Weekend Breaks from UK Airports in March 2026

Soft Life Escapes

January 23, 2026

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Weekend Breaks (Without Using Annual Leave!)

If you work a 9-5 and hate using your precious annual leave for short weekend trips, this post is for you. Here are weekend trip ideas from UK airports in March that maximise your time off, include great flight times, and most are budget-friendly. All prices are return flights and current as of writing.

Airports included:

  • London Heathrow
  • London Stansted
  • Manchester
  • Liverpool
  • Birmingham

If you click the destination name, it will take you directly to the flights over on SkyScanner. I have searched the flights for one adult but you are able to change this in the search bar above the results.


London Heathrow Airport

Here are some of the best weekend trip deals I have managed to source for weekends in March using little or no annual leave! Now I’ll be honest, Heathrow isn’t the cheapest airport to fly from for these because of their lack of budget carriers but I have included it as it was requested and I would be jumping right on the trip to Gothenburg!

2-Night Trips

  • Paris | 6th-8th March | £122 | Out: 19:25, Back: 18:00
  • Malta | 13th-15th March | £113 | Out: 20:30, Back: 16:45
  • Basel | 13th-15th March | £115 | Out: 20:10, Back: 18:50
  • Lisbon | 13th-15th March | £136 | Out: 19:55, Back: 19:50
  • Istanbul | 13th-15th March | £175 | Out: 22:35, Back: 21:25
    Be prepared to sleep on the plane — you land Saturday morning at 5:25 and can hit the ground running!
  • Paris | 27th-29th March | £126 | Out: 21:00, Back: 21:40
  • Barcelona | 27th-29th March | £112 | Out: 20:50, Back: 18:35

1-Night Trips

  • Gothenburg | 14th-15th March | £117 | Out: 08:00, Back: 19:20
    Highly recommend staying at Jacy’z Hotel (blog post coming soon)
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London Stansted Airport

Here are weekend trip ideas from Stansted that can be done around your 9-5 and save your annual leave for bigger trips!

2-Night Trips

  • Barcelona | 6th-8th March | £75 | Out: 19:00, Back: 19:45
    Or come home at 16:40 for £52
  • Istanbul | 6th-8th March | £99 | Out: 23:20, Back: 21:15
    Lands Saturday morning at 06:05 so you’ll want to sleep on the plane and power through the day!
  • Vienna | 6th-8th March | £77 | Out: 19:40, Back: 18:00
  • Edinburgh | 13th-15th March | £38 | Out: 18:55, Back: 20:20
  • Porto | 13th-15th March | £115 | Out: 18:55, Back: 16:15
  • Venice | 13th-15th March | £51 | Out: 20:55, Back: 17:15
  • Pisa | 13th-15th March | £63 | Out: 19:00, Back: 17:20
  • Cologne | 13th-15th March | £36 | Out: 20:20, Back: 19:50
  • Berlin | 13th-15th March | £54 | Out: 19:00, Back: 18:30
  • Bucharest | 13th-15th March | £45 | Out: 19:50, Back: 21:50
  • Prague | 13th-15th March | £91 | Out: 18:25, Back: 22:25
  • Copenhagen | 20th-22nd March | £54 | Out: 19:25, Back: 22:15
  • Prague | 20th-22nd March | £128 | Out: 18:25, Back: 18:40

1-Night Trips

  • Luxembourg | 14th-15th March | £35 | Out: 06:30, Back: 16:15
  • Barcelona | 21st-22nd March | £94 | Out: 07:40, Back: 19:45
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If you visit Bucharest then Therme Bucharest is a great spa to visit but make sure you go into the city centre as it’s not to be missed! We really enjoyed this Communism and History Guided Tour.

Manchester Airport

Here are the weekend trips in March 2026 from Manchester Airport to save your annual leave!

