Europe Trip

[BrandonC]

As a graduation present to myself, I am going to Europe in the summer of 2014 for anywhere between one and two months. I'm in the early stages of planning so far, so any input on where and what to do would be appreciated. I've decided to visit Hamburg, Berlin, Istanbul, somewhere in Italy, somewhere in France (watch a stage of the Tour), the Swiss Alps, Girona/Roses, Amsterdam, Brussels, and maybe London. For all those who have been to any of these places or perhaps even reside there, where should I stay? (For most of these locations I am considering homestays, as they will allow me to meet locals and live like they do.) What should I see? What to avoid? (I want to skip the touristy spots.) Any other tips or suggestions on traveling alone in Europe are welcome...Planning for this trip has been so exciting and yet so daunting.

[SteveP]

you going to bike tour?
have a bike w/ you?

should be great fun.

[robin3mj]

Divide the # of destinations in half and spend twice as long in each.

[j44ke]

Divide the # of destinations in half and spend twice as long in each.

Yep and definitely go for two months.

Berlin. Barcelona. Florence. Budapest. Zagreb. Istanbul. Fit the other things (like the Alps) in "on the way to".

Do Paris and London some other time. Or fly in and out of them. They will seem familiar and easy, so good way to enter and exit Europe perhaps.

[robin3mj]

Yep and definitely go for two months.

Berlin. Barcelona. Florence. Budapest. Zagreb. Istanbul. Fit the other things (like the Alps) in "on the way to".

Do Paris and London some other time. Or fly in and out of them. They will seem familiar and easy, so good way to enter and exit Europe perhaps.

Good point. Also, think smaller, and you may have more fun. You can/will always get to the big capitals. Cities are cities.

Edinburgh>London
San Sebastián>Barcelona
Biarritz>Paris

[BrandonC]

Thanks for the suggestions. I thought about bringing the road bike, but with all of the travel I figure that it may just be too much. But it's definitely not out of the question yet. And two months is what I'm aiming for. Of course, as a college student, my budget is pretty small, so I'll need to figure out how to live and travel cheaply.

Yes, in the back of my mind I know that I"ll enjoy the smaller towns more than the big cities. Plus, I've already been to London, Paris and Rome, so maybe I don't need to see those again. I"ll probably skip the UK. Zagreb is something I didn't consider, but now I'll look into it more. Croatia is a fascinating country and one I admittedly don't know much about. Has anybody been to Monaco?

[s_curran]

Hamburg, Berlin, Istanbul, somewhere in Italy.

I did all these and a few more a couple of years ago, and istanbul last year, I'll try and look through some things later tonight. We stayed in a lot of hostels, which can be ok, but some other places as well. I dont know how helpfull I will be, my interests during the trip were mostly based in architecture, but I can definitely point out some nice spots.

For Italy, maybe check out Sienna, its a beautiful small city, but something coastal could be cool too. I liked Rome and its worth seeing, but I don't think I'd go back. I would think about something in Scandinavia too, maybe Stockholm or Helsinki.

Btw, even the touristy spots of Istanbul are awesome. But check out Ortakoy, its one of the more contemporary neighborhoods as far as political and religious views. The people there are young, and the food is outstanding. It also is still amazingly old. I was there for 10 days and there was still plenty to do, I was traveling with a small group of students and we had a couple locals showing us around, as well as our teacher whom had been going there for about 50 years, and had lived there for a period as well.

How long are you going for? you might consider "living" somewhere and taking small trips from there. I was in Berlin for four months and visited 7 other countries from there. Some as long weekend trips and some as longer trips. Some were planned last second depending on things we wanted to do in Berlin. I did not want to leave there not knowing Berlin.

[j44ke]

When we lived in Prague, the train tickets were cheaper if you bought them in the Czech Republic than if you bought them in Austria or Germany. So say you were flying to Berlin, then taking the train back. The ticket from Berlin to Prague would be cheaper if you bought it in Prague. Same train, same schedule, cheaper ticket, just bought through the Czech Republic's national train service. I am not sure whether this is the same now that everything is EU and thus should be the same. But at any rate, if you take trains, check to see if there are price differences by country.

[liv2bike]

If you do rent a car...make sure it either comes with a the requisite vignette or make sure you buy one. Hefty fines are imposed on those drivers that do not have one affixed to the windshield of their car...even if you are a tourist. Ask me...I know all about the hefty fine. No way to weasel out of it either. The authorities in Switzerland, or maybe it was Austria, held my passport while they ran my credit card to process my fine. I then had to buy the decal in the service station where we had pulled over for some coffee. Turned out to be expensive coffee. Mind you they were very polite about the whole ordeal. My wife...not so much. Don't let this happen to you.

Diesel will cost you 4-5 euro/liter, typically. Get a small diesel. They are efficient. I have driven all over Europe on a number of occasions and depending on the exact time of year you go, some of the high Swiss and Dolomiti passes may be closed to cars. To cross some passes, we had to put our car on a train and take the train over the pass. Not free. You have to pay for this service.

