I guess I should also add that I speak very little French and very little Italian. Are these good places for two girls who don’t know the languages?

I have not been everywhere on your list, but I can give you some suggestions from my previous experiences…

As far as Nice, Cannes, or Marseilles, I would say go to Nice. I personally did not like Cannes, but Nice had a great charm to it. The beach was also great although rocky. I would recommend staying for at least 2-3 days on the Riviera to enjoy the beach.

If you are going to be in Spain during San Fermin (Running of the Bulls), then by all means go! In fact, try and work it out so that you can be in Pamplona during the festival. If you cannot make it for the run then honestly I see no need to go to Pamplona. Barcelona is also a great city and if you like to party then you’ll have a great time. The city really has a lot to enjoy, including a beach, so I would spend a couple of days just soaking up the Spanish atmosphere.

Paris is the only other place I have been on your list, and definitely do not miss out on it. Its a great city, although some people dont really like it. Spend some time in Paris and dont just do all of the touristy stuff (ie Notre Dam, Louvre, D’Orsay, etc…) but instead just walk around the different neighborhoods and see what you find. Most people enjoy the Latin Quarter, which I also recommend. You can also take the chunnel from Paris to London, if you wish.

You may also want to think about just concentrating on a certain country rather than trying to blitz all of these places in a short amount of time. I spent a month in France and I didn’t even begin to scratch the surface. Just a thought, but have a great time…

Hmmm…I think that is a lot of places for only one month, but if you are up for it…
I would choose Lucerne over Zurich, in fact, I would skip Zurich and go to Interlaken or someplace around there. Zurich wasn’t great.
In Italy, I’m kinda curious as to how you choose these places. I would definitely skip Milan and consider Venice and Florence- which are must sees.
In southern France, I’ve only been to Nice so I can’t really say either way. It was nice though.
Spain- Barcelona for sure.
I’m out on the Germany question, as I’ve only been to the airport in Frankfurt
Looks like you’re going to be spending a lot of time travelling, but I hope I helped a bit with the city decisions anyway.

I’d skip all of your destinations and spend the time in Eastern Europe instead of Western Europe.

Chunnel goes from Paris or Brussels (or Lille, if you ever happen to end up there) to London.

i chose those places with the tavelling in mind. i don’t want to spend the bulk of my trip on trains, so i tried to choose places that were close to the borders so as to get to the next place quickly.
(like, i thought of Milan because it is close to Switzerland)…

why is eastern europe better? i guess it makes sense since i am starting in hungary… what would be the best to see over there?

If you’re working until July 27 then you’ll definitely miss the festivities in Pamplona. Go to Barcelona; you’ll have a great time. I agree about skipping Milan, but have never been to Genoa or Turin. Venice or Florence are good suggestions, and you could also consider the Cinque Terre.

thank you all for your suggestions. venice is a great idea – i had no idea is was so north.

so, if i were to start in hungary and go to somewhere in south/west germany, amsterdam, paris, zurich, venice, nice, and barcelona, what would be the best route to take? what is the best order to visit those cities to make for the easiest travel? and can you give me suggestions on how long to stay in each city and what exactly to see there?

thanks!!!

Since you’re starting in Hungary, why not check out some of the Eastern European countries. I know when I started planning my trip, I was more eager to see the "big" Western European cities, but that was only because I wasn’t aware of what the East had to offer. Some places that definitely stand out now that I have researched are the following:
-Slovenia: Lake Bled, Skocjan Caves
-Croatia: Rab, Split, Dubrovnik ( I read that the water will be 75 degrees all the way until October!)
-Czech Repub.: Prague, Cesky Krumlov
-Poland:Krakow, Warsaw

Here are two itinerary ideas, one heading south first, and one heading north and west:

#1 Lake Balaton-Ljubljana,Crotatia (daytrip to Skocjan caves)2days
Ljubljana-Rab, Croatia 2days
Rab-Split 1 day
Split-Dubrovnik (totally amazing seafood and relaxing beach) 4 days
Dubrovnik-Bari, Italy (by ferry. just head on to rome, or spend one night and head on early in the morning)
Bari-Rome 4 days
Rome-Florence (maybe Siena also)3 days
Florence-Cinque Terre 2 days
Cinque Terre- Nice, France(also visit Monaco)2 days
Nice-Barcelona 3 days
Barcelona- Paris 4 days
That’s almost a month. You could go farther into spain, or more of central france with more time.

#2 Lake Balaton-Vienna, Austria 2 days
Vienna-Cesky Krumlov 2 days
Cesky Krumlov-Prague (supposed to be beautiful,crazy party town)4days
Prague-Berlin, Germany (tons of fun too, and history) 4 days
Berlin-Amsterdam 3 days
Amsterdam-Ghent, Belgium (better than Bruges, good beer!) 2 days
Ghent-Paris 5 days
Paris-Chamonix, france 2 days
Chamonix-Interlaken, Switzerland 4 days

You really are lucky to be starting in Hungary, you ahve access to many great places! Hope this helps.

quote:Should I go to Frankfurt, Mannheim, or Dusseldorf?

