Travel question: Where’s best for a European birthday break in 2020?

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Malaga offers a huge range of daytime activities (Getty/iStock)

Q My female pals and I are planning a European trip away from Cardiff to celebrate a few of us turning 50 next year (not me!). Ibiza is on the cards but we may be too young for that party island. Any suggestions?

Eleri S

A I have narrowed the search to destinations served direct this summer from Cardiff, rather than involving a journey to Bristol airport or an even more distant location such as Birmingham.

Now, at this stage it is impossible to say which flights will operate in 2020 from Cardiff. The range of destinations has fluctuated over the years, and Flybe has already announced it will withdraw jet services from the Welsh capital’s airport at the end of October 2019.

But I think there is a strong chance that the routes currently served by Ryanair and Vueling will continue in 2020.

At present those destinations are Alicante, Barcelona, Faro, Malaga, Malta and Palma (I have excluded Tenerife because it is a four-hour flight that operates only once a week).

Of that half-dozen, one stands out: Malaga. Andalucia’s city on the Mediterranean is easy to reach (the airport is only 15 minutes by taxi or train from the centre). Accommodation is plentiful and affordable, with plenty of decent twin rooms around the £60 mark.

The range of daytime activities is vast: great museums (particularly the Picasso, celebrating Malaga’s most famous son, and the Centre Pompidou Málaga), a rich heritage including a Moorish castle, excellent shopping and a decent beach.

And after dark the old town is convivial and beautiful, with an implausible number of excellent tapas bars and restaurants; I particularly recommend Los Gatos, officially a bar but where you can dine on overflowing dishes of freshly cooked seafood.

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