Where to visit in Europe...trip planner help needed

[RED_RAIN]

I have no idea about anything about going to Europe.

For those who have been there a bunch...

...how long should I go? (I was thinking 4-9 days?)
...where should I go?
...how much does it cost? (for two people)
...where should I stay (hotels?, ?)

On a side note, is Europe better than East Asia or Australia?

[PoBoy321]

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On a side note, is Europe better than East Asia or Austria?

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Austria's in Europe (I guess you mean Australia). I think that it kind of depends on what you're looking for, but that personally, I would pick some parts of Europe over anywhere else in the world for an international vacation. 2 years ago, I spent 2 weeks in Italy, saw Rome, Venice, Florence and Milan and it wasn't nearly enough time, but I absolutely loved it.

However, I could see how somoene who doesn't enjoy museums and old churches could hate it.

[Macdaddy Warsaw]

I've been here for almost a month and a half and it's been a great time. You should consider staying in city's longer than I have since I've spent maybe 2-3 nights in most with one 5-day stay in Berlin. Barcelona's beautiful and is supposed to have a kicking night life (I'm here basically by myself so I haven't gone out all that much, but Rome was awesome and Krakow was sweet too).

I would say go to Rome for like 5 days and if you want to go somewhere else in Italy, check out Venice because it is just a cool city.

You can make it pretty cheap (besides airfare, but even then you can get deals and last minute flights, etc. to make it like $500 or so roundtrip / person). Then, you can travel by train or even airfare within Europe, because that is often extremely cheap ($25 US? or so on the continent most of the time, I think)...

If you don't mind the conditions, you can find places to sleep for like $20 US a night. Hostels, obviously, but you can also find like one star and two star hotel doubles for like $40 a person.

If you can, you want to go during low season when everything is hella cheaper. Also, Eastern Europe is beautiful, but slightly less open to tourists. The upside to this is it is really amazingly cheap. I like Krakow more than Prague, but that's because I speak Polish, but everyone who goes to Prague loves it and it is still very cheap.

[MarkL444]

i say avoid the really touristy cities like paris and london. way too many people and too expensive, but thats just me. also, 4-9 days is cutting it very short.

[kenberman]

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i say avoid the really touristy cities like paris and london. way too many people and too expensive, but thats just me. also, 4-9 days is cutting it very short.

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there's a reason some of the "really touristy" cities attract so many tourists. Paris might be the most beautiful city in the world, and it certainly has the best restaurants.

to the OP, it all depends on what you want to do, and what you are interested in seeing. do you like history? cities? the outdoors/countryside? great food? shows/nightlife?

[InchoateHand]

I am a nit.

London, apparently, has better restaurants.

[ditto]

If you like a good riot, head to Paris, its all going off there:
BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4413250.stm)

[LittleOldLady]

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i say avoid the really touristy cities like paris and london. way too many people and too expensive, but thats just me. also, 4-9 days is cutting it very short.

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4-9 days is too short--barely time to get over the jet lag and doesn't give you much bang for your airfare buck. You didn't say what your interests are, but I love the Netherlands and recommend Amsterdam. You can do hostels,or you can go the cheap hotel route. Mostly they are OK--the room will be the size of a closet, but that's enough. You do have to pay attention, though, because some are not OK. People generally travel by train, and there are various ticket deals available, some good buys and some not.

When my son was in college, I was working in Austria (Innsbruck) for the summer. He came with me and did a lot of traveling by himself. We both went to Venice, but he went to Prague (everyone loves Prague), Berlin, Frankfurt, the Burgundy wine country, Flanders (Gent and Brugge--two of my favorite cities), Munich, Paris, and so on. Essentially he beered his way across Europe and did some wining too. Scandinavia is very expensive, so I wouldn't recommend it to the budget traveler. Dublin is a good city to visit. You can go into any pub, order some Guinness, and have an interesting conversation--this is also true in all the various Irish pubs strung out across Europe.

One tip for the budget traveler, especially those on the young side--go to the university area to hang out--there will be cheap student-oriented restaurants and other student-oriented businesses, and it is easy to strike up conversations with interesting people. While you will want to see some of the famous buildings, museums, etc., you will get something more out of your trip if you go off the tourist trail and go to some of the places that the local populace frequents.

Also when you have decided where you want to go, make an effort to learn a bit of the langauge in each place--at least enough to find the restrooms and order a pizza. In much of Europe it is easy to find people who speak English well, but you will have a better trip if you try to sample the culture/lifestyle of each city. I think it's awful when young American visitors insist on eating only in American fast=food restaurants. Last I heard there are 30 McDonald's in Vienna, and that is 30 too many.

[okayplayer]

You'll definitely need more then 9days. I took a little over 3 weeks, and hit up Germany (Frankfurt/Munich), Spain (Madrid/Barcelona) and Italy (Venice/Rome) and also stopped in Paris for a day (fck France). I had a great time, and recommend those places. I will definitely be back to Italy. If you are a weed smoker, you'd probably like the Amsterdam thing. Austria is also very nice. I would have liked to hit up Belgium as well. I hear there are some really nice places along the southern France coast.

I stayed in Hostels and cost me between $15 and $20 euros, I believe. If you are travelling with more than one person, look into Hotels, but I am guessing if it's only two of you then Hostels will be cheapest. Basically dorm style living - I didn't mind it much b/c I was only out of school a couple yrs.

Get a Eurail pass and travel to a couple/few countries on it.

[kenberman]

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I am a nit.

London, apparently, has better restaurants.

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London has some fantastic restaurants as well. the difference is that most of these high end restuarants aren't serving traditional English food, whereas the nice Parisian restaurants serve French food.

also, your typical 10-15 euro meal in Paris is light years ahead of your typical 7-10 pound meal in London.

[diebitter]

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Paris might be the most beautiful city in the world, and it certainly has the best restaurants.


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Beautiful - yah

But best restaurants - bwahahahahaha!

[balkii]

do not go for 4-9 days. the expensive part of a trip to europe is the fixed costs like airfare. that costs the same whether you're there for 2 days or a month. go 2 weeks minimum.

italy is obviously the greatest place to go, but can be kind of out of the way if you to get deep into it. a great spot for a quick in-and-out of italy is the Cinque Terre on the italian riveria. i highly recommend it.

[diebitter]

Rome is a great place the walk around. The Vatican is the only building I've been in, and just stopped breathing for a few seconds, it's THAT astounding!

[IHateKeithSmart]

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Rome is a great place the walk around. The Vatican is the only building I've been in, and just stopped breathing for a few seconds, it's THAT astounding!

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Yes, Rome + the Vatican/Sistine Chapel are awesome. This is one place everyone should see. Also, like an earlier poster said, there are reasons these places are so touristy. Rome is like walking in a history book - highly recommended.

[diebitter]

Rome - of course there's the Colisseum (sp?), the forum, the Trevi Fountain...and you can pretty much walk it all (including the Vatican), it's not that big a city. The Circus Maximus is a little out of the way but I'm not sure you can even go in and see it.

If you do the Vatican, women need to be covered up a bit (no bare legs I think - they don't even like bare arms, IIRR)

[lapoker17]

Places no one has mentioned that are worth your time:

Nice
Portofino
Amalfi Coast/Isle of Capri