Manchester, England

Manchester is not necessarily the biggest or most popular tourist destination, but it does provide a pleasant mix of traditional, smaller town English life with the action of a fairly large city. Manchester is only a 2 hour train ride from London and has cheap flights to and from cities in Europe.

As an added bonus, Manchester is typically cheaper than London for shopping, dining and accommodation so it makes for a nice weekend getaway from the hectic London scene. Though Manchester is not as busy as some of the larger cities, the downtown area has seen some improvements in recent years to be a very clean, enjoyable area to take a stroll, savour a pint or window shop on the high street.