I am going to visit Europe for the first time in my life..

[soulslicer]

Hello Helplife2.net. I am in need of your dire help..

Well, sort of, since I will be heading to see Europe, primarily western Europe (Brussels, Switzerland, France etc.) The thing is, since I am there and all for the first time with some friends, none of us have any idea of what to do there..attractions, events etc. Hell, we haven't even gotten down to deciding which European states to visit..it's still quite a while off..and I know I'm suppose to do my homework..but I thought to myself..what the hell..why not post here on helplife2.net and garner a few useful and helpful responses..

Well..the thing is, I'm sort of looking for a package tour, something that would mix the arts (seeing buildings, architecture etc.) and adventure (alps, snow, rafting etc.) Would you all be able to direct me to some good sites/tours..that maybe some of you all have gone for?

 

[ríomhaire]

Watch out for the werewolves!

 

[Raziaar]

I don't know how to help you, so all I can say is have fun!

 

[Sloth]

When are you going?

I'm planning on going in August till early December. When I have my dates set (within the next week) I was going to ask if HL2.net would like a gathering, hopefully this one doesn't have the Zombies...

 

[soulslicer]

I am going on the last week of May for 10 days..still scouring the web for potential things to do..

Well for starts..how does one get from Grenoble to the alps.. ?

 

[Minister]

Considering that Grenoble is known as the Capital of the Alps I would say you're already there. However, I guess you mean a place to go skiing/snowboarding or whatever. In that case, I think there are regular buses which travel to an assortment of ski stations with the nearest being less than an hour away. It's also a pretty decently sized city so there will probably be a good selection of tour/adventure groups which organise day trips and such. Travel guides are the answer me thinks.

 

[Shakermaker]

Grenoble is great for going out. And like minister said, the slopes of Les Deux Alpes are nearby.

Also, come to Amsterdam. You won't regret it.

 

[Eejit]

Well my sis sometimes does tour-guiding for this company - http://www.acis.com/ they seem p. good, though more on the history/arts/educational side of things rather than adventure.

A few awesome places to visit:

France - Paris, Versailles, the Pyrenees, Bilbao (surf! )
Spain - Madrid, Toledo, Barcelona, the Alhambra (near Granada), Segovia, Seville
Italy - Rome, Venice, Naples, Pompeii


I don't know much about northern europe, mostly visited the south. In eastern europe Greece is the bestest.

 

[jimbo118]

France - Bilbao

notsureifsrs.

 

[Eejit]

notsureifsrs.

Oh yeah I mean Biarritz. Visited both places same summer, always mix up the names

 

[Mogi67]

Don't bother with a tour, they're incredibly overpriced and stifling. The best thing to do is just pick a couple places to go and just do it on your own. It will be more challenging but certainly more rewarding, and you'll experience the culture a lot more than if you're following some guy around for ten days.

Greece is great for ten days. I would fly into Athens, see the acropolis/parthenon, then for the rest of the time I would check out the ruins at Corinth, the hanging monasteries at Meteora (one of the most spectacular sites in europe IMO), Delphi, and also check out a couple Greek islands (Santorini, namely).

 

[jimbo118]

Oh yeah I mean Biarritz. Visited both places same summer, always mix up the names

I'm going to the Basque region this summer. Bilbao, then Vitoria-Gasteiz, then San Sebastien.

Anything you recommend?

Might try and get to Guernica.

THREAD HIJACKDERP

 

[The Monkey]

In terms of cities, I would recommend Prague (the most beautiful city I've been to), London (that's sort of a must), Rome, Amsterdam, and Barcelona (haven't been there, but I've heard nothing but good things about it).

In terms of landscape etc., the Alps in the summer is probably as good as it gets, along with the Greek island world.

 

[Stylo]

London (that's sort of a must)

Yeah, if you want to get robbed, stabbed and charged epic money for food and drink. I'd tell you to avoid coming here to England, it's mostly shit. The rest of the U.K is better. Unless you come to Lincoln. This place is beautiful and I've only been attempted mugged once in the 2 years I've been here.

 

[Mr Stabby]

Southern Germany - Heidelberg, Nuremburg, Munich, Black Forest.

 

[FrostedxB]

France? Go to Lisses.

 

[Remus]

I am going on the last week of May for 10 days...

Only 10 days? That's hardly enough time. That's roughly how much my road trip through Europe lasted. Stayed 5 days in Paris, on the way there breafly visited Nuremberg and Viena, on the way back spent a few hours in Venice, and that was it.
If you want a proper visit of multiple European countries you'll need a few weeks.

Nuremburg.

I highly reccomend it. The old/medieval part of the city is gorgeous.

 

[Innocent]

The rest of the U.K is better. Unless you come to Lincoln.

I agree with you now.

 

[staticprimer]

Weird coincidence, but I am going to Europe for the first time as well, and at the same time (last week of May, first week of June). I am going to be hitting up southern Germany, in the areas around Munich, Trier, Cologne, and the Black Forest.

