Summer Europe Trip

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Escaep

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This summer my parents and I are going to be taking a three week trip to Europe and I'd like some input from the Euro members here. What we are doing is leaving May 29, flying business class from Orlando, Fl, and we'll be landing sometime May 30th in Venice, Italy.

Itinerary thus far:

May 30th- Land in Venice

May 30th-June 5th - EITHER, tour Rome and parts of southern Italy OR take a road trip from Venice up to southern Switzerland and then into Austria.

June 6th- June 13th - We are taking a one week Mediterranean cruise aboard MSC Cruises (which we've heard good things about and we hope its good.) The following are the stops my mom has told me and they aren't in this order, nor do I know which days we will be where.

  • Leaves Venice
  • Bari, Italy
  • Dbrovnik, Croatia
  • Corfu, Greece
  • Mikonos, Greece
  • Santorini, Greece
  • Athens, Greece
  • Back in Venice June 13th

Then from June 13th - June 20th, we have another week to do whatever we didn't do the first week (meaning if we toured Rome and southern Italy we'd do the road trip, vis-a-versa).

When in Rome, we so far would like to see the following:
  • Cistine Chapel
  • The Vatican
  • Colloseum
  • St. Marks Cathedral

and I'm sure we'll find more places once we get there. I haven't been real in on the planning of this trip but the one place we are going to tour is the Lamborghini plant and maybe the Bugatti plant (my dad and I are car enthusiasts).

So basically, I've come here to ask pointers, tips, and any do's or dont's we should/shouldn't do & and places we should/shouldn't visit on our trip. The only one of us who's ever been to Europe is my mom who went to Germany when she was 8 or 9 years old. I plan to be adding info when it gets around to me.
 
Escape said:
This summer my parents and I are going to be taking a three week trip to Europe and I'd like some input from the Euro members here. What we are doing is leaving May 29, flying business class from Orlando, Fl, and we'll be landing sometime May 30th in Venice, Italy.

Itinerary thus far:

May 30th- Land in Venice

May 30th-June 5th - EITHER, tour Rome and parts of southern Italy OR take a road trip from Venice up to southern Switzerland and then into Austria.

June 6th- June 13th - We are taking a one week Mediterranean cruise aboard MSC Cruises (which we've heard good things about and we hope its good.) The following are the stops my mom has told me and they aren't in this order, nor do I know which days we will be where.

  • Leaves Venice
  • Bari, Italy
  • Dbrovnik, Croatia
  • Corfu, Greece
  • Mikonos, Greece
  • Santorini, Greece
  • Athens, Greece
  • Back in Venice June 13th

Then from June 13th - June 20th, we have another week to do whatever we didn't do the first week (meaning if we toured Rome and southern Italy we'd do the road trip, vis-a-versa).

When in Rome, we so far would like to see the following:
  • Cistine Chapel
  • The Vatican
  • Colloseum
  • St. Marks Cathedral

and I'm sure we'll find more places once we get there. I haven't been real in on the planning of this trip but the one place we are going to tour is the Lamborghini plant and maybe the Bugatti plant (my dad and I are car enthusiasts).

So basically, I've come here to ask pointers, tips, and any do's or dont's we should/shouldn't do & and places we should/shouldn't visit on our trip. The only one of us who's ever been to Europe is my mom who went to Germany when she was 8 or 9 years old. I plan to be adding info when it gets around to me.
Click to expand...

In summer: venice might stink, i mean literally. Alot of people choose not go to venice in the summer but in slightly colder days.

Bari, Dubrovnik...in summer hot as hell.
Corfu...hot, but water on the Ionian sea is cold as ****. I couldn't stay in in more than minutes at a time, but then again i was in late august there.
The rest of greece is enjoyable (so i've heard) but haven't been there, second hand accounts. Make sure you eat Giros....was my food source 24/7 while there.
You're visiting awfully close where i live though.

Point being, Mediterranean is awesome. Just bring sun cream and lot's of condoms if you're the playboy type. ;)
 
I would suggest going to Austria instead of Rome. Rome isnt that great tbh, its packed with angry italians on scooters, its dirty and loud, and during summer its ****ing hot as hell. But then again, there isnt much to see in Austria either (unless you go during winter for skiing/snowboarding)
 
I went to Venice last summer and there was no smell at all, even though it was exceptionally hot.

