Travelling in Europe

[Camikaze]

Next year I'm going on holidays in Europe for 6 months. It's a rather expensive and complicated venture, as I've discovered. Luckily I have cousins and parents to travel around with, which makes it slightly easier. But even so, there is so much information to take in, so much to comprehend, that I feel that I'm gonna miss something vital.

But enough about me.

I thought it would be good to ask CFC:

1. What's the best general travel tip that you have?
2. What, country specific or in general, are things to be wary of in Europe?
3. What are some good ways of saving money in Europe while budget travelling?
4. What are the best places to visit in Europe and why?

 

[Yeekim]

[*]What are the best places to visit in Europe and why?
[/list]

The ones that interest you.
Seriously, narrow it down a bit first.

EDIT: Wait, you are saying you are planning a 6-month trip?

 

[Camikaze]

Okay. I forgot to mention that due to visa restrictions, I can only travel in the Schengen Zone (bar UK and Ireland) for 90 days. So that limits what I can see. So my question would more accurately be, if you had limited travel time, and all of Europe to explore, what would you definitely want to see?

 

[Squonk]

Yeah, narrow it down. There are too many places to discuss. To some region, and tell what you're interested in.

 

[Atticus]

Interrail pass isn't a bad idea. It has some age restrictions though, and I don't know if foreigners can buy it.

 

[really]

1. What's the best general travel tip that you have?

Pack light.

Would the 90 day rule not be reset if you went to a non-schengen country?

Three months in the UK and Ireland would be a bit of a waste.

What time of the year are you going ie our summer or our winter?

 

[Yeekim]

Pack light.

That would actually be:
1) Pack your suitcases.
2) Unpack them.
3) Take three times less clothes and three times more money.

 

[Camikaze]

Yeah, narrow it down. There are too many places to discuss. To some region, and tell what you're interested in.

Well, so far I plan to go to England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Poland, Czech Rep., Slovakia, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. So it's kinda hard for me to narrow it down.

Just pick any of those countries, I guess, and tell me what there is too see. It's a broad question. There's no need to answer 'go see the Eiffel Tower' or 'Switzerland is nice'. I know that. What largely unknown attractions are their to see that most people wouldn't normally consider seeing? Are there any standout things to do/see in your own country?

Interrail pass isn't a bad idea. It has some age restrictions though, and I don't know if foreigners can buy it.

Yeah, I'll be getting a Eurail pass, and it'll probably cost about $A1000 (£500). That's with an under 25's discount.

 

[Lillefix]

Interrail pass isn't a bad idea. It has some age restrictions though, and I don't know if foreigners can buy it.

I think foreigners can buy something similar called Eurail.

edit: crosspost

 

[Camikaze]

Pack light.

Sound advice.

Would the 90 day rule not be reset if you went to a non-schengen country?

Unfortunately not. It's 90 days out of 6 months, and I can only go for 6 months (UK visa restrictions).

Three months in the UK and Ireland would be a bit of a waste.

Luckily a lot of Eastern European countries aren't part of the zone, so it's really 3 months in UK, Ireland and eastern Europe. But I will be spending probably almost two months in the UK (where I have free accommodation, virtue of relatives).

What time of the year are you going ie our summer or our winter?

April to October.

Which brings another important question:

What's the weather like in April and May?

 

[Lillefix]

What exactly do you mean by unknown? Is Zermatt in Switzerland unknown enough? Small tourist-village with only electric cars, which is on the foot of Matterhorn, with fantastic nature and very good railway connection. Or are you looking for something really obscure?

 

[Grisu]

What exactly do you mean by unknown? Is Zermatt in Switzerland unknown enough? Small tourist-village with only electric cars, which is on the foot of Matterhorn, with fantastic nature and very good railway connection. Or are you looking for something really obscure?

you are aware that you probably just picked the most well-known tourist destination in all of Switzerland?

As for Switzerland in general. If you're visiting Switzerland you probably want to see mountains. It doesn't really matter where you go, its spectacular pretty much all-round. The main difference is that in the well-known tourist places prizes as well as likelyhood of people speaking passable english is higher. The views are pretty much compareable (that is, of course, unless you want to absolultely see the landmarks like the Matterhorn). Same goes for the Jungfraujoch: It's spectacular but insanely expensive. You can travel to less well-known places such as the Titlis or the Säntis for pretty nice views as well.
Also in southern Switzerland the Ticino has quite a few sites worth seeing tha many don't know. Namely the Val Verzasca (with the 'goldeneye' dam), Vallemaggia or the Centovalli that are really worth seeing if you have the time.

 

[Arwon]

My advice would be to forget the whole "unknown/obscure" thing, especially if you're just looking for some cool solo "traveller not a tourist" enlightened horizons-expanding backpacker type buzz from seeing something other people don't. It's a bit of a joke.

