a girlfriend and I want to take a 8-10 day trip in September to Europe. we are both VERY open on where to go, so I thought I'd take suggestions from you guys who have much more experience.

-I've been to Italy and the UK, so I was thinking elsewhere.
-we don't want to spend half the trip traveling, so maybe 3-4 cities
-we want to do this as economically as possible, but neither of us are really the "rough-it" type, so maybe airbnb-ing it.
-she lives in Seattle, I live in Cincy. probably will look for flights out of ATL or NYC.

what sounds like a few good places to visit in September (the end of tourist season for a lot of places), that are easily accessible to one another (via rail or cheap RyanAir/Lufthansa/etc flights)?

7/3/2012 2:40:03 PM

Berlin is very dope and is rail accessible to everywhere.

7/3/2012 2:50:21 PM

I just bought tickets from London to Edinburgh, 20 bucks each....With $120 each for taxes/fees

and i'm partial to the black forest and bravaria regions in Germany if you're looking to get away from the urban areas.

7/3/2012 2:51:05 PM

Pick 3, spend 3-4 days in each (in order of biggest adventure to least): Moscow, Istanbul, Prague, Amsterdam, Berlin

You need a visa ahead of time to go to Russia, but there's cheap flights on Aeroflot flom JFK direct to Moscow, also cheap red-eye flights on Correndon from Istanbul to Amsterdam, cheap flights on easyjet, jet4you, and ryanair between Berlin, Prague and Amsterdam or just take a quick train

September will be a great time to visit any of those places.

7/3/2012 6:56:37 PM

What's the bet way to go about getting a Russian visa? I've wanted to go but they make it so difficult.

Also, I vote against Prague. I feel like the entire city is set up to take mony from drunk 20-year old backpackers and most of the culture has been pushed out.

7/3/2012 11:30:23 PM

Getting the visa is very straightforward. To go to Russia you first need a sponsorship. This is just a formality as any hotel/hostel can issue this to you via email for very cheap. You print out the sponsorship, have your set date that you arrive and the set date you leave, fill out the application, fork over some money, get them the application and you're good to go. The easiest way to do it, which is what I did, was to actually drive to DC and drop off your application and your passport. Hang around DC for two nights, and pick up your passport with the visa in it. If DC is out of the question, a more expensive route is to do it online whereby you need to pay a courier to drop it off and get it back to you a short time later. The whole process is a bit of a microcosm of traveling in Russia, they sure do like to make things difficult for Westerners, and for God's sake don't overstay your visa even by 15 minutes.

I didn't actually go to Prague but I heard so many good things about it I thought I'd include it on the list. Cities to avoid as two young females would be Budapest and Bucharest. There wasn't much to do in Brussels besides eat waffles and drink beer and real absinthe so I didn't include that on the list either. I heard Bratislava and Vienna were nice as well, with the later being a bit more expensive.

If you wanted to do a Northern Europe trip then St. Petersburg, Reykjavik, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, and Stockholm would be another list to choose from, but this is really gonna jack up the price of the trip if not double it.

If you're really going on the cheap then I'd say Istanbul, Bratislava, and Berlin are the best bets, maybe Krakow/Zakopane too. Moscow was INSANELY expensive, and Amsterdam was pretty pricey.

My best advice is to buy the Lonely Planet on a Shoestring Europe, read through the cities mentioned, and just go to the ones you two like the best.

[Edited on July 4, 2012 at 12:54 AM. Reason : ]

7/4/2012 12:44:36 AM

I've never found Vienna to be terribly expensive but certainly moreso than Bratislava. Bratislava is pretty cool but 3-4 days may be too long, it would better be paired with Vienna since buses and boats up the Danube are pretty cheap.

7/4/2012 12:49:48 AM

Quote :

"I didn't actually go to Prague but I heard so many good things about it I thought I'd include it on the list. Cities to avoid as two young females would be Budapest and Bucharest."

i have traveled alone to budapest and never felt unsafe, and i personally actually liked it a bit better than prague (though both were great and i would recommend them)

Quote :

"There wasn't much to do in Brussels besides eat waffles and drink beer and real absinthe so I didn't include that on the list either."

eating waffles/chocolate/mussels and drinking beer is the best reason to go to brussels!