I recommend seeing Florence as well while you are in Italy. Beautiful city and quite small so should only take a couple of days out of your itinerary. Also Belgium is nice if you get that far north.
 
Go to Rome. It is worth it. I have been there a couple of times now, and angry Italians on scooters aside it is really a great city. You have all the Roman ruins, the Vatican and its museums, or you can simply go to the Piazza Navona and have the best ice cream you'll ever have. When in Rome you might wanna plan day trips to Ostia, the harbour of old Rome or Pompeii, a Roman town that was very well preserved after it was covered with the ashes of an eruption of the Vesuvius.

You should also consider Florence, the city of the Renaissance. The Ufizi museum contains some of the most famous art in the world. Also lots of great churches and the shopping is awesome. From Florence you could plan a day trip to Siena, a beautiful little town with one of the most famous Renaissance churches of all Italy. Regretfully you are a little to early for the Palio, the famous Sienese horse races.

Like Ravioli said, Austria isn't really that interesting unless you go skiing or hiking, although Salzburg and Vienna are both beautiful cities. The former is the birthplace of Mozart and has a beautiful old town center, and the latter is especially great if you are into classical music.

Oh and when you are in Greece during the cruise, be sure to have a Gyros sandwich. Best snack you will have all summer.

If you need more info, just PM me.
 
Venice is usually dreadfully hot, crowded and expensive in the summer, to the degree that it's not worth it, despite the architecture and what not. I would spend as much time as possible in the Alps if I were you, it's extraordinarily beautiful in the summer. Rome is rather charming in places, and you should definitely go there if you're in Italy, at least for a short while. The same criticism can be made towards Rome as I made towards Venice, but it's usually not as bad.
 
Escape said:
This summer my parents and I are going to be taking a three week trip to Europe and I'd like some input from the Euro members here. What we are doing is leaving May 29, flying business class from Orlando, Fl, and we'll be landing sometime May 30th in Venice, Italy.

Itinerary thus far:

May 30th- Land in Venice

May 30th-June 5th - EITHER, tour Rome and parts of southern Italy OR take a road trip from Venice up to southern Switzerland and then into Austria.

June 6th- June 13th - We are taking a one week Mediterranean cruise aboard MSC Cruises (which we've heard good things about and we hope its good.) The following are the stops my mom has told me and they aren't in this order, nor do I know which days we will be where.

  • Leaves Venice
  • Bari, Italy
  • Dbrovnik, Croatia
  • Corfu, Greece
  • Mikonos, Greece
  • Santorini, Greece
  • Athens, Greece
  • Back in Venice June 13th

Then from June 13th - June 20th, we have another week to do whatever we didn't do the first week (meaning if we toured Rome and southern Italy we'd do the road trip, vis-a-versa).

When in Rome, we so far would like to see the following:
  • Cistine Chapel
  • The Vatican
  • Colloseum
  • St. Marks Cathedral

and I'm sure we'll find more places once we get there. I haven't been real in on the planning of this trip but the one place we are going to tour is the Lamborghini plant and maybe the Bugatti plant (my dad and I are car enthusiasts).

So basically, I've come here to ask pointers, tips, and any do's or dont's we should/shouldn't do & and places we should/shouldn't visit on our trip. The only one of us who's ever been to Europe is my mom who went to Germany when she was 8 or 9 years old. I plan to be adding info when it gets around to me.
Click to expand...

If you go to Greece, Santorini is absolutely awe-striking, the view of the caldera from the cliffs is spectacular. When you're in Greece, like others have mentioned, you have to have a Gyro. They have Gyros here in the US, but they're shite compared to the real ones. Also, you have to get Pita Souvlaki, it's like a Gyro except with skewers of incredibly seasoned pork, it's much better IMO. Also, this is going to sound really strange, but you MUST get a greek salad when you're there. The produce is so damn fresh there, the tomatoes are the best you'll ever have. I could just bite into a greek tomato, and I don't even like them here (in the US)
 
Shakermaker said:
Go to Rome. It is worth it. I have been there a couple of times now, and angry Italians on scooters aside it is really a great city. You have all the Roman ruins, the Vatican and its museums, or you can simply go to the Piazza Navona and have the best ice cream you'll ever have. When in Rome you might wanna plan day trips to Ostia, the harbour of old Rome or Pompeii, a Roman town that was very well preserved after it was covered with the ashes of an eruption of the Vesuvius.

