augentier

Hope this is the right topic to post under, if not feel free to move it ..

I had to cancel a trip to Nicaragua (long story, dont want to go there right now) so I have a plane ticket that I need to use. I want to spend a month in western Europe in May, June or July.

The thing is..I don't know where I want to go. Well, I want to go everywhere but I'll settle for 2-3 countries. I'll be straight up and say all I want to do is let loose..party, have fun, I want to be where the good nightlife is, where people go out and there are lots of young singles. There are a few typical sight-seer things I'll do but mostly I just want to immerse myself in the social aspect of travelling.

I will be going alone..i'll be 22 by that time. I've never travelled alone but I have been out of the U.S. once - Costa Rica.

The two ideas I was tossing in my head are flying into London, then hopping over to the Netherlands, then Germany & Czech Republic and back. The other idea was going along the mediterranean coast..Spain, France, Italy.

Based on the type of trip I'm looking for..where would you suggest I go? Thanx to anyone who read all this

simply_angelic

I would say Mediterranean because if you're going to want to party like a rock-star its always nice to recover on a beach (IMO).

Portugal (simply because I love it...it's gorgeous) and you better believe you can party hard there, Spain=BARCELONA, Italy and Greece (pretty much any of the islands will do but mykonos, ios and corfu are damn good times)

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augentier

Thanx

Which places in Italy do you recommend? Could I get by not speaking any of those native languages, particularly in Portugal and Greece? I speak enough Spanish but not the same type that is spoken in Spain..

simply_angelic

I dont speak any of the native languages...but you should learn certain phrases like "where is", "do you speak english", "thank you" etc. I just buffed up on those key phrases from my lonely planet before I hit each country. No need to go crazy, but it certainly helps to know at least a little.

They speak a lot of english in portugal...greece not so much but in tourist towns you're going to get most hostels run by english speakers...It's just a rule of thumb in europe

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~Laura
GO CANADA!!!!

If you walk backwards, you'll find out that you can go forward and people won't know if you're coming or going.

Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.
-James Dean

Countries I've Visited: Austria, Botswana, Canada, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy. Malawi, Mexico, Portugal, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, USA, UK, Vatican City, Zambia

joe7f

Laura's recommendations are spot on. Since you mentioned London in one of your possible treks how about:

London* -> Faro (Portugal) -> Barcelona -> One of the Greek Islands (probably by way of Athens).

If you have four weeks, that would be pretty convenient. A week in London, Portugal, Barcelona (possibly just Spain in General... a 3/4 split with Sevilla might be a good idea), and ending in some place like Ios or Corfu.

Lagos, Portugal (just a skip and a jump from Faro) is an awesome town and they have a great hostel (The Rising Cock). You can't have anything but a great time there. The Generator in London and Kabul in Barcelona are backpacking meccas, though I only stayed at the former. I have heard good things about The Pink Palace on Corfu and Canadian_Bacon and Marc873 had good things to say about Ios.

Happy travels,

--Joey

*Two big benefits to adding London, one you ease into Europe while eliminating the language situation (which it looks like you have at least a slight concern about) and there isn't a country in the world that doesn't fly to London (and for your purposes there isn't a city in Europe that doesn't have good deals on the discount flights to London)

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augentier

I think Im going to skip the UK..it's a lot more expensive for me to fly into there, than to fly into say..Amsterdam. Though I'd like to see the Netherlands and Germany I think I might have to stick to the mediterranean coast..although I'm not that interested in France..perhaps I can just take a train all the way through. Hmm..decisions..

dudeman

London was crazier than Amsterdam when I was there. St. Christophers hostel was basically one continual party.

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marc873

OK, Ive got mixed ideas on this. You can't go wrong with the party scene in A Dam, to me it just comes down to the time of year you are going. I have no interest in going to A Dam in winter, rain and WIND!!!! Our last trip, we flew from Amsterdam to the Greek Isles, and then back, and on to Iceland. The Greek Isles are a blast. The airfare wasn't that bad. I paid about $250 for a round trip tic to Athens on Swiss Air... Then connected out to the islands for about $125. The ferrys out can be sooooooooooo long, that we chose to spend the money to save a travel day. Language is NO issue on the more popular Isles. Shit Ios is basically all Aussies! I heard it termed the "spring break" destination from Oz. The party on Ios started about midnight, and the bars emptied about 7 a.m. This is a serious party island, just so ya know! We also went to Santorini and Naxos....
Now, if you are going in the warmer months, crusing the south of France and then down the Italian coast line would be fucking fabulous.

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augentier

Which French cities along the coast do you recommend going to?

expatben

If you're going to Germany be sure to see Berlin and actually, Leipzig is really nice too.
French cities on the coast? If you're talking south I cannot help you as I have never been athough I hear nice things about Nice, Marsailles and Montpellier.

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augentier

What about French cities in general?

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offhegoes03

I've only been to Paris. Lots of people think it's overrated, but I think you at least have to see it. That's my opinion anyways. I enjoyed my time there and wished I had spent more than 2 days there.

As for other cities, I looked at a bunch of other ones and researched them, but things never panned out. I think someone already mentioned that the south of France can get pretty expensive. I really wanted to go to Avignon and Arles to see some cool old architecture. Avignon is where the Papacy was moved during the great schism (is the great schism the correct event? My history is rusty) where there were 2 (and at one point 3) popes ruling in different areas.

Arles has some roman ruins and stuff, but then again, you can go anywhere in Europe and find roman ruins. There's even part of a small aqueduct in Sevilla, Spain.

I was supposed to stay in Nice, but had train troubles. Apparently the beach isn't that great b/c it's all rocks rather than sand. It is a relatively cheap place to stay and check out more expensive places that you could never possibly afford to stay in like Cannes.

Hope this helps. I know there's a lot of stuff in North France pertaining to D-Day if that's your thing. I really didn't research much in the North besides Paris.

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augentier

Thanx for your suggestions, I am interested in seeing the old gothic architecture and chateaux (sp?) ..I think my best bet for this trip is going to be..

Spain > France > Belguim > Netherlands

I want to see the most cities in Spain (Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, Granada, and Ibiza too) , in France I think Montpelier, another one of these other cities you guys have mentioned, and Paris. Then off to Brussels, and then to Amsterdam. Although I will want to see one or two other towns in the Netherlands before I go to A-dam because I want it to be my last stop

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Dig

I would skip Brussels and goto Brugge instead. Much cleaner and more architectural.

Rotterdam would be a cool stop off too before Amsterdam. So many options!

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bertus

If you are going for nightlife then Berlin in a good bet as well, they have something for everyone and I found Berlin cheaper than a lot of places.

Somnambulation

The French Riviea is beautiful but very expensive. I remeber getting a 12 Euro maragrita which tasted like shit. I had an awesome day by staying in Nice, taking the train to a beach town called Cap D'ial and visitng the beach and then walking along the ocean side trail to Monaco. It was all incredibly beautiful and very cheap so long as you dont buy the drinks or eat in any restaurants.