Krakow is being sold as the new Prague. We were there last September and loved it.

What about Salzburg? It is served by low cost airlines from several UK airports and is easy to do either DIY or packaged.

I have thought about Krakow but when my friends went they said they found the Polish overly rude. But I was thinking of it and speanding a day visiting Aushwitz, if I can bring myself to do it

As for Salzburg, I must admit I have not considered before but I may be tempted again, we would be speanding four nights is their a lot to do/see?? Is it an expensive place?? I did look at Vienna and was interested with there, would you say Salzburg is nicer than Vienna??

I'm open to any other suggestions aswell by the way guys

Thanks for the help so far!!

Venice would be a nice romantic choice!
In August the place will be teeming with cruisers and day trippers, but there are lots of quiet areas if you look for them, and once the day visitors have gone it will be much emptier. And because there is no traffic, it never feels like a busy city.
People have said it smells in summer, but I have stayed in June, and visited for the day in August, and didn't notice any smells at all.

Vienna is a bit spread out (say like Paris) with sights in different districts whereas the old part of Salzburg is much more compact and together which makes it walkable like central Prague. As well as the castle and old town there are also places nearby worth a visit like Berchtesgaden. An interest in Mozart or the Sound of Music is useful but not essential. They do a Salzburg Card which gets you into virtually everywhere in the city (including a brewery when I had one!) plus use of city transport. Hotels in the tourist centre can be overpriced at rack rates but prices drop off at the fringes and packages may be cheaper anyway. August is the peak month for the city and June next year is Euro2008 football.

The overall Salzburg website gives links to the various tourist sites. The top logo that says Hotels in Salzburg is an agent not the full list. Note that there is "Stadt Salzburg" which is the city and "Land Salzburg" which is the state surrounding it. Prices can really tumble outside the city, it depends on whether you want to be in the centre of things until late or whether a quiet retreat with mountain sunsets would suit the occasion better.

Salzburg airport has a range of cheap flights and is a local bus ride to the centre, Vienna is a bit limited for cheap flights and a fair way out. SkyEurope's "Vienna" is actually Bratislava and a coach ride across the border!

How about Ljubljana ? the architecture is very much like Prague, the people are friendly and the country is small enough to visit other parts quite easily. The weather is excellent and prices are quite reasonable.

Regarding Krakow residents being rude. That's not my experience. Perhaps you friends did something or acted in such a way as to cause this supposed rudeness. I have found Polish people to have proper old-fashioned values regarding politeness and courtesy.

Ljubljana - yes, I'd agree with that. Just not as handy to get to as Salzburg or even Vienna, Easyjet go there from Stansted but I'm not aware of any other cheap options (please feel free to prove me wrong from anywhere in the BHX-EMA-LPL triangle as I'd quite like a short break there myself!).

As for Krakow, a friend visited a couple of years ago and felt it was the Auschwitz tourists who were unintentionally causing the problems with the locals. They would come in by the bus load to see how terrible things had been there but completely ignore the dire state many of the locals were living in as they passed by. And I suppose it doesn't help that so few tourists speak Polish.