Europe Trip Recommendation

[OffsideSpecialist]

I was there last summer, and it was still the greatest place ever!

I did a trip in 3 weeks consisting of Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, Prague and Berlin. I'd recommend every one of those places other than maybe Bratislava. You could do a similar trip, only perhaps include Kosice and Krakow rather than Bratislava. Or else you could go south from Budapest. Many people I spend time with in Hungary were going on to Split, Croatia after. I had also heard great things about Sarajevo and Mostar...those are two towns I want to visit soon. Not sure how old you guys are or what you are looking for but they say that Belgrade is a good party town if you are looking for that.

[icarus]

Originally Posted by 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.)

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

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.

London may not be everyone's cup of tea (ha!) but your rationale seems to belie the alternatives you've suggested! All (save Barcelona) are more expensive, Paris is just as busy and Monaco and Geneva are hardly more enjoyable, IMO. To each his own!

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by OffsideSpecialist

I was there last summer, and it was still the greatest place ever!

I did a trip in 3 weeks consisting of Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, Prague and Berlin. I'd recommend every one of those places other than maybe Bratislava. You could do a similar trip, only perhaps include Kosice and Krakow rather than Bratislava. Or else you could go south from Budapest. Many people I spend time with in Hungary were going on to Split, Croatia after. I had also heard great things about Sarajevo and Mostar...those are two towns I want to visit soon. Not sure how old you guys are or what you are looking for but they say that Belgrade is a good party town if you are looking for that.

Mostar is a pretty cool place. Very friendly people who genuinely appreciate it when tourists come and they are very eager to make you feel welcome. It's a little more rugged than a lot of popular destinations, so as long as you don't need to be pampered. It is truly one of my favourite places out of all of Bosnia and Croatia. If you ever go, there is a pub called Ali-Baba right in the core of the old town that's in a cave... it's pretty cool. You can also easily do day trips to Mostar from Split or Dubrovnik.

If you are into going more off the beaten path areas, Skopije Macedonia is also very unique place and Macedonia has some really beautiful countryside as well.

[cDnStealth]

Man, you could easily spend 4 weeks just touring around Great Britain, Scotland or Ireland. If you provide some of the places you're thinking of going it would be easier to make some recommendations.

From London you could easily go up to Edinburgh and Glasgow then take a ferry over to Ireland and visit Dublin. You could also check out Belfast and the Giant's Causeway if that interests you.

When I flew into Paris I spent a couple days there. Took a bus up to Normandy to see Juno then hopped on a train from Paris to Venice. I really enjoyed Italy. Went from Venice to Rome, Rome to Cinque Terra (highly recommend if you decide to go to Italy), then to Florence and Milan before heading over to Barcelona.

Years before that I did a trip that went through Berlin, Munich, Prague, Vienna and Lucerne.

I went to Poland back in November. Just an awesome country. The train ride in was a little sketchy but I really enjoyed my time in Wroclaw, Warsaw and Krakow. Visiting Auschwitz was a sobering experience. I've seen other concentration camps but they simply don't compare.

Don't bother booking trains/hotels before hand. You want the flexibility to either leave a city you don't like early or stay longer in one that you do. It's easy enough to book a place to stay the night before or even the day of. I had no problem booking rooms when I was traveling with one other person. With 4 people you can get into some nice hostels and have a 4 person room to yourselves.

The one thing you might want to consider is to buy certain train tickets a couple days before you plan on leaving that particular city. If you're looking at taking a night train and want a bed it's a good idea to get a ticket ahead of time.

The nice thing is your trip is before the main vacation season in Europe so you'll miss all those crowds.

[evman150]

I'm doing a trip in May/June to Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania.

It's dirt cheap, looks beautiful, and it's not your average "European vacation".

I'd recommend having at least one "off the beaten path" place in your itinerary. But that's just me.

[FlameZilla]

I've lived nearly a decade in London and I still find really interesting places to visit and discover. There's so much history and culture here that it can be really overwhelming for tourists who want to see as much as they can in a short space of time. The museums are incredible — most of them are free entry and nearly impossible to get around in a visit. On any night of the week you can see a world-class concert in any genre of music, see world-class actors perform in great plays, see any of the big musicals or eat food from any culture around the world. The drinking culture has been – how should I say it – 'refined' by the locals over the last few centuries... There are no shortage of great pubs.

My main advice would be to do your own research on what to see in a city. Don't stick to the mass-produced packaged holiday guide if you can avoid it. If you know anyone who lives there it's even better because they can help you avoid the hectic parts of town at the right times of day. Also, see what sort of places you can easily get to outside of the city. For example, in London it's really easy to get to Oxford or Cambridge by train, and they're very cool, ancient cities to visit for a day.

