Anyone ever been to Europe?

[ArcticZ06]

A few buddies and I are planning a trip to Europe next summer. Whats the cheapest way to travel and what are some must sees? Ive been looking around and it seems like RyanAir has insanely cheap plane tickets to bounce between the countries. I know Amsterdam is on the list. He mentioned Prague too but I dont know what the hell is there. I pretty just want to know all of the best places to grab a beer....or twelve and take some pictures.

[86 IROC-Z]

I was born and partly grew up in England, and have been back a few times since moving to the US. Cheapest way to go from place to place would probably be by train, you can get really good deals on rail passes throughout the continent, with no problems crossing borders. As for Prague, if you need a good reason to go there watch xXx (the movie with Vin Diesel)

[pecha]

Paris
Scotland
Venice, Rome
Prague
dude there is sooooo many places to see there
train is the cheapest way

[FSANE]

been is sweeden for like 45 minutes

[pecha]

been is sweeden for like 45 minutes

hahah at the airport?
I've been to Russia, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, England, Netherlands, Finland, Czech Rep, Slovakia, Ukraine and that's about all I can think of right now

[rbob93]

I was born and partly grew up in England, and have been back a few times since moving to the US. Cheapest way to go from place to place would probably be by train, you can get really good deals on rail passes throughout the continent, with no problems crossing borders. As for Prague, if you need a good reason to go there watch xXx (the movie with Vin Diesel)

Train is the ONLY way to see the real Europe!

[86 IROC-Z]

Train is the ONLY way to see the real Europe!

The cities are obviously cool, but going between them throughout the country side... there are some amazing views to be seen from the window of a train.

[Spaz]

i went to england and had a blast!!! every one was telling me stay out of the red light district but i spent most of my time there... it was awesome!!!

[86 IROC-Z]

[02ultraZ]

hahah at the airport?
I've been to Russia, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, England, Netherlands, Finland, Czech Rep, Slovakia, Ukraine and that's about all I can think of right now

so what, i've been to Ohio!

[1fastcamarosss11]

so what, i've been to Ohio!

me too, and pa. steelers suck by the way. go browns.

[Tobynine9]

Some suggestions from college when I spent a year in France studying abroad:

Get a Eurail Pass. It's good for a specific period of time with a limited number of travel dates, i.e. it's good for a month and within that month you can travel say 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 days - however much you want to pay for. That's the best way to get around. www.eurail.com

France is cheaper than most people think, once you get away from Paris. Paris is like New York. It's cool but it's not really representative of the nation as a whole. If travelling in a group of 3 or more, small, privately owned hotels will usually be cheaper than hostels and they're everywhere.

If you go through France, visit Lyon. Highly underrated. Good nightlife near the Hotel de Ville and opera house (city hall - NOT a hotel).

If you're going to travel a lot in France and you're between 12 and 25 get a "Douze/Vingt-Cinq" card. Gives you huge discounts on France-only tickets and costs like 50 euro up front. I used a Eurail pass for long travels from my home in Lyon and used the 12/25 card to see most of France w/o using the Eurail pass.

I didn't see much of Germany. I wish I had. Berlin was an interesting city. Munich is supposed to be freakin awesome.

Italy is cool but pricier. Go to Bologna and tour the Ducati factory. You need a reservation which you can book through the Duc website. It doesn't take long. I did it en route to stay with some friends in a mountain villa in the Alps. Venice is COVERED UP with tourists 24/7 - don't bother. Rome is good. Florence is good.

Spain is warmer during the winter and cheaper than Italy. Barcelona is a party like Vegas wants to be.

See Switzerland. As much of it as possible.

Go to Luxembourg - especially during the off season if you can. Went there with a group of 7. We stayed in a fantastic hotel that opened specifically just for us and had the town to ourselves.

If you ski and go during the winter, most big cities near the mountains will have companies that organize day trips with fixed prices that include the bus ride there and back plus your lift ticket. The Alps are amazing.