You should also consider Florence, the city of the Renaissance. The Ufizi museum contains some of the most famous art in the world. Also lots of great churches and the shopping is awesome. From Florence you could plan a day trip to Siena, a beautiful little town with one of the most famous Renaissance churches of all Italy. Regretfully you are a little to early for the Palio, the famous Sienese horse races.

Like Ravioli said, Austria isn't really that interesting unless you go skiing or hiking, although Salzburg and Vienna are both beautiful cities. The former is the birthplace of Mozart and has a beautiful old town center, and the latter is especially great if you are into classical music.

Oh and when you are in Greece during the cruise, be sure to have a Gyros sandwich. Best snack you will have all summer.

If you need more info, just PM me.
Click to expand...

Forgot to add they we are indeed going to see Pompeii. And tonight my dad is booking a hotel/room/something in Salzburg.

On a side note, apart from me knowing basic German (will have two years of it at the end of this semester), will we do O.K. not knowing the languages over there? I know that most of the major businesses and tourist attractions will speak English but we are concerned about some of these small towns and inns that might not speak English.
 
Escape said:
Forgot to add they we are indeed going to see Pompeii. And tonight my dad is booking a hotel/room/something in Salzburg.

On a side note, apart from me knowing basic German (will have two years of it at the end of this semester), will we do O.K. not knowing the languages over there? I know that most of the major businesses and tourist attractions will speak English but we are concerned about some of these small towns and inns that might not speak English.
Click to expand...

Italians are notorious for not speaking other languages. But I wouldn't worry too much about that. You're probably not going to wander too much off the beaten path, so there will always be someone around who speaks a little English. And if not, just talk with your hands and feet.

By the way, when in Salzburg be sure to visit the Hohensalzburg Castle. Gives you a great view of the city.
 
Mogi67 said:
Also, this is going to sound really strange, but you MUST get a greek salad when you're there. The produce is so damn fresh there, the tomatoes are the best you'll ever have.
Click to expand...

Greek tomatoes are the nicest I have ever had. I don't normally like raw tomatoes. But I could have eaten 20 greek ones.
 
Tomatoes and mozzarella sprinkled with basil and some olive oil. For teh YUM!
 
ive been to corfu. beautiful island, nice scenery. have you youtubed the places ur guna visit??
 
bump

Alrighty, we now basically have our entire trip hammered out and planned out day by day.

May 29th - Leave Orlando, FL, fly to Atlanta, GA, then to Venice. Flying business class to Venice aboard Delta.
May 30th - Arrive in Venice
May 31st, June 1st, June 2nd - Salzburg, Austria
June 3rd - Insbruck, Austria
June 4th - Open (might try and get a place at Lake Como)
June 5th - Back in Venice

///Cruise///
June 6th - Night of the start of our cruise aboard MSC Cruises
June 7th - Bari, Italy <- Tour of
June 8th - Katakolon, Greece - Olympia + shopping
June 9th - Santorini, Greece - Tour of the village of Oia. Leave Santorini same day and arrive in Mykonos, Greece, stay there for the night
June 10th - Athens, Greece - panoramic tour of Athens
June 11th - Corfu, Greece - tour of the town of Paleokastritza
June 12th - Dbrovnik - tour of Konavle + Dbrovnik
June 13th - Back in Venice

June 13th - After getting back in Venice, we are heading to Bologna to tour the Lamborghini facility
June 14th, 15th, 16th - Rome
June 17th, 18th, 19th - Florence
June 20th - Back in Venice
June 21st - Leave Venice and fly to Atlanta, then to Orlando
 
Athens is one of the ugliest cities I've ever been in (and worse, the garbagemen were on strike when I was there). Just keep your eyes closed until you arrive at the Acropolis, then close them again when leaving it.

As far as Europe goes, I think Germany is the most interesting country around.
 
"Dbrovnik, Croatia"
Lovely, good value city. A lot to see.
 
You been to Dubrovnik, Solaris? I went two years ago and had a wonderful time in the old city, went to Lokrum island too. Took a day trip over to neighbouring Montenegro too. Had a wonderful time, a really memorable holiday.
 
