Eurotrip 2009 - Which towns/cities?

[tonuk]

Hi there

Me and my friend are planning a backpacking trip around Europe. We have decided on a list of countries we want to go to and just want to know your opinions on which towns/cities are the best to visit/are a must see. Our planned countries to visit is as follows in order:

Portugal
Spain
France
Italy
Slovenia
Croatia
Hungary
Austra
Czech Rep
Poland
Germany
Holland
Belgium

Your thoughts and information is much appreciated. We'd like to stop in each country for roughly 4 or 5 days and in that time visit 2-3 town/cities. Obviously where there is more to see we'll stay for longer than somewhere with less to see. We obviously want to keep on course towards the next country so a logical route is pretty much required

Thank you.

[madamtrashheap]

Welcome to the Boards, tonuk!

Before we can give you suggestions of places to visit, it would help to know a little more about what interests you and your friend in terms of sightseeing, nightlife, culture, etc. Another point about your plans to spend 4 or 5 days in each country visiting 2-3 towns - in many case this won't be enough time. Italy is a good example as you could easily spend 10 days in the one country visiting 3 cities.

If you have a look through some other recent Posts you'll see some cities that might be of interest to you and your friend. If you can give us a bit more of an idea of what you're looking at doing I'm sure people will have lots of suggestions.

[tonuk]

Hi, thanks for the replies so far.

Basically David, this is just really something we want to do before we start our working careers, so we aint really going specifically for the history or art or music, just plainly for the experience. So with reguards to our tastes we don't have much to go on lol. Don't get me wrong we'd like to go to places with an interesting history (Auschwitz) and even arty places with Museums. However these are not specific requirements. We just want to hit as many nice places as possible to say we've done so and make it a once in a lifetime trip. One thing i can say is we like to drink and party, however the partying can be kept on the lower scale as we'll be constantly on the move and it can be expensive. I'm sure we will have a few nights out, however this will be in the places were it will be pretty special (I hear a Berlin bar crawl is a must).

With regards to the route we're taking, it is as follows. We'll be flying out of Liverpool to Lisbon! From there we plan to head across spain, we've already decided to do Madrid and Barcelona. From there we're going to go across Mediterranean France (not fully sure where to yet). Then down to Rome in Italy and work our way up (Florence and Venice?). After this its then into the smaller countries of central europe working our way up (Mainly hitting the capitals, but other towns and cities will be looked into). In Germany we plan to travel across the North (Definately Berlin, maybe Hamburg, Hannover?). Then into Netherlands(Anywhere else than Amsterdam? Rotterdam maybe?) and Belgium (Antwerp, Bussels, Brugge?). We we're thinking about maybe calling to Copenhagen before Holland and Belgium if it would be worth it? Finally its down to Paris where we can fly out back to Manchester. I have been to Paris before, and the plan here is to just drink beer next to the eiffel tower, before we embark on our journey home . This trip is being planned after our final year in Uni, which will end in May of 2009. So we're looking at summer next year (July and July). We're aware that it will be hot this time of year in some countries, but we'll just stick it out.

I understand that 3,4,5 days might not be enough time in certain countries, so we will try to accomodate for the longer stays by cutting some time off other places. Its becoming clear that Italy needs quite a lot of time and also Prague and Vienna.

We have been looking at people's suggestions and taking them on board as well as doing our own research (for example we've heard good things about Dubrovnik in Croatia, however its location could be a problem, and Hallstat in Austria. Both look really nice places and will be considered). We've also got a book "Let's Go Europe guide" on the way which i believe has tons of information in.

I hope this clears some things up, and i look forward to peoples opinions and suggests and all will be much appreciated. Thak you.

[ashms116]

me said:

[these are all the places in Italy i've been, they were all great! but, i had bad accommodations in CT]- d

David,

Just out of curiosity, where did you stay that the accomodations were bad? I have made reservations in Riomaggiore to stay in what seems to be a very nice apartment where we will have our own private balcony, bathroom, etc. But lokos can be deceiving on the internet, so I was just curious..Thank you!