My favourite European cities to visit have been (in no particular order):

Siena (or anywhere else in Tuscany)
Berlin
Edinburgh
Rome
Amsterdam (*cough*)
Paris
Bologna
Dublin (*hiccup*)
Krackow
Nice (or anywhere along the Riviera)

[evman150]

Originally Posted by cDnStealth

I went to Poland back in November. Just an awesome country. The train ride in was a little sketchy but I really enjoyed my time in Wroclaw, Warsaw and Krakow. Visiting Auschwitz was a sobering experience. I've seen other concentration camps but they simply don't compare.

I echo this. I was in Poland in September - loved it. Krakow was as expected (awesome), but we especially loved Wroclaw (vrots-woff, Polish is weird!). Great city, a bit cheaper, and the gnomes were really cool.

And Auschwitz...ya...an absolute must do. Sobering, haunting, terrifying.

The train to Wroclaw was the absolute sketchiest train I've ever been on, and the train station we left from near the Czech/Polish border was reminiscent of a concentration camp itself. Was a really neat experience in itself though.

[OffsideSpecialist]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Mostar is a pretty cool place. Very friendly people who genuinely appreciate it when tourists come and they are very eager to make you feel welcome. It's a little more rugged than a lot of popular destinations, so as long as you don't need to be pampered. It is truly one of my favourite places out of all of Bosnia and Croatia. If you ever go, there is a pub called Ali-Baba right in the core of the old town that's in a cave... it's pretty cool. You can also easily do day trips to Mostar from Split or Dubrovnik.

If you are into going more off the beaten path areas, Skopije Macedonia is also very unique place and Macedonia has some really beautiful countryside as well.

A trip through the former Yugoslavia is very high on my "go to" list as far as Europe is concerned. Macedonia is the country I always leave out when thinking about this trip for some reason. I may have to give it some consideration. I also get the impression that it would be one of the countries that's the least frequented by tourists.

[OffsideSpecialist]

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. Getting into Europe was super easy for me; I flew into Munich on a US Airways flight. Most people were getting quizzed pretty hard, but they let me through without saying anything. If you are within the Schengen Area, crossing borders is about as difficult as crossing the border from Alberta to Saskatchewan. However, if you are taking a train across international borders, the railway crew will generally switch at the borders and some major cities so you may need to show your ticket to the new crew members.

2. It depends on your preference. Hostels were great for meeting people. There are people that I met in hostels last summer that I stay in contact with, and one guy from Australia that I met in Budapest is planning to come to visit me in Ottawa at some point this summer. Generally hostels are also a great resource for planning outings, or helping to point you in the right direction. Some are better than others as far as being social is concerned. Some Hostels even have bars inside; I found such bars to be hit-and-miss on my travels.

3. In some countries you can get significant savings by booking train tickets early (France, Germany and Austria among others). If you are going anywhere east of Germany/Austria, you generally don't get advanced booking discounts for most trains that I have seen. I booked everything ahead of time because I was a little concerned about flying by the seat of my pants on my first trip, but I can't see you having much of an issue booking things as you go. I have not used many of the high-speed trains in Western Europe but have heard that they can be fairly expensive at the last minute, and sometimes fill up during holidays.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by fotze

Is Croatia expensive?

No, and there are direct flights from England.

Amazing place.

Spoilered for size

Spoiler!

When I was there, there were minefield warnings over the crest of that hill. A little bit scary, but it made the place seem more 'real'.

Sorry Budapest, but Croatia had the most attractive people, too.

[Nyah]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

My favourite European cities to visit have been (in no particular order):

Siena (or anywhere else in Tuscany)
Berlin
Edinburgh
Rome
Amsterdam (*cough*)
Paris
Bologna
Dublin (*hiccup*)
Krackow
Nice (or anywhere along the Riviera)

Just curious: what did you find nice/interesting about Bologna? My father-in-law lives in Ravenna (45 minutes east on the coast) and we have to fly in & out of Bologna all the time and I've only ever seen parts of it that were pretty underwhelming. Can you recommend some things that you saw in the city that you liked?

[East Coast Flame]

Did my first big Euro-trip last summer. Dubrovnik was definitely the highlight. Stayed right inside the city walls and had an incredible time. Cliff jumping at Buza was a blast.

London and Berlin were the other highlights.

We used Airbnb the entire time, and never had any problems.

[nik-]

This thread kicked me in the ass and I booked a flight to Europe. Not doing a tour though, just gonna do Spain.

[Lego Man]

I'm moving to Krakow in a few months, and all the stress of moving has drained me a bit.

This thread has definitely got me excited and reinvigorated for what's coming up!