I'm actually living in Salzburg right now. Pretty rainy the last week or so, but when it's sunny it is very nice. I suggest trying to get to the lake district near by, or climbing one of the many mountains in the area, all will give you amazing views. If you need any suggestions about what to do in salzburg let me know.

~Jake
 
Hectic Glenn said:
You been to Dubrovnik, Solaris? I went two years ago and had a wonderful time in the old city, went to Lokrum island too. Took a day trip over to neighbouring Montenegro too. Had a wonderful time, a really memorable holiday.
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Yes, I was there when it was entirely surrounded by forest fires and people thought it might burn to the ground.

Was pretty exciting, air raid sirens going off, streets closed and the army mobilised as I remember.
 
Sledgehammer said:
Athens is one of the ugliest cities I've ever been in (and worse, the garbagemen were on strike when I was there). Just keep your eyes closed until you arrive at the Acropolis, then close them again when leaving it.
Click to expand...

This. We were staying in the cheap "red light district" type area and there were prostitutes and heroin addicts everywhere and there were discarded needles all over the place. Grim.

All worth it for the view from the Acropolis though. Wow.
 
I'm not from Europe nor have I ever been there but I can give you this advice: at some point you must ditch the parentals and find some promiscuous bitties. That is all.
 
jxeboy said:
I'm actually living in Salzburg right now.
Click to expand...

When I was 13 I lived in Austria for a little while and I visited Salzburg. Very nice place. You guys still have Mozart balls?
 
Reginald said:
This. We were staying in the cheap "red light district" type area and there were prostitutes and heroin addicts everywhere and there were discarded needles all over the place. Grim.
Click to expand...

Not to mention the blistering heat causing crippling dehydration, and the roaming gangs of dogs that looked ever so clean and undiseased.

Although that said the local beer was the best we tasted in europe, I could definately go for some more Mythos.
 
Tyguy said:
When I was 13 I lived in Austria for a little while and I visited Salzburg. Very nice place. You guys still have Mozart balls?
Click to expand...

haha, yeah if you mean mozartkugeln yes we do.

i love it here. I've been here for about a half year and love every minute of it.
 
Europe is beautiful. Would type more but theres only 20 seconds left on this internet cafe.

bye.
 
Come to Dudley and say that again.

In all seriousness though I'm jealous. I've got no holidays planned for this year :(
 
Well we're finally in a hotel that has working and free internet so I'll take the time to elaborate more on our trip thus far. All in all I've taken roughly 2,000 pictures so far.

Currently I am in my hotel in Rome about a stone's throw away from the western walls of the Vatican. Today we saw the Colosseum, Palatine hill, the Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Spanish steps. Tomorrow we are going to see the papal mass and the pope then we're touring the Vatican.

/////

We were in Salzburg for a total of three days, but unfortunately, it was about 10 degree Celsius and it rained for the ENTIRE time we were there. We went on the Sound of Music tour and up to the Eagle's Nest. Up at the Eagles Nest there was snow on the ground and it was raining all while being about 3 degrees Celsius so there was absolutely no view at all which was a bummer.

After Salzburg we went to Innsbruck where it had stopped raining but was still overcast and for the day we were there we basically just walked around the old part of the city and went to the University of Innsbruck where I might do a study abroad next summer with the university I'll be attending in the fall.

/////

After Austria we headed back to Venice and spent all day Saturday walking around Venice and went inside St. Marx Basilica which was absolutely gorgeous, apart from the tourists in shorts and taking pictures when the signs outside specifically said no shorts and don't take pictures...

The following Sunday we boarded our cruise (MSC Musica) for the 8 day Mediterranean cruise. Our first stop was Bari, Italy which was a nice experience seeing the fortress there as well as a basilica and a cathedral. Unfortunately, while in Bari we learned that my grandfather had passed away which was a bummer.

After Bari our next stop was Katakolon, Greece where we went on an excursion and saw the ruins at Olympia which was really interesting seeing the history and just imagining how far back the games went.

After Katakolon we hit Santorini, Greece and toured the village of Oia (pronounced eee-uh) which was amazing! It was how you'd imagine a small mountainous Greek village with white houses and bright blue roofs overlooking the caldera in the bay.

After Santorini came Mykonos that same night, which the ship charged 15 euro to bus you to the city which we were lead to believe was a bar and night club town. So we ended up getting off the ship and just walking around the marina looking at the yachts and sailboats.

