Europe Trip Recommendation

[FlamesPuck12]

I'm thinking about taking a couple weeks between May and June to travel with my friends and I was wondering if CP had any recommendations for planning a Europe trip.

None of us have been outside of the continent before or went on a trip like this so we have no experience with planning such a thing.

We have about 4 weeks to play with and the budget isn't the biggest problem. We'd like to visit a couple countries and some of the major cities in Europe. Since we haven't been to Europe before, we'd like to visit some of the boring tourist traps as well.

Right now, we're thinking about flying out to London and coming back with a couple day layover in Iceland (CP seems to have some kind of obsession over Iceland so I thought I would include it in the trip).

I've looked at couple posts on the Travel Junkie thread and I'm currently using Google Flights and HipMunk to search for the flights.

Aside from that, we have nothing else figured out and we're in the process of planning so some recommendations would be great!

[Nyah]

If you're flying in & out of London and don't care about not getting free drinks/stuff on the trans-Atlantic flight, I always find AirTransat to be by far the cheapest airline. Air Canada, KLM and Lufthansa are great airlines for trans-Atlantic flights, with free booze, awesome meals and pillows/blankets on their flights, but they're also generally a LOT more expensive (in my experience). That being said, sometime you can find amazing deals with those airlines as well. I know Itravel2000 has flight-watchers where you can get email notifications of drops in prices on the flights you're looking at.

Edit: also, price out the flight you want departing on a Thursday or Friday. Those days I've found to be the cheapest to fly. I try to avoid doing big flights like that on Saturdays.

[cDnStealth]

As much as I enjoyed my time in the UK I feel that if you're wanting to go to mainland Europe that you should probably skip London. Everything is "close" in Europe but in my 4 week trip to Europe, the week I spent in the UK felt out of the way. What countries were you wanting to go to? How many cities? 2 days in each city seems like enough time but when you're racing around trying to fit everything in you'll realize how little time you actually have.

[calgarygeologist]

London is probably my least favorite place in Europe.

I would probably start in Paris (few days there) and catch an overnight train to Barcelona (few days there.) Hop over to Monaco (day or two) followed by Geneva (day or two.) After that I would check out Munich, Salzburg, Vienna followed by Prague and Krakow. After that head over to Croatia. In Croatia, you could check out Zagreb or head over to the resorts. You'll probably be ready for a bit of a rest so I would highly recommend you visit a resort in Croatia and spend a couple of days on the beach (Split is good.)

After that you could try Italy or head north to Amsterdam (I would pick Amsterdam.) Amsterdam is a main hub so I'd probably look at flying out of Amsterdam and making a lay over in Iceland if you so choose. Check out the volcanoes and hot springs in Iceland and head home.

[Jbo]

London is a great place to spend a few days. Can hit quite a few of the sites, drink at pubs, and move on. Take the eurorail High speed to Paris or Amsterdam should be the next spot. Paris was cool for 3-4 days, but you don't need anymore time there. Amsterdam is amazing.

If you want to go further, jump on a easy jey or ryanair and try and do Italy or Greece for a week. Both countries are a blast (although I had way more fun in Greece, checking out the greek islands)

You almost can't go wrong where ever you end up.

[bigtmac19]

I loved London, only got 4 days there and it wasn't enough. We arrived on the EuroStar from Paris, which is great, you are nice and central when you do that.
I would definitely plan to spend some time in The Netherlands, it's just beautiful, people are very friendly and welcoming.
If you are interested in history at all - Vimy Ridge Memorial is spectatcular, as is The Menin Gate.

[core_upt]

My recommendations for best cities are:
Berlin (a MUST visit) - 3-4 days
Krakow
Reykjavik
Paris
Budapest
Prague (party capital of Europe)

Other highlights:
Croatia (skip Dubrovnik, or a day trip at most)
Sicily is the nicest part of Italy, just harder to get to
Scandinavia, Stockholm or Copenhagen, are nice, but very expensive. Stockholm is out of the way for most Eurotrippers
Tallinn, Estonia is a hidden gym - medieval and modern at the same time, just our of the way, but super cheap.