[madamtrashheap]

Great to see you're planning well ahead for your trip tonuk - you'll be able to come up with the ideal route in the time you have. And now we know a little more about your interests, etc the suggestions will come flooding in (David's already on the ball!). Here are a few more to consider:

Portugal - my choices would be Lisbon and Lagos too
Spain - you've already noted Barcelona and Madrid, think about Seville, Granada and even Cordoba, but that will entail more time in Spain (not at all a bad thing!).
France - as you're ending in Paris that's already on the list (good!). If you want to do Mediterranean France then Nice is a good place to base yourself (you can fly from Barca to Marseilles then train north) as it will be pumping at that time of year. Nice is a bit of a tricky place as many of us here have mixed feelings on it, but if you base yourself there (close to the centre) then you can visit Cannes and Antibes (day trip), Monaco (a whole other country) and cool little places like St Paul de Vence. Aix-en-Provence and Avignon are favourites of mine too, but they are back west so out of your way a little - save them for next time!
Italy - Rome, Florence, Venice (the big three), plus if you're travelling by train from the French Riviera then you should slot in a few days in Cinque Terra, then you can stop in Pisa for a few hours on the way to Florence. There are so many more places to suggest (Amalfi Coast, Rimini, Tuscan villages, Assisi, Lake Como...) but these will do this time around.
Slovenia - Ljubljana is very pretty, and a visit to Lake Bled would never go astray (very cool island in the centre)!
Croatia - depending on the route you take (ie flight routes will determine the best combo), I'd suggest Dubrovnik and Split, but if you're pressed for time you could fly in and out of Dubrovnik and just stay there this time.
Hungary - Budapest, hands down.
Austria - Vienna, Innsbruck, Salzburg - covers the east and the west of the country as well as the amazing scenery of the Tirol region.
Czech Rep- Prague (day trip to Kutna Hora would be good too), Cesky Krumlov. If you have time then Karlovy Vary too.
Poland - Warsaw (the Jewish Quarter is well worth a visit), Krakow (access to Auschwitz). Gdansk is a great city too, but might be too out of the way in terms of your itinerary.
Germany - Berlin, Munich (including day trips to the castles and half a day out to Dachau), Rothenburg ob der Tauber (great little village), Hamburg (if you want to see more of north Germany, then a day here cruising on the habour and walking through town will be enough, otherwise Bremen is another good choice in this region), Cologne (Köln) is a good stop if you take the train from Berlin to Amsterdam (check the route)...again there are so many places to choose from.
Netherlands - Holland is the state of which Amsterdam is the capital (hence most people only go to Holland!). If you spend 2 full days in the Damage then you can visit Den Haag or even Groningen if you want something a little different and to see more of the country (Amsterdam is not the only example of the Netherlands!)
Belgium - now I like Brussels and always find plenty to do (the Eurocrats are too busy locked away arguing to be out on the streets!), but if you're pushed for time I'd spend at least 2 full days in Brugge/Bruges instead. If you can fit a day in Brussels in then go for it too. Day trips to Ipres (WWI battlefields) and Antwerp or Ghent are also worth it if you can take the time.

Hope that adds to your list of places to research/consider - happy (further) planning!

[herrbert]

Netherlands - Holland is the state of which Amsterdam is the capital (hence most people only go to Holland!). If you spend 2 full days in the Damage then you can visit Den Haag or even Groningen if you want something a little different and to see more of the country (Amsterdam is not the only example of the Netherlands!)

Almost right, my friend.

Holland are two provinces (states or regions if you want), North Holland and South Holland. Amsterdam is the Capital of the Netherlands, but is not a capital of any province. Haarlem is the capital of North Holland, and Den Haag (The Hague) is the capital of South Holland.