After Mykonos came Athens...............

...........


..........


No offense to anyway but Athens was a horrible city and a bad experience. This might be due in part to our tour guide being worthless and our tour being a waste of time and money, but from what we saw, Athens was NOTHING like what we expected. I personally feel that the city of Athens itself has more graffiti than the entire United States. I mean, there was graffiti on literally nearly every piece of open wall in the city. On top of that, there was trash strewn nearly everywhere apart from the roadways and on top of that, in all that the great power that ancient Athens must have been, all we could discern that was left was the Parthenon and the Acropolis as well as one single Roman bath. I'm hoping there was more that we just didn't see and that everything hadn't been built over.

/////

Moving on, after Athens came Corfu and a tour of the town of Paleokastritsa which was absolutely beautiful. The island seemed very clean and "luscious" and the water was crystal clear. We got into the town and went to the water and took a little boat trip to the various caves around the town and had an amazing time.

After Corfu came Dubrovnik, Croatia where we went to the small town of Kanavle and to this family's farm and house. This was by far my favorite stop. They served us a small cup of Vinsanto (not sure if thats the name but its a really sweet dessert wine) and after that we toured their gardens and watched this Croatian couple do an ethnic dance of sorts. From there we went into their dining room where they served us wine, bread, cheese, and smoked ham (all homemade) all while listening to two men play the accordian and guitar as well as sing.

By far Dubrovnik was my favorite stop on the cruise. Now, about the cruise and perhaps European crusing in general. To us, it wasn't as good as the American cruise lines. I don't know if it was just this cruise line (MSC) since they are relatively new to the cruising industry (they were and still are primarily a shipping company) but there was stuff we found missing that were relatively standard things on the American cruises we've been on before. Primarily it involved anything having to do with food. For starters, the food service itself was pretty poor, our waiter (Nyomon) hardly spoke any English, which I can understand since it left from Italy, but his tag said he spoke English and numerous times he messed our order up or didn't bring us things we asked for. The food itself was really nothing to write home about, normally when you go on cruises you look forward to being able to taste really good food but here, it wasn't anything special. And coupled with the fact that we wanted something to eat at 4pm after getting back from an excursion and finding that all the cafeterias were closed was a surprise.

/////

Anyway, we are in Rome, heading to Florence Thursday then back to Venice sunday and we leave to go home Monday.




P.S. to Europe

Start brewing some darn ICED TEA! Iced Tea is NOT canned Nestea!!
 
Escaep said:
After Salzburg we went to Innsbruck where it had stopped raining but was still overcast and for the day we were there we basically just walked around the old part of the city and went to the University of Innsbruck where I might do a study abroad next summer with the university I'll be attending in the fall.
Click to expand...
Escaep said:
Go for it, for physics it's the coolest university in continental Europe, even Gordon Freeman went there!
By far Dubrovnik was my favorite stop on the cruise.
Click to expand...
Agreed, Dubrovnik is superb!

Escaep said:
P.S. to Europe

Start brewing some darn ICED TEA! Iced Tea is NOT canned Nestea!!
Click to expand...
This. :(
 
yeah, other than the Acropolis area and a couple other places, Athens is a pretty trashy city
 
Yorick said:
Drink your tea hot like a real man.
Click to expand...

iced-tea-230.jpg


>

cup%20of%20tea_01.jpg



Down in the South where I live hot tea doesn't go well with a 95 degree summer day.
 
Athens? Oh dear, youre going to regret that Im afraid. Its the kind of place you hear about and see pictures of in books (ruins etc), but when you get there, its..well..its a dump. Crime struck ***t hole. It used to be amazing, but now its done nothing but go down hill. Plus theres rioting these days, they're deep in recession so they're going to be pissed off...

Rome is legendary, so much to see, but the people can be really off-putting. Very angry. Very crowded. Tourists EVERYWHERE, you cant a decent shot that much during the day as theres always a billion people hovering around everything.

But if its history you want to see, Rome is king.

Id recommend Austria. Its...ridiculously pretty.

If you can get to the lakes...theres nowhere like it. The beautiful buildings, snow-capped mountains, glass-like lakes. Good food. Very clean, very well organised. Stunning country.

[Edit] And Ive just realised youve already been. Nevermind, just passing through here...
 
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