Last year my wife took me away for my birthday. She took me to Dublin and we had a great time shopping, drinking, eating and taking in some culture. I'm looking to return the 'favour' for her birthday at the end of May.

The places I'm considering are Amsterdam (went there 10 years ago), Prague, Saltzburg, Rome, Barcelona, Seville (Just been suggested by a friend). Ideally I'd like to avoid stag do's but I think they'll be few and far between in May.

Does anyone have any other suggestions or any comments regarding the places I've listed? We've been to Paris a few times so that's not somewhere I want to go for this occasion. We'll be going for 2 or 3 days and it doesn't matter if it's midweek or the weekend.

Apologies is this type of thread has been done to death.

Verona is lovely. Only 30 mins from Lake Garda too, so you could do a city/lake break.

Although I've not been to the Spanish cities you have listed, your list looks good.

I'd add Venice, Florence, Berlin, Budapest and maybe Lisbon or Vienna to your possibilities.

Krakow. Cheap, easy to get to, beautiful and loads to see and do. If you need any info PM me.

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Most of the cities mentioned ar very very busy and will be in May.

Could i suggest BRUGES, nice and quiet, lovely place for a meal and a drink, lots of Architecture and culture.

It is not the Venice of the north for nothing.

Alternatively one of the capitals in the scandanavian countries would be a good bet.

Very different to the places mentioned and all lovely and different in their own way.

I like Stockholm , Reykjavik or Copenhagen. Helsinki is is nice as well.

Stayed there for 3 days a few years ago, lovely place.

I'd agree Krakow is nice too. I also liked Warsaw (although alot of people do not). Although I have not been myself, I understand Gdansk is nice too.

If you are trying to be romantic though, Venice everytime in my opinion.

Stockholm, I think it's the nicest city I've been to. Having said that it is pricey, we had the most extravigent meal at Frantzen Lindeburg (if you're into fine dining you must go!) but it ran in at £520 for 2 with one glass of wine each!

But as I say what a great city, it has old part and new part both equally as nice and everything just seemed so well designed and über cool

Another great city which shocked me how good it was is Bordeaux, looking to plan another trip to the wine festival at some point

Stockholm is a wonderful place, used to spend a couple of weeks there a year with work. The food and bars/pubs of the Old Town are just fantastic, the city in general is a great place to visit. But yes, horrendously expensive.

And you can't mention Stockholm without mentioning Swedish girls. I recall one night out ended up in a bar called Laroy, packed full of Swedish aristocracy, upper class, wannabe models, etc. Most of them oozed Scandinavian arrogance at its very worst, but by good god in heaven above (sorry kirkstaller) they were good to look at. The night ended with my gay colleague (sorry kirkstaller) going off with a Russian lad and me spending a pleasant few hours with a very nice girl whose sister attended Manchester University and was modelling to cover her costs. Not my sort of people and wouldn't drink there again but it was worth that one night.