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Hello fellow Dakkites;

My original plans for next summer to visit SA have fallen through, (car rental problems dammit) so I'm looking at traveling round Europe instead.

The question I pose to you is: What are your favourite destinations? Anywhere that really stood out? I have a preference for warmer countries, but that is by no means exclusive. Anything goes!

I'll mainly be traveling by public transport and hitchhiking, but can afford a couple of internal flights, staying at campsites etc.

So, gentlemen, your recommendations please!

Woolacombe Bay in Devon, and Broadstairs in Kent. Two amazingly lovely places to be.

Slovenia is worth a look, especially Lake Bled and the Kranska Gora area (ski resort, but mountains still impressive out of season).

I also love Vienna and Copenhagen. The Danish are especially laid back and do not bat an eyelid at having to switch to speaking English. They sometimes even apologise for their rudeness if they address you in their own language by mistake.

I have good memories of Amsterdam too, but this is largely because I met a very nice Canadian girl there and we went out and got drunk together on St Patrick's Day.

I can take or leave Germany, but Munich is the city to visit if you stray that way.

Seriously look into inter-railing as it's quite good value for money.

EDIT - Actually nice Canadian (and indeed American) girls are an excellent reason for hostelling around Europe. They are always pleased to meet British guys, because we speak the same language but are still "different" enough to constitute a new cultural experience.

Mallorca is nice - not, repeat NOT Magaluf, Palmanova, Santa Ponsa et al. - Instead go to Palma. It's a beautiful city, I lived there for a year and a half and loved it. Decent nightlife, great architecture, culture - it's like a mini Barcelona, being Catalan. A different spanish experience to package holidays.
Oh, and Amster-'Damn! what did I do last night?' is always good.

WHAT ABOUT.....









...nice country mate, believe me!

If you are young enough, look into the Interrail Pass scheme.

http://www.interrailnet.com/?OVMTC=Broad&site=&creative=4911550261&OVKEY=inter%20railing&gclid=CPTCv87alp4CFUYA4wodBW-hlA

You could do a lot worse than travel down and up Italy, stopping at some of the nicer towns and cities.

Rome and Venice are both really nice. I got a free tour around the forum in Rome from someone who was practicing to become a tour guide and brush up their English, which was cool.

I have to say they are the best two places I have been to in Europe.

Italy is fantastic and Rome was the best city I went to when I travelled around Europe in the 90's. I went with interrail and it was excellent value.

The wife just told me to say her's was Vienna. Because it was neat and tidy.... and had nice shops

Vienna is probably my fave place that I've been. Lisbon is really nice too (and warm). Barcelona is amazing and Madrid is a good experience and getting the train to Madrid from Barcelona is utterly beautiful. I've done a lot of Germany and France but while I have had a very good time in all locations in both countries, nowhere in particular stands out like the other four places I've mentioned. Seville is pretty cool as well while I'm recommending spanish places - you can really feel the weight of history seeing the river and buildings where the plunder of the new world was brought to the old.

One advantage of Vienna is that you can easily do a day trip to Bratislava which is only 200 miles and they have very comfortable high speed trains for it too. Bratislava is very nice but there is not a huge amount to do there compared to some of the larger cities.


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This is madrid's main train station btw:

London is pretty cool, if you like museums and things.

+1 for London, it is a beautiful city. The museums are phenomenal.

Though it is quite out of the way for a mainland Europe vacation, I suggest Dublin. It is a very friendly city, and the Irish are some of the most welcoming people I've ever encountered.

Dublin is very pricey though.

London, Barcelona, Paris

Gitzbitah wrote: Though it is quite out of the way for a mainland Europe vacation, I suggest Dublin. It is a very friendly city, and the Irish are some of the most welcoming people I've ever encountered.

I have lived there, and it is not.

Stick to going around mainland Europe, buy a Phrase book (though stay away from Hungarian Books published by Monty Python) and stick to public Transport (which unlike England, is good in Europe). Hitch-hiking is pretty risky and its legality varies so much between countries (or even inside a country) it's not worth the hassle.

Really grateful for all these suggestions folks- its great to actually get the opinions of people who have been to places, rather than just the official spin.

Though it is quite out of the way for a mainland Europe vacation, I suggest Dublin. It is a very friendly city, and the Irish are some of the most welcoming people I've ever encountered.

Nice suggestion, I actually lived in Ireland for a while and know the fair city well!

London is pretty cool, if you like museums and things

Thinking of starting off in London, as although I live in the Uk, have only ever been once, when I was 7.

If you are young enough, look into the Interrail Pass scheme.

http://www.interrailnet.com/?OVMTC=Broad&site=&creative=4911550261&OVKEY=inter%20railing&gclid=CPTCv87alp4CFUYA4wodBW-hlA

You could do a lot worse than travel down and up Italy, stopping at some of the nicer towns and cities.

That is very helpful indeed Kilkrazy, thank you!


Once again, thanks to everyone who has commented so far, and keep them coming please!