Travel (especially in Europe) is such a mass industry these days, even backpacking, that anything remotely worthwhile is already getting visited quite a bit. Just see what you wanna see, don't worry if other people already have.

 

[Camikaze]

What exactly do you mean by unknown? Is Zermatt in Switzerland unknown enough? Small tourist-village with only electric cars, which is on the foot of Matterhorn, with fantastic nature and very good railway connection. Or are you looking for something really obscure?

Not really obscure, just relatively unknown, or not the most popular tourist attraction. I know what the big tourist attractions are, and I will go to see them, so there's no real point in asking about them. Zermatt is the kind of example I'm looking for (I've never heard of it, despite what KaeptnOvi says). What made you pick Zermatt as a really good place to see?

 

[Atticus]

When are you travelling? In Finland there's not really anything to see. Winter and midsummer might be exotic for you. To experience winter you should be here in January or February and in inner Finland, there's no real winter in Helsinki. And perhaps you have already seen snow and -30 C temperatures. Summer is best experienced at the countryside too, but midsummer can be exotic also in Helsinki, as every place is shut, and it looks like there had been a massive disaster: There's almost nobody in the town, since every Finn has gone to forest to drink him/herself unconscious.

 

[Yeekim]

Well, so far I plan to go to England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Poland, Czech Rep., Slovakia, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. So it's kinda hard for me to narrow it down.

Then pop by on your way to Finland. I can offer a quick tour in Tallinn and a drink.

 

[Squonk]

France - my favourite places were Paris, Caen, Mont St Michel, Avignon, Strasbourg. I found the churches of Tolouse cool, but there really wasn't that much to see. I haven't seen the castles of Loare, they say they're great. Oh,

Germany - Berlin isn't bad, but 1 day is more than enough. Koeln is a very nice place. Lately I've been to Trier and Koblenz, and both were very nice cities, esp. Trier.

Benelux: I didn't like Luxembourg at all, but perhaps it's just me. Brussels was nice, Delft was nice, Tournai was nice. Antwerp was nice.

Spain - I have seen only some places in Catalonia, Euskadia and Al-Andalus. I'll advertise Sevilla above all else, but also Malaga, Grenada and Cordoba. Barcelona was nice as well.

Greece - Thessalonike has some nice byzantine churches, but is not anything amazing. Athenes suck, apart from the Acropolis. Of smaller places, I advise you to go to Vergina, which is close to Thessalonike - it's nothing on the outside, but you can see the graves of father and son of Alexander the Great, their crowns etc, and it's cool. Nauplion was a relatively nice city as well. Mistra is said to be fine. It's just next to Sparta, which is not worth much attention, because there's nothing left.

Switzerland - I don't recall any really interesting city, perhaps apart from Bern.

Austria - Vienna... perhaps Salzburg.

Italy - Venice, Siena (!!!), Firenze, Rome, Naples, Asigi (?),
Palermo is said to be very interesting.
I liked Padova a lot. Ravenna is different from the others mentioned, you can see nice byzantine monuments there.

Czech RP - just Prague. There's an extremly nice castle, called Karlstein or so, but as far as I know it's closed for tourism.

hungary - nothing to see. The parliament in Budapest is a nice thing, but it's the only thing of any interest to me there.

 

[Lillefix]

you are aware that you probably just picked the most well-known tourist destination in all of Switzerland?

I know. That's why I asked. But let's face it, it's not exactly the Eiffel tower. Luckily(that tower is ugly as sin).

 

[Gigaz]

What's the weather like in April and May?

Europe has many climates If you spend an April in Stockholm, you should be prepared for snow. Athens has a climate comparable to Sydney.

 

[Squonk]

When it comes to Turkey, I encourage you to go to the eastern part, but necessarily take a Turkey-specific guidebook with you. Cities to see there are:
- Istanbul of course,
- Konya, for once to see the sanctuary of Mevlana. And once at Konya, make a short trip to a very, very near village... well, I've forgotten the name. It starts with Si- and you cal reach it by a city bus. Very nice.
- there are some cool castles north to Adana, I encourage you to go to Kozan castle.
- Sumela monastery next to Trabzon
- Ani ruins, next to Kars
- Sanliurfa
- Diyarbakir would be a nice trip, but it's a very neglected, dirty town, and the political situation there is strained.
- Akdamar island on Van lake
- the castle of Van and the ruins of the city destroyed during ww1 are something nice to watch, and the hotels in that city are VERY cheap. Well, there are cockroaches there, but I've spent 5x less money there on hotel than in Konya
- Hasankeyf
- Dogubayazit

There's nothing to see in Belarus, skip it. Grodno (Hrodna) used to be a nice city they say, but not anymore.

Ukraine - Lwów (Lwiw). It's the nicest polish city... well, now it's ukrainian. But necessarily, necessarily Lwow. If you have to chose between kiev and Lwow, chose Lwow. Oh, and there's a nice and fameous castle a bit further to the east, Kamieniec Podolski.