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Our top 3 city breaks: Prague, Rome and New York | Blogs | Dragonfly Traveller

Our top 3 city breaks: Prague, Rome and New York

City breaks are one of the easiest ways to convince yourself to take more than one holiday a year – they can be easy, cheap, relaxing, interesting and just give you that short injection of “me time” to tide you over for the big holiday of the year.

We’ve highlighted our 3 top city locations but with so many in our list it has been hard to choose! After thinking about Berlin, Barcelona, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Shanghai, Paris… and don’t forget London, we’ve finally settled on Prague, Rome and New York as our favourites.

Enjoy a city break in Prague

Charles Bridge is what most people’s view of Prague is – and it is stunning. Good places to visit also include:

  • Luna Park and Miniature Museum
  • The Petrin Funicular Railway
  • Aquacentrum Sutka
  • And an hour or two of observing the watery worlds of Sea world.

Ensure you take a trip to the Staropramen Brewery or the Strahov Monastry if you want to discover a great brew!

Site Seeing

If you like taking in the odd castle or museum – take in Prague Castle, Mucha Museum, Vysehrad Castle or the Stefanik Observatory or Prague Planetarium. There are some of lesser-known attractions too – The Lucerna Palace, the Bobsleigh Track, the Cubist Lamp Post or the Proudy Scuplture.

Food and Drink

Tips on food – go local – try Svickova (braised beef) with dumplings at Café Louvre, Gingerbread at Pernickuv Sen, Chlebicky (open-faced sandwiches) at Sisters Bistro. Beer is famous, everywhere and delightful but for wine try Vineyard Gazebo.

Where to stay

If you want to stay near to the Charles Bridge – try Augustine, a Luxury Collection Hotel or Golden Well Hotel – both great choices. For upmarket hotels in Prague – look at the Four Seasons or Mandarin Oriental. If you are looking for a bargain – look at Alice Apartment House at Praha 8 or Abex Hostel – both great value.

View our latest Prague deal

Rome makes a wonderful weekend away

Rome is rich in history, architecture and glorious food and wine. It is the global capital of art with a wealth of artistic heritage and some of the most fascinating places you will ever visit. Together with all this, you have some fantastic hotels.

Site Seeing

Well there are the obvious ones:

  • Colossuem
  • St Peter’s Basillica
  • Sistine Chapel
  • St Peter’s Square
  • Vatican City
  • Pantheon
  • Trevi Fountain.

Couple of other perhaps less known but not to be missed are:

  • The Capitoline museums
  • Villa Borghese Gardens
  • La Bocca della Verita (the mouth of truth)
  • Il Gelato di San Crisino (for gelato lovers)
  • Via Condotti (THE most famous shopping street)
  • Campo de’Fiori (oldest market in Rome)

Food & Drink

Pizza Bianca (white pizza) a focaccia style pizza at Roscioli Bakery or La Renella Bakery (Trastevere) or Antico Forno della Fontana di Trevi. Fritti (fried rice balls, well you are holiday) at the Fish Market (Trastevere). Carbonara, one of Rome’s most notable dishes at Da Danilo (Centro) or Roscioli (Centro).

There are other great dishes like Pizza Roman Style and Quinto Quarto, if you are feeling more adventurous, which is offal like tripe and oxtail which you can find at Mordi e Vai at the Testaccio (appropriately named) market.

Where to stay

For luxury try the Splendide Royal if you are ready to push the boat out or if your more cash wrapped but still want luxury go for Daphne – but both of these are a taxi ride from the centre. We think Trastevere with its ivy-draped buildings, cobbled lanes and abundance of trattorias and bars is simply beautiful, or you might enjoy Hotel Trastevere or Hotel Santa Maria. For romance go to Centro Storico and if you want to impress, look up Hotel Raphael.

Reasons to visit New York

New York is a bit of a personal favourite for us – it’s so good, we’ve been there 4 times! It’s great for that 3 or 4 night break – but then it’s time to go. It’s unique and just has this constant vibe of hustle & bustle, and if you stay in a boutique hotel just off Times Square you can get to all the great shows, eateries and sites.

Site seeing

Well, all the well-known ones, if you haven’t been before:

  • Central Park
  • Empire State
  • Statue of Liberty
  • Times Square
  • Rockefeller centre

If you haven’t been to Ground Zero, you should, it’s really quite humbling. Take time to get to Grand Central station, a great building, and you really should to the 5th Avenue walk too.

A couple of others would be the New York Public Library (stunning building), SoHo (worth a walk) and Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

Food & Drink

Wow… where do you start! Balthazar is fantastic for breakfast, lunch and evening meals. Prime Meats is perfect for glorious pork belly and beef brisket. Lupa Osteria needs to be visited for that slice of old Italy in New York, or if you like gastro-pub – head to the Spotted Pig in West Village.

If you’re out to impress and have a big wallet, you could try Gordon Ramsey at the London Hotel but it is very expensive. For chocoholics there are multiple choices – but if you are with the family look up Max Brenner (841 Broadway) – it’s a bar/restaurant but has real chocolate and fountains to amuse the kids.

Where to stay

If you want a boutique experience and to be near to the action of Times Square for shows, look up The Muse – we’ve stayed there twice and it’s awesome. For a real treat go for the Surrey (Upper East Side). A good midrange hotel is the Distrikt Hotel – Midtown. Or, if you are on a budget Hotel Deauville is central, family owned and quirky with its hand-operated elevator and its purple bathtubs.

View our latest New York deal

For more information on the above fantastic city breaks, simply get in touch, or pick up the phone! With so many incredible places, perfect for a few days escape, it can be difficult to know how to get the very most out of your time, but with Dragonfly Traveller by your side, we can ensure you see the very best in the city you choose to explore.

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