None of the above. Munich is the pick here.

the eastern europe idea is a good one, since i will be starting in hungary. the problem is that this is my only chance for a while to see europe, and having never been there before, there are certain things i have been DYING to see.

-i am obsessed with switzerland. i did a lot of research on it in high school and i SO want to see the alps from there and ride the cable cars really badly.
-italy. i took italian in college and became infatuated with the land and culture. and i really really want to see an italian villa.
-france. i want to see paris and i want to visit the french riviera.

maybe i should do a little vienna/prague visiting to start with (cause those sound great) and then travel over and spend like a week each in france, italy, and switzerland, instead of whirling all over the place.

hmmm… any suggestions?

It sounds kind of crazy to start from Hungary and then just abandon central Europe alltogether. Maybe you could do Hungary – Slovenia – Italy – Switserland, and then fly to Paris. If you think you won’t get a chance to go to Europe again soon, keep in mind that places like Paris or Switserland are still gonna be the same 10 years from now, while most of eastern Europe is changing rapidly.

that’s a really great idea. slovenia seems really interesting. those caves look amazing!

what’s a good place to look at miles and such between each city so i can get an idea of travel times and costs?

is there some kind of website where you can plug in the cities you want to see and it gives you a route and time estimate? if not, there should be, cause that would be cool

http://reiseauskunft… will give you rail schedules for most of Europe. In some places it might be better to travel by bus though, and they only give you prices within Germany.

The maps at ricksteves.com are good as to the train time between cities. Prices are less accurate, but will work for planning.

Slovenia is wonderful — would go back in a heartbeat.

Slovenija is cool, I lived and worked in Ljubljana for some time back in 2000? It’s a small city (Ljubljana), but it has a lot of life to it. Also definitly see the Postjana caves, as well as the seacoast. Personally, I would opt for the Istrian Coast of Croatia instead (Rovinj or the such), but the Slovene coast is nice as well.

If you have the time (maybe time off when you are in Buda), go to Sarajevo for a weekend or something. I promise you won’t regret the fact that you will get there before all the tourists return, and you will be greeted with an amazingly friendly city that has a charm that I haven’t seen elsewhere. I think there is a night train from Buda to Sarajevo (one of the few trains in or out of Bosnia). Let me know if you want more info on that.

Sorry to be of less help on W. Euro. I’m an Eastern, Central, & Balkan man myself. Been allover Western too, just don’t see the charm. I have heard great things about Switz though, although it’s expensive as all get out.

Got some pics & such on my website, which I can’t update at the moment due to a bum computer. Nevertheless, check it out at www.freewebtown.com/….

Have a great time……and might I ask, what kind of work at you doing in Balaton?

-A

You can use this website to see whether or not you want to use a rail pass or not. It lets you plug in the ciites you will be visiting. http://www.railconne…

awesome, thanks for the tips…

Auher, I’m going to be working for Campus Crusade in Keszthely for the month of July. It’s a Christian camp to disciple to local teens and help them brush up their English. I will have every Friday off, but never a whole weekend at a time until it’s over, so trips that take more than a couple of hours to get to aren’t really a possibility while I’m there. Any suggestions as to what’s close to me would be appreciated. Sarajevo sounds wonderful, but I don’t know if I’ll have time to get there from Keszthely.

I looked at all kinds of websites yesterday on the caves in Slovenia. They look amazing. I’m excited about maybe getting to climb all over them. And I can’t wait to see the waters in all these places. They look so much more wonderful than the sludge we call water here in the states.

and i’ll definitely check out that website, cld1474, thanks!

so i’ve been doing some more research. it really doesn’t look like i’ll have the best time travelling in august. if i did decide to do eastern europe instead, would there be a difference in crowd size? is it less touristy in the east?

quote:
is it less touristy in the east?

Depends where you go. Big popular cities like Prague and Budapest will be just as crowded as the west. But e.g. Bratislava, Krakow and Warsaw less so, though they won’t be deserted either. If you head to places like Belgrade or Sarajevo it won’t matter if it’s high season or not. Tourist attractions such as the High Tatra mountains, lake Balaton or the Croatian coast will also be very crowded at that time, but perhaps a bit less than similar areas in western Europe. You can still have a good time in august anywhere in Europe, but I would personally prefer to avoid tourist magnets like Prague or Venice, and focus more on smaller towns, national parks (even though a lot of them will be significantly more crowded too) and the countryside.

well, i’ve given into you guys

i’ve done some research and decided to check out eastern europe for the whole trip, instead of western. it makes more sense since i am starting in hungary and some of the places there look incredible; plus, most of the places seem like they would be too crowded in august to even be enjoyable.

here’s a rough itinerary:
3 days each in budapest, vienna, salzburg, munich, prague, and krakow (in that order).

i know some of those are still high-tourist areas. i chose them based on interest, train routes, and time. if you guys know of better places that are less crowded, but just as easy to get to, let me know.

thanks!