I was in Nuremberg Germany in October and loved it, I want to go back and visit around and not just one country and I found this Eurail - Travel Europe by Train with your Eurail Pass its a train pass for traveling county to country. Sounds like a great deal, anyone has any experience with it?
ahh i can not wait to share all these brilliant ideas with my gf! thanks to all keep up the post...we are backpacking so well will have plenty of time to travel at least a month to a month n a half to see as many places as possible!
Go to eurolines and buy a 30 day ticket. You can basically get on any coach, and they travel around europe (Uk, amsterdam, france, germany, sweden.) all the good places That's what im doing in august. can't wait.
Prague is worth a visit. It's got a bit of everything. Architecture, gambling, history, amazing nightlife, abundant weed, good food and a great atmosphere. Oh and it's cheap. I went there on business for a week. I was working through the day and going out was on "entertainment" expenses. It was one of the best holidays I've ever had. You should definitely at least have a read up on it and see what you think.
For sure. I've been a couple times and enjoyed it very much. I blogged about it recently if anyone wants to read.
That's a good write-up. As I said, I was working or out drinking with customers the whole time I was there, so you got to see it in a bit more detail than me. One thing, I don't feel your blog post does the atmosphere of the place justice. To me it seemed like everyone was young, beautiful and enjoying life. The music played everywhere was dancy music with a beat, and that just sums the place up. The people are proud of their city, but in a good way. It's like they are proud that you want to come to visit the place. It's difficult to put into words, but it was definitely one of the most welcoming cities I've visited. We got weed from from a dodgy backstreet bar, but I'd imagine you could get it from the reps on Wenceslas Square.
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Hey, you are RIGHT! Thanks for the tip. I edited the first paragraph a bit. There is always something going on and the atmosphere/energy is very high, you are right. I've been in summer and winter and both times the same amount of people were out and about - enjoying life. In an earlier post in this thread, here is what I stated about Prague: Cheers!
I had quite the time in London, but that was mostly focused around the bars since it was world cup time that year. The drinking is fun there, but if you're looking for romance, nature, and wildlife you should leave London out of your plans. I don't know if you've booked your flight yet, but call your airline and see if you can layover in Iceland on the way to Europe. I spent 24 hours there once and the island really is desolate beauty. It is really much more beautiful than it sounds, and if you're looking to get in touch with nature this is the place. I didn't get a chance to go to the bars there but I read an article in a newspaper there that outlined the percentages of their population who regularly attended bars, and it was a shocking number. Assuming you land in England, try visiting Oxford. A lot of history here, great architecture, very picturesque. It also has an interesting array of museums. It really is unfortunate that it is a popular tourist spot. If you're heading to France then you know Paris is a must. Wine and dine your lady, take her out for a picnic under the Eiffel, or show her all the cool museums. If you want a get out of trouble free card, you'd be smart to pick all three. Seriously, chicks dig money. Regardless of where you go, Europe will be fun.
May I please suggest NOT flying into or out of Amsterdam? Last time I did they pulled me aside for extra attention on the way back, but when I flew in and out of Frankfort they essentially ignored me. Do get a eurail pass, trains are fantastic for traveling. *If* you train it through ex comm block countries, I really REALLY suggest you get a pacsafe mesh and lock for your packs, and *always* leave someone with the packs, and also bring along a bunch of granola bars, and a water bottle with water filter - sometimes the water on the trains is a bit dodgy, and food can be unpalatable at best. [There are frequently pickpockets and sneak thieves on the trains that target backpackers.] I loved Amsterdam, the people are great. Berlin has some great museums, and a good music scene. Paris is romantic, and has great museums - and is also very expensive. Rome is a blast, but again can be a bit expensive. Most capital cities tend to be fairly expensive. I found Switzerland disappointing though - expensive, many of the people are brusque and rude with tourists. You need to research hostels and couch surfing =)
I know a ton of people are going to suggest Amsterdam, but if you go there, dont spend the majority of your time in the coffee shops. It is an absolutely gorgeous city to walk/bike through and so many tourists miss that because they are just visiting all the coffee shops. Also, may I suggest Santorini, Greece. Its absolutely gorgeous, do some snorkeling/ cliff diving. You must visit Paris, France. There are so many sights to see. Also, Florence and Rome in Italy are absolutely gorgeous places to visit. London. It will be nice to be in a foreign country where you can understand the people. Plus, it actually is a nice place to visit. Well, I found you a list of European cities that are great to visit. 1A : outstanding cities with enough sights for 1 to 2 weeks London Rome Florence Paris 1B : same as 1A, but with sights for less than 1 week (usually 2 or 3 days) Salamaca Seville Venice Nice Oxford Cambridge Praha Vienna Istanbul 1C : same as 1B, but with sights for just one day Cordoba Caceres Evora Pontevedra Santiago de Compostela Carcasonne Monaco Pisa Lucca San Gimignano Siena Lille Luxembourg Bruges Maastricht Bath York 2A : very good destinations with sightseeing for several days, but less impressive overall than those ranked 1A. Brussels Amsterdam Copenhagen Stockholm Barcelona Madrid Lisboa Budapest Athens 2B : Same as 2A, but with sights that can be covered in 1 day Granada Merida Milano Marseille Nimes Avignon Montpellier Antwerp Namur Delft Leiden Brighton Stratford-upon-Avon 3A : Less beautiful cities with enough exceptional attractions for several days Berlin 3B : same as 3A but with sights that can be covered in 1 day Bristol Portsmouth Salisbury Canterbury Munich Frankfurt Regensburg Bonn Trier Aachen Ghent Gouda Den Haag
definitely go to Paris! i would recommend Greece as well although i'm not sure how accessible it is with the trains... the Greek islands are lovely, try to get to them Mykonos: Patmos: (that castle is really cool) and of course Santorini Sofia is a really great city that offers a bit of everything at low prices.. i've never been to Prague so i'm not sure how they compare you'll have a wonderful time anywhere really but those are some suggestions
wikitravel.org is a good resource, it has a lot of what you need to know for every city mentioned here, all on the same site. it offers plenty of tips on where to eat and stay, and how to interact with locals without being annoying, etc.