6 City Breaks To Take Before You Die

Everybody loves a holiday, whether it be a weekend break or a fortnight in paradise. Generally it’s nice to get away from the stresses of everyday life. With so many beautiful cities around the world to choose from, it can be hard to narrow them down and know which ones to add to your bucket list. That's why we have compiled our top city breaks to take this summer, so you can make the most of your summer in the city with Mankind!

Experience the Romance of Venice

Located in the North-East of Italy and often referred to as the ‘City of Bridges’, Venice consists of numerous islands. Famous for its series of 177 canals passing through, boats are the main form of transportation including the traditional gondola. Every building located in Venice is magnificent and has a series of beautiful art galleries and gothic architectural buildings. Venice is also well known as a romantic holiday destination, which makes it a perfect weekend to surprise your loved one with. Experience not only the romance in Venice, but also enjoy the absolutely beautiful food in the range of independant cafés and restaurants littered throughout this fantastic location.

Facts About Venice:

• There are 417 bridges in Venice.
• 18 million tourists visit Venice each year.
• Venice is sinking at the rate of 1-2mm a year.
• The Venice lagoon is 15 meters deep at its deepest point.
• Population of Venice has decreased by over 50% in the last 50 years because of sinking and flooding.

The Breathtaking Architecture of Barcelona

Distinguished by the works of the ingenious architect Antoni Gaudi, Barcelona is the center of Modernist architecture. This bright and bold city isn’t just a city break; it's also considered the best urban beach. However, Barcelona’s beaches were used for industrial purposes until 1992. It’s loved by so many that each year, 8 million tourists visit Barcelona, making it Europe’s third most-visited city. Beaten in visits by London and Paris, you may sway more towards a journey to Barcelona for the vast array of tours available, including a delicious Tapas tour. Mmmm Tapas.

Facts About Barcelona:

• Barcelona has 12 abandoned subway and train stations and all of them are allegedly haunted.
• Barcelona was the first city to win a Royal Institute of British Architecture gold medal.
• Barcelona’s drivers are considered the worst in the world and an accident occurs every 19 seconds on its streets.
• Around 10% OF Barcelona is covered by parks.
• Barcelona was the first choice place to have the Eiffel Tower built but the project was rejected by citizens. They were worried it would look an eyesore.

Take a Trip to London

Home to our very own Queen Elizabeth, we couldn't do a list of top cities to visit without name dropping our own capital city. Some amazing tourist attractions exist in London and they appear just around every corner. Including Big Ben, Tower of London, the London Eye and Westminster Abbey; even if you've visited London before, you can always find more sights to see with each and every trip there. It’s also a great place to go to enjoy the nightlife with a range of pubs and clubs located throughout the city. If you're after someone a little different for a tipple of two, then the bright lights of Soho and the delicious food of China Town are just the ticket.

Facts About London:

• It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.
• Big Ben’s chime is in the key of E.
• Big Ben is the bell rather than the clock tower itself.
• Trident Studios in London is where The Beatles made most of the White Album and David Bowie recorded Ziggy Stardust.
• More than half of the London Underground network runs above ground, ironic or what?

Enjoy the Alternative Cultures of Berlin

First of all, Berlin is full of alternative cultures and styles and has been marked as the ‘hipster’ city of Europe. There are tonnes of underground bars and alternative pubs and clubs which are guaranteed to be unlike any other. One of our favourite things about Berlin is the variety in restaurants, including Turkish, Mexican, Asian and Italian. You’re bound to find something which tickles your taste buds, quite literally.

Facts About Berlin:

• Berlin is brilliant for shopping for unique and interesting items.
• Berlin’s abandoned theme park ‘Spreepark’ is often visited by urban explorers, photographers and edgy musicians.
• Strangely enough Berlin actually has more bridges than Venice!
• The Berlin Wall was actually two walls and between them was a ‘death strip’ which contained watchtowers, anti-vehicle trenches, guard dog runs, floodlights and trip-wire machine guns.
• A piece of the wall stands in the bathroom of the Main Street Station Casino in Las Vegas where the urinals are mounted upon it.

New York, New York!

At the very heart of New York City is Manhattan so visiting New York means you’ll get to visit a tonne of tourist attractions all in one city break. Awesome right? Manhattan is home to Central Park, Times Square, Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty along with even more. Once you've been sight-seeing at all of these super cool tourist attractions, you can go for some retail therapy. Take a trip to famous New York shopping places like Fifth Avenue followed by going to grab a bite to eat. With such a diverse community living in New York, the traditional food you indulge in is most probably authentic and made by people from the relevant origin. Just to top it off, it’s called “the city that never sleeps” for a reason and there’s always something interesting to do 24/7!

Facts About New York:

• ‘The Big Apple’ nickname for New York was coined by musicians.
• New York is the most linguistically diverse city in the world with 800 languages.
• The average cost of a night out in New York is US$82.
• There are approximately 1600 pizza restaurants in New York City.
• New York City was originally called New Amsterdam.

See the Spectacular Delights of Dubai

With one of the most spectacular skylines in the world and home to the tallest man-made structure, Dubai has to be on your city breaks to take before you die list. Dubai has only been built up from practically nothing in the past 20 years and the wealth of the city is shown through its amazing architecture. You can visit Palm Jumeirah which is the world’s largest artificial island, Dubai Mall (the biggest Mall in the world) or see the biggest fountain display in the world. Dubai is a city which forever wants to have the biggest and best of everything and it's well worth a visit. Bonus: due to the average of 300 sunny days a year, you are very likely to get a tan.

Facts About Dubai:

• The Dubai police force are much cooler, driving around in Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Bentleys.
• ATMs which don't dispense money but gold bars instead are available in Dubai.
• Pets are often very different to here in Western culture and they often keep wild cats such as Lions, Tigers, Leopards and Cheetahs.
• Not only is air conditioning available indoors but the bus shelters have it too because of the sheer heat.
• 40% of the physical gold traded in 2013 occurred in Dubai and overall weighed more than 354 elephants.