Hi im going travelin round europe for a month with andmy rail ticket and i am trying to find some cool places to go off the beaten tourist track, anyone got any good places, anywhere in europe i dont mind i havent got a route planned or anything. any advice is welcome - cheers

DAVE

not off the beaten track but get yourself to Barcelona.

Style city, architecture, beaches, museums, shopping, nightlife and gorgeous ladies a plenty :)

Here's some of the obvious places first:

Amsterdam
Prague
Budapest
Vienna
Milan
Barcelona


Some of the less obvious but still well known places:
Berlin
Bruges
Copenhagen
Oslo
Stockholm

And now here's where I'd go after seeing a handful of the above:
Utrecht (NL)
Pilzen (CZ)
Ixia (Greece)
Bergen (Norway)
trek through Oland (Sweden)
Fjellerup (DK)


I would put a lot of reasons as to why and when etc but the Portugal v Russia match is on soon so PM me lol :) I've toured round Europe 3 times and still love it to bits. Whatever you do ENJOY :)

Originally posted by ZEDEX48K
not off the beaten track but get yourself to Barcelona.

Style city, architecture, beaches, museums, shopping, nightlife and gorgeous ladies a plenty :)

I'd have to agree on all accounts. A must see European city!!! :thumbsup:

try lubjania in what was yugoslavia...it was nice in 1986!

I'd also like to mention Madrid. It's a lot more chilled out than Barcelona. Has loads of nice bars and restaurants. it's also immaculately clean and tidy. Also a lot safer than Barcelona and everyone speaks English. I'd try and see both Barcelona and Madrid as they're completely different cities. Best to get an overnight train from one to the other.

Oh and also try Dubrovnik (Croatia), depending on how much time you have. We wanted to go last year but it would have taken up to much travelling time getting there.

Originally posted by costessey
try lubjania in what was yugoslavia...it was nice in 1986!

definetely try ljublana, i went there on a stag weekend the weekend Sloveia joined the EU, (1st May) its known as the new prague (without all the tourists)

Gotta be Barcelona, its got so much energy and culture. Only went there for a day trip, as we were staying somewhere else, and we had nowhere near enough time to see everything

I understand anywhere beyond the Arctic Circle is pretty cool!!;)

I used to work in Valencia, Spain, and always found that a great place to be.

Milan was fanastic too.

Belgium is generally a great place to socialise whereas I found Holland to be a bit dull.

Stockholm! In the summer is best I reckon, or in the middle of winter. It's hot in the summer (usually...about as reliable as here anyway) and very very snowy in winter!

And insider's tip: Go to the Folk Music House in Stockholm on SUnday night and here a real taste of Swedish culture. They have a little cafe thingy going too. And nearby there's a colelction of brilliant sculptures by Nikki de Saint Phaille. Great stuff.

Also, go to Skansen, the wildlife park thingy, and make sure you pay extra to go in the Lemur enclosure, you won't regret it, I promise! And the the rest of the park is huge, and lots of things to see. They sometimes have concerts, and there's all kinds of craft shops, cafe's, animal bits (bears, mooses, nocturnal area, seals, wolves, etc...)

Hooray for Sweden.

Originally posted by davey_c
im going travelin round europe for a month with andmy rail ticket
How much is a Europe wide rail ticket? When i looked online i found around the £300 mark, but i'm just enquiring.

Chris.

I did the Inter Rail when I was 20.....most memorable places were Venice (do not miss!), Pisa (there's a handy camp site there), Athens (youth hostels), Budapest, Salzburg (home of Mozart), Lake Lucern in the foothills of the Alps = very pretty.

I lived near Prague for a year so would highly recommend it.

You'll end up in Paris, all inter railers end up in Paris.

Oh, and I think in Munich I slept with loads of other backpackers under a wooden structure in the open air.....can't remember much more about that.

Don't bother with Luxembourg - dull as ditchwater. Avoid Scicily if you're blonde and female.

Try a village called Arenas in the northern part of Spain, its at the foot of the mountains in the Picos national park. When youve done all the big places try this ,the views are amazing!