For travel:
Traveling between countries is seamless. When weighing the benefits of flying vs. ground transport, remember that cheaper airlines fly to more remote airports, and you can end up spending either time or money getting back to the main city.
Factor time required into your travels. Almost every point is a 2 hour flight away, but when you factor in check in times, getting baggage and transport to and from the airport, flights are 5-6 hours of time. Quite often you can take a train or bus for a lot less money and it takes the same amount of time.
Overnight trains save you a night of accommodations, but are generally uncomfortable.
If there are 304 of you traveling, you can will find that you can book cheap hotels or apartments for less than hostels. Hostels are great for meeting people to party with, but terrible for quality of sleep. If nothing else, book a private room just for your group. One of the only times we stayed in a shared room, one of the other guys in the room had his wallet and passport stolen in the middle of the night. I used booking.com and airbnb for most of my accommodations.
Travel light - very light! Aside from Iceland, you won't need overly warm clothing in most places. You can always buy a cheap sweater at H&M if need be.

For reference, I (with my wife) did ~6 weeks through Europe.We were living in Sweden and this was the last part of our stay before heading home. We left from Copenhagen and did the following:
Reykjavik/Iceland (4 days)
Stockholm (2 days)
Helsinki (2 days)
Tallinn (2 days)
Riga (1 day)
Budapest (3 days)
Croatia (7 days down the coast)
Sicily/Pisa/Florence/Venice (10 days)
Munich (3 days)
Paris (3 days)
Manchester (1 day)
Ireland (4 days)
Goteborg (2 days)

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

I recommend looking at GAP adventures...either as a tour organizer or look at their itinerary as a framework for your own trip

[Jbo]

Im surprised on here that so many people did not enjoy London. I found it to be a fantastic city. The tourist attractions were amazing (Make sure to take the Tower of London Tour with a Beefeater) and nightlife great. Check out The Punch Bowl for a great pub experience or Fabric if you are into nightlife.

Paris on the otherhand I found to be a very different experience. Crazy gypsey people everywhere and some of the people were rude. Having said that attractions are amazing. (Check out the Catacombs/Louve/Notre Dame/ Effiel Tower) and the food was great. Also, protip, do not tip in Paris, it is already in the bill. Finally, The Moosehead is a Canadain bar in Paris that will throw on a early hockey game and has a couple Flames fans behind the bar.

[FlamesPuck12]

Thanks for all the responses guys, definitely helpful.

I'm also quite surprised about the London responses as well but just looking at the flight prices, it might be worth it to fly into London (it seems to be cheapest out of all airports) and then spend a day or two before taking the EuroStar down to France.

Couple questions for you guys:

1. How difficult is it to cross the border? (We're all on Canadian passports)

2. Any more opinions regarding hotel vs. AirBNB vs. hostel?
I'm a little skeptical about hostel especially because our group is going to be small 2-4 so it might be worth while to just go with a small hotel room or look for something on AirBNB (which I haven't used before either).

3. In terms of booking train tickets and the hotel rooms, would you guys recommend that we do that before the trip or is it not hard getting decent hotel rooms or cheap train tickets as we travel?
Trying to decide if we want to plan the whole thing from the start or go with the flow.

[undercoverbrother]

Some good suggestions in here already.

I would echo Budapest (although it may have lost some of the recently communist charm). It was far and away the best place I have ever been.

I have been to Frejus and St-Raphael and had a really good time.

Venice is great, but only for a day trip.

I wouldn't go to Croatia, but that is just me.

[Aeneas]

I have found some great places on AirBnB.

[troutman]

I enjoy mixing small towns/country-side, with the big cites. There is something interesting to see wherever you go. Throw some darts at a map.

[Jbo]

Originally Posted by FlamesPuck12

Thanks for all the responses guys, definitely helpful.

I'm also quite surprised about the London responses as well but just looking at the flight prices, it might be worth it to fly into London (it seems to be cheapest out of all airports) and then spend a day or two before taking the EuroStar down to France.

Couple questions for you guys:

1. How difficult is it to cross the border? (We're all on Canadian passports)

2. Any more opinions regarding hotel vs. AirBNB vs. hostel?
I'm a little skeptical about hostel especially because our group is going to be small 2-4 so it might be worth while to just go with a small hotel room or look for something on AirBNB (which I haven't used before either).

