One month in Europe, what to see?

[Dag_Otto]

@Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party

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.)

You could also take a bus from Zagreb to Split, stopping at Plitvice Lakes on the way down and spending a day there. Continue on to Split and then you can either take a bus or rent a car and drive to Dubrovnik (which is an outstanding drive) or board a ferry in Split and island hop your way to Dubrovnik. If it’s warm enough to stay on the deck (not sure in April), it is also an outstanding way to see the coastline. Between Split and Dubrovnik, the sea and coastline is the reason to see the area, with the bonus of Dubrovnik at the end.

From Dubrovnik, you can either continue to Montenegro and the rest of the Balkans, or take a ferry to Italy and continue the train trip.

Oh, and a vote for Marseille (and the Provence area), which you can get to by train.

[Gukumatz]

Norwegian in Oslo checking in here - avoid Oslo. It’s not a good, or even decent, place for tourists in spring. About the only thing it’s got going for it is a high density of museums and landmarks. But unless you’re travelling with someone, or meeting someone, you won’t really get close enough to the people there to really kick it off. (Norwegians in Norway are pretty stiff, particularly in Oslo)

If you do want to go to Norway, I’d recommend Stavanger or Tromsø. Stavanger is on the south-west coast, it’s homey and comfortable, the people are nice, the weather is good, it’s got absolutely gorgeous fjords (and Preikestolen is just nearby) and there’s even a good night scene.

Tromsø is way up north, if you want the proper Norwegian experience with wild and beautiful nature close by, yet still urban enough to be convenient and accessible. The people are friendly, outgoing and unpretentious and the weather in April is usually pretty good.

(If you ever do stop by Oslo, though, shoot me a PM. Might make an occasion for us Oslo Dopers to get our fingers out of our arses and have a proper Oslo DopeFest! I’ll buy you a beer, at any rate :D)

Budapest in Hungary is an absolutely lovely place to be in spring and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Second on my list is probably Dublin, then Vilnius in Lithuania. (Vilnius has architechture and beer to die for.)

A pit stop in Amsterdam is pretty mandatory, though best enjoyed if you’re travelling with friends (or hook up with other backpackers.)

A tip though is, when you’ve decided on which countries you want to visit, to check when there’s festivals in or around the places where you’re going. While April isn’t high season for it, there’s still some pretty cool scene festivals happening in, say, Rotterdam and Leipzig in Germany.