 

[Asknoone]

what the hell..why not post here on helplife2.net and garner a few useful and helpful responses..

Pft, good luck.

 

[soulslicer]

Ahh..samon..thanks for the non-useful unhelpful response..

thx for the replies.especially on what cities to visit..the acis tour site seems informative..

 

[99.vikram]

I visited Europe a while back, here's what I covered: London, Paris, Venice and Rome. I didn't have a lot of time, and didn't get to do everything I had planned, but overall I was quite satisfied with what I got to see. If you're even mildly interested in history, you will find Rome amazing. The history of that city just surrounds you while you're there. Plus, nothing beats gazing down at the Colosseum from it's highest tier.

Venice is nice, but it's a regular tourist spot, don't expect any extraordinary experiences there. Make no mistake though - it is a very beautiful town. And cruising around the waterways in gondolas can be a surreal experience.

But of all the cities I visited, Paris is definitely the city I loved the most. I loved the people, the cafes, the Notre Dame and just about everything there. Walking around the Latin quarter, and then down by the river Seine was my most memorable experience of the trip. Plus I got to stagger drunk to Napoleon's Arc de Triomphe at midnight, dropping by a whole bunch of pubs along the way! Fun times... The French countryside was also pretty awesome, it's just a shame I was so short of time.

One general bit of advice, sample the local alcohol wherever you go. It makes the experience a little more authentic when you share some drinks with the locals.

 

[soulslicer]

Thx for the protips on france, will be headed there..

 

[repiV]

North-west Scotland is incredible. The least populated place in Western Europe, absolutely stunning scenery and unbelievably friendly locals. The sheer remoteness is just awesome. Especially so if you're coming from Singapore, I would imagine.

It is, however, a long, long way from anywhere else you might be thinking of going. Unless you combine it with a trip to Norway, which is a ferry ride away. And the weather absolutely sucks most of the time. That being said, a few pics from my trip a couple years back...

Can't wait to go back there.

 

[Sulkdodds]

You might find this useful!

http://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Page

 

[IonizeMyAtoms]

Are you kidding? The last thing I would do before travelling to a completely unknown place is ask what should I see. I know there are things you "should" see, but **** it. It's an adventure. Go in completely cold

 

[Gargantou]

How can you got to Europe and not visit Sweden? For shame!

 

[Eejit]

Are you kidding? The last thing I would do before travelling to a completely unknown place is ask what should I see. I know there are things you "should" see, but **** it. It's an adventure. Go in completely cold

* Visit Athens
* Neglect to visit the Parthenon
* Facepalm

 

[Sulkdodds]

Are you kidding? The last thing I would do before travelling to a completely unknown place is ask what should I see. I know there are things you "should" see, but **** it. It's an adventure. Go in completely cold

Well, you could, but then you might up just having a tour of Europe's most exciting and historic youth hostels and industrial parks.

 

[Mr Stabby]

Not planning ahead is a terrible idea, when I travelled around Canada I ended up sometimes staying in places with **** all to see or do.

 

[CptStern]

wtf man I could have told you that. canada is like europe but without the european part of europe. in other words it's more like australia but without the didgeridoos

 

[susko]

I know it is a long shot but if you accidently come to Slovenia do tell, I can give you a tour or helpful advice

 

[The Monkey]

Sometimes it's OK not to plan. I went to Geneva last year without any kind of plan in mind (other than going to CERN, which only lasted a few hours). It was super. I just strolled around in the sun and ate fondue. I still saw stuff, but it was totally relaxed and laid back. Sometimes when I go on holidays, especially with my parents, I feel like everything is sort of timetabled, and there's a lot of rushing around the place. In Geneva, I just spent every day walking down streets that looked nice, or sitting by the river drawing stuff, or sitting in coffee shops reading my book, and practicing my French.

It's often good to have an idea of what you want to do, but it can also be really nice to just relax and stroll.

(A good variation on this is to either spend more time, or plan less things. The last time I was in Paris, I felt like I had to see every picture in every museum, and consequentially spent the two weeks running around looking at the grand masters for about 5 milliseconds each...in hindsight, I should simply have picked two or three museums and given each of them a day or two. You're not going to fail Paris if you don't see Venus de Milo).

It all depends on your destinations, doesn't it? If the place is piss-ass boring, you might wanna know where to go beforehand so that you don't spend the days staring into a ****ing factory wall or what have you. So your method might have worked for Geneva (and also for a few other cities I would imagine), I wouldn't use it for all places.

 

[Eejit]

It all depends on your destinations, doesn't it? If the place is piss-ass boring, you might wanna know where to go beforehand so that you don't spend the days staring into a ****ing factory wall or what have you. So your method might have worked for Geneva (and also for a few other cities I would imagine), I wouldn't use it for all places.

Also if the place is interesting but has some 'must-sees' you should probably at least find out what they are before deciding to ignore them. Like visiting Barcelona and not going to see any of the Gaudi buildings would be a big mistake in my book, what with him being the most genius architect in history.