You don’t have to spend thousands on a week-long holiday – an extreme day trip offers all the sights for a fraction of the price.
This charming city is perfect for a day trip(Image: Getty)
You might think that a European holiday requires days of leave from work, intensive planning and hundreds spent on a hotel room – but you would be wrong. There is a rising travel trend of people taking what they call an “extreme day trip” where you leave home in the morning and arrive back in the evening – but you’ve seen an entirely new city somewhere abroad in the hours between.
You don’t have to pay for accommodation, and if you choose the right city you can be in the heart of the action within half an hour of leaving the airport.
The joy of living in the UK is that we have Europe on our doorstep – and with so many great options for day trips, the hardest part is deciding where to go.
According to travel experts Transfeero one of the best cities for a day trip from the UK, is Bologna in Italy.
Just a two and a half hour flight from England, this charming city is often overlooked for its more famous cousins of Rome and Florence.
Bologna is a foodie’s dream with half the crowds.
It’s a compact city with a walkable city centre, packed with all kinds of trattorias, cafes and bars to enjoy throughout the day.
An airport transfer to Bologna takes just 22 minutes – so you can get started right away.
You can start your day in the iconic Piazza Maggiore which was built in the 1200s and now is the perfect spot to people watch and soak up the beautiful architecture.
Then, you can wander beneath the city’s famous enclosed porches, known as porticoes.
These covered arches stretch for 40km throughout the city centre and are a UNESCO World Heritage site. You can follow these elegant converted pathways to the second iconic sight in Bologna – Le Due Torri.
These two leaning medieval towers rise up above the city and make for a stunning photo opportunity.
Of course you can’t visit Bologna without sampling the authentic tagliatelle al ragù—the rich, slow-cooked meat sauce that the rest of the world knows as bolognese.
There’s more than enough to keep you busy for the day – and the beauty of it is you can still jet home and be back home in time for bedtime.