Quote :

"I heard Bratislava and Vienna were nice as well, with the later being a bit more expensive."

as ^ said, bratislava is no more than a day trip -- you can get there round trip from vienna for €14 by train (or you could go by boat on the danube for ~€30 one way), bratislava is really really cheap but vienna is not necessarily expensive (i'd say it's comparable to the US, for the most part)

7/4/2012 3:37:20 AM

I hated Budapest, so i wouldn't recommend it to anybody.

7/4/2012 9:18:12 AM

Prague Prague Prague Prague!!!!

I went there in April and I can't say enough good things about this city. It has something for everyone - history, art, music, a trippy performance called "black light theater," and a bangin' club scene. And the prices! So low! (At least compared to other European cities) I stayed in a hostel 2 blocks from the Old Town Square for about $20 a night. Went on a hostel-sponsored pub crawl (with OPEN BAR for the first 1.5 hours!!) and it cost $25. Beers are usually $2 and are excellent quality.

If you are a history fan, I highly recommend the old Jewish Quarter. For $25 you can tour all the synagogues, sights, and museums. There are some really moving exhibits on Czech victims of the Holocaust.

One downside is that they don't use the euro, you will have to get Czech Korunas. But right now would be a good time to buy, the exchange rate is at 20 Kc per dollar! It was 18 when I went.

7/4/2012 12:58:23 PM

Favorite cities that I have visited are Barcelona, Munich and Paris. Cities that I haven't visited but seem pretty awesome are Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid, Prague, Stockholm and Copenhagen.

7/5/2012 10:37:22 AM

I loved Budapest. Getting hammered and sobering up at one of the Hungarian bath houses was one of the highlights of my trip. Budapest is a really cool city.

I also loved pretty much every city I went to in Europe, except for Salzburg...but I only went there to kill a day and half before I was off to Cinque Terra. Think about Switzerland in September...the weather is phenomenal (think if hiking in shorts and finding snow). Interlakken was beautiful, Munich is a beautiful city (as was Prague), Amsterdam is fun...you could go Eastern and hit up Croatia (Split and Dubrovnik are beautiful coastal cities). Barcelona was probably the coolest European city I went to.

7/5/2012 10:55:07 AM

Sooooooo overwhelming (in a good and bad way). I really wish I wasn't the person that ended up planning all the trips I went on. I wish, for once, I could just show up at the airport when I'm supposed to and have someone hand me our itinerary!

Where do you think the cheapest place to fly in and out of would be? Is this info in the LP book mentioned?

Thanks guys for all your advice. When I narrow it down a bit more I can hound y'all for more specifics - good watering holes, hidden treasures, etc

[Edited on July 5, 2012 at 1:15 PM. Reason : E]

7/5/2012 1:11:41 PM

What type of stuff do you like to do when you travel? Are you into history? Art and music? Fine cuisine? Clubbing? Depending on the type of traveler you are, people will have different recommendations.

7/5/2012 5:30:18 PM

Icelandair $436 one way jfk to amsterdam with a quick stop in Reykjavik
Aeroflot $490 one way direct jfk to moscow
Air Berlin $460 one way jfk to berlin with a quick stop in dusseldorf
Aerosvit $450 one way to Kiev (no visa for Ukraine, I really liked it there and it's very cheap)
Aeroflot $648 one way jfk to istanbul with a quick stop in Moscow (no visa needed for transit I believe)

To get home, look at taking a cheap flight from wherever you are in Europe to Luton (London) or Glasgow and then catch a cheap Thomas Cook flight to get over the pond.

Don't think you have to get a round-trip ticket, it's probably cheaper to find the cheapest one-way over and one-way home and ryanair/easyjet/etc. your way around. Also don't bring more than one checked bag and keep it under 15 kg for simplicity. For that short of a trip it really should be 8-10 kg. If you get a backpack, go with a Gregory.

