One month in Europe, what to see?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I have April to travel Europe, and a rail pass for the month to:

     1. Austria
     2. Belgium
     3. Croatia
     4. Czech Republic
     5. Denmark
     6. Finland
     7. France
     8. Germany
     9. Greece
    10. Hungary
    11. Ireland 
    12. Italy
    13. Luxembourg
    14. Netherlands
    15. Norway
    16. Portugal
    17. Romania
    18. Slovenia
    19. Spain
    20. Sweden
    21. Switzerland

I don’t have anything in particular planned as of yet. What would you hit in that time and how would your itinerary be set up?

2

I just did ten weeks in Europe. I can’t tell you what you should see, but I can tell you what I did see and what I liked and didn’t like. My trip was as follows:

Paris–> Bruges–> Brussels–> Amsterdam–> Berlin–> Krakow–> Prague–> Budapest–> Zagreb–> Ljubljiana–> Venice–> Florence–> Rome–> Interlaken–> Marseille --> Barcelona --> Paris

Eastern Europe is definately cheaper to stay and play than most of Western Europe. It’s not like it was ten years ago when it was dirt cheap, but it’s still cheaper. Especially places not on the Euro like Poland, Czech, Hungry, and Croatia. Slovenia is quite expensive now that it’s using the Euro. Of the Western European cities Berlin and Barcelona were quite reasonable. Amsterdam was the most expensive place I went to.

I feel like I got a lot in on my trip but if I could do it again I would have tried to make more time for Munich, Vienna, Nice, Madrid, and Lisbon.

I don’t know which Eurail pass you got but you have to be very carefull with those things for a few reasons. The first is they are basically like cash, if it’s lost or stolen or damaged it’s basically gone for good. Second, if you don’t have an unlimited pass, and got one with a limited number of travel days like me, make sure to use it only for long hauls and expensive trips. Getting from Budapest to Croatia or Croatia to Slovenia or even Slovenia to Venice were all trips that can be done for €30 or less so it doesn’t pay to use your pass.

Third, if you make a mistake filling out your pass you can get in trouble. Once I was hung over in Slovenia and forgot to fill in the date and the guy didn’t mind and just wrote it in for me. But, on a train in Spain I was misinformed by a ticket teller and thought I had bought a ticket instead of just a reservation and the guy on the train threw a shitfit and even threatened to have me arrested. I managed to talk him down, but it was unpleasant and he still fined me and used up one of my days.

Things to see:

Definately see a concentration camp. I saw Auschwitz which is outside of Krakow. It’s hard to put to words what the experience is like, but it’s something everyone should see.

The salt mines outside Krakow are also incredible and worth doing.

The bath houses in Budapest are very cool. For like €15 Euro you can spend all day soaking indoors or outside in mineral baths and saunas. The Hungarian’s bring waterproof chess sets and play in the baths.

Palantine hill in Rome on a sunny day is just wonderful. I brought a book and a small lunch and hung out there for the afternoon.

There are a few crap cofee shops in Amsterdam and a lot of good ones including The Grey Area, The Greenhouse Effect, and the Dampkring. Extase is crap and frankly so is the Bulldog (even though it’s the oldest and very popular). Mushrooms have been outlawed in the Netherlands but if you go to the headshops (called smartshops) you can still buy other halucinigens like something called Baby Hawaiian Rosewood or Truffles (also called Philosopher’s Stones). Not quite the punch of mushrooms, but not bad if you’re into that kind of thing. Also, get a kroket at Febo.

I went skiing in Interlaken. It cost me about $130 for one day including lift ticket, transpo to the mountain, skis, boots, poles, goggles, and ski pants. It was bar none the best skiing of my life. The snow and the view are just incredible.

Berlin has an awesome night life and just a generally crazy scene. Paris is a little more stilted but still fun.

Hmm… theres much more but I’ll have to check back into the thread later and update.

ETA: Rochefort beer in Belgium! It’s the best damn beer I ever had.

3

Slovenia’s beautiful, especially Ljubljana, though after two days you’ll want to move on. Getting into the better parts of Croatia from there though is a nightmare: you have to travel first to Zagreb by train, which will take a whole morning, and Zagreb will only keep you occupied for about a day. To get to the Dalmatian coast, you need to travel to Split by train, which is about 6 hours, then to get to Dubrovnik (the best town on the coast), you need to travel by bus for about another four hours.

