Top City Breaks for 2016

Each year comes with a host of reasons on choosing a destination for your summer holidays. As expected, there are new flights to pick, anniversaries to attend and new openings to check out. However, it is always exceptional to think about special events which make your 2016 destination hotlist.

Australia

The Great Barrier Reef that stretches to 2250 km and composed of sand cays, islands and coral reefs at Queensland is one place you have to visit. You may consider checking out at an eco-resort for about £83 pppn. Of to the north is Exmouth which offers you the chance to swim with the occasional whale sharks, and recently, licenses have been issued allowing swimming with humpback whales. This should cost around £190 per swim trip.

Bordeaux

This capital features wide boulevards and neoclassical buildings, and has recently acquired the name “the world wine capital”. Bordeaux products the biggest volume of fine wines in the region, and this is besides hosting an ultra-modern museum, La Cite du Vin. 

This city aims to liberate wine tourism by hosting an “immersive” tour of viniculture that features experts and professionals giving insight on the world’s vineyards. 

The museum also feature a restaurant at its 55-metre viewing tower and boats ready by the banks of Garonne to shuttle visitors off to vineyards on outskirts of the city.

Rio de Janeiro

Rio is again offering its stunning natural landscape to make the 2016 Olympics game the most photogenic Olympics ever. To the surprise of many, the rowing competition will be at Lagoa, a lake with imposing, untamed black mountains with the road cycling take place at the capital’s rain forested hills. 

As for beach volleyball, expect to visit Copacabana beach, which is also known as the Olympic fan zone. Besides, this city hosts the new Museum of Tomorrow designed by Santiago Calatrava. 

The museum seeks to elaborate the changes mankind should take to avoid climate disaster, definitely this elegant, futuristic building is a must-see sight. Even though visiting Rio during Olympics will be expensive, the value for your money will be of help considering Brazil’s currency has fallen sharply over a couple of months.

Iran

This country is now opening ancient culture to tourists and since things cooled down after the Vienna agreement, there has been more exposure on the country’s contemporary culture, most recently with the film Taxi Tehran, which might explain why the people occasionally consider westerners not a good catch for business. Iran’s wealth of ancient history brings tourists to real encounters such as the unmissable site of Persepolis or the astonishingly well-preserved seat of Darius the Great and Xerxes his son. 

The country also hosts a 14-century mausoleum, Soltaniyeh, which happens to be the third-largest brick dome in existence. Tourist who love modern art enjoy displays in Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, among them the works of Warhol, Pollock and Monet.

All these destinations are great suggestions when planning for a short or long city break. Remember checking with your travel insurance company before leaving the UK just in case things don’t go as planned.