Summer trip next year
hello, im new to the forum, and im planning a 2 month trip to Europe next summer, and i was looking to see what yall think of my time spacing and any other places that you suggest are definetly worth veering off my path to stay at.some things about me: im from US (florida), college student, and ill be travelling solo.
ive chosen the places in my trip because i have a friend in each place who ill be staying with.
my main interests would probably be natural scenery.. mountains/rivers/towns/beaches, local food/culture, european lifestyle (not so much big city tourism stuff), and night life.
arts/museums/historical buildings are not a real interest to me.
fly to london
week 1: london
week 2: paris
week 3: grenoble, french alps
week 4: suggestions?
week 5: verona, trento
week 6: venice
week 7: croatia/bosnia
(one week train travel, packing/unpacking)
is there a ferry from croatia to italy? i was going to fly out of rome.
thank you!!
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If you have not read this, I suggest you do. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2153476I would think that a week in London and Paris is good, allowing you some day trips from each city to see other things near by, like Versailles in Paris.
You say that you are flying out of Rome, and that is good, but you don't mention if you are spending some time there, there is a lot to do and see in that city. I question if Venice needs a week. I would also try to get to Florence.
Is the reason you are going to these places is because you know someone and have a place to stay? That is great for budget reasons, but are you not allowing you some great places to visit because of this?
Just wondering what college in Florida you are attending and do they allow you to start each sentence with a lower case letter and do they also allow you to write country names and cities without capital letters?
3
Contrary to most itineraries posted here, this one is refreshingly slow and flexible. Kudos !Week 4: logical areas would be Provence (Avignon, Nîmes, Arles) or the Mediterranean coast (Nice and -why not- Marseille, the latter will be one of the 2 cultural capitals of Europe 2013 and is being completely 'upgraded' at this moment).
Yes, there are many ferries from Croatia to Italy, especially in summer. Split - Ancona is probably the busiest route, but there are as well ferries from Split or Hvar to Pescara, which would be your logical destination to continue on to Rome.
With your itinerary and timeframe, you're probably better off buying point to point (train) tickets; no need for a railpass.
Have fun !
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Refreshingly slow and flexible, yes. But when someone says "not so much big city tourism stuff" and 3/7ths of their itinerary is big cities (or to be precise about Venice's inclusion, crowded cities), it makes me wonder.Granted, you can be in big cities and not do big city tourism stuff. But you sure can't do mountains, towns, and beaches in them, By and large.
5
Your week 4 is open to suggestions, so based on your route, maybe the Northern Italian lakes - Maggiore or Como? There's a small town called Stresa on the shores of Lake Maggiore with stunning scenery, a cable car up the mountainside, and very historic islands on the lake.Also Lugano in Italian Switzerland (Ticino) may be an option for you - again situated near a lake with stunning views.
I've done similar road trips on routes like yours and I have blog posts abuot them if you're interested:
Road Trip to Croatia from UK
http://homeintime4tea.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/road-trip-croatia-and-austria.html
Road Trip to Swtizerland from UK
http://homeintime4tea.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/road-trip-to-switzerland-at-two-in.html
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Thanks for the railpass tipoff lilyramone! I neglected to think about that.Also thanks for the venice info, I think I will clump Verona, Trento, and Venice into a two week period
And I understand the criticism of going to 3 big cities while wanting to avoid them. I guess i meant to say that I would like to experience both big and small cities (unlike seemingly alot of US tourists that go to London, Paris, and fly home.
The issue I was having for creating an itinerary was well I just know the big cities, and i havent heard about any of the smaller, scenic locations, so I was really asking about some of the off the track, ultra scenic places you all have been to that would be near my route.
And I like the idea of southern coast of France, Italian lakes, or Switzerland!! Thank you to those who replied!
Edited by: mickeyd777
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Spend some time on this web site: http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=europeThere are a number of "photo essays" in various areas of Europe that maybe of interest to you.

