10 City Break Mistakes To Avoid

Table Of Contents

Booking A Hotel On The Outskirts
2. Visiting At A Busy Time
3. Planning To Drive A Car
4. Relying On Taxis To Get Around
5. Not Looking Into Public Transport Deals
6. Allowing No Flexibility In Your Itinerary
7. Lugging Your Luggage Around With You
8. Forgetting To Book Attractions Ahead
9. Falling For Local Scams
10. Not Saving Up Enough Money

Have you been planning a city break for your next upcoming trip? If so, check out these helpful tips first!

Cities are full of amazing sights and experiences. However, you need to be prepared for the crowds, the costs and the chaos – failing to plan ahead could result in a disappointing trip. If you’ve been planning a break to a major city, make sure to avoid these mistakes in order to make city the most of your trip.

Booking A Hotel On The Outskirts

While hotels are often cheaper on the outskirts of a city, you need to consider that you will be further away from all the attractions. This means being prepared to take transport in order to see all the sights. If you’re only there for a couple days, you don’t want to be wasting a lot of time each morning and evening travelling to and from your hotel. Central hotels will cost more but will allow you more time to see the sights. You don’t have to stay right in the hub, but try to be close enough that you don’t have to take an hour-long train or bus each day. Hostels can be a great way to save money on accommodation in central areas.

2. Visiting At A Busy Time

During busy periods, there will be larger crowds and longer queues. And hotel prices will often be higher too. Unless you’re travelling there for a specific event, avoid travelling to a city when there is a local festival or national holiday. Weekday city breaks are often the cheapest time to travel to a city and you won’t have to deal with as many crowds. Obviously, certain seasons can be less busy too.

3. Planning To Drive A Car

Looking to hire a car? Or maybe planning to bring your own? Don’t. Driving in unfamiliar cities can often be a stressful experience, and it can often be expensive too – fuel costs are likely to be high, parking fees are likely to be expensive and there could be emission zone charges. Taking public transport is often less stressful and much cheaper. While you can still drive to a city, consider whether it’s cheaper to park up outside – many cities have park and ride car parks on the outskirts that allow you to leave your car in a parking lot and then take a bus into the centre.

4. Relying On Taxis To Get Around

One form of public transport that you should use sparingly is taxis. A taxi can take you straight to the front door of where you need to be without having to navigate bus timetables, train maps or street signs – but you’ll likely pay double the price for it, and it may even take longer. Ubers can be less expensive, but are still not as cheap as trains or buses. If you need direct transport from A to B, consider an Uber instead of a taxi.

5. Not Looking Into Public Transport Deals

Public transport is often the cheapest way of getting around a city (beyond walking). However, you can make it even cheaper by looking into public transport passes. This includes weekend passes, 7 day passes or 30 day passes. Such passes allow you unlimited travel within this time, and can work out cheaper than paying individually for each trip if you’re likely to be using public transport regularly each day. Explore different deals online and pay when you get there.

6. Allowing No Flexibility In Your Itinerary

When travelling to a city, there may be lots of different attractions that you want to tick off. However, you need to be careful of overplanning your trip. If every hour is booked with an activity, there will be no time to be spontaneous. Sometimes when travelling between attractions, you may stumble across other fun sights and things to do. Giving yourself plenty of time to spend between attractions allows you to wander and go on tangents.

7. Lugging Your Luggage Around With You

A city break often involves a lot of walking. This can be tiring enough without having to haul a suitcase or carry a heavy rucksack. When you arrive in a city, it’s a good idea to check into your hotel as soon as possible so that you can drop off your bags. If you can’t check in immediately, look into local luggage drop-off points at train stations – the likes of this Oxford Circus luggage storage drop off point could allow you to drop your bags off if you’re unable to check in or have had to check out early.

8. Forgetting To Book Attractions Ahead

city break London — Photo by Ditmar Tabacaru

With some city attractions, it may be possible to turn up on the day and queue up for a ticket. However, others may require you to buy tickets several days or weeks in advance. It’s important to book tickets early in case tickets are sold by the time you get there. Think about the attractions you are most eager to experience and look online as to whether it’s recommended that you book tickets ahead. Even with some free attractions like museums, it may still be worth booking tickets ahead to skip the queues.

9. Falling For Local Scams

Tourists are sadly a popular target for scammers in most cities. This includes taxis that claim the metre is broken, bogus tour guides who charge extra money, fake police that demand fines and fake charity reps looking for ‘donations’. Pickpockets are also very common in cities, so it’s important to keep your belongings secure. All in all, your wits about you and don’t take everything at face value.

10. Not Saving Up Enough Money

It’s important that you budget enough money for your city break so that you’re not restricted as to what you can do. On top of local attractions and public transports, it’s important that you have enough money for food and drink. While you can save money by eating street food or eating where the locals eat, you could find that your money still disappears quickly. Spend the months before your trip setting aside plenty of spending money so that you are able to enjoy it to its full.