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please help me plan! :)
naomiandebony
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Hi!
My friend and I are backpacking around Europe for about 2 months this August.
We’ve never been to Europe before so we would love any advice you guys can give us Smile

I was thinking of doing something like:
London
France- Paris and also somewhere down South.. any suggestions?
Italy- Milan, Venice, Rome?
Croatia – where is nice in Croatia? My friend really wants to go.
Austria- Vienna
Prague? What’s it like?
Germanyw- Berlin.
Amsterdam.
Back to London.

Does anybody think that there would be a better way to travel these countries than in this order?

Thanks so much!

mim
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Good play. Some suggestions:

Italy: Skip Milan — opt for Florence instead. If you have time, find some smaller cities as well — Cinque Terra? Siena?

Croatia: I love Croatia. Dubrovnik & Spilt are great as are some smaller islands you can ferry to,

Prague: a gorgeous city. Once it was less traveled, now it’s on most people’s itinerary. A taste of Eastern Europe, but it’s not really that “eastern” anymore.

Berlin: Berlin is one of my favorite cities in Europe. The arts scene is unmatched. It’s cheap by Western standards and there is always something interesting to do.

You will have a great trip

I am leaving from New York, NY and traveling for 64 days
Reykjavik, London, Lille, Berlin, Kraków, Lviv, Istanbul, Selçuk, Pamukkale, Kızkalesi, Göreme, Kars, Bat'umi, Akhalts'ikhe, Tbilisi, Telavi, Istanbul

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oldlady
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I’m not a huge Vienna fan and prefer nearby Bratislava. I’d spend time in cheaper Bratislava but probably take advantage of Vienna’s better transportation connections. Day trips into the Austrian Alps (Salzburg, Innsbruk) are as easy from Munich as Vienna. Munich is a good visit, another transportation hub with good connections to other major cities and very different from Berlin.

What are you interested in for Southern France? Beach? Art? Quaint villages? Scenery? Food? Glitzy nightlife and spotting yachts of the rich and famous?

naomiandebony
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Thanks so much to both of you! This is definitely giving me a better idea.
As for Southern France, I’ve always heard it is beautiful down there so I’ve always wanted to go. Any particular places you would suggest? Scenery would be the main attraction!
Thanks Smile

Cil
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There is fine scenery to be had in southern France.

Heading south from Paris, the Massif Central has some cool volcanic landscape. Clermont-Ferrand is worth a night.

You could then take the train down to Toulouse, make your way to Carcassonne, then get all the way over to the coast and head north through the Côte d’Azur up to Italy.

Going to Collioure (on the coast) would make you back-track a bit once you begin heading north, but only by an hour or so. Collioure is a charming seaside village close to the Spanish border and has an interesting Catalan influence.

If you don’t want to go that far south, skip Collioure and think about Arles, Avignon (there is a TGV train from Paris to Avigon), Aix-en-Provence. Never been, but I heard Cassis is nice.
Vence is a pretty spot up in the hills, Antibes has a sandy beach, Nice is a must-see.

You’re definitely going to want to pick and choose what is feasible, but places are not as far apart as they might seem. It’s only two and a half hours or so between Nice, France and Camogli, Italy.

I hope all this information helps rather than confuses you.