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A trip to Europe - any advice?

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Realist

Billie Jean is not my lover
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Hi guys, I have mates living in London and am going to stay with them in November for a couple of weeks. So that is all sorted and wont cost me too much etc.

But I have never been to Europe and would like to visit Italy and probably France as well while I am up there, or maybe the Greek Islands.

But I will be by myself when visiting there, and I can not speak the languages, and don't really wanna stay in some crappy backpackers with 100 sweaty kids.

Any tips on what to do, what to see, where to stay etc?

Tuscany looks awesome, as does Rome and Paris.... Any advice would be good?
 
Go to Corsica. It is stunning and is still one of the most untouched place in Europe. Culture is rich and not much sign of globalisation.
 

Your timing appears dreadfull, as you are leaving at the start of the summer to join the London winter. Fortunately London is still booming and the property sector booms on, ignoring the States.
There are so many different nationalities in London these days, you will be at home amongst all the foreigners from virtually everywhere on the Globe. London is expensive and many are moving to buy beer etc., from supermakets ( Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury etc., most are open 24 hours these day), as bars and pubs are ridiculously expensive with all these rich Russians and Arabs turning up.
Safety is a factor as muggings are rising steeply with knife and gun crime, linked to drugs, heading for New York levels. Locals blame all this on foreigners, fortunately Aussies aren't really foreigners these days - good luck.
I leave London shortly for Guernsey, Channel Islands, now all the Portuguese have left there. Only stay a short while as I suffer from Island Itas.
 
Check out http://www.ryanair.com/ for cheap flights out of London's Stansted airport.

When i was there they usually had flights going for < 10 pounds (!) not including taxes, etc. It was crazy, usually the train to the airport cost more than the flight itself

Woodo
 
Ryanair/Easyjet are fantastic for cheap flights, but Stansted is a contender for the worst airport ever. It's simply not designed to handle the number of passengers it does. On a good day it takes 3hrs to collect your boarding pass and get through security. On a bad day, I've seen queues out the door of the terminal and toward the car park.

If you're after a cheap flight and can deal with being late RyanAir is fine. Otherwise, you can often pick up reasonably cheap flights on BA to and from the UK to major european hubs for 100 Euro give or take if you book at the right time.

When moving between cities in continental europe, consider trains. They're cheap and when you factor in the time it takes to get too and from the airport, be there the required time before the flight and then actually fly its often much quicker to take the train. Trains will dump you in the city centre as opposed to airports like Reus (an hour and a half from Barcelona) or Campiano (an hour from Rome in good traffic) which the cheaper airlines seem to use.

Hostels aren't always for the young and outside of London they are rarely poorly maintained. If you're travelling alone and want to meet people they're a great way of doing it - you'll meet people of all ages.

As for the language barrier, provided you're patient and reasonably expressive its not a problem.
 

Sounds great...

I know it is crap weather there, I wasn't planning on going to any of Londons beaches though!

I'll have a look at Ryan air sounds good! thanks..
 
I wouldn't let the weather worry you. The way I look at it, in unfavourable weather you can always chuck some more clothes on, but when its hot (and it can be in Italy) you can't always take more off and from what I've noticed many places are heated but very few are airconditioned.

Make the best of it!

The skiing is much better in winter as well
 
Make sure to get out of London to see the "real" England too.
 
wayneL said:
Make sure to get out of London to see the "real" England too.
Click to expand...


Where is the best place to go in England. I'd like a nice country town with a few good country pubs!
 
If your on a tight budget, ryan air & easyjet are the go. However for a £20-40 saving, they are pretty poor to fly with. I know others will disagree, but I personally wouldn't ever fly with the budget airlines again.

I've seen cases of flights being delayed for 24 hours, no hotel room or compensation supplied. If you are only in europe for a few weeks this can serious stuff up your plans. Plus if your flying with friends and arrive late at the airport, because of the first in first served seating arrangement there's no guarantee you will sit next to them. All depends on how much convenience is worth to you.

Check out:

opodo.co.uk

expedia.co.uk

cheapflights.co.uk

HTH
 
Stay in etap hotels (a step up from formula 1 with proper bathrooms etc)

Check out the website.
 
Realist said:
Where is the best place to go in England. I'd like a nice country town with a few good country pubs!
Click to expand...

They're everywhere. Close to London, drive anywhere around Hertfordshire, Surry, Sussex, Hampshire....hundreds of 'em.

Further afield The Cotwolds is very nice.
 
Stinger said:
Head to Eastern Europe. Much much cheaper and the ladies are far more attractive :
Click to expand...
Amen! Poland, especially the south is excellent in that regard.
 
doctorj said:
Amen! Poland, especially the south is excellent in that regard.
Click to expand...

Poland wasnt bad, but nothing beats Russia (where i will be visiting again in February) although Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Belarus also have some great "sights".
 
What about one of those tourist buses things? that take you to 30 countries in 4 days.. hahaha.

Nah but a good tour would be nice.. anyone been on one?
 
Stinger said:
Poland wasnt bad, but nothing beats Russia (where i will be visiting again in February) although Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Belarus also have some great "sights".
Click to expand...

Wasn't that impressed with the women of Hungary or the Czech Republic but can speak very highly of Slovakia and I can't wait to get to Belarus and Russia.
 
Just was in Europe for 5 weeks about a month ago. London is dullish, expensive and not culturally interesting. Some historical things are good but yeh, I'd try and limit your time there and explore Italy. If you visit Italy you must go to Venice, Florence and Rome. Switzerland is by far the most scenic place. And contrary to Doctorj taste Czech women are great and Prague is awesome especialy the night life. I did Contiki tour for a month, time of your life...

Anyways, thats my opinion
Dave
 

Yeah that sounds good, Contiki tour Switzerland, Venice.. ahhh yes. awesome!
 
Realist - not sure about current prices, but a Eurailpass was great value a few years back ( try 25 lol). Spend the day in Rome, sleep on the train, next day in Pisa, sleep on the train, next day back in Rome etc etc - easy to change your itinerary if you meet fellow travellers. Probably not cheap - but a man of your means and investing talents wouldnt be worried on that score. Half your luck. :alcohol:
They say that Europe is 90% history and 10% geography -
whereas USA is 90% geography and 10% history -
- meanwhile AUS is 10% history, 10% geography, 40% Fosters and 40% Tooheys.
 
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