Chill out break for 2 adults in October in Europe

Forget Krakow if you are looking for complete relaxation.
It involves lots of walking (we averaged about 15Km per day).
Can't imagine walking 15km a day in Kraków. The centre of the town is very compact. Museums are very small so you can pick and choose the ones you want to visit. Can't remember how far away the castle is. You'd need to visit the mines by bus because it's not in the centre.
 
So, we finally get to drop the kids for s few days near the end of October and are hoping for a 5 night break somewhere in Europe, ie not too long a flight.

We're after a bit of complete relaxation and I was wondering if anyone could share any past experience on where to go or nice hotels where the weather will still be reasonable at that time of year ?

Not exactly within the brief, but given most of your requirements, I would recommend Dubai.

5 nights is perfect, the weather is almost guaranteed to be perfect, the hotels are superb, and the flight isn’t too bad at all (7 hours but the times are user friendly).

For complete relaxation and guaranteed good weather in October, Dubai is hard to beat in my view.
 
Dubrovnik, Zadar, Venice, Verona, Lisbon, Kaashi or Barcelona would be my preference.
 
Not exactly within the brief, but given most of your requirements, I would recommend Dubai.

5 nights is perfect, the weather is almost guaranteed to be perfect, the hotels are superb, and the flight isn’t too bad at all (7 hours but the times are user friendly).

For complete relaxation and guaranteed good weather in October, Dubai is hard to beat in my view.

Gordon,
Might indeed be nice, but would flying for 7 hours to and fro not take 2 days away from the persons 5 night break?
 
Can't imagine walking 15km a day in Kraków. The centre of the town is very compact. Museums are very small so you can pick and choose the ones you want to visit. Can't remember how far away the castle is. You'd need to visit the mines by bus because it's not in the centre.
And yet it happened... spookey!

We stayed just outside the Old City on the opposite side to the Jewish Quarter so a walk to there was 3.5K. We did a walking tour of the old town the first morning and a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter that afternoon. In total we clocked up 20km that day.
The second day we did a day trip to Auschwitz which also involved quite a bit of walking as the main camp is massive.
The third day was back to the Jewish Quarter, over to the area that was the Ghetto, back to the Castle and back to where we were staying before going back into the old town for dinner. I think we did 18km that day.
We ate in the Balaton Hungarian Restaurant twice because it was superb.
 
Gordon,
Might indeed be nice, but would flying for 7 hours to and fro not take 2 days away from the persons 5 night break?

Not in my experience. If you get the 22.25 flight out on, say, Tuesday night, you can work Tuesday and get yourself organised in the evening. The traffic’s grand heading to the airport. You fly overnight so sleeping’s not a big deal. You don’t waste money on a hotel for the Tuesday night. You arrive in the morning but the decent hotels all have excellent facilities for guests who can’t get to their room yet. So you can shower, change, and head to the beach/pool and charge stuff to your room. You then have the full day. And then on the way back, Sunday maybe, you gain time and the flight times are good (leave at 2.30pm which is good check-out wise) and arrive in Dublin at 6.30pm-ish which is decent in terms of getting sorted for Monday morning.
 
Dubrovnik, Zadar, Venice, Verona, Lisbon, Kaashi or Barcelona would be my preference.
Dubrovnik is an excellent choice. Little minibus runs from the areas outside the city where a lot of the hotels are. Beautiful weather and plenty of interesting things to see.
Lisbon is quite hilly so you'd need to choose wisely for hotel but museums are close to each other and are in flat areas.
 
We have a holiday every October in Spain. Last year we did Estepona. Rented an apartment overlooking the beach for a week. Lovely old town behind.
Heading to Girona and coast this October, hotel stay this time. We have already booked a holiday apartment near Calpe for October 2020.
 
Naples. Try the Mercure Napoli Centro Angioino.
 
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We have just retuned from Cyprus for the second year in a row.

We stayed in Park Lane this year and the Amathus Beach Hotel last year. I would highly recommend both. Speaking to members of staff in the hotel they said weather remains pretty good throughout most of the year so october should have nice temperatures.

Dubai as previously recommended would also be a good option
 
Can someone explain the attraction of Dubai to me? Other than staying in a mad hotel? It's not exactly a place you're going to stroll around and see the sites. To my mind it is like Las Vegas rather than a city break or chill out spot.

I know it's popular but I just don't understand it (I've only been once btw - so not an expert)
 
Are there Irish Bars?
I hate Irish bars and the people they attract. I won't say anywhere that has more than a couple of them.

