Well, next summer I might go on a vacation to Europe. But the trip is in planning now. Probably 2-3 weeks long.

Anyway, what nice places in Europe an American like me should go to? I always wanted to visit the Alps, London, Paris (I can try out my hopeless French), Germany, Spain, and so on. Ideas? Experiences?

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Snail racing: (500 posts per line)
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London and paris are great. And Edinbourough (SP?) in Scotland is really, really fun, espcecially if you have friends there

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Happy "Diseased" dud: You said I'd be like this guy. Boycotting everything..
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Happy "Diseased" dud: Wait, That's the unibomer.
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Paris and London are absolute musts.

Switzerland is amazing if you like to ski or just like looking at mountains.

Italy is a pretty amazing country, great food and amazing architecture and history. Rome, Venice, and Florence are spectacular cities.

I found Germany pretty boring, but hey that's just my opinion

There's sooooo much to see in Europe, my suggestion would be dont overdo it and try to see the whole continent in one trip.

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The Massassi-Map
There is no spoon.

If you're looking to spend as little money as possible, stay out of the Euro area. I'm flying into Munich in April (really cheap