Europe

Introducing Europe

Few places pack the punch of Europe – a historical, cultural and geographical heavyweight that squares up confidently to any other continent on earth. From its Northern Lights to its Southern shores, this drama queen keeps on thrilling, surprising and confusing with her extraordinary wealth of sights, sounds, peoples and parties. Whatever your connection to Europe – whether descendent of one or more of its peoples, a current inhabitant or future visitor – be prepared for sensory overload as your eyes, ears and tastebuds take the trip of a lifetime through a part of planet earth that never fails to dazzle.

Of course, for many Europe is all about history, and oh, what a history! Even buffs will be astonished to find the layer cake of ancient and modern that Europe presents visitors with at every turn. As well as the birthplace of democracy in Athens, the Forum of Rome, the renaissance buildings and art of Florence, the graceful canals of Venice and the Napoleonic grandeur of Paris, there’s always the less expected sites such as the Moorish palaces of Andalucía, the remains of one of the Seven Wonders of the World in Turkey, the majesty of a second Venice in St Petersburg and the haunting buildings of Auschwitz in Poland.

While Europe revels and takes pride in its extraordinary heritage, it is certainly not one to be limited by it. Indeed, the continent leads the world in fashion, art, music, architecture and design; just see the street styles and music scenes of London and Berlin, the ground-breaking design in Antwerp, Copenhagen and Stockholm or the amazing displays of contemporary art, well, just about everywhere, to confirm that.

If glorious scenery is your thing you’ll not be disappointed either – check out the awesome fjords of Norway, the stunning scenery of the Scottish Highlands, the volcanic dramatics of Iceland, the breathtaking Alps of France, Switzerland and Italy, and the lesser-known mountains of Spain, Slovenia, Southern Poland and Slovakia. For beach life you can fight for some sand on France’s Côte d’Azur, Spain’s Costa Brava or Portugal’s Algarve, or – far more enjoyably – discover your own pristine beach in Albania, Bulgaria or on the gem-like islands of Greece and Croatia.

Of course, travel in Europe is not always about the dazzling sights and world-famous museums. Perhaps the single biggest pleasure of travelling this incredible continent is the range of different people of all nationalities you’ll meet along the way – whether fellow travellers or locals. However cosmopolitan your background may be, there’s nothing quite like strolling the streets of Venice with a Venetian, taking a banya (steam bath) and being beaten with birch twigs by a Russian, or just kicking back, watching live music and drinking Guinness in a pub with a Dubliner.

Hassles? There’ll be a few, inevitably. While Europe has to be one of the easiest and safest places on earth to travel, you’ll find your money won’t always go very far (especially in London, Paris and much of Switzerland – ouch!) and that in the summer months hostels can be booked up weeks ahead, making creative bed finding and flexibility key. A sense of humour is needed for many places. Whether it’s another strike by French railway workers when you really need to get somewhere, or the greediness of petty bureaucrats on the make in Belarus or Moldova, just remember that it can be these challenges and dramas that end up making the best stories of the trip.

Europe today is a continent more united than ever, with the European Union (EU) stretching from the frozen Arctic to the tip of Africa, and a single currency now used in the majority of European states. But don’t let these facts fool you – with centuries of parochial development bringing about unique cultural values and traditions, the globalising sheen of the EU has little day-to-day effect on the continent’s myriad nationalities, all of whom retain their idiosyncrasies and fiercely guard their independence. Indeed, there are few places in the world where you can pass through so many countries in such a short span of time and witness the striking differences between each one so markedly. Beyond the EU, this is even more noticeable of course, whether in old-timer refusenik Switzerland, for whom neutrality remains sacrosanct, or the pariah state of Belarus – ‘Europe’s last dictatorship’ and a place where time has seemingly stood still since the end of communism.

Wherever you go on the continent you’ll find that the subject of the EU comes up again and again – whether from the arch-federalist Benelux countries that passionately support the growth of the union, to your more cautious Brits, Danes and Swedes who, while in the club, still can’t bear to give up their centuries-old currencies and hand over economic decisions to Brussels.

So don’t delay – get planning your own European odyssey as soon as you can. With more than 45 extraordinary destinations offering incredible things to see and do, your only problem should be where to start…

Last updated: ก.ค. 24, 2009