OT, trip planned for Europe

“It's a bit OT as it's more to do with visiting European cities than any trails/hikes. but I'm looking for info and there's plenty of you guys out there.

I need advice on best way to travel, Routes, places etc.

I want to travel to continental Europe in a few years with my wife and daughter. We plan to spend maybe a couple of months. I live in England, and I want to know if any of you know of any good travel websites with lively forums about such things?
I've looked on Google, but the sites I've found have been a bit dull and lifeless. Anyone know of any better?”

“I think you might want to add a little more detail about how you want to travel. Luxury or budget? Major cities or off the beaten path? I backpacked through Europe about 10 yrs ago and it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. I stayed in hostels (dirt cheap)which are a great way to meet people but I don't know if you're traveling with your family whether you want to stay in those. Although the nicer ones have rooms to rent rather than a huge room with bunkbeds. Some also have tentsites. The eurail pass is unbeatable for traveling cheap. You can get the unlimited and go anywhere. You can get sleeping compartments for longer trips (overnites)and it's a great way to view the European landscape and countryside. I'd recommend the "LetsGoEurope" book for info. That's what I used. Maybe they have a website. Another book you might check out is called "The Lonely Planet" ?? I think? It is more of an undeground book than LetsGo which you may or may not be interested in.
If your wife and daughter don't mind or even enjoy carrying packs and you want to travel cheap, I'd highly recommend a eurail pass and hostels.”

“If you would apts instead of hostels, check out Untours”

“My parents took me to Eurpoe when I was 16. We stayed in a couple B&Bs... but mostly in hostels. IMO, they are very family-friendly. In many of the smaller towns and villages, we were often the only, or one of the only, people in the place.

We travelled by rental car. But, if I had to do it over again, I'd go by rail, as suggested above.

One of the greatest things about our trip was that the only pre-planned part was the flight. Once we left the airport, we just went... No specific destinations.

It was a great experience. One I hope to do again now that I'm an adult.”

“Sorry about the lack of detail.
Like I said, I live in UK, and we intend to stay away maybe a couple of months. We're looking at either:

Flying to farthest destination - could be Russia, though I'm a little uncetain of the safety of Russia, so perhaps poland, then catching train back, stopping in cities such as, though not definate - Krakow, Berlin, Cologne, Budapest, Amsterdam. This may all change, of course, Scandanavi appeals (but is expensive).

Other options are: Drive, catching N. Sea Ferry to Holand, then out as far as Poland and back.

Or Rail out and back.

Like I said, we want to stay in or certaqinly very near, cities, and we'll have a three-year/four year old daughter to contend with.

Any help, advice, links, much appreciated.”

“You have hit on one of my favorite subjects. I lived in Amsterdam (well, Haarlem to be more precise) for about 3-4 months in '98 (you said you wanted to travel for a couple months, so I might be able to give you a pretty good idea on budget for that time frame). I traveled all over Holland, parts of Germany, Austria, and northern Italy too. What do you want to know? I didn't have a daughter then, but I have a 1 and 1/2 old now, so I might be able to help you out as far as kiddie info. too. Give me some details and I'll get you some info. Wolfman's bro was right, we need to know if this is tight or luxury travel, if you want to hit all the major cities or see the outta' the way villages, are you interested in mainly fam. friendly stuff or anything, do you want to check out museums, art, etc. or just do a bohemian thing?”

“Thanks for all the advice so far. I quite like the look of the Untours thing, though to be limited to just a month seems somewhat...limiting, But that was from a quick scan of the site, so maybe they do longer.
Newgirl, We're looking to do it as cheaply as possible (isn't everyone?) but want to stay in semi-decent places (private facilities). I guess B&B's could be good, or small hotels. We want to hit cities really, like I said in my second post. We're uncertain at the moment, but we're initially thinking, if we drive, of Amsterdam - Somewhere mid Germany (maybe black Forrest?) - Berlin - Krokow - Baltic states (maybe) - Lenningrad (Ideally - but I'm still concerned about safety in Russia) - Now we could either go up to Finland and back through Scandanavia (which I quite like the idea of), of down to Budapest - back through Prague - Germany - France.
We're looking at being away for a couple of months.
We were also wondering about renting an apartment in key cities or areas, staying there and travelling out. But I guess to do this would make for a set timetable, and I'm not sure how much we want that. (though that said, with a child in tow, I suppose the security of that timetable might be what we need).
We're interested more in the cultural highlights. Museums, art Galleries, Historic monuments, nice food, and like I hinted at before, we don't want to break the bank, but we don't plan on living on a shoe string either.”

“Gotte's a troll. I've never met a Brit (or any other European for that matter) as ignorant about the Continent as he claims to be, or as illiterate, either.”

“It sounds like you are the one who is ignorant. There are many people living in the UK who don't travel much and don't really know much beyond the region in which they live. When I was living in the Cotswolds, I knew people who thought I was absolutely crazy for driving up to Scotland for a three day trip...in fact they thought it was impossible.”