I wouldn't get hung up one way or the other about Irish Bars. Nobody was ever press-ganged to attending. In the south of Spain most Irish bars are about as Irish as Boris Johnson. Where we still are in Costa Almeria the two "Irish" bars failed to cover any of the Senior Hurling Championship in favour of Scalextric. For the record I saw all the championship hurling matches in July and August in an English bar. Mind you, it was different watching them in near 40 degrees of sunshine. Thank God for aircon.

Days before the All Ireland Hurling Final the proprietor of one "Irish" bar informed me that if I could muster up a few Paddys she would allocate a lesser television on the bar terrace for the occasion. I got a little bit of schadenfreude advising her that us Paddys were going to watch the final in a nearby English bar and on the main television screen. And on the big day about 40 spending Paddys waved back to her while about a half dozen Brexit Brits drank their "halfs" pedantically in her "Irish" bar.
 
I'm off to La Pineda in the morning, staying half board in a new hotel almost on the beach. Called myself to trhe hotel just before it started taking guests last June and got a great deal. Weather is usually beautiful this time of the year in La Pineda but i'm hearing it might be iffy towards the end of the week. Let you know how it went when I get back
 
Can someone explain the attraction of Dubai to me? Other than staying in a mad hotel? It's not exactly a place you're going to stroll around and see the sites. To my mind it is like Las Vegas rather than a city break or chill out spot.

I know it's popular but I just don't understand it (I've only been once btw - so not an expert)

It mightn’t be everyone’s cup of tea. I like it mainly because you are almost guaranteed good weather whereas Spain/Portugal/the Canaries/etc can be dodgy weather-wise from October to March. The food and service in the hotels is great. There are good waterparks and kids’ clubs etc. The sea is warm. It’s less strict than other jurisdictions in the region but it’s safe relative to others.
 
I'm off to La Pineda in the morning, staying half board in a new hotel almost on the beach. Called myself to trhe hotel just before it started taking guests last June and got a great deal. Weather is usually beautiful this time of the year in La Pineda but i'm hearing it might be iffy towards the end of the week. Let you know how it went when I get back
Hi would be delighted to know how you got on. Looking for a similar short break myself to somewhere relatively close, warm and just chillax for a few days.
 
Morning daveb,
Sorry, I did mean to report back but of course life takes twists and turns and all that. Spent 10 days in mostly beautiful weather averaging 25 deg. Stayed half board in Golden Costa Salou almost on the beach, had stayed in a sister hotel Golden Donaire 100 meters away before and that is on the beach. Breakfasts were good and evening meal was grand but nothing special. These half boards follow a pattern in most 4 star hotels and one gets used to them. The hotel had a fabulous spa and fitness room which was included in the price along with steam room, sauna, and hot stone beds, all included in the price. Very good sun bathing facilities on 2 floors with nice background music on the top floor one inc a full bed choice for people who liked the heat but couldn't take the sun. Guests were mostly in the older age group and it was adults only. Rooms had fabulous showers, a coffee pod machine with 2 pods supplied each day along with 2 free bottles of water. Some might like the next offering which was a 40 inch television with lots of english choices and a facility on it to get Nedtflix and movies, this Netflix and movie choice incurred a cost. There's a very long soft sand beach right beside the hotel, sunbeds cost €5 per day and little coffe huts are all along the beach at reasonable cost. The town itself is typical Spanish, cafe's, restaurants, to suit all tastes, plenty of shops and a market around 500 meter walk from your hotel every Friday (I think) Yes, it's worth going to, handbags, T shirts, shoes, runners, belts, etc, etc, etc. Buses available 100 meters from hotel, guides on hand to tell you what you need to know about where to go, cost, etc, to Salou, Barcelona, and anywhere you might want to go to. I didn't hire a car but lots do, they're not expensive but drive on the right. Went with Ryanair and we were astonished with how parents take children out from school just as the new term begins, full of primary and secondary school kids and their parents. Rant over! We booked the hotel itself the last time we were in La Pineda, the hotel wasn't finished or open at the time but they were taking bookings and we got a great deal. I was told that a lot of La Pineda and Salou half closes from now on as they consider the season over so be careful if you're going there. We're in our 60's and enjoy this resort and also Salou. Sept and Oct are lovely times to go there as the very hot months are just over and will be going again. Hope to hit Fuerteventura before Xmas, with Corralejo our choice of resort, Hope this helps you daveb.
 
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