Places to See - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

BuddyLee · 06-21-2004, 08:40 AM

So what are some of the places I must see that nobody knows about..? Besides the London's, Paris', Venice, etc.

**omisan** · 06-21-2004, 09:51 AM

I'd tellya, but then I'd havta killya...

BuddyLee · 06-21-2004, 10:05 AM

we shall fight to the death..

**omisan** · 06-21-2004, 10:23 AM

You're not my father!!

BuddyLee · 06-21-2004, 10:25 AM

but you can call me DADDY!

BuddyLee · 06-21-2004, 05:15 PM

Anywho haha back to topic! Whats some smaller cities I can fit into two months around Europe that I may never thought of going..

**space virgin** · 06-21-2004, 05:29 PM

wow, man, europe is like... full of smaller cities and towns.

but seriously, which countries/big cities are you *definitely* planning to hit? I mean, I wouldn't bother with telling you about wonderful villages in England if you weren't going there or about the fantastic hiking to be had in Scotland if you are not an "outdoors" person. If you have a rough idea of where you want to go for sure that can help narrow down the recommendation list (plus, I could tell you til I was blue in the face how much I loved Nice and Avignon, and someone else on here may say they hated it and prefer Marseille or Nimes.) It all depends on what you're looking for in a small town-- culture, party atmosphere, nature, etc.

BuddyLee · 06-21-2004, 05:36 PM

See you've helped already! but I shall get a list up of major cities I must hit!

Give me a sec..

BuddyLee · 06-21-2004, 05:57 PM

Countries I must hit... Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Germany don't know much about Eastern Europe but would love to see Poland.. hmm I would love to see Scotland but it sounds expensive and kinda scared me away. I'm more of a scenic guys like castles, old buildings, art and scenery and the such.. only party on occasion.. oh and all of this on $3500-4000 try to pull it to two months.. so theres my life story..

**omisan** · 06-21-2004, 06:03 PM

As far as scenic stuff towns Ireland go, Glendalough's an easy day trip from Dublin (and there are plenty of great small van companies that do it), and it's absolutely worth seeing.

BuddyLee · 06-21-2004, 06:33 PM

sounds wonderful..! how about Dublin itself? 2 days enough to adverture around the city?

**omisan** · 06-21-2004, 06:44 PM

Dublin's fairly small, so you can see most of it in 2 days if you rush around, but I'd stay longer (at least 4 days, IMHO) just to soak in the culture - the people are amazing! Only problem is it's a fairly expensive town, but you can get by alright if you don't eat out much and cook @ the hostel kitchen. So many great daytrips and tours (largely targeted at backpackers) are based from there, so it's a good place to start an Irish adventure. Of course, my boss would kill me if I didn't plug Cork, as well, so go there, too

BuddyLee · 06-21-2004, 07:06 PM

Expensive seems to be a big word these days... How much do these days trips ussually cost?

**omisan** · 06-21-2004, 07:54 PM

I think the day tours are around 20 euro - other than whatever you pay for lunch, it's a nice slow way to burn your cash through the day instead of going from place to place and paying for this and that. I went with Over the Top, as recommended by my hostel - small groups, very cool guides, and you mostly meet other backpackers, which is a bonus when traveling solo!

BuddyLee · 06-21-2004, 08:56 PM

Not even in Europe yet and worrying over money! shame on me...so we'll say 4 days in Dublin.. two to explore the city.. and 2 for out of city expriences... from there I can take a train to Rossiare.. and a ferry to France.. unless theres a ferry to Portugal... I really want to see Lisbon... I hate leaving out cities.. *sigh*

**space virgin** · 06-22-2004, 10:30 AM

believe me, buddy, you can make yourself sick with longing for the things that you *won't* get to see, so instead concentrate on what you can realistically get to.

But if you have $4000 and two months you should be doing pretty good and able to see quite a bit. In my 5-week trip I managed to see a LOT, but mostly that was because I was rushing around to visit friends and family who I had to see while over there.

My must-do list of big cities (places I've been):

Paris
Barcelona
Nice
Munich & Bavaria-- don't just stay in Munich, get out into the countryside for crissake!
London, because you really should see it and it's kinda the gateway to the rest of europe anyway

Now as far as smaller cities, I really liked Valencia (spain), Avignon (france), Salzburg (austria), Oberammergau (bavaria), Ludlow (england- really a village and not easy to get to, but totally worth it) and Bratislava, Slovakia.

You can check out some pics of my last trip here, just click on whichever city you want to see pics of. That may give you an idea of what you like and what you don't.

**tumblezweedz** · 06-24-2004, 12:15 PM

If you're really keen to see Poland, there are some great smallish cities - Gdansk is fascinating, Krakow is extraordinary (great castle) and Wroclaw is less well known but also beautiful (it used to be called Breslau - that's how many people know it). It's a big country and kind of out of the way of the rest of your list, but has the advantage of being a lot cheaper than western Europe. With so many places on your list, you might want to split it into two, focus on southern/western Europe this time, and save northern/central/eastern for another trip. If you can save some money by limiting this trip, it won't take you as long to save for the next...

Of course, I crammed as much as I could into one 3 1/2 month extravaganza, which stretched from Kiev to Casablanca, so I'm not one to talk! Now I don't have as long to travel, so break things down into more manageable bits, but still try to see more than is reasonable. It's an addiction, is there a 12-step programme for wanderlust?

Aisha · 06-24-2004, 12:30 PM

Two 'smaller', less visited places I fell in love with: Firstly Killarney in Ireland. Beautiful, peaceful and green, green, green! The Killarney national park is literally right next to the 'high street', absolutely lovely place. A bus from dublin takes I think about 4 hours.
Secondly, Gerona (aka Girona) in Spain. About an hour from Barcelona by train, which costs around 5 euro. Beautiful town with the real 'spanish' looking buildings right up against the river, Venice style. A good chunk of the old city walls remain, so you can walk along the top of them and get the most amazing views. Beautiful Cathedral too. I only meant to stop there for one night on my way to Barcelona, but ended up staying four days just walking through the streets absorbing it all. A huge contrast to Barcelona, Madrid etc, it feels so much more 'Spanish'!

BuddyLee · 06-24-2004, 01:15 PM

oh man! I did a little research and wasd about to add Killarney as daytrip while I was in Dublin... Gerona sounds beautiful and what I'm looking for.. I love the old architecture, castles, etc. I will have to give it a look to..

**omisan** · 06-24-2004, 01:31 PM

Girona's also right by the Costa Brava, which - if you get to the smaller, more deserted towns - is supposed to be stunning. Definitely putting that on my itinerary!