It’s worth it though, in the end! (An alternative route would be down through Italy, from Slovenia, visiting Udine, then get the ferry across the Adriatic to Dubrovnik.)

4

The good places like Venice, Rome, and Paris are already well-known for a reason. Some places to stay away from are Milan (not terrible but it is the Cleveland of Italy) and Geneva (soulless, horrible expensive, and cold in all ways).

5

What do you like?

Are you a museum and art gallery person?
The Louvre (Paris)
The Prado (Madrid)
The British Museum/V&A/Tate Modern (London)
The Uffizi (Florence)
The Guggenheim (Bilbao)
The Rijksmusem (Amsterdam)

Do you have an interest in WW2?
Auschwitz (Krakow)
Dachau (Munich)
The Normandy beaches
The Prague ghetto
Imperial War museum (London)

Are churches your thing?
St Paul’s (London)
La Sagrada Familia (Barcelona)
Notre Dame/Ste Chapelle (Paris)
Seville Cathedral
The Prague Synagogues
St Peter’s (Rome)
St Mark’s (Venice)

Are you out for fun, excitement and general frivolity with copious alcohol?
Temple Bar (Dublin)
Soho and the West End (London)
Amsterdam
Prague
Salzburg (think Sound of Music kitschtastic fun)
Berlin

Are you an ancient history buff?
Rome- Forum, Coliseum
Athens- Parthenon
UK- Bath

7 years ago I did a month with friends:
Prague->Krakow->Vienna->Salzburg->Munich->Budapest->Thessaloniki->Athens->Corfu->Brindisi->Rome->Bologna->Venice

5 years ago I did a month with irishfella:
Morocco (Tangiers, Chefchaouen, Fez, Marrakech, Casablanca)->Seville->Madrid->Barcelona->Avignon->Paris->Bayeux->Brussels->Amsterdam.

Really it depends what you want to do and whether you want to cover more ground (and spend more time travelling) or cover less ground (and spend more time sightseeing).

6

In Belgium, I liked Ghent much more than Bruges. Bruges was lovely (and had one of the best-named stores, Temple of Beer), but so was Ghent, but it was not as touristy and easier to navigate on foot.

In Netherlands, Rotterdam was my favorite city. I also spent a day on Schiermonnikoog (Island of the Grey Monks) the North Sea. A bit of a slog to get there, but very nice and relaxing. Wish I’d had the time to spend a night in my schedule.

Enjoy the trip!

7

Really? Why? I’ll take Amsterdam or Maastricht over Rotterdam.

8

I concur, being from the Netherlands (and even haveing gone to university in rotterdam) I think they should to take alesson from the second world war …Bomb it again and maybe build up a somewhat less ugle excuse for a city.

9

But as to the OP, if you are somewhat on a budget go to eastern Europe. Slovenia, Croatia, Czech republic are all great and being able to actually get a drink in a cafe makes it so much more a Holiday.

10

Yeah, and Eastern Europe and the Balkan states are rapidly westernizing. It may sound morbid, but there’s something fascinating about watching those countries modernize after communism. France, Italy and the rest of Western Europe will be pretty much the same in a decade, Eastern Europe will be a completely different.

11

I can give you my impression of some of the cities I’ve been to.

Munich - laid back, kind of a New Orleans of Germany. But also the commercial and cultural center of Bavaria, so museums and a big city (German) feel to it. Home of the Deutches Museum, which is sort of a German Smithsonian. If you want the lederhosen and swinging beer stein version of Germany, this is it. (Although I think they pack away the actual lederhosen until Oktoberfest.)

Vienna - the storybook vision of Europe, the manicured lawns in front of palatial buildings; beautiful and stately. I’m told you can see a different opera every day of the year. Good coffee and pastries.

Prague - like the Capt. says, changing, rapidly. People will be out on the streets hussling up business and handing out flyers. Could be for a classical concert, or for a strip club. Buy a t-shirt with a picture of Lenin flipping the bird. Lots of glass shops, but I couldn’t tell how much was from the tradition of artisans, and how much was mass-produced to sucker in the rubes. Have been throwing people out of windows to start wars since the Renaissance. Used to be a cafe where you could buy a bowl of day-old donuts and start a food fight. Basically, I have no idea what you will find there.

