Wow, looks like you had a great vacation! What an experience! I am going to Scotland and England next summer so I am interested in your trips and thoughts there. Congrats on your trip!

Where did you go in Montenegro?

I didn’t cover a lot of England…just London, Leeds, York, and Manchester. London and York were incredible. Leeds and Manchester were working class cities…nice, but not a lot of tourist sites.

Scotland was one of my favourite countries. Don’t just go to Edinburgh and Glasgow, cuz you’re missing out on a LOT. I did a Macbackpackers tour of the highlands (4 days). It was one of the coolest experiences of my trip, for sure. The highlands are beautiful, the people are great, and the tour guide was very very interesting.

As for Montenegro, I went to Bar, Budva, Kotor, and Herceg Novi. Budva was my favourite overall, but Kotor was awesome too. Montenegro is sooooo cheap.

What about Italy? Where did you all go, what would you recommend?

I covered almost every major city in Italy, (except for the ones in Sicily) and a few minor ones. I’d definitely recommend Rome (my favourite European city), Venice, Siena, Lecce, and the whole Amalfi coast, from Sorrento to Salerno.

I didn’t really like Florence, but I’m not a big art fan, and I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority on my opinion of the city.

Lecce is very underrated cuz it’s in the southeast (the heel) but it’s a very beautiful city, full of parks and beautiful architecture.

The Amalfi coast is the best coastline I saw in Europe, by far.

Sounds like a great trip! Glad you had a good time! Post some pics once you get them developed!

Hey welcome home ,
Im starting to plan my trip next summer. I am going from Barcelona around the riviera(nice) to Rome and Venice. Do you think a week in Barcelona is too much? I am only planning one night in Venice… what about rome (how long)? i wonder if you went to siena or verona…any suggestions always help at this point i am really open to changes. Sounds like you had fun!! Cant wait till next time already huh?

Let’s see. First off, Barcelona is awesome. You can see all the sights in about 3 days, tops. But it’s an awesome city for meeting travellers and having a good time. A week might be pushing it, especially if this is your first trip to Europe. I’m only sayin that cuz you could use the 4 spare days to see a helluva lot more than just Barcelona, whether it’s in Spain, France, or Italy.

Nice was an absolutely beautiful city, but the city itself is the tourist site. It’s a lot like where I’m from Vancouver…there’s not a lot of outstanding tourist sites there, but it’s toally worth seeing. I would definitely recommend the Monestary (sp?), cuz the view is AMAZING from there.

In between Barcelona and Nice, I’d recommend stopping over in Nimes (if you’re into Roman history or archaeology at all) and Marseille (awesome vibe).

As for Italy, of course Rome and Venice are the highlights. Siena is a little out of the way, but I’d definitely recommend it. If you’re goin to Siena (which was AWESOME..the church and the main square will blow your mind), try to get to San Gimignano, or especially Volterra. Both are awesome. Or the Amalfi coast, which is about 2 hours south of Rome. Very beautiful, and much cheaper than all of northern Italy.

1 night in Venice is perfect, as long as you get there early….it’s expensive, hard to find accoms, and it’s very touristy. 1 1/2 days is perfect to cover the whole city, in my opinion.

Try to stop by the Cingue Terre as well…between Genoa and Rome. Very beautiful. Worth a few hours, not a whole day though.

Yesss…am clueless about Spain. Can help? I’m planning to spend a week or so in the country. Where to go – what to do?

I’m from a hot country (India) with some good beaches – so that’s not what I’m looking for. What did you enjoy best in Spain. And yes -I’m vegetarian. Will I live?

Makaveli, do you think its possible to do the Cinque Terre as a day trip from Rome if you dont hike the trails and take the train between the towns? Also if you had to choose would you go North to Cinque Terre as a day trip or South to Pompei,Naples,Sorrento as a day trip from Rome?

Sounds like a great trip, but one question- why only four days in france????????????

quote:
As for Montenegro, I went to Bar, Budva, Kotor, and Herceg Novi. Budva was my favourite overall, but Kotor was awesome too. Montenegro is sooooo cheap.

You liked Budva more than Kotor? Interesting. I didn’t like Budva that much mainly because I heard it was entirely rebuilt after the 11.0+ earthquake in 1979. (Then again, so was most of Kotor…) but there’s something about Kotor that is just amazing.

Anyway, I’m glad you got to see Montenegro with your own eyes. It is a really awesome (and yes, cheap!) place.

Where did you go in Croatia? Did you take a ferry out of Dubrovnik back to Italy?

Oh – almost forgot… ARE YOU GOING TO POST PICTURES????

Kotor > Budva > Bar

or…

Bar > Budva > Kotor > Herceg Novi > Dubrovnik.

JonDD – to my mind, without hiking Cinque Terre looses a lot of it’s charm. Rome-Cinque Terre is something like 4 hours one way – a day-trip with return to Rome sounds impossible. I’d go to the South: Rome-Naples is 2 hours, Pompeii are half hour more.
Something like this: 8 a.m. leave Rome, 10.30 a.m. arrive Pompeii, 14.30 leave Pompeii, 15.00 arrive Naples, 18.00 leave Naples, 20.00 arrive Rome – a bit rushed day, but generally doable

Makaveli.. what is leeds like. How hard it is to get there and is it hard to find places to stay??