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Help me pick a country in Europe to backpack around?
Cognisseur
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
This isn't dramatic, nor terribly urgent, but I thought PA would be able to provide some good advice, especially from the overseas PA'ers.
For the last 2 years, my girlfriend and I have gone backpacking in Europe for roughly 4 weeks each time. We would spend 2-3 days per city, 2-3 cities per country, and generally toured a huge amount of Europe. This year we're going for only ~2 weeks, and looking to focus on one or two countries, and get a better grasp of it's culture and such.
So, I'd like some help/advice from you guys as to where you'd recommend we visit. Here are some 'criteria':
Okay, here are some options we're considering, but if you want to recommend some place not out of these, feel free.
Anyway, this may turn out to be a pointless thread because how the hell would you guys know where I want to visit, but potentially some of you guys could shed light on where you've enjoyed going and your opinions of some of the places I mentioned. Thank you in advance for anyone willing to read through all this and reply.
For the last 2 years, my girlfriend and I have gone backpacking in Europe for roughly 4 weeks each time. We would spend 2-3 days per city, 2-3 cities per country, and generally toured a huge amount of Europe. This year we're going for only ~2 weeks, and looking to focus on one or two countries, and get a better grasp of it's culture and such.
So, I'd like some help/advice from you guys as to where you'd recommend we visit. Here are some 'criteria':
- We have roughly 2 weeks
- My girlfriend speaks reasonable Spanish, I speak basic French and fluent Russian, but we haven't had any significant language problems yet (but if you recommend rural Greece, that may be a problem, I don't know)
- We like culture, small-towns, and history-stuffs. We don't really go to art museums, nor do we do much nature-hiking stuff.
- Examples of cities that we thought rocked: Bruges in Belgium, Venice in Italy, Seville in Spain. Pretty, nice people, fun to walk around, simple good food.
- We'll be traveling by train pass, not renting a car.
Okay, here are some options we're considering, but if you want to recommend some place not out of these, feel free.
- Spain/Morocco. We've been to Spain before (Madrid, Seville, Barcelona), but it sounds like it could be fun going through small Seville-like cities in the South, and then going into Morocco for some hopefully less-trodden-path tourism and weird culture.
- Italy. We also went to Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice), but we really enjoyed it and we missed a bunch of good places like Pompeii, Cinque Terre, Naples. The food was good, the people were nice, and returning to Venice would be fun.
- England/Ireland/Scotland/Wales. We haven't been here, so that's appealing. They speak English, so I don't know if that makes it lose some of it's foreign tourism charm, and I'm told it's quite expensive. I don't know much outside of that.
- Other recommendations. Some people recommended Greece, Turkey, East Europe, etc. We haven't been to any of those places nor do I know anything about them.
Anyway, this may turn out to be a pointless thread because how the hell would you guys know where I want to visit, but potentially some of you guys could shed light on where you've enjoyed going and your opinions of some of the places I mentioned. Thank you in advance for anyone willing to read through all this and reply.
Cognisseur on
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Other than that, Austria. If you really want scenery and all that nature stuff, I would pick that country.
I loved Southern Spain. Hit Cordoba and Granada for sure. Avoid Malaga. Go back to Seville (my favourite city in Europe). Morocco is great, but "less-trodden by tourists" is going to be a relative term.
If you go to Italy, definitely travel the Amalfi coast south of Naples. Visit Capri (but don't stay there, it's really pricey). Check out Herculano -- it's better preserved than Pompeii, although it lacks some of the eerie grandeur.
Ireland and the UK are wonderful. The people in Ireland are pathologically friendly. The west is unbelievable. Avoid Killarney (in a highly touristed country it's the most highly touristed spot I found). Go to Dingle (still touristed, but incredibly beautiful west of town).
Scotland is like Ireland, but greyer, colder, and bleaker. I love it, but my family is all from there, so... some people I know have been a bit less enthusiastic.
Honestly, with your apparent interests and time limitations, a trip to Western Ireland sounds about right.
Currently painting: Slowly [flickr]
Pros: Most people speak English, and quite well. It's exotic without being difficult. The food is amazing. I got addicted to the tea.
Cons: You will be busing everywhere, and long bus trips are the fucking pits. Depending on when you're going, the weather can be pretty difficult - I went in the hight of summer, and it was manageable everywhere except on the coast where the humidity combined with the high temperature made lugging backpacks a real chore. There are lots of touts, especially in touristy country towns - you have to be pretty confident in saying "no", and it's much easier if you have a good plan of how you're getting from A to B or are with someone who knows the country.
Get a ferry from Dublin over to Wales, travel up to Scotland (or fly direct from Dublin) and visit the famous places (I'm not very familiar with them), moving down to England and finishing in London. The Irish portion of the trip would take around three or four days, maybe more depending on where you want to go and what you want to see. Bed and Breakfasts are plentiful, but stay away from the cities, unless you want to visit them. They're expensive, although with the recession prices may have dropped or may be dropping.
Outside Ireland, I really only have experience of Hungary. Budapest is a very beautiful city and we visited villages such as the ones you mentioned you wanted to visit, like Ezstergom, Eger, Szeged, but other than those I really don't know much about travelling the countryside. But everything is cheap there, including the city. Just get a travel pass for a week or something, take the metros, buses and trams, and stay away from the taxi's. The trains travel outside the city to all the places I mentioned, and more.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
Yeah, I didn't throw it in my post but that's what I started using last trip (well a variant of) and it's an amazing service. We really got a much better feel for the culture by living with people and talking to them and going to dinner with them. It was definitely one of the best parts of the trip, so I second this notion to anyone looking into this thread and planning their own trip.
It sounds right up your alley, but you also have to time it right to avoid the crowds. Some do the route as a pilgrimage, but plenty of people complete it for reasons like those you mentioned above. While it all takes place in one country, the various regions (Basque, Galician, etc) each have a distinct feel and flavor. You can start at any point along the path, and there several distinct paths from which to choose. I'm afraid I can't recommend any of them as I have not personally traveled one.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
If you do decide to travel around Bulgaria, I would definitely recommend traveling by bus, not train. Trust me.