A short vacation is always possible - even if you don't get a vacation from your job or have little time, you can pack your bags quickly and discover great travel destinations over the weekend. No matter whether it is a short trip to Mallorca or a weekend trip to the Baltic Sea in Germany. On my topic page about short vacations I have listed my travel reports related to short vacations and will give you many helpful tips for planning your short vacation below.

My current posts about short vacations

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Short vacation - valuable tips and inspiration for your next weekend trip

The really nice thing about a short vacation is that it doesn't actually require much preparation. You can book your weekend trip on Wednesday and on Friday you can simply go away for the weekend to sun, beach and sea, on a city trip or simply to a great wellness hotel in Germany. A lot is possible, even if time is short. Most of the popular travel themes can be booked not only in long form, but also as short trips. We've even taken a long-distance trip as a short vacation.

Book a short vacation cheaply: just go

The best thing about a short vacation is probably the great flexibility and the opportunity to get away quickly. If you're planning short trips and weekend trips, you don't have to apply for vacation first or need too long a lead time. Basically, you can book a short vacation and then leave as quickly as possible. The local destinations on short-haul routes are particularly ideal for short trips. Those who make last-minute decisions still have the opportunity to book a short vacation cheaply. If you look a few days before departure, with a bit of luck you will find attractive very last minute offers and can often save a lot.

How long does a short break take?

How long a short vacation lasts is also in the eye of the beholder. In general, you can certainly say that a short trip lasts between two and five days. We think that a short trip lasting two days is already very limiting. You've barely arrived at your holiday destination before you have to leave again. A tour like this only makes sense in very few cases. A short trip should therefore last at least three days. You then plan half a day to a day for the arrival, a day on site and at least half a day for the departure - that's pretty tight.

The fact that a short vacation's length is a matter of discretion can be seen in the fact that we at Just Wanderlust consider a trip of seven days to be a short vacation. For us, a normal trip has to be at least ten days long so that we can explore everything at the vacation destination. We usually only take short trips of less than five days in the form of city trips, which are really suitable for short stays and pack all the sights into a small area.

Overview – these are the most important short vacation travel topics

• Short vacation in Germany
• Wellness short break
• Short vacation on the Mediterranean
• Short vacation on the Baltic Sea
• Short vacation with dog
• Book a cheap short break
• City breaks as a short break

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Short vacation tips – What should you consider when booking?

If you want to book your next short vacation cheaply, you should follow a few little tips and tricks and you have a good chance of getting the trip cheaper. As is so often the case, you can plan and implement your vacation with a wide variety of budgets.

1. Book a short vacation as an early bird or very last minute

If you want to spend as little money as possible on your short trip, you should book your trip either as early as possible or as late as possible. If you are an early bird, you should book at least three months before departure, then with a bit of luck you can save a lot. Tour operators like planning security and often grant discounts if you book in good time - the so-called early bird discount.

In contrast, you have the option of spontaneously and flexibly booking a very last minute offer up to three days before departure and thus getting a short vacation for up to 70 percent cheaper. Short trips that have been canceled by others and now have to be sold again quickly are offered as very last minute offers. In both cases you can save a lot when booking your short vacation.

2. If possible, avoid the holiday season when taking a short vacation

As with all other forms of vacation, the same applies to short vacations: during the holidays it usually costs significantly more. So if you want to book your short vacation cheaply, you should avoid the holiday season if possible and travel to your destination outside of the main season. There are numerous holiday calendars in which you can check when the school holidays take place in the German federal states. You can often save significantly if you plan your trip outside of these times.

3. Choose a high-quality tour operator for short trips

Another way to have a good experience with your short vacation is to choose a quality tour operator. Stiftung Warentest and other institutions regularly test tour operators and booking portals and provide important information about which providers will give you a better experience with your booking. Our affiliate partner weg.de regularly ends up in the top positions in such provider rankings.

4. Adapt the hotel at the holiday destination to your needs

Even on a short vacation, the trip depends on the right hotel at your vacation destination. On city trips, if you're out and about all day looking at the sights in the city, the hotel doesn't have too much importance. The rooms are probably not that important in this case. But what always needs to be taken into account on short trips, city trips and weekend trips is the food. If you have booked an overnight stay with breakfast, you should make sure that you really get a great, high-quality breakfast in the morning. Especially on active city holidays, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This gives the trip a higher quality and ensures a good start to the day throughout your short vacation.

5. Book a short vacation as a blind booking offer

Hardly any type of travel is better suited for blind booking offers than short trips and city trips. If you are not currently spending your annual vacation at a travel destination, but perhaps only spend a weekend on it, you can safely go ahead and choose a travel destination using blind booking that you might never have seen otherwise. With blind booking, you enter a few basic data and key points and let the blind booking provider put together a trip for you. You will only find out exactly where you are going shortly before departure.

6. Saving on flights on short trips?

You can save wonderfully on short vacations and city trips by booking a flight with a low-cost airline. We usually advise you not to use the notorious low-cost airlines. However, this can make sense in the case of short vacations and city trips. Because if you don't need any additional services for the short flight and only have one piece of hand luggage with you, you can really save a lot with the low-cost airlines.

How long does a short break take?

The duration of a short break varies from person to person and depends on many factors, such as the destination, the type of trip and personal preferences. In general, however, it can be said that a short holiday lasts between two and five days. It should be remembered that a short vacation of only two days is often very short. There is hardly any time to explore the holiday resort and you are often on your way back before you have really arrived. That's why many travel experts recommend that a short vacation should last at least three days. This gives you enough time to arrive, explore the area and relax before you leave.

A short trip should take at least three days. You then plan a half to one day for the arrival, a day on the spot and at least half a day for the departure - that's pretty tight.

Sascha Tegtmeyer

If you are planning a short vacation, you should also allow time for arrival and departure. Half to a full day for arrival, a full day on site and half a day for departure are usually good guidelines.

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Book a cheap short break and just get away for a while

My conclusion

Just get away for a moment: Anyone who is very busy in their working life and has little time for vacation or holidays would be well served with a short trip. Instead of spending forever in one place on every vacation, you can simply book a short vacation cheaply and spend a great short trip with children or with your dog in Germany on the North Sea or Baltic Sea or even in the southern reaches of Europe. If you spend many small short vacations instead of one big trip, you will definitely collect many more exciting new impressions.

Do you regularly go on short vacations or do you prefer to travel longer? Which travel destinations do you recommend for weekend trips? Share your experiences in the comments.