Article index
All 125 articles on Fly Before Friday, by section.
Fares & Booking
Section page →- When short-haul fares actually moveAug 9, 2026
- Getting from the airport without overpayingJul 12, 2026
- The cost per usable hour on the groundJul 3, 2026
- When a short trip is not worth takingJun 27, 2026
- The carbon cost of going away for two nightsJun 24, 2026
- What two nights away costs beyond the ticketJun 22, 2026
- Paying to protect the scheduleJun 18, 2026
- Why the cheapest departure is rarely the cheapest tripJun 16, 2026
- Fewer long trips or more short onesJun 10, 2026
- Money buys time on a short break, and little elseJun 8, 2026
- Counting a trip in days off rather than in moneyJun 4, 2026
- The trip that is cheap because nobody wants those hoursJun 2, 2026
- Risk is concentrated on a short tripMay 29, 2026
- Why the price changes between two searchesDec 1, 2025
- Unbundling, and what a headline fare stopped includingNov 25, 2025
- The advance-purchase window is a tendency, not a ruleNov 23, 2025
- Price alerts and the question they cannot answerNov 18, 2025
- Why the outbound and the return rarely cost the sameNov 16, 2025
- The fare that drops after you have paidOct 27, 2025
- The calendar decides the fare before you doOct 23, 2025
- A connection can cost less and take the weekend with itOct 19, 2025
48 Hours
Section page →- The forty-eight hour itinerary that actually worksJul 25, 2026
- Arriving late and leaving early without wasting the tripJul 23, 2026
- Weekend accommodation: what matters at this lengthJul 16, 2026
- Build the trip around one thingMay 24, 2026
- The sightseeing list is the wrong tool at this lengthMay 22, 2026
- One thing a day, done properlyMay 18, 2026
- When the thing you came for is closedMay 16, 2026
- The evening is the part short trips wasteMay 12, 2026
- Slack is the most valuable item in a short itineraryMay 9, 2026
- Two people, two pacesMay 5, 2026
- Two nights away with small childrenMay 3, 2026
- Planning a short trip when someone has limited mobilityApr 27, 2026
- The second visit beats the firstApr 25, 2026
- The advance ticket that runs the whole weekendNov 13, 2025
- Eating on a short trip without losing an afternoon to itNov 8, 2025
- A weekend with other people in itNov 5, 2025
- The day out of the city you came forNov 3, 2025
- Doing nothing on purpose for part of a short tripOct 31, 2025
- Choosing between two things when there is only time for oneOct 15, 2025
- The morning is the most valuable block on a short tripOct 14, 2025
- Finding your way in a place you do not knowOct 9, 2025
Short-Break Cities
Section page →- Cities that reward a weekend, and cities that punish oneJul 31, 2026
- Second cities are usually the better weekendJul 29, 2026
- Walkability decides more of a short trip than anything elseApr 22, 2026
- The one-neighbourhood weekendApr 17, 2026
- Indoor places and outdoor placesApr 15, 2026
- Off-season, and what you give up for the quietApr 12, 2026
- A place opening rhythm decides which days workApr 7, 2026
- Small towns and the two-day problemApr 4, 2026
- Large capitals are the wrong shape for two nightsApr 2, 2026
- Choosing a place by its shape, not its highlightsMar 28, 2026
- Heat, cold and the trip you cannot wait outMar 26, 2026
- How far away a two-night trip should beMar 23, 2026
- Rivers, harbours and the time they add to a crossingOct 6, 2025
- Hills make a short trip shorterOct 3, 2025
- The city that empties at the weekendSep 30, 2025
- Two countries in two daysSep 27, 2025
- When the transport is the attractionSep 22, 2025
- Cheap to reach, expensive to be inSep 18, 2025
- The historic core and everything around itSep 16, 2025
- The city with the scaffolding upSep 12, 2025
- The place you have already seen in photographsSep 10, 2025
Timing
Section page →- A weekend trip is measured in usable hours, not nightsAug 11, 2026
- What to do when the flight is cancelledJul 9, 2026
- The arithmetic of a two-day breakMar 18, 2026
- Leaving the night before buys a disproportionate amount of tripMar 16, 2026
- The return leg shapes the entire tripMar 12, 2026
- The Monday costMar 8, 2026
- Three nights is a different animal from twoMar 4, 2026
- The four-day break is the best shape there isMar 2, 2026
- The weekend is not the same two days everywhereFeb 26, 2026
- What one day of leave actually buysFeb 24, 2026
- Arriving tired, and the day you lose to itFeb 18, 2026
- Crossing a time zone for two nightsFeb 15, 2026
- Why the trip felt shorter than it wasFeb 12, 2026
- Daylight decides how long a winter weekend isSep 6, 2025
- The queue you cannot predictSep 3, 2025
- The first flight of the day and the lastAug 31, 2025
- Booking a weekend too far aheadAug 25, 2025
- How close together two short breaks can sitAug 24, 2025
- The long weekend everybody else is also takingAug 19, 2025
- When the clocks change during your weekendAug 15, 2025
- The weekend that uses no leave at allAug 13, 2025
Travelling Light
Section page →- Hand luggage only, for two nightsAug 5, 2026
- One bag because there is no time for a carouselFeb 8, 2026
- What you carry decides how you move through the dayFeb 6, 2026
- Buying it there instead of carrying itFeb 2, 2026
- The bag you carry between checkout and departureJan 31, 2026
- Overpacking costs time, not weightJan 26, 2026
- Dressing for two days without packing for fourJan 24, 2026
- The return bag is heavier than the outbound oneJan 19, 2026
- Chargers, screens and the two days you came to be away fromJan 17, 2026
- Carrying for a small child on a two-night tripJan 13, 2026
- Two people travelling out of one bagJan 8, 2026
- The few things that end a trip if you lose themJan 7, 2026
- The first hours, before the room is readyAug 8, 2025
- Stairs, cobbles and the last two hundred metresAug 6, 2025
- A two-day forecast is one you can actually useAug 4, 2025
- Hands free changes what a day can holdJul 30, 2025
- What a two-night trip forgivesJul 27, 2025
- The bag decides whether you can change your mindJul 22, 2025
- Carrying to the gate and carrying all day are different loadsJul 20, 2025
- Working out of a bag when the trip is half workJul 16, 2025
- Living out of the bag rather than unpacking itJul 12, 2025
Near-Home Escapes
Section page →- The near-home break that beats flyingJul 19, 2026
- The near escape: two nights without a planeJul 6, 2026
- The two-hour radius nobody exploresJan 3, 2026
- The one-night breakDec 29, 2025
- The break where you never leave homeDec 28, 2025
- Driving there, and the tiredness that comes with itDec 23, 2025
- Why people come home from short breaks needing a restDec 19, 2025
- The midweek escapeDec 18, 2025
- The trip you can call off the morning ofDec 12, 2025
- Two nights aloneDec 10, 2025
- The same place in four different seasonsDec 7, 2025
- When short trips are the only trips you can takeDec 3, 2025
- The train that wins once you count the whole journeyJul 11, 2025
- The night train as a bed and a journey at onceJul 6, 2025
- Two nights without a carJul 2, 2025
- The last mile in a place with no busesJul 1, 2025
- The drive that doubles on the wrong afternoonJun 25, 2025
- The coach, and what it actually costs in hoursJun 23, 2025
- Out under your own power and back on the trainJun 20, 2025
- Staying with people instead of paying for a roomJun 16, 2025