Weekend Breaks; New Vacation Option for Europeans

Given the astronomical prices charged by West End restaurants where dinner for two can set you back £250 or more, it makes a lot more sense to me to take my Lady off for a paella to the sound of Spanish guitar in Barcelona, a spaghetti and a bottle of Bardolino under the stars at a pavement restaurant in the Piazza Santa Maria in Rome's Trastevere, or a more expensive romantic dinner for two on a Seine bateau mouche in Paris. Such exotic weekend flights of romance were way beyond the resources of my checkbook in my earlier days. Then, only the jeuness dore and the jetsetting glitterati could afford such extravagances. But things have changed and many of us prefer to take a number of such fun jaunts through the year rather than undergo the hassles concomitant with a organizing a long vacation. I think Rome and that picturesque Trastavere piazza beckons us this weekend! Thanks to cheap air travel we can all be jetsetters now.

Low Cost Airline Links
All airlines quoted below have regular give-away ticket sales and online booking.

Air Berlin
German based no-frills airline flying scheduled services from London/Stansted to Berlin and 12 other German regional airports. Connects with vacation flights from 18 regional German airports to Canaries, and Mediterranean and North African destinations.

bmibaby
No frills airline subsidiary of transatlantic carrier bmi serving 22 European destinations from UK airports.

Easyjet
London-based no frills airline serving 10 countries, 38 destinations and over 100 routes in Europe.

German Wings
German-based no-frills airline subsidiary of Eurowings connecting London/Standsted with 10 European destinations including Istambul via Cologne/Bonn. Generous passenger baggage allowance.

Ryanair
No-frills low cost airline with large and ever growing list of internal UK, Ireland, European and Baltic destinations. Frequent ticket sales at bargain basement prices, but beware extra charges such as cost of use of company wheelchair from check-in to departure gate at London/Standsted.

Virgin Express
Virgin's low cost offshoot flying ex London/Heathrow to 14 European/Scandinavian destinations. Online booking with internet discount, regular internet seat sales.

Photos
Spanish Steps Rome, © 1997 Leo C. Curran
La Rambla, Barcelona © Barcelona Online
Seine boat restaurant, Paris © Bateaux Parisiens