Definitely do Prague - excellent quality, inexpensive beer. When in Prague I met some Americans there teaching English for a year each. Through them, I was able to bum a ride through the countryside to see some old defensive castles.

There will be plenty of opportunity to stray from the beaten path - DO IT.

Didn't make it to Croatia when I was there but the hottest women I've ever met were from there and all my friends that visited loved it.

Poland is cool as long as you go during the summer. Don't miss Auschwitz. You can hire a private cab from Krakow for pretty cheap. He'll drive you there and wait for you while you see the camp and then drive you back for like, $80.

Austria is alright. I only saw Vienna. Beautiful city but I didn't have the cash to enjoy the arts. I spent most of my time sitting in the various parks reading and soaking up sun.

If you can get the visa (it's not easy) visit Moscow or St. Petersburg. WAY out of the way but worth it.

Not to sound racist, but wherever you go, watch for Turks and N. Africans. Americans aren't excessively popular anyways - even less so with the Euro-Muslims.

Use common international travel sense: keep your eyes open, don't let yourself fall asleep on the trains in Eastern Europe, and don't be the dumb-ass, loud mouthed American bragging about how bad-ass the US Army is. Australians call us "Sepos" for a reason. It's short for Septic Tanks because we're so full of shit.

[94z28l]

been to sweden, russia and finland for hockey, was pretty awesome. had layover in amsterdam but that doesnt count other than the fact we bought absinth there

[third_shift|studios]

me too, and pa. steelers suck by the way. go browns.

negative ghost rider.

[ArcticZ06]

Some suggestions from college when I spent a year in France studying abroad:

Thanks for all of the info man! I'll definitely be taking some of your advise!

Yeah, I REALLY want to goto Moscow but I dont know if its going to happen.

[1fastcamarosss11]

negative ghost rider.

fftopic:

i bet you 100.00 that the browns end the regualr season with a better record then your steelers. if the records are the same, then it is a wash. let me know.

[hamburger68]

tobynine9's advice is very good in every detail, you can't go wrong following that. as he said, be a little more careful in eastern europe, otherwise it's all reasonably safe.
a little advertisement for germany: munich is nice (for getting the whole beer and lederhosen experience), but definitely check out berlin. a lot going on there. and if you're coming from amsterdam (must see), check out hamburg (contact me for extra info / tour).
if you like whine and castles, go to the rhein-mosel area in central germany. trier on the mosel river is really a sight, historic city with roman buildings from the 3rd century. also near by: the nürburgring speedway!!!
barcelona: go there! (nuff said)
switzerland is very nice, but also extremely expensive.

yes, train is great, but ryanair is definitely an alternative for the longer distances. book well in advance.

get a good travel guide and some info on the web, you'll get an idea of the places and wich you wanna visit.

[02ultraZ]

tobynine9's advice is very good in every detail, you can't go wrong following that. as he said, be a little more careful in eastern europe, otherwise it's all reasonably safe.
a little advertisement for germany: munich is nice (for getting the whole beer and lederhosen experience), but definitely check out berlin. a lot going on there. and if you're coming from amsterdam (must see), check out hamburg (contact me for extra info / tour).
if you like whine and castles, go to the rhein-mosel area in central germany. trier on the mosel river is really a sight, historic city with roman buildings from the 3rd century. also near by: the nürburgring speedway!!!
barcelona: go there! (nuff said)
switzerland is very nice, but also extremely expensive.

yes, train is great, but ryanair is definitely an alternative for the longer distances. book well in advance.

get a good travel guide and some info on the web, you'll get an idea of the places and wich you wanna visit.

Hamburger said if you come to germany he will take you out on the autobahn and do 160! Thats the fastest way to get around germany anyway.

[hamburger68]

Hamburger said if you come to germany he will take you out on the autobahn and do 160! Thats the fastest way to get around germany anyway.

.... at seven bucks a gallon...

[02ultraZ]

ouch. Worth it in an f-body?