For a good time I would recommend Groningen, although there will be less students in summer, but still a large part of the population is young. That said: Rotterdam also has a good party culture in the night, but in the daytime, it a pretty plain place to be.

Madrid is my city, and has a lot of parties. Also check out daytrip possibilities to see Toledo, and Segovia from here, to see a little bit of the real Spain. (Capitals, big cities tend to look alike these days, telling you little about the culture, the people, the way of life.) Take a look at Vueling.com for cheap flights from Lisbon to Madrid, and Madrid to Barcelona.

Stretch your time in the cities a little bit. with 4-5 days in a country, seeing 2-3 cities, you will be exhausted at the end of the second week.

The trip from Barcelona to Nice/Marseille usually takes pretty long, sometimes, it is better to go to Italy together, and take a flight to Nice or Marseille from somewhere else, and then connect to Paris, and go North from there.

[tonuk]

Again thanks again for your replies. There is alot to go off there, and many places that we can look into. We've decided not to do Lagos in Portugal as it was just out of the way. So i think we're settling on just Lisbon, then across into Spain, Madrid and Barcelona! Anyway with regards to the rest of the countries I think it'll become clear which are the best places to visit on our route. The plan is to have a set route but have 2-4 towns/cities around the area fully researched so we can be a little spontaneous at times rather than having a set routine and doing it by the book.

The main thing that sticks out at the moment with regards to difficulty is Croatia. The recomended places are in the south of the country. Dubrovnik and Split seem too good to miss. We would be travelling from Ljubljana into Croatia (either Zagreb or Rijeka, any recommendation). I think we'd favour Zagreb, and i believe there is now a high speed rail link to Split. So that seems plausible. Its just how to get to Dubrovnik and back? Suggestions please.

Also a side question, with the rail passes/trains. We haven't looked fully into these yet but what do they allow? If we get monthly ones, are u only allowed a certian amount of days travel (i keept seeing 15 days travel, when people talk about month passes)? And also sometime overnight trains they class as two days travel? Do you book tickets at station using the railpass, or do you just jump on a train and show them your rail pass? And also are there any border/passport controll procedures like at airports?

Thank you

[madamtrashheap]

herrbert said:

Almost right, my friend.
Holland are two provinces (states or regions if you want), North Holland and South Holland. Amsterdam is the Capital of the Netherlands, but is not a capital of any province. Haarlem is the capital of North Holland, and Den Haag (The Hague) is the capital of South Holland.

Doh! I was told by my Dutch firends that Amsterdam is the capital of Holland (no distinction between north and south) so they were either re-writing laws or generalising...and they are from Amsterdam...hmm, maybe that's why! Knew it was the capital of the N'lands, clearly was misled on the other bits! Het spijt me!

[herrbert]

me said:

oddly, i'd thought of "South Holland" as Belgium! [Belgium being the southern part of the "low countries," which is what Netherlands means ;D]

this perspective prolly isn't too politically correct. oh, well.

- d

You are saying something like: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas etc. = South America.

[madamtrashheap]

Heh heh, that's funny! ;D
Now stop picking on Belgium!

[herrbert]

me said:

herrbert said:

You are saying something like: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas etc. = South America.

where'd ya think the idea came from? there are lots of Mexicans who think all of Southwestern US is "really" Mexico.

of course US took the land from Mexico. just as the Mexicans took it from Spain and Spain took it from the native peoples. [those native peoples prolly took it from other native peoples, etc - ad nauseum]

i was just being silly about "Low Countries," Netherlands. no biggie.

I am being silly as well. (hence the )

But in a way you can compare the Holland and America confusion. A lot of people say Holland when they mean the Netherlands (and not just two provinces), and say they America, when they mean the US.

Somehow I think we drifted away from the orginal post by tonuk.

[tonuk]

You stole my thread with your geographical banter!!

No i don't mind really. I always thought Holland and Netherlands were just two different names for the same country! Oh well!