Like some others have suggested, if you want to live like the locals, you will need to spend some time in some places. We always rent a small flat and settle into specific locations longer than others. This way you can shop at local markets and cook, do laundry etc.

About Monaco...like I said, the French Riviera is really beautiful. Monaco was just not our cup of tea. It was cool tooling around on the Monaco F1 course though. Some really beautiful roads down there.

cheers

[lukasz]

I'm going to go against what most people said and tell you it's OK to spend 2 nights/3 days in a place and move on. You can decide for yourself where you'd like to return, or just stay longer. You can't live like the locals unless you're getting a job somewhere and decidedly not living an idle imaginary life while on vacation.

There's a big difference between 1 or 2 months. If you're getting the full 2 months, sketch a rough route, then lay out like 10 days worth of bookings and then just plan out the rest as you go. Get on Couchsurfing. Call hostels rather than booking online (Sometimes there is accommodation when the website says it is full. Sometimes it is cheaper). There won't be much camping in metropolitan areas but there are probably a few exceptions. Camping Michelangelo in Florence is pretty cool. Autoeurope.com is great for car rentals.

Cities that are fun for tourists and you didn't mention: Barcelona, Munich, Copenhagen, Krakow, Venice (expensive, find lodging like NOW). I haven't spent much time in Naples but I think I'd like it, and the Amalfi coast nearby is beautiful. The Northern French coast is charming (thinking St. Malo / MontSaint-Michel) and a place where you can get some fresh air while still supported by reliable public transportation. I think the museums in Madrid are a couple out of the small number that is worth visiting on the whole damn continent. I'd skip visiting the Balkans on this trip and focus on Western/Central Europe because trains are the best way to travel and it'll be a stretch to enjoyably cover anything there (or focus solely on Eastern Europe and the Balkans).

[Britishbane]

Cities that are fun for tourists and you didn't mention: Barcelona, Munich, Copenhagen, Krakow, Venice (expensive, find lodging like NOW). I haven't spent much time in Naples but I think I'd like it, and the Amalfi coast nearby is beautiful. The Northern French coast is charming (thinking St. Malo / MontSaint-Michel) and a place where you can get some fresh air while still supported by reliable public transportation. I think the museums in Madrid are a couple out of the small number that is worth visiting on the whole damn continent. I'd skip visiting the Balkans on this trip and focus on Western/Central Europe because trains are the best way to travel and it'll be a stretch to enjoyably cover anything there (or focus solely on Eastern Europe and the Balkans).

I'll take Cinque Terre over the French Riviera every damn time.

[BrandonC]

The Northern French coast is charming (thinking St. Malo / MontSaint-Michel) and a place where you can get some fresh air while still supported by reliable public transportation.

Wasn't there a TT of this year's Tour with Mont Saint-Michel as the backdrop? I remember being blown away by it and vowing to visit in person. Thanks for putting it back on my radar.

Here's another question for the European transplants: What does it take for an American to land a job in Europe? Part of the reason why I want to do this trip is to apply for jobs and see if I could picture myself settling there, specifically Germany or Italy since I have a rudimentary grasp of those languages. My field is in mechanical engineering, and both of those countries boast great engineering industries. My fear is that they prefer not to hire immigrants, rather to preserve and sustain their own country's workforce. Am I wrong in this assumption?

Thanks for all of the advice. I'm taking every suggestion into consideration.

[alexis]

If you end up in Munich, my sister rents out a room in their place on airbnb - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/76997. You will get your wish of living like a local...locals with three young boys :).

I was a big fan of the train for getting around Europe (I can only speak for Germany, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands), as you had ultimate flexibility. If we were going from point A to point B, and decided to stop in another town along the way, we just got off at that stop. We used the pass that you pick the countries and number of travel days, then you can travel as much as you want with those limiters.

[BrandonC]

Thanks deboat and alexis. I am visiting Berlin for sure, so I'll get in touch as summer gets closer. Alexis, if I decide to stop in Munich, I will definitely try to rent out your sister's basement, it'll be nice to have an American-born host. Thanks for the recommendation.

[abbeyQ]

Watching a F1 race at one of the classic euro tracks would be near the top of my list on a trip that long. Belgium GP at Spa would be my top choice, but any of them are worth going to.

I spent a week in Merano Italy earlier this year, it was a little touristy but if you got away from the plaza it was fine. Great scenery and some pretty great ridding as well. Supposedly the Giro comes through more often than not as the stelvio isn't to far away.

[deboat]

My tips are to choose if this is a holiday or a trip to find work. If you are on a budget Berlin is cheap and very cool. But there are no jobs there. If you use the trains then when possible book trains that go to the eastern part of EU because they are cheaper. The Berlin wall is still there, you just can not see it!!

If you have an engineering degree and like learning German then KTM in Austria is a growing company but you need a big passion for motorbikes. And like orange!
Salzburg is expenisve but is a hidden jem when it comes to bike riding. If you work for money then this is not for you but if you work for lifestyle then it can be great.

PM me if you need more info on Salzburg or Berlin.

tchüss