To really do your homework on flights, check all the airlines that fly from jfk at http://www.panynj.gov/airports/jfk-airlines.html and go to each airlines' website that services Europe and start plugging in dates to go and dates to come back. It will be cheaper to fly from JFK then from ATL.

[Edited on July 5, 2012 at 6:02 PM. Reason : ]

7/5/2012 5:56:07 PM

I came in here to say Prague or Berlin

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

7/5/2012 6:23:14 PM

Quote :

"Barcelona was probably the coolest European city I went to."

I agree with this but I'm shocked at how many people HATED it and much prefer Madrid...

7/5/2012 6:35:42 PM

You're a huge fucking loser if you managed to hate Barcelona. It's unfathomable.

7/5/2012 6:38:12 PM

okay so we're thinking spain (barcelona, madrid, and maybe a less-traveled coastal town?) and portugal.

get this- a roundtrip, non-stop flight on delta from nyc-barcelona is $850. a one-way ticket with multiple stops from nyc-barcelona is $2450.

you serious, clark?

7/9/2012 2:32:32 PM

Are you going with Mindi?

7/9/2012 2:50:24 PM

lol. get a grip.




[Edited on July 9, 2012 at 3:03 PM. Reason : ack]

7/9/2012 3:03:02 PM

San Sebastain should be your other Spanish city.

7/9/2012 3:03:31 PM

"Europe is like the size of the Eastwood Mall. We can walk to Berlin from there."

7/9/2012 3:11:07 PM

Quote :

"Icelandair $436 one way jfk to amsterdam with a quick stop in Reykjavik "

Funny you should mention this, because I booked DC - Brussels via Reykjavik for the same price just a few days earlier. 10 hours in Iceland. The better half is more stoked about the layover. I would have preferred the more direct route but I've done the Iceland Air thing before.

7/9/2012 3:17:38 PM

just chill at blue lagoon. dont even bother going to reykavjaiaikvlavik with that amount of time.

7/9/2012 8:22:54 PM

Can anyone recommend a hostel type place to stay in Berlin and things to see in the city?

I have about 2.5 days there I want to fill on the way to Praha

7/10/2012 4:06:04 PM

flight booked to and from madrid.

here is a rough idea I had - doing a little loop-de-loop. Madrid > Barcelona > Ibiza or Menorca > Lisbon > Madrid

We arrive early Saturday morning and fly out the next Monday morning.

7/12/2012 12:49:49 PM

a couple of tips:

-Lisbon is a very cool place. it's kind of like a poor man's Paris. go to Rossio Square and have fun with the numerous dealers that try to offer you hash. If you're feeling adventurous check out Sintra which is a literally a hilly 'burb of Lisbon. there's two really neat castles perched on top of a small mountain that offer breathtaking views

-If you're up for Flamenco check out Casa Patas near Plaza Mayor. You'll get a free drink included. Book ahead online and you'll probably be seated at the very front

-download these two apps for your smartphone: Metro and CityMaps2Go. Metro will get you from place to place via subway and tram. completely offline & free. CityMaps2Go is 1.99 and is a map with GPS you can take with you. you can plot your hotel, attractions, etc and is completely offline. download the maps and do that before you leave

7/12/2012 2:09:47 PM

Quote :

"Prague Prague Prague Prague!!!!"

this.

7/12/2012 5:58:01 PM

Spend your whole trip in Prague.

Thank me later.

7/12/2012 8:18:32 PM

Just booked Budapest-> Bratislava-> Vienna next month.

Recommendations?

7/18/2012 3:34:36 PM

hey i went to those three in the opposite order in march!

vienna i don't have many recommendations about, just because we didn't go out a ton and it was freezing. bratislava i went to for one night, blacked out on EUR 1.10 beer. i know where you can get that. besides that, all i can say is it was mainly drab concrete, but my opinion on that place is worth nothing.

budapest is my favorite city, i've been there a few times and have recommendations out the wazoo for that place.

how long will you be there? have you got a place to stay lined up? anything planned?

7/18/2012 4:01:04 PM

3 nights in Budapest, 1 night in Bratislava, and 4 nights in Vienna.

