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March 29 2024 1.06pm

Planning a trip round Europe

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View elgrande's Profile elgrande Flag bedford 21 Aug 15 2.31pm Send a Private Message to elgrande Add elgrande as a friend

Quote sydtheeagle at 21 Aug 2015 8.27am

A lot depends on your interests, which you don't mention. Music, art, architecture, etc. With that said, Rome is a wonderful city and full of life outside the obvious physical attractions. Northern Italy is almost a different country to Southern Italy...Florence is replete with magisterial artworks but it's a fairly dry, conservative city. Ditto Venice (except it's wet). I would add Naples to my Italian list (only two hours or so south of Rome by train). Often described as the northernmost city in Africa, it's a true experience. And a day on Capri (by boat from Naples) is unmissable.

Austria is extremely conservative. Salzburg is a chocolate box but somewhat lacking in soul. Vienna is a must if you're musically inclined for all the obvious reasons. If you're inclined towards Beethoven, Mahler etc. it's a pilgrimage and that's enough to justify a visit. Prague is full of YAPs (Young Americans in Prague), another chocolate box, lots of soul but somewhat spoiled by the tourist influx (or should I say commercialised?)

Budapest is beautiful; try to cover both Buda and Pest. The central synagogue is unmissable and the opera house has played a central role in a lot of careers (not least Solti, who started out there.) Athens, as someone else said, is a s*** hole albeit a s*** hole with the Parthenon in the middle of it so perhaps worth a visit for that alone.

Besides Naples (an obvious exclusion) you seem to be focusing on cities but the Dalmatian coast (Croatia) is extremely beautiful, inexpensive and not out of your way. The Swiss alps (not inexpensive) are also on your route and while the cities in Switzerland are entirely missable, if your journey takes you by way of somewhere like Interlaken, it's worth detouring into the mountains for a day (Wengen, Grindelwald, sometwhere like that.)

The other place vaguely in your orbit that you don't mention is Krakow, if you want to venture into Poland but pretty near the Czech border and easy to get to from Prague. Extremely beautiful city and, of course, departure point for Auschwitz which is extremely painful but probably a necessary part of any western cultural education.

Feel free to PM me if you want more info.

Edited by sydtheeagle (21 Aug 2015 8.27am)


Indeed Syd great place DURING the day,absolute p*** city at night,like two different cities.

 


always a Norwood boy, where ever I live.

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View sydtheeagle's Profile sydtheeagle Flag England 21 Aug 15 3.48pm Send a Private Message to sydtheeagle Add sydtheeagle as a friend

Quote eagleboi at 21 Aug 2015 10.12am

What's so bad about Naples? Was thinking about visiting. It's improved no? Or is there still fear and loathing of the Mafia there?

In my view nothing at all. I absolutely love the place. But its reputation isn't entirely undeserved. It's somewhere you're either in your comfort zone or you're not...the "northernmost city in Africa" description is fairly apt. I'd say most African cities I've been to have more in common with Naples in many ways than Naples does with Florence, for instance. If you're looking for sedate, safe, organised, and comfortably paced then Naples isn't for you. If you've got your wits about you and are happy taking the rough with the smooth then it's unmissable.

 


Sydenham by birth. Selhurst by the Grace of God.

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View the despotic banana's Profile the despotic banana Flag Dept. of Baboon Maintenance 21 Aug 15 4.37pm Send a Private Message to the despotic banana Add the despotic banana as a friend

Alternative cities to consider: Innsbruck, Bamberg, Genoa, Syracuse, San Sebastian, and Lyon.

 


Ask me about Ronald de Boer.

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budapest cpfc Flag Wien 21 Aug 15 4.50pm

Quote chris123 at 21 Aug 2015 12.52pm

I work in Vienna and it is pretty cheap and a good base to visit Prague, Budapest and Salzburg - either by train on boat trip up the Danube.


WHAT you think it's cheap here in Wien you must be joking it's one of the most expensive cities in Europe and one of the most boring having lived here for over 2 yrs but it is very pretty city. If I was traveling around Europe I'd drop Athens as it pony and would add Verona wonderful place. The best place he's going to is Budapest can't wait to move back there.

Edited by budapest cpfc (21 Aug 2015 4.54pm)

 

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View Indefatigable's Profile Indefatigable Flag South London 21 Aug 15 5.14pm Send a Private Message to Indefatigable Add Indefatigable as a friend

Have you looking at the Rail Pass for just Italy and then just buying your rail journeys in Hungary and the Czech Republic? Rail tickets in and around the latter two countries aren't that expensive so it may work out cheaper to get an Italian pass and then pay of the others individually.

If you're thinking of getting any trains in Europe (or in fact anywhere in the world) you should visit The Man in Seat Sixty-One [Link]

Quote budapest cpfc at 21 Aug 2015 4.50pm

The best place he's going to is Budapest

I have to agree. There are only two places I could move to outside of South London and they are Budapest and Prague.

Bratislava is ridiculously close and worth a day and a night in.

 

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View chris123's Profile chris123 Flag hove actually 22 Aug 15 12.20am Send a Private Message to chris123 Add chris123 as a friend

Quote budapest cpfc at 21 Aug 2015 4.50pm

Quote chris123 at 21 Aug 2015 12.52pm

I work in Vienna and it is pretty cheap and a good base to visit Prague, Budapest and Salzburg - either by train on boat trip up the Danube.


