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)

__________________
~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

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

__________________
~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)

__________________


Countries visited: USA, Netherlands, Norway, France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain (and Gibraltar), Italy, Belgium, Hungary, Austria, Ireland, UK, Japan, Canada , Portugal, Czech Republic, Poland, Andorra, Croatia, Montenegro

Next up: Mongolia, China

"I sought trains; I found passengers" - Paul Theroux

Help Travelpunk's continued existence with a small donation

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..