Bratislava was tacked on as an afterthought. If it's anything like Prague I feel like we'll see it all in a day. Hotels are booked for Budapest and Vienna, but I haven't gotten one for Bratislava yet. No real plans. I'll probably try to hire a guide for a day in each.

7/18/2012 4:23:14 PM

i'm jealous of you people. my traveling buddies are all getting married and my girlfriend is broke.

7/18/2012 4:56:56 PM

where are you staying in vienna?

7/18/2012 4:58:55 PM

well, you need to go to szimpla kert, it's a great bar.

yes it's in all the guidebooks now, yes there will be a lot of people speaking english there, but you don't strike me as one of those pretentious "i don't want to go anywhere tourists go (except me of course, because i'm wordly)" types, so i'm not concerned. all of the prices are reasonable, the sandwiches large, and they speak english. i don't really know a short way to describe it because it's very large and the different rooms vary, so just look at flickr. http://www.flickr.com/search/?ss=2&w=all&q=szimpla+kert&m=text

also, szechenyi or gellert baths. gellert's the one on the cover of so many guidebooks. on some days i believe gellert is only open to men, others only to women. i prefer szechenyi.

hosok tere is pretty impressive. statues of hungarian heroes of the past with fantastic mustaches. the national museum is pretty cool and free, but only a portion have hungarian captions. the terror house is also pretty impressive, depressing but a good museum about the past century, during most of which hungary has been ruled by one foriegn oppressor or another.

in no particular order, here are some other things.

just get cash at ATMs. the hungarian fun-buck is now at 232 to $1.

in general, young people are able to speak english and are insecure about it even though they speak it more fluently than i do. people in their 30s are hit or miss. older people, not at all. this comes into play because generally employees at state insitutions like the baths, the metro ticket window, train stations, transit ticket checkers ("kontroll") are usually ornery or speak only hungarian. sometimes both. at the post office they just threw our postcards in the trash.

the flip side is that if you learn basic words in hungarian people are super nice because why would a foreigner know hungarian?! at szechenyi baths i was able to clear up a misunderstanding by telling an elderly worker in hungarian "here 13 but there 93" that otherwise would have led to me without access to my locker and being a pantsless and wet american walking back to the hostel in the snow.

also! this state department bulletin is true:
http://hungary.usembassy.gov/tourist_advisory.html#clubs

if you go to the touristy areas at night, espcially on/near vaci utca (the main souvenir street) you will see groups of women who will try to get you to a bar with them. the scam is that they get there, you buy them a couple drinks, everyone's having a good time, and then the bill comes. the ladies ordered a glass of wine each, and lo and behold, the charge is $300 a glass. of course it's not special wine, they're in cahoots with management. then two big oafs named zoltan and janos escort you to the ATM so you can get the funds to pay your bill.

last time i was there, my friend and i went fishing for this come-on because it had never happened to him. so out we went and as soon as we arrived on vaci utca we saw a group of four women, all with leather jackets, short skirts, knee high boots chatting, then two of them broke off and approached us. we played dumb.

(russian accent or something, not hungarian) hey do you guys know where is a good bar around here?
no, sorry, we're just tourists.
maybe you could look for a bar with us?
well, we were actually going in the other direction. . .
just going for a walk? that is boring. come with us. we are nice girls. we get a couple drinks together! (one cuddles up to him)

anyhow. we left and kept our money. also, on that street a blonde woman, very attractive, about 6' tall, in a full length white fur coat came up to us and asked "sex business?"

i'm rambling. go to szimpla.

[Edited on July 18, 2012 at 5:22 PM. Reason : add]

7/18/2012 5:08:35 PM

Hostel California in Budapest was dope. Go to the Szechenyi baths and make sure you get a massage, best message I ever had. Stay away from the metro stops after dark unless you're looking for 5 dolla bj's.

7/18/2012 9:22:11 PM

don't listen to recs on hostels because they change fast in europe when they do massive seasonal staff/management changes. I found some hostels that were described as great in previous years to have fallen off. make sure you check hostelworld for the reviews. depends on what you like but if you are looking for hotel type quality then dont go under 90% is the general rule of thumb. sometimes you can find some in the 80s that just have no kind of party atmosphere/in a bad location but are still nice.