WHAT you think it's cheap here in Wien you must be joking it's one of the most expensive cities in Europe and one of the most boring having lived here for over 2 yrs but it is very pretty city. If I was traveling around Europe I'd drop Athens as it pony and would add Verona wonderful place. The best place he's going to is Budapest can't wait to move back there.

Edited by budapest cpfc (21 Aug 2015 4.54pm)


Well from the airport to city centre is 4.40 euro, dinner under 10, beer 3 to 4 out and nothing from the supermarket, and hotels depends what you want. The weather has been hotter than the med for most of the summer.

 

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View twist's Profile twist Flag Miami, Florida 22 Aug 15 1.22am Send a Private Message to twist Add twist as a friend

Thanks for all your responses. It would seem that Athens is a mistake to include, due to how out of the way it is, and everyone i talked to whos been there seemed disappointed.

I was looking at a Global 10 day Eurail ticket for 4 people which was going to run me $2700, but dropping Athens i can go with a Select pass, choose 4 countries, travel for 5 days for under $1600.
Maybe a trip up to Zermatt from Florence and take the glacier express to St Moritz.

So much to chose from...

I am interested more in the old world, Rome, Greece etc. Architecture and old history.
The wife is totally into classical music and art.

France is out, cuz its full of french.

 

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View nairb75's Profile nairb75 Flag Baltimore 22 Aug 15 4.07am Send a Private Message to nairb75 Add nairb75 as a friend

i did a short jaunt years ago.

recommendation: madrid was great. hot chics everywhere but more than that. great place that i didn't expect. unexpectedly great.

swiss alps shouldn't be missed. the swiss are money grubbing c#### and devoid of all personality but the scenery is incredible. i stopped in luzerne, which was nice for a couple of days. probably any town on the lakes would be fine but luzerne has a nice setup to see the sites and has some good bars. but they're c####.

you can't go there and miss paris. one of a kind. just incredible if you're into culture.

south france; 300 days of sun, cheap wine, accordions: what's not to like? avignon was my favorite.

bruggee was way more fun than i thought. night life? not so much if that's your goal. but if you like good beer, some cool history, mayonnaise on your chips, you're good to go. seriously, belgians are not messing around with their beer or chocolate: good priorities.

amsterdam: i can see skipping that unless you're a stoner. some fun things to do but the dutch aren't all that interesting and the sites are kind of uninspiring.

frieburg (or however you spell it): good hiking if you're into that. nice little town. lots of pretzels. people are way cool.

barcelona: would be a fool to miss it if you can get there.

italy/greece: didn't get there so no comment.

 

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View Nigs's Profile Nigs Flag Prague 24 Aug 15 12.43pm Send a Private Message to Nigs Add Nigs as a friend

Quote We are goin up! at 21 Aug 2015 9.26am

I did interrailing a couple of years ago and it's great. The best thing about it is you can do a lot of your travelling on sleepers (extra charges but not horrendous) which not only saves you money on hotels but is also great fun.

What I would say is you're trying to cover a lot of ground in 17 days! You don't want to spend your whole time travelling without actually seeing places!

If you're up for nightlife etc. get yourself to eastern Europe, Prague and Budapest are both cracking nights out and genuinely great cities to walk around as well. Budapest especially is fantastic. I did 30 days around Europe and it was my favourite city along with Berlin.

Edited by We are goin up! (21 Aug 2015 9.26am)

To be pedantic Prague and Budapest are considered central European.


 


My last signature was just too long.

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View twist's Profile twist Flag Miami, Florida 24 Aug 15 12.44pm Send a Private Message to twist Add twist as a friend

Wife's position just got eliminated, so i guess i gotta put these plans back a while

 

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View Stuk's Profile Stuk Flag Top half 24 Aug 15 1.32pm Send a Private Message to Stuk Add Stuk as a friend

Quote Nigs at 24 Aug 2015 12.43pm

Quote We are goin up! at 21 Aug 2015 9.26am

I did interrailing a couple of years ago and it's great. The best thing about it is you can do a lot of your travelling on sleepers (extra charges but not horrendous) which not only saves you money on hotels but is also great fun.

What I would say is you're trying to cover a lot of ground in 17 days! You don't want to spend your whole time travelling without actually seeing places!

If you're up for nightlife etc. get yourself to eastern Europe, Prague and Budapest are both cracking nights out and genuinely great cities to walk around as well. Budapest especially is fantastic. I did 30 days around Europe and it was my favourite city along with Berlin.

Edited by We are goin up! (21 Aug 2015 9.26am)

To be pedantic Prague and Budapest are considered central European.



Not when you're as far West as we are.

A bit like the north of England starting above Watford for us.

 


Optimistic as ever

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View Stuk's Profile Stuk Flag Top half 24 Aug 15 1.33pm Send a Private Message to Stuk Add Stuk as a friend

Quote twist at 24 Aug 2015 12.44pm

Wife's position just got eliminated, so i guess i gotta put these plans back a while


Lost her job? Sorry to hear that.

To be honest a lot of Europe is a f***ing mess at the moment, a delay might be best all round.

 


Optimistic as ever

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