Vienna is cheaper than Paris, and I like it better.

I can’t answer your question like a 19-year-old guy, but I think there is nightlife there if you know where to look for it. Although I didn’t stay there, the guy from Wombats Hostel in Vienna often posts here, and that hostel looks great (and I am sure it could offer you nightlife suggestions).

Looking at your list of cities, I’d cut off Copenhagen if you are concerned about funds.

I didn’t particularly care for Vienna, and I don’t have any specific reasons to return. Copenhagen is the only Scandinavian destination on your itinerary, and I would keep it. I just moved from Cph.—lived there for 3 years—and am happy to help you minimize your expenses if you need some tips. Curious… why Belgrade and Koln?

Vienna is a great place if you’re into art and architecture, mueseums, baroque churches, palaces. It’s a relaxing city with lots of excllent coffee houses, but not sure if that’s enough to recommend it. Like Pisa, it’s one of those places that you should go to – once. Also, I like Copenhagen, but it seems a bit out of the way basd on your schedule. Maybe cut Vienna and add the time to your stay in Copenhagen

Hmm these are all very good responses. The main reason we are going to both Vienna AND Copenhagen is because my friend who I am traveling with REALLY wants to go to both, but I do not. That’s the main reason I created this thread, for him to see other people’s opinions, lol.

Don, I am going to Koln because my friend has a friend who lives there, so we get a free room, and my friend gets to visit him. Belgrade because…it’s cheap, looks decent, decent party city, and is on the way…if you have any other better suggestions, let me know.

I was in Vienna this past winter for four days, which included a wild New Year’s celebration. It’s a beautiful city with a lot to offer, but it’s very museum-centric. I think you’ll be able to find nightlife in any big city if you seek it. Think about joining couchsurfing.com; it’s an easy way to connect with a fun group of city insiders who are “in the know”. On a 56 day trip I’m not sure you’d wanna go balls-to-the-wall binge drinking every single night. Vienna could offer a few days of some welcome respite during your lengthy Eurotrip.

Vienna isn’t horrible…I loved the coffee houses…some of them are really stunningly beautiful and the coffee and pastries are some of the best you’ll ever have. I found Vienna a bit imposing: huge grey buildings, huge palaces, huge parks…you’ll do a lot of walking. My girlfriend thought Vienna was very romantic, not sure that’s the vibe you want with your friend though (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Re: quick90 … ahhh, I see. If you decide to keep Copenhagen, my offer still stands.

Well I guess it sounds like a decent city.

chinombre, I just said we were more interested in nightlife than museums, to give you an idea of what type of guys we are. we are going to be in Vienna in the middle of the week so I don’t think we would be doing much partying there anywhere, hence the reason I think it’s going to be boring.

Quick90, I think we share a similar point of view. I’m always more interested to see how people live present day than I am to be herded through some stuffy, overpriced building full of relics. In the age of the internet, I’m often underwhelmed when I see the sights in person that I’ve already seen a million times online. I think what makes these eurotrips special are the people you meet/travel with, and the hidden German nightclubs you find by listening for a trashy techno beat after drunkenly hopping over a series of fences

Haha yea I agree with you. I’m interested in going to local bars, clubs, and talking to the locals my age, and meeting people, a lot more so than seeing the sites. But sites are still interesting of course.

I thought it was a pretty good city to visit. There are plenty of sights, very classical, but its a big city. Even using public transport, a couple of days isn’t enough to get a good orientation and seek out anything beyond whats in the ringstrasse.

I dont recall anything special when it comes to nightlife. For that, you would probably save money and have a better time spending those days in Prague, Krakow, or Budapest.

What exactly is Belgrade “on the way” of? Surely you aren’t going from Athens-Belgrade by land? unless there is some overnight express bus, that is going to take a ridiculous amount of time, and for Belgrade to be the only Balkan destination, it really isnt worth the time or effort.

Hmmm that’s true….do you guys think I should skip Belgrade?

I guess I could search for a cheap flight straight to Budapest…any other places you guys would recommend to visit instead?

I just found a 50 euro flight to Vienna from Athens…I could always skip Belgrade then head from Vienna to Budapest to Krakow.

If you have the chance I’d suggest Romania and/or Bulgaria, both have fun partying, good sights, and friendly people. But you really dont have time for that.

Budapest-Krakow is going to be quite a jaunt itself. The most frequent connections are going to go back either to Vienna or Bratislava first. Bratislava is an option, but if you are already doing Prague and Krakow, it isnt vastly different in character. I suggest aiming for a smaller town, have a little peace and quiet for a day or two, hit up a relaxed pub that has more locals than tourists.

You could go the eastern route through Kosice (Ko-shit-say). There isn’t a ton of stuff to do there, but it has a beautiful main walking street with no crowds at all, really impressive black church, some nice cafes. Not of lot of english is spoken and there was no hostel open when I went, so I stayed in some communist bloc-style hotel for about $13 per night.

There is also probably a train route that goes north straight across Slovakia. Should be really scenic and mountainous, but slow and makes frequent stops. Banska Bystrica I think will be similar to Kosice. Or, you could pick any small mountain town and jump off, explore, get a room for the night.

Wroclaw in Poland is also really nice, with less crowds than your other destinations.

It looks like going from Budapest to Krakow is a 10 hour train ride. Ugh figuring out exactly where to go can be frustrating! lol

Also, I could go to Sofia instead of Belgrade.