September is the best month to get away, says Sarah Marshall, who selects her top short breaks.

THE PARK HYATT VIENNA, AUSTRIA

Fine art, grand architecture and a love of the outdoors make Vienna a great choice for a warm weather city break. Drawing even more attention to the Austrian capital is new luxury hotel Park Hyatt Vienna, located in the city's Unesco-listed First District in a renovated 100-year-old building that once served as a bank.

Smooth marble pillars, crystal lanterns and Viennese mirrors evoke the grandeur of the Habsburg dynasty, who once ruled the city, while there are also references to the Secessionist arts movement, championed by Gustav Klimt.

A subterranean spa features a 15m pool in the bank's former vault, while The Bank restaurant occupies a dining room that could compete with some of Vienna's greatest palaces. A menu features European regional cuisine made with locally-sourced products, including river salmon and pike-perch.

Temperatures are still warm in September, and there's still the chance to take a dip in one of the city's many natural swimming spots, located in pollution-free rivers.

Doubles from £297, room only. Visit vienna.park.hyatt.com

Book flights to Vienna through Expedia. Visit Expedia.co.uk

IL SAVIATINO, FLORENCE, ITALY

Foraging in dense thickets and sliding down dusty verges is all part of the day job for truffle hunter Giulio Benuzzi, who, accompanied by his shaggy-haired Lagotto Romagnolo dog Eda, roams the Tuscan hills in search of the the highly prized delicacy.

Last year, he collected a kilo in an hour - worth an impressive 500 euros - and reveals that a large number were found in the grounds of 15th century villa Il Salviatino, which now operates as a five-star hotel. He regularly guides guests on tours of the surrounding woodland, teaching them about a passion that has even led him to make sketches and write poems about the gourmet fungus.

Set on a hillside in Fiesole, with views of the terracotta Duomo in Florence, the hotel has been meticulously restored to its former glory by the Pigozzo family. The food served is excellent, with many ingredients found on site - including, of course, those precious truffles.

Doubles from 322 euros with breakfast. Visit salviatino.com

Ryanair fly to Pisa from Glasgow and Edinburgh, from £19.99 one way. Visit ryanair.com

ANDEL'S HOTEL LODZ, POLAND

A major city 80 miles south-west of Warsaw, Lodz (pronounced "wooj") has a rich textile history dating back to Poland's Industrial Revolution and the boom of clothing manufacturing in the 1870s. Today, the city's fashion credentials hold their own against the style powerhouses of London, Paris, Milan and New York, making it an alternative choice for a chic weekend break.

Artists come here to fill the walls of buildings with brilliantly bizarre murals, film-makers fulfil their dreams at the world-renowned National Film School, and writers, musicians and designers exchange numbers in the trendy cafes, bars and studios of Off Piotrkowska.

Nowhere else are these historic and artistic connections better represented than at andel's Hotel Lodz, a 19th-century red-brick structure that, having once been a thriving weaving mill, is now enjoying its second heyday as a spectacular modern guest house.

Purple spotlights illuminate abstract works of art hanging from cast-iron beams and bare brick walls, and Air's Moon Safari is piped through the foyer.

It's a different kind of luxury here. One that blends elements of past and present, classic and contemporary, industrial and artistic.

Doubles from 120 euros with breakfast. Visit Vi-hotels.com

Wizz Air flies to Warsaw from Glasgow from £25.99 one way. Visit wizzair.com