"Shouldn't miss" europe destinations

[Island Boy]

HI all,

I'm going backpacking over the european summer. Going to start in London then travel around til I get to Greece.
Stay for a while then back around the Eastern side to London.
Anyone got a favourite "groovy" cool places a shouldn't miss?

I can handle museums as well as a good piss up. Anything really, I just want to have a good travelling experience.  

[Oz2]

Dude are you bringing both heads with ya .. only jokin mate.
Places to see, well here goes :
1. Turkey - fantastic and very cheap, from Istanbul, Pammukale, Goreme to Fetiye.Can live on $25 Aust a day easy.
2. Czech Republic - Prague - good jazz and cheap beer.
3. italy - Italian riviera - "Cinque Terre" great 3 hour walk through the five towns on the coast. Rome is a must see - history history and more history.
4. Spain - Barcelona, Salamanca, Seville.

[interloper]

Island Boy

Others of interest:

1. Krakow, Poland - beautiful place.
2. Baltic States - cheap, ppl r friendly & hospitable, unexpected gems to discover.
3. Ireland - can't go wrong with Guinness!
4. Denmark - ppl are great, Danish Royalty residence is fab!

Ciao
'loper

[Beech23]

I simply loved Bruges in Belgium. Beautiful!

[Hashmaster]

I thought Amsterdam was a mind blowing experience! Must go se the cafe's if you're into that kinda thing. Truely fantastic.

[PhilM]

Apart from the replies here try this site:-
http://www.bugeurope.com/

[Monsieur Rotiboeuf]

Birmingham is fabulous - well it make you appreciate the other places more  

[Delaney]

Don't go to London and make the mistake of believing that you've 'done England' (or worse still, that you've 'done Britain'). If you want to see 'chocolate box' England (villages, spires, cricket and cream tea) head to Warwickshire/Cotswolds area. Stay over in Stratford-upon-Avon for the Shakespeare experience. Head north to see the astonishing Lake District if you like the big outdoors.

You can take the channel tunnel train now from most big cities. Get a sleeper carriage and wake up in the centre of Paris in time for breakfast.

I notice nobody else recommended Ibiza yet. If you want time out and a frenzied party scene this is where all the Euro kids head off to. Or Aya Nappa in Cyprus.

[Island Boy]

Wow, these are great guys. Thankyou! Keep 'em coming!

[globetrotter]

Hashmaster, I feel sorry you are travelling all the way just to sit in a cafe in Amsterdam. How boring your life must be. I would go to Amsterdam because it is just sooo beautiful and has the most prettiest buildings in Europe. Vist the Rijksmuseum with the Rembrandt Nightwatch painting or next door the Van Gogh Museum. Take a boat-tour along the canals and enjoy the city by walking...Or the modern art museum would be well worth the visit. Enjoy the international cuisine.It was recently voted the most livable city of Europe.

[EuroChico]

You cannot miss the following

Holland: Amsterdam
France: Paris  (possibly South of France - Cote D'Azur expensive though)

Italy: Tuscany (Flrence, Siena, S Gimignano)
and ROme (if u got time Venice too)

Czeck : Prague
Hungary: Budapest

Don't bother with Germany or Swiss

Cheers

[SS Oz]

Germany, Switzerland and Austria were "truly Europe" to me. Went to the famous castle at Neweinstein (not spelt correctly), Bavaria, then took a fabulous train ride through the Tyrol to Gamish-Patenkirken and the wonderful little town of Mittenwald, which has gorgeous painted shops and churches, and people walking around in those traditional shorts, braces, outfits. Very cute and superb scenery. For scenery you also can't beat Lucerne, Switzerland.

[VIKING]

Germany and Swizerland are have to's if you wanna see a little bit of everything. Sweden is great, especially in the summer, great palce(im from there).

[Strawberry Pops]

IB,

Another one which is a "must see" is Slovenia. Small place but quite magnificient. Try Ljbunana (spelling?) & Bled (very picturesque).

la de da
SP's

[nualum]

I think Venice is a must-see. There is nothing else like it in the world. For one thing, there are no cars  so you get a feeling for the time before cars. For another, it is so beautiful with an architecture you won't see elsewhere. For a third, there is the Piazza San Marco. To my way of thinking, there are few sights in the world which live up to the travel photos which are taken from angles no ordinary person has access to. I can think of only a handful of such places. But San Marco exceeds any photo. It is such a grand, dramatic space, it takes your breath away.

Another thing I would try to see is one of the remaining walled cities. Fortunately, there are several to choose from: Rotenberg am der Tauber in Germany, Carcasson in France, Dubrovnik and Budva in Croatia (Budva is south, on the same coast, but it may be in Montenegro). There are a few others. Like Venice, walled cities are not something you will see everywhere in our homogenized world.