3. In terms of booking train tickets and the hotel rooms, would you guys recommend that we do that before the trip or is it not hard getting decent hotel rooms or cheap train tickets as we travel?
Trying to decide if we want to plan the whole thing from the start or go with the flow.

1) you will have to go through Customs going on the Eurostar, but it is painless and much easier then the airport. Once in the EU, you can travel anywhere within the EU without clearing customs

2, Depends on the experience you want. Hostel is great when you are looking to meet people and travel cheap. Hostels can range from amazing to terrible though, make sure you jump on-line before you travel to a new place. I found Hotels to be relatively cheap if you are sharing with someone, probably work out to 3-50-bucks each a day, but be warned, hotels in Europe are generally much smaller then we are used to here. (Dont expect two queen size beds)

3. I made the mistake of booking train tickets before. Don't be intemidated. The trains in Europe are amazing, usually run on time, and there is no cost benefit to book ahead, besides maybe the Eurorail. Again just go on line. Eurorail handles London to Brussels/Paris. Thalys is Netherlands/Germany.

If you decide to fly, remember that Easy Jet and Ryan Air are super cheap, unless you have luggage. Anything over the min weight and you get hit with cost and fees.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by FlamesPuck12

Thanks for all the responses guys, definitely helpful.

I'm also quite surprised about the London responses as well but just looking at the flight prices, it might be worth it to fly into London (it seems to be cheapest out of all airports) and then spend a day or two before taking the EuroStar down to France.

Couple questions for you guys:

1. How difficult is it to cross the border? (We're all on Canadian passports)

2. Any more opinions regarding hotel vs. AirBNB vs. hostel?
I'm a little skeptical about hostel especially because our group is going to be small 2-4 so it might be worth while to just go with a small hotel room or look for something on AirBNB (which I haven't used before either).

3. In terms of booking train tickets and the hotel rooms, would you guys recommend that we do that before the trip or is it not hard getting decent hotel rooms or cheap train tickets as we travel?
Trying to decide if we want to plan the whole thing from the start or go with the flow.

London certainly has a lot of attractions to visit but I just find that London is too busy and too expensive and doesn't provide enough enjoyment. I'd rather spend that time visiting a place like Amsterdam or cities in Germany or eastern Europe. Flights into London can certainly be had for a very attractive price especially if you fly into Gatwick. Flights into Amsterdam or Frankfurt can be quite cheap as well.

1. You shouldn't run into any problems crossing the borders especially in western Europe. In eastern Europe sometimes there can be minor delays.

2. AirBNB is great. One of my buddies had previously found a website that offered some great deals on hotels in Europe. They booked three or four different hotels through that website and had very good success. I'll have to ask him what the address was.

3. No need to book ahead of time for buses or trains. I would have a general plan but leave things open. You never know when you might want to spend and extra day or two in a certain city or you might meet up with other travelers and you might want to join them on an adventure.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by fotze

Is Croatia expensive?

Compared to most of Europe, it is relatively cheap. You can find good accommodations for like $40-$50 Canadian (or dumps for less).

A beer is usually the equivalent of between $1 and $2 Canadian. Two people can usually go and have dinner and a few beers at the pub for $20.

It does depend where you go though. Dubrovnik and Hvar are a little more expensive. I recommend Zadar, Rovinj, Korcula and Sibenik as cheaper alternatives.

[sevenarms]

Budapest!!

[keratosis]

Originally Posted by sevenarms

Budapest!!

+1
My son totally agrees. Says he would move there tomorrow.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Flying to London is ridiculously expensive. When we headed over it was $500 less a person to fly to Manchester than it was London (we were seeing a music festival halfway between London and Manchester). In terms of keeping the flights cheap KLM does a daily non-stop from Calgary to Amsterdam. It's around $1,000 and Amsterdam is a huge travel hub to get anywhere else in Europe. Plus free booze on the flight is sweet.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by sevenarms

Budapest!!

I was there in '93, and it was the greatest place every!!