“So why not go back there? It sounds like the perfect place for you. :-)”

“Rather than contueing to behave like an immature imbicile, how about giving Gotte an apology or at least some helpfull advice?”

“Slut, if you're going to insult me, at least spell correctly...”

“Still not offering anything helpfull huh?”

“I don't waste my energy on trolls. You, on the other hand...








well, you're just something to amuse myself with when I'm bored.”

“*yawn*”

“Careful, little girl...'en una boca cerrada, no entran moscas'...










Hah! You're almost as fun as a bug-zapper and a moon pie!”

“Gotte, I suggest you try one of the Usenet travel forums for help such as rec.travel.europe”

“When my dad was in the navy how the sailors would see europe on the cheap was to get a eurorail(sp) pass with the sleeper option. They would spend the day somewhere and choose the next destination based on if the train ride was long enough to sleep on.

How it panned out was that they picked two countries and just hopped back and forth.

Never been to Europe but I always wanted to go hit all the art galleries.”

“Gotte, I don't know how much of a fan of camping you are, but that is an option too. I know specifically in Holland farmers near cities often rent out small spaces on their land for people to set up tents. It is cheap and gives you a chance to get a little off the beaten path, w/out getting to far from the cities. If you rent a car, no big deal, if you don't this might not be a good option, unless you and the fam. are up for backpacking around. There is also a train ticket you can get in Holland that allows you to get on and off the train as many times as you want, going anywhere in the country you want, for 3 days (it is a good cheap deal, as well). In Germany there is a train ticket you can get called the Nacht (night) Train. Here's how it works: You get on the train anywhere in Germany at 2 PM, you then ride, hopping trains at each stop, as far as you want until 2 AM. So, for instance, you could travel from Munich in the south, all the way to the Dutch border in the north, for the price of one super cheap ticket. So you could use that ticket to get to the Czech or Austrian borders and then get to Budapest somehow. Or you could use it on your way back as a way to cover alot of ground quick and cheap. This may not be the most friendly child ticket, unless one of you can carry her sleeping body as you dash from train to train. One other thing, there is a museum in Haarlem (about 15 mins. by the train from Amsterdam) called the Franz Hals Museum (famous Dutch painter). It has all the art you and Mommy could want, plus a very old, very big dollhouse w/ the most unimaginable tiny detailed replicas in it for the kiddie. She would probably love it at the age of 4. In Amsterdam, definitely check out the Van Gogh Museum, but unless it is very important to you, skip the Anne Frank House (the line is ridiculously long, esp. w/ a child in tow). As far as food, there is alot of great Indonesian food in Holland and the bread and beer is excellent in Germany (esp. in the Bavarian region). If you are in Austria at any point, do see the castles. They are all amazing and you can pretend you are a royal family w/ the little one. She might dig that. Okay . . . there is a small bit of info. for you. I have more if you want it.”

“Thanks for the info. I love camping, but my wife's not so keen. I think we plan on thing being a bit more...I was going to use the word comfortable, but that's not right. I've spent some of my most comfortable nights under the stars.”

“I've travelled plenty, and what you read as ignorance is perhaps a request for opinions so as to help me make up my mind. As for my English, my problem is actually dyslexia.

Nice one.”

“Just logged in to remind you all that my opinion is king. I often don't know what the hell I'm talking about, but figure if I do it with real ATTITUDE, real P**S AND VINEGAR, I'll seem really really important, a class act, a real scourge of the boards.

OOOOh, I'm soooo smart I can feel a woody coming on.”

“No problem.”

“In the Benelux (B/NL/L) you have the Domino rail ticket, where you can get off the train anywhere you like during 3 days (IIRC it's Friday Saturday and Sunday), newgirl mentioned it above.
In Belgium, Brugge, Gent, Brussels and Antwerp are must-sees.
Holland, Amsterdam is definitely the place to tour, Rijksmuseum with Rembrandt's Nightwatch (http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/asp/start.asp?language=uk)
In Germany, Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, just for the "pics of a lifetime":http://www.neuschwanstein.org/start.htm”

“I spent my honneymoon, and 5th wedding anniversary in Brugge. It is a wonderful, wonderful place, and I would recommend it to anyone. Another great highlight is a battlefields' tour. We went with a company called Quasimodo tours. The chap who runs it is passionate about the subject and really gives you your money's worth.
Been through Brussles a couple of times. First time it was making a connection to Brugge, during a Belgian rail stike (which was not fun) and second time was when we were stranded for a couple hours waiting for a coach connection to Prague. As for Holland, I've been to Amsterdam once a long. long time ago, but plan to reaquaint myself with the place, hopefully during my grand trip (I only hope it hasn't been ruined by partying English - never that pretty a sight).”

“The hairy headed gent who ran amuck in Gent.

I also spent some time in europe. I went over for 30 days, heck 10 years ago now. I agree about Belgium. It truely is the hidden gem of Europe. I would have to say though that after traveling about for a month my most memorable times were at Nice France on the Med. That place was just down right awesome”