[Flabbibulin]

The 'ol where should I go in Europe question. Everyone will give different answers, but I think it can all be summed up well by saying you can't really go wrong either way. Every destination has its highlights, but it seems more and more of the hidden gems are becoming unhidden, so to speak, and increasingly expensive. That said, I am of the opinion that one should not try to fit too much into a 2 week trip- 3 or 4 destinations is probably a great idea as each of those destinations will undoubtedly have their own mini day trips as options.

The wisdom of some people would be to hit the big 3 on a first trip deal- Paris, London, Rome, but it really doesn't have to be this way. You could not visit any of these three and still be very satisfied. A Prague-Vienna-Budapest trip would be incredible in my opinion, as would the Italian 3 city combo of Venice-Florence-Rome. Venice-Dubrovnik-Greek islands would be fantastic in the summer. Berlin-Munich-Zurich-Geneva, a Spain tour and so on...

Anyway, a lot of great suggestions in thread, and as mentioned- don't think you could go wrong with whatever you pick. As for me, I have been to many destinations in Europe thanks to attending Uni there, but I have settled on Devon in the UK as the spot I would most like to retire in... although Taormina in Sicily is right up there as well

Edit- not sure if you are planning a 2 week or 4 week trip, as the OP mentions both, but if it is closer to a 4 week, then I would personally be suggesting something along the lines of London-Paris-Rome-Prague-Vienna-Budapest. That would be amazing.

[Aeneas]

Originally Posted by evman150

I'm doing a trip in May/June to Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania.

It's dirt cheap, looks beautiful, and it's not your average "European vacation".

I'd recommend having at least one "off the beaten path" place in your itinerary. But that's just me.

Sounds excellent, would be interested to hear how it goes. If I were to travel that direction, I would have to visit Montenegro. Have wanted to go there for some time.

[Kybosh]

If you find yourself in the Balkans, go to Sarajevo. It oozes character.

[rubecube]

Alright, I'm gonna jump into this thread. I'm moving to Copenhagen for an exchange semester that starts in September, however I'm heading over on July 22 to do some traveling first. I'll land in Copenhagen on the afternoon of July 23, and then I have 11 days to kill before I meet a friend of mine in Milan on Aug. 3. We then have 8-9 days in Italy (no itinerary yet) before heading off to Budapest for a week. After we're heading to Spain from the 18th - 30th, when my friend flies out of Barcelona. We don't have a set itinerary for Spain other than we want to hit San Sebastian and either Ibiza or Mallorca, as well as doing La Tomatina on the 27th.

I'd love some suggestions for both the time I have before I meet my friend and also some suggestions for Italy. I've been to Italy before but was solely hanging around the Torino area.

[Jbo]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Alright, I'm gonna jump into this thread. I'm moving to Copenhagen for an exchange semester that starts in September, however I'm heading over on July 22 to do some traveling first. I'll land in Copenhagen on the afternoon of July 23, and then I have 11 days to kill before I meet a friend of mine in Milan on Aug. 3. We then have 8-9 days in Italy (no itinerary yet) before heading off to Budapest for a week. After we're heading to Spain from the 18th - 30th, when my friend flies out of Barcelona. We don't have a set itinerary for Spain other than we want to hit San Sebastian and either Ibiza or Mallorca, as well as doing La Tomasina on the 27th.

I'd love some suggestions for both the time I have before I meet my friend and also some suggestions for Italy. I've been to Italy before but was solely hanging around the Torino area.

I'm so jealous you are going to La Tomatina. One of my bucket list items. Heads up on Ibiza, dont plan more then a few days there. You will be going close to mid-season, so should be a ton of good shows, but average drink cost in Ibiza in the clubs is somewhere between 15-20 EUROS!!! Can get very pricy after a few days.

You really can't go wrong anywhere in Italy. Rome is great for 2-3 days and you can see most or all of the major sites in that time. Florence is nice for a day and close to Rome, Venice is awesome. Really hard to go wrong there at all. Just be careful of the gypsies in Rome. Haven't been to Milan. Also Italy is like +35C to +40C in July and August, so paying extra for AC is key to survival.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by J-bo09

I'm so jealous you are going to La Tomatina. One of my bucket list items. Heads up on Ibiza, dont plan more then a few days there. You will be going close to mid-season, so should be a ton of good shows, but average drink cost in Ibiza in the clubs is somewhere between 15-20 EUROS!!! Can get very pricy after a few days.

You really can't go wrong anywhere in Italy. Rome is great for 2-3 days and you can see most or all of the major sites in that time. Florence is nice for a day and close to Rome, Venice is awesome. Really hard to go wrong there at all. Just be careful of the gypsies in Rome. Haven't been to Milan. Also Italy is like +35C to +40C in July and August, so paying extra for AC is key to survival.

Thanks! Yeah, my temporary plan for Spain looks kind of like this:

18th - San Sebastian
21st - Madrid
24th - Ibiza
27th - Valencia/La Tomatina
28th - 31st - Barcelona