Welcome to Empty Nest Travellers | Travel Guides & Reviews for Mature Couples.
Welcome to Empty Nest Travellers—your guide to rediscovering the world now that the kids have flown the coop. We specialize in curated travel experiences for mature couples and empty nesters who value comfort, culture, and a touch of luxury. From honest reviews of Manchester Airport lounges and premium flight cabins to slow-travel itineraries in cities like Prague and Bergen, we provide first-hand insights to help you plan your next stress-free getaway. Join us as we explore the best of Europe and beyond, focusing on history, hidden gems, and the joy of traveling at your own pace or read more about us.Start Your Journey: Premium Airport & Lounge Reviews
Manchester is our local airport and we get to visit it often (not often enough I say) and frequently start our visit with a lounge, or sometimes even a hotel. There's a good choice of lounges across the 3 terminals, mainly the 1903 Lounge, Escape Lounge and the Aspire Lounge. If you are very lucky you might even get to try the Emirates Lounge!
The premium lounge in Manchester is the 1903 Lounge, but having recently tried it out, the slightly cheaper neighbour Escape Lounge T2, which is much better than it's Terminal One counterpart, is our favourite when paying. The Terminal 2 Aspire Lounge isn't as good an offering as it's Terminal 1 version and given it can be more expensive than the Escape we'd only use it when it's included.
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Curated European City Breaks
We often say a long weekend away gives the same benefits as a week (or two) away and try to visit new cities frequently. Whether that's Prague, Amsterdam or Krakow there's plenty of variety.
Easily visited in a weekend with various airlines and a 2 hour flight, Prague is a wonderful medieval city to visit. Bergen is also a good option, with Norwegian Airways also offering flights if you want a change. Fantastic scenery in the city, even more amazing in the Fjords and lots of interesting food and drink. And if you've not been before then Krakow for a visit to Auschwitz should be compulsory.
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Magical Winter & Christmas Market Getaways
Christmas markets are a major draw to Europe in the early winter. The Prague markets are often quotes as being amongst the best, but Tivoli in Copenhagen is just amazing and worth a visit to the city just for that market.
Many guides list the Prague Christmas Markets as amongst the best and I can't argue, although the Copenhagen Tivoli markets were amazing and there are multiple Festive Markets in Copenhagen.
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Long Haul Luxury: Abu Dhabi Guides
Abu Dhabi, whether direct with Etihad or as we did it via Dubai with Emirates (and an Emirates chaffeur car!!!) included is an amzing Arabic city to visit. From luxury travel with Emirates to a fantastic nightly light show at the Qasr Al Watan Palace, there's far more than glitz and gold in the UAE and a lot to see in do as we show in our Abu Dhabi long weekend itinerary. There are luxury 5* hotels which are more like 7* in Europe and fantastic food to try out.
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Essential Travel Tips for Mature Couples
It's not all about the travel, there's a lot of preparation. Insurance is essential but also being smart - if you book right you can save, or at least get extras for free. Have a look through our guides for a few ideas.
I just happened to look at business class when booking Lufthansa and although it's not spectacular, it worked out that Lufthansa Business Class cost less overall than economy! Also whilst roaming in Europe is usually included in mobile plans, outside of Europe it can be expensive! I quickly learnt about dual sims and getting cheap data abroad. And planning in advance to create a details itinerary is vital so I share with you many, including this Abu Dhabi Long Weekend Itinerary based on my experiances.
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