3 Simple Travel Tips for Short City Breaks

Part of the joy of traveling is experiencing and enjoying new things. How many of us have planned a trip to a city like London or Paris armed with a list of coffee shops, restaurants and sights to see and visit? Maybe you have a long weekend in New York planned, so you google the best restaurants, read some reviews and make a few reservations. With all your research, you practically know the city as well as a local and with Google maps, you can seamlessly navigate your way. It’s instinctual for us to research information on our travel destinations via the internet, but in some ways, it can really diminish the discovery aspect of our experiences.

Tip 1

Avoid over-planning every aspect of your trip. Leave some room for unexpected discoveries, and you will be rewarded with richer experiences and stories.

We recently had a visitor here in Valencia, and she wanted a recommendation of where to stay; we recommended the Westin Hotel, knowing that the hotel would have everything she needed for a comfortable, enjoyable stay. The hotel has a number of restaurants, a full gym, a bar, terrace and gardens, as well as excellent staff. Peer-to-peer accommodation (such as Airbnb) sometimes makes sense for group stays, extended stays, or in remote areas, but a good old-fashioned hotel with all its amenities is hard to beat for short city breaks.

Tip 2

For short stay trips for couples or singles book a hotel. Enjoy turndown service, newspapers, wake up calls, a fitness center, room service and security.

A number of years ago, a friend who is a sculptor, took a trip to Paris and was telling me about his visit to the Louvre. I had also recently visited the museum and asked what pieces he had seen. It turned out he only looked at a few pieces and spent about 45 minutes at the museum. I was puzzled by why he would spend such little time at one of the worlds greatest museums and he explained to me that viewing art is actually an intense sensory experience and that 45 minutes to an hour was the ideal viewing time to be stimulated by what you are seeing. Beyond that time frame, he suggested, you really wouldn’t be responding to what you are seeing. I think this was particularly good advice. Be in the moment, take in what you are viewing, and think about what you are viewing. Don’t worry about what you might be missing.

Tip 3

You don’t need to see everything. Whether it is pieces at museums or sites around the city. Be careful not to cram too much into one visit. Take time to get a vibe of the city, and likely if you enjoy it, you will be back and eventually see everything. —P.F.M.

Right: This Is Glamorous Interiors Editor, Louise (right), came to visit from Dublin and was warmly received by The Westin Valencia for her stay. Here, she catches up with TIG Editor-in-Chief Roséline for a rather spa-like day at the office …

Above, a sun-drenched courtyard at the centre of the hotel

Above, Roséline lounges on one of the chic chairs in a lobby outside one of the hotel’s four restaurants & above right, the hotel’s lovely breakfast terrace; below, at the Mercado Central, Valencia’s historic central market; considered one of the oldest European markets, the Mercado Central is a masterpiece of Modernism with more than 1000 stalls of local fresh products.

Above, the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias / City of Arts and Sciences, a cultural and architectural complex thought to be the most important modern tourist destination in the city of Valencia is nearby. Designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, the project underwent the first stages of construction in July 1996 and the finished “city” was inaugurated April 16, 1998 with the opening of L’Hemisfèric. It is one of the 12 Treasures of Spain. The last great component of the City of Arts and Sciences, El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, above, was presented on October 9, 2005, Valencian Community Day. On Thursday night this month, it saw the opening of Valentino Garavani’s ‘La Traviata’, the Sophia Coppola-directed classical opera.