2-Night Trips

  • Brussels | 6th-8th March | £46 | Out: 20:00, Back: 18:50
  • Venice | 6th-8th March | £85 | Out: 18:20, Back: 21:15
  • Istanbul | 6th-8th March | £157 | Out: 22:25, Back: 20:10
    This lands around 6am, so be ready to sleep on the plane and explore on little sleep — maybe squeeze in a nap at check-in 😅 With the time difference, you land back at 21:25 so if you live near the airport, you can still get a decent night’s sleep!
  • Malta | 13th-15th March | £47 | Out: 16:25, Back: 16:10
  • Riga | 13th-15th March | £83 | Out: 17:50, Back: 18:50
  • Amsterdam | 13th-15th March | £101 | Out: 18:45, Back: 21:40
  • Milan | 20th-22nd March | £75 | Out: 19:50, Back: 16:35
  • Lisbon | 27th-29th March | £140 | Out: 19:35, Back: 17:20

1-Night Trips

  • Cork | 14th-15th March | £35 | Out: 05:45, Back: 22:25
  • Dublin | 14th-15th March | £50 | Out: 07:25, Back: 20:20
  • Madrid | 28th-29th March | £86 | Out: 07:50, Back: 16:00
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Riga Old Town

Liverpool Airport

Limited options from Manchester airport but if you can travel on Friday any time then you’ll find there are a few more option (there are a few flights to Poland).

2-Night Trips

  • Malaga | 6th-8th March | £96 | Out: 18:20, Back: 20:45
    Or same flight out, return at 14:50 for £69
  • Budapest | 6th-8th March | £96 | Out: 05:45, Back: 10:05 (Best if you can take the Friday off)
  • Amsterdam | 20th-22nd March | £94 | Out: 18:25, Back: 10:00

1-Night Trips

  • Dublin | 28th-29th March | £56 | Out: 08:20, Back: 21:00
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Don’t miss seeing Amsterdam by canal boat! We did a drinks and snacks inclusive one at sunset and it was perfect.

Birmingham Airport

There are some really good weekend trips from Birmingham, some of my favourite destinations you can visit as a weekend trip from here.

2-Night Trips

  • Barcelona | 6th-8th March | £96 | Out: 21:35, Back: 19:55
    Cheaper return option at 10:50 = total £54
  • Malaga | 6th-8th March | £68 | Out: 19:30, Back: 21:25
  • Amsterdam | 13th-15th March | £144 | Out: 20:10, Back: 18:55
  • Bucharest | 13th-15th March | £102 | Out: 19:25, Back: 17:00
    Or return at 23:30 for just £62
  • Krakow | 20th-22nd March | £109 | Out: 18:00, Back: 21:10
  • Edinburgh | 27th-29th March | £81 | Out: 17:55, Back: 20:20
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Fabulous opportunity to visit one of my favourite cities in the UK as trains are usually so expensive!

🧳 Quick Roundup: Best Picks

Warmest options: Malta, Malaga, Lisbon

Cheapest overall: Cologne from Stansted – £36 return

Most time on the ground: Barcelona (21–22 Mar) from Stansted – 7:40 out, 19:45 back

Best for solo travel: Lisbon, Krakow, Gothenburg

Most luxurious experience: Gothenburg – Jacy’z Hotel stay

Best UK city break: Edinburgh from Birmingham or Stansted

Ideal for wellness: Bucharest spa trip

Prices are constantly changing, so book ASAP if you see a deal you love. I’ll be doing more roundups like this for extreme day trips and the following months. Links are affiliate, they help out my blog but at no extra cost to yourself.

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I’m a travel creator and content strategist based in North Wales, specialising in organic, story-led content for travel brands, tourism boards, and hotels that feels helpful, real, and totally watchable.

I love adventuring the world! Sometimes solo, sometimes with my kids, and meeting new people everywhere I go. I don’t just capture beautiful moments: I turn them into content that connects with audiences, builds trust, and creates meaningful engagement. That’s because every piece of content I make comes from a place of strategy and heart.

With a marketing degree under my belt, I combine creativity with proven strategy so brands get authentic, strategic content and my audience gets stories that inspire them.

My mission? To empower women to feel confident exploring the world, choosing freedom, and building lives that light them up — on their own terms.

I'm Emma Owen!



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