the city’s daily flea market is the with its baroque presidential Here, we round up a handful of to grab a couple of bargain place to find Russian-style hats, palace, while the area’s elegant 6 7 the best new flight routes from souvenirs to take home.” badges, flags and curiosities restaurants and cafes are perfect the UK regions, with top tips Other popular local from the communist period, pit stops for refuelling. about what’s happening in each destinations include Belem, with sold alongside local crafts. Night The city becomes impossibly com destination this year. its gothic Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, owls should head to the ‘student photogenic over Christmas, 2. NEW ROUTES and the ornate palaces of Sintra. town’ in the southeast, close to when the labyrinth of cobbled jet ; With new flights from BIRMINGHAM BOOK IT: From June 17, Monarch the universities, for drinks in the streets and pastel-hued merchant kuoni TO LISBON flies direct to Lisbon from buzzing trendy bars. houses are dusted with snow. Y; Y; regional airports, weekend Few European cities Birmingham, with return fares BOOK IT: Wizz Air began its year- BOOK IT: Nordic Aviation will jerse have the sun-kissed, starting at £129. It will also run round Bristol-to-Sofia service in fly to Tallinn three times a week breaks are easier than ever ramshackle charm of Lisbon, services to the Portuguese January, operating three times from May 28 until October 3, with visit ; 1 where vintage trams clatter capital from Manchester and a week, plus it launched flights return flights from £200. gntb @AbraDunsby ; through cobbled streets and Gatwick, starting in May. from Birmingham this month. turquoise ceramic tiles bedeck Ryanair will also begin services SOUTHEND TO LYON Moorish buildings and fountains. BRISTOL TO SOFIA from Stansted on April 25, with France’s third-largest subervie The affordable city benefits For clients with return fares from £64. city has a charm all of 8 9 10 from pleasant temperatures tighter purse strings, its own and lacks the maurice , throughout the year, and it’s near recommend a trip to EDINBURGH 4tourist throngs and harsher the trendy beach suburbs of 2Bulgaria’s capital. It’s becoming TO TALLINN climate of Paris. This is one for charel Cascais and Estoril, making it the increasingly popular as a short- Cheap flights and food lovers, boasting more than perfect city-plus-beach break. break city destination thanks to budget-friendly hotels 2,000 restaurants, many of franck / The best way to discover its cultural treasures, bustling 3have made Tallinn a popular which are Michelin-starred. For Lisbon is by wandering the tangle bar and restaurant scene and destination for boozy stag dos, haute cuisine, eat at legendary france of narrow alleys in the Alfama affordable prices. while its historic Unesco-listed chef Paul Bocuse’s eponymous district, before climbing up to the The architecture is a melting Old Town, enclosed behind restaurant, but family-run atout ; Castelo de Sao Jorge to look out pot of east-meets-west, with crumbling walls, will satisfy ‘bouchons’ offer a cheaper laid- across the terracotta-roofed city. stark neo-Stalinist buildings and more-discerning visitors with its back vibe, serving traditional istock : S Shoppers can spend an afternoon Ottoman mosques alongside cluster of Gothic spires, cafes, Lyonnaise cuisine of hearty, in the Baxia district checking glistening hotels and shopping and medieval-cum-modern meaty dishes. PICTURE out the boutiques and quirky malls. Sofia’s iconic landmark architecture. Once bellies are full, clients 64 travelweekly.co.uk 31 March 2016 31 March 2016 travelweekly.co.uk 65 SHORT BREAKS NEW FLIGHTS DESTINATIONS can enjoy Lyon’s sights by jumping on the funicular to the top of Fourvière hill, where the impressive 19th-century Notre- Dame de Fourvière church stands. The old town, Vieux-Lyon, is just as pretty, peppered with lavish cathedrals and colourful buildings. It’s also worth visiting the historic ‘traboules’ – narrow passages used by medieval silk merchants to get to the river, and later by Resistance fighters as a means of escape during the German occupation in the Second World War. From December 8 to 11, Lyon’s streets are illuminated with lights Uffizi-sized crowds need look no Then of course there’s beer and flickering candles during the further. extravaganza Oktoberfest, annual Festival of Lights, making Milan’s gothic cathedral, the Food lovers mustn’t which begins on September 17, for a unique trip. Duomo, stands magnificently at and from November 25, the city BOOK IT: EasyJet began flying the centre of town, and clients leave without trying twinkles with lights from the from Southend and Belfast to can take the lift up to the roof saffron risotto, a Christmas markets. Lyon in December, with fares for spectacular city views and flavour-filled nod Those looking to pack in the from Southend starting at £43 a chance to marvel at the to Milan’s wealth main cultural sights can join return. Flybe has also announced pink-hued marble – used to Touriocity’s four-hour Essential a daily Manchester-Lyon service construct the whole building – Highlights of Munich Tour, which starting August 1. and gargoyles up close. incorporates everything from a Those looking to shop till they stroll through the historic Old MANCHESTER TO MILAN drop can begin at the nearby di Santa Maria delle Grazie, which Town to shopping for schnitzel in In a country that boasts glass-roofed Galleria Vittorio clients must book in advance. the Viktualienmarkt (from £48). such city greats as Rome, Emanuele II shopping arcade, or Food lovers mustn’t leave BOOK IT: BMI Regional starts its Florence and Venice, window-shop the boutiques on without trying local dish ‘risotto double-daily Southampton-to- 5industrial Milan sometimes gets a the Quadrilatero d’Oro. allo zafferano’, or saffron risotto, Munich flights on April 15, from raw deal, but those seeking style, Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic Last a flavour-filled nod to the city’s £144 return. sophistication and art without the Supper is hidden away in Basilica wealth. BOOK IT: EasyJet flies to Milan ABERDEEN TO from Manchester starting April 7, REYKJAVIK with fares from £60 return, in The crisp air and village addition to a Glasgow service vibe of the world’s most that started in February. 7northerly capital makes Reykjavik stand out as a unique and SOUTHAMPTON relaxed city break destination. TO MUNICH A morning’s ramble will allow Yes, there’s Lederhosen, clients to take in most of the city sausages and ice-cold centre sights, including the iconic 6beer, but the Bavarian capital white-concrete Hallgrimskirkja also has a highbrow side, church, which offers views of the boasting more theatres and Lego-coloured houses against galleries than anywhere else in a backdrop of glaciers and Germany, while its Bavarian State mountains. Opera is considered by many to Despite its size (the population be the world’s finest. is just 120,000), Reykjavik Opera enthusiasts should visit has a hipster, urban feel, with ABOVE: between June 19 and July 31 museums, restaurants and Festival of for the Munich Opera Festival, a thriving nightlife scene. Lights, Lyon which draws some of the world’s There’s also a festival-a-minute, top performers and conductors commemorating everything from RIGHT: and is held outside against the literature to folk music to Vikings. Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, backdrop of the National Theatre The capital’s family-focused Milan in Franz-Joseph-Platz. National Day of Iceland on 66 travelweekly.co.uk 31 March 2016 ABOVE: Reykjavik BELOW: Jersey June 17 incorporates parades, LUTON TO JERSEY street theatre, concerts and even For those looking for a a puppet show.