Fri
Arrival is half the romance
A train or a short flight, a hotel that was chosen and not settled for, and the first dinner in a city where nobody expects either of us. The weekend starts working immediately.
Experiences · The weekend elsewhere
City Trips
There is a particular pleasure in a city that is not yours: nobody knows you, the streets are new, and the person beside you is the only familiar thing worth keeping. A city trip is that pleasure, planned properly: Antwerp for the long lunch, Paris because it is Paris, Vienna for the opera, or the city you have been postponing for years.
Passport ready. Charmingly low-maintenance. Dangerous in bookshops.
The shape of a weekend
Forty-eight hours, well spent
Sat
The unhurried day
Streets, museums, long lunches, a nap nobody apologises for, an evening that has all night. No itinerary tyranny; the best city trips leave room for the detour.
Sun
Leaving well
A slow breakfast, one last walk, and the specific satisfaction of a weekend that was entirely yours. You return with a private story in a city that keeps it.
This suits you if
City trips are for
- The traveller who is done seeing beautiful cities alone.
- Anyone whose discretion is easier abroad: a weekend away asks fewer questions than an evening at home.
- The planner with a destination in mind, and the delegator who would rather I propose one.
- Guests we have met before, ideally. A weekend deserves established ease.
And not for
Anyone wanting a tour guide, a suitcase carrier or a decorative silence in the seat beside them. A weekend with me is company at full strength, opinions about the museum included. And city trips are rarely first meetings: begin with an evening, then let us earn the weekend.
The practical part
Planned like travel, because it is
City trips run on the travel arrangements of The Hours: 24 hours minimum, A Full Day Elsewhere, with longer weekends at the daily rate. Travel, hotel and shared experiences are agreed in advance so the weekend itself is effortless.
Within the Netherlands, see also The Netherlands; for further afield and fly-me-to-you, Elsewhere covers the geography: Europe readily, and with a valid passport and good reasons, wider still.
Asked and answered
Which cities do you love?
Antwerp and Paris are effortless from Amsterdam; Vienna, Lisbon and the Italian north reward the extra hour of travel. But the honest answer is: the city you have a reason for. Give me the reason and I will match it with enthusiasm.
How far ahead should I write?
Weeks, not days: a weekend has moving parts. The planning is unhurried by design; deciding on trains and hotels together is, done right, the trailer for the trip itself.
The suitcase is optimistic
Name the city. I will start packing lightly.
Destination, dates, and the kind of weekend you imagine. Museums or naps, opera or oysters, or the correct answer: all of it.
Aisle or window? Trick question.