7/18/2012 9:50:02 PM

Hotel Imperial in Vienna

7/18/2012 10:49:55 PM

^^I agree with this about the larger chain hostels and most of the ones you find in Lonely Planet. But as far as the small, independent, privately-owned ones, I think they keep their charm. Only a select few fall into this category, and I'd say Hostel California in Budapest, the Ginger Monkey in Zdiar (Slovakia), Bodrum Backpackers in Bodrum (Turkey), Ashanti Lodge in Cape Town, Backpackers Pucon (Chile) and Ace Backpackers in Rio de Janeiro are the top 6 out of the 100+ hostels I've stayed at that fall into this category. I could have spent months at any of those places and been right at home. As far as booking hostels based on ratings, it's a complete crap shot. 4 of the 6 hostels I mentioned are rated between 70-79% on hostelworld. The ratings are usually driven down by pretentious travelers looking for perfection and immaculate cleanliness, in my opinion. I don't give a shit if the pillows are paper thin, if the floor is more comfortable then the mattress, I just like it to have a comfortable atmosphere and no bed bugs, everything else is a plus.

[Edited on July 19, 2012 at 12:43 AM. Reason : ]

7/19/2012 12:36:27 AM

^^ cool, you're right on the ring so you'll have easy access to everything (though vienna is not very big anyway and has great public transport so it's super easy to get around)

i would recommend hitting up a heuriger (basically a wine tavern) -- austrian wine isn't anything to write home about but it's still kinda cool to hang out outside drinking wine and eating more traditional food

there are tons of these around vienna, but here's one suggestion: http://www.schuebel-auer.at/ (it's really easy to get to, take the D tram which you can catch on the ring in the direction of nußdorf all the way to the last stop)

7/19/2012 6:28:23 AM

Quote :

"well, you need to go to szimpla kert, it's a great bar. "

Seconded. That bar was awesome. Get hammered and go to a bath the next day. I think the same poster mentioned the Gellert Baths. I think that's one of the oldest ones still there and you have to be careful because some days it's all males and others all females. There's another monster bath that's closer to the Statues of Heroes that's always open to males and females and has a lot more options and is a little more touristy. I'm a little partial to that place because we met a bunch of Australians that we traveled with for a bit and became our hook-up partners in Croatia.

[Edited on July 19, 2012 at 7:26 AM. Reason : .]

7/19/2012 7:24:17 AM

^ i think the "monster bath" you're talking about is szechenyi and the "statues of heroes" is hosok tere. so yeah, you know what's up.

also yes. europe is lousy with aussies. i think all they do is eat at outback and go backpacking in europe.

7/19/2012 9:23:36 AM

I think it's their rite of passage to travel the world as much as possible. Can't blame them.

Also....don't get "pool sharked" at the fooseball tables in the Szimpla Kert bar. Hungarians are ridiculous foosball players.

7/19/2012 9:54:09 AM

man im so ready to head to europe in a couple weeks.

7/19/2012 10:19:20 AM

Quote :

"austrian wine isn't anything to write home about"

LIES! Austrian wine is some of the best wine out there.

Now Greek wine is shit...

7/19/2012 10:40:14 AM

Quote :

"But as far as the small, independent, privately-owned ones, I think they keep their charm"

no these are exactly the ones im interested in and they can change ownership/management without changing name and become crappy. that atmosphere seems like it comes easy but it depends heavily on the workers and management and also won't mean anything if you are the only one staying there.

7/19/2012 10:45:00 AM

^^ there may be good austrian wine out there but i haven't had it yet -- it's also more expensive than better spanish/italian/french wines (to my tastes)

when is your trip?

7/19/2012 10:49:03 AM

^^^ Austrian wine is the JAM! I'd chose it over any other country's flavor right now. Agreed. Greek wine is total crap... went back to vodka tonics to avoid their wine.

7/19/2012 10:59:28 AM

The Greeks made good desert wine, but that's about it. If your palate can take it, try some good Ouzo. It's like Sambuca without the sweetness.

7/19/2012 11:22:08 AM