Dragon

Originally posted by Classic Rock


You'll end up in Paris, all inter railers end up in Paris.


Haha, We tried our hardest to avoid it, but as all main lines go through Paris, we had no choice. Suppose it was nice to say we've been, but not planning on going back in a hurry.

we were also impressed with Munich. everyone seemed to be lovely. every time we pulled out a map, guaranteed some stranger would come up to us and help us. Doesn't happen a lot in British cities. Also the beer halls were something else. minimum size of beer is a litre. excellent!

For info: http://www.interrailnet.com

Firenze or 'Florence' (IT)
Strasbourg (FR) - architecturally identical to amsterdam, but in france
Calgiari in Sardegna, or 'Sardinia' (IT) - underrated but getting more popular
Kjoldingfjord (DK)
Geneva (SW) - sounds boring but surprisingly liberated culture.

that's my 5p-worth anyway...

Bergen
Oslo
Copenhagen
Helsinki
Reykjavik
Heidelberg
Rome
St. Petersburg
Luzern
Zürich

Would have to say Florence.

It's a manageable city on foot, and it is STUFFED with history and culture. I loved it!

Just take time there to get the best from it - you can easily spend a day in the Uffizi, more if you're a big 'culture vulture'.

Get lots of bottled water to carry with you as the street vendors and shops make a killing in the summer. Avoid in August as it closes down a little - many hotels go to a 'reduced level' of service as Italy goes on leave....:-)

Seriously, it's a great city. Even the Germans refused to destroy the bridges over the Arno when retreating in WW2, and the Allies avoided bombing old Florence. For better or worse, I believe that double entry book keeping and the modern 'free market' started with the markets and guilds of Florence in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Joe

For double entry book keeping alone I would have bombed the bridges over the Arno..

just kidding

Applecross (http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?GridE=-5.8104&GridN=57.4316&client=public&lon=-5.8104&lat=57.4316&place=Applecross,Highland&db=freegaz&local=&type=&start=&limit=&overviewmap=&scale=100000) for sheer get away from it all-ness with great food and whales, seals, porpoises, pine martens plus a handful of yorkshiremen and the odd submarine. Nice beach, good walking - excellent salmon and venison - and a campsite that lets you have fires.

nearest station appears to be plockton. (5 miles)

Other people have said Stockholm, which is a busy city - but take a trip out to the greater archipelago for some really tranquil islands.

Bornholm in the baltic sea is another calm stopping point with almost paranormally good weather.

Kiruna is within the artic circle, and although not huge cultural hotspot, is worth the visit for the midnight sun and the aurora (if you are lucky). (Although not at the same time)

A trip down the rhine to Koblenz is also highly recommended (especially if you are into castles)

Bouillon (home of Godfrey de B... for masonic/templar conspiracy theorists among you) Is an amazing mediaeval town nestling in the huge ardennes forest.

Liege is also worth a visit, although has been developed rather unsympathetically.

Krakow, in southern Poland. Stunning unspoilt medieval city. Most folk go to visit Auschwitz, which is hardly a cheery highlight to the hols. Bratislava and Prague are grreat too........

If all those aren't to your liking why not try the jewels of Europe? That's right, South Yorkshire, in particular Sheffield, and neighbouring Derbyshire.:D

Originally posted by Phanerothyme
Applecross (http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?GridE=-5.8104&GridN=57.4316&client=public&lon=-5.8104&lat=57.4316&place=Applecross,Highland&db=freegaz&local=&type=&start=&limit=&overviewmap=&scale=100000) for sheer get away from it all-ness with great food and whales, seals, porpoises, pine martens plus a handful of yorkshiremen and the odd submarine. Nice beach, good walking - excellent salmon and venison - and a campsite that lets you have fires.

nearest station appears to be plockton. (5 miles)



Great place, but even as the crow files it is further than 5 miles from Plockton to Applecross. A quick insepection of multimap suggests its more in the region of 30 miles by car (and that's going via the 'alpine route' - a drive you will never forget if you do it!)
Oh and I think there's a station in Strathcarron which is slightly closer.

Nomme