Ever heard of the 24-hour holiday? Although short and sweet, this TikTok holiday trend sees travellers embark on whirlwind mini-vacations. From jetting off to Barcelona for a spot of tapas or enjoying a picnic in Paris, the latest TikTok travel trend is inspiring Brits to take advantage of affordable flights for quick 24-hour getaways and the best destinations to fly to from Manchester Airport for short city breaks have been revealed.
Late Rooms has discovered the best UK airports to fly from for a 24-hour holiday and the best destinations to fly to. The hotel booking company analysed UK airports based on three factors; which airport has the shortest flights available, which airport has the cheapest flight available to a destination, plus which airport has the most common occurring flight – so you can take part in the trend on any day.
They also analysed destinations flown to from the UK’s busiest airports on five factors; finding the destination where you could hop off the aeroplane and head straight to the centre, which destinations saw the least rainfall, cheapest average meals, the destinations with the most spots of interest and lastly the highest demand for ‘things to do’ content on TikTok.
From the UK’s third busiest airport, Manchester, Marrakesh in Morocco was crowned the best destination for a 24 hour city break. Despite being one of the longer flight times of destinations (at around 240 minutes) travellers can secure flights for a thrifty £167 per person with up to three flights departing from Manchester per day.
That longer flight time is worth the wait however, with one of the driest climates and cheapest prices for food and drinks (around £32.95 for a restaurant meal for two). A short distance from the airport to Marrakesh centre (at 6.4km) and more than a dozen cultural spots of interest such as the Jardin Majorelle and Bahia Palace – Marrakesh offers an exotic city break at an affordable price from Manchester.
Although Marrakesh offers the best all-round experience for a short getaway, travellers looking for lower-cost options could bag a flight to Shannon, Ireland for only £30 or Eindhoven, Netherlands for £33 – the cheapest destinations Manchester flies to.
Coming in second place as the best short city breaks from Manchester Airport was the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, with a 180 minute flight time for around £141 per person, with a choice of up to six departing flights per day. Additionally, the appeal of a whirlwind mini-break to Lisbon lies in its good weather, low rainfall, short journey from the airport (at only 6.3km) and over 30 cultural points of interest within the city, including Mosteiro dos Jeronimos and Castelo de Sao Jorge. Whilst not the cheapest destination (an average meal for two costing around £42.75) it still garners high demand as a city break of choice – with over 12,000 monthly searches on TikTok for ‘things to do’.
Coming in third place is Alicante, which has the fifth largest airport in Spain, is a popular hub for those visiting Alicante itself, and popular nearby resort destinations such as Benidorm. With an average flight cost of £215 per person, a moderate 120 minute flight time and nine departing flights per day it beat out destinations such as Dublin in Ireland and Reus in Spain to Manchester’s top three.