Berlin - the rest of Europe is ancient history, this is modern. If the geopolitical hissyfits of my childhood had escalated beyond your basic blockade, this was center stage. It’s one thing to read about Checkpoint Charlie and the Death Zone, it’s another to stand right there. Government, museums, and music.

Paris - a little bit of everything; the commerce of Berlin and the culture of Vienna (except paintings instead of music). The good stuff is really good, and it would all be amazing if it weren’t for the crowds (and I was there in November). Still, it’s the only place in the world where you can find out if the Venus de Milo has a nice ass.

And lots of other isolated stuff in between; castles in the mountains, walled cities, cathedrals, museums for special interests like toys and railroads, and maybe even toy railroads.

I haven’t met Rotterdam, but Maastricht is a babe.

12

Yeah, Berlin is a must see. It’s perhaps one of the twentieth century’s most important cities, and it’s a strange feeling standing on top of the Fuhrer bunker (now a car park), or seeing Communist murals on the ex-Luftwaffe building, designed by Albert Speer, or standing at checkpoint Charlie and seeing the Cafes at either corner of the junction, where the CIA and MI6 spied on the KGB and visa versa, etc. I’d also recommend making the trip out to Sachsenhausen, if you go to Berlin.

13

These are great suggestions, thanks!

I’d love to go off the beaten path and wander eastern Europe, so it’s great to see those suggestions here. I really don’t have any set aim for the trip, just looking for interesting places to visit.

14

I don’t have anything to offer other than the fact that I am envious. Have fun!

15

Take time to listen to musicians on the street. In Stuttgart, I heard guys playing Bach’s Toccata & Fugue in D Minor on two accorians. In Prague, I heard the Pink Panther Theme on the bassoon. And both groups kicked ass. (Even when it’s not great, it’s interesting. The violinist playing In the Mood in the Nürnburg subway just couldn’t get the rhythm right. It came out like a German folk tune.

16

My recommendations are pretty much limited to Scandinavia, but I would say you should definitely go there if you can afford to. Hostels are generally affordable (10-25€/night) and can be found in most cities. Going in April can be a bit iffy, weather-wise, but can also be absolutely beautiful.

Some things to see:

The fjords in Norway, and Preikestolen.
Denmark I don’t really know. Christiania and the rest of Copenhagen is good.
Helsinki is well worth visiting.
Stockholm and the archipelago.
The west coast of Sweden, from Gothenburg up to the Norwegian border.
Gothenburg and the Archipelago.

If you decide to swing by Gothenburg, throw me a PM and I’ll buy you one of our exceptionally expensive beers.

17

I have roots in Rotterdam (dad is from there), so I should have some pro-Rotterdam bias. But I can’t recommend it to anyone. Blecch.

Go to Amsterdam. And Prague. Great cities.

I’d skip Berlin myself.

18

Berlin Berlin Berlin!

I am so envious! Have a blast! Go be crazy and have an adventure! Best wishes!

19

I love BERLIN!

That said, just forget planning anything.
Go with the flow.
Just arrive, get on a train, meet people, stop where you feel like getting off the train and discover everything “new” to you.

Nothing worse than a tourist with a planned itinerary.

Just go and let fate decide. Much more fun.

20

I think if I had a month and someone else was footing the bill I’d just go from place to place in Belgium, drinking different beers.

I’d also consider just staying in a few places instead of trying to hop all around Europe, as many of us tend to do.

If I had a language I’d like to get better at then I might go to some place that is noted for having beautiful springs – Andalusia pops to mind – and work on my Spanish, for example.

I’ve never really been to Eastern Europe, so maybe I’d meet a beautiful woman* from Eastern Europe and have her show me around.

If I were an aspiring artist, I might go to some of the museums that Irishgirl listed and have a look at what the masters did. I’d probably couple that with a visit to Provence to see where the Impressionists got their inspiration, or Italy to see what that whole Renaissance thing was about. Or just drink absinthe and go out of my mind over some girl.
*This is hypothetical; I’m married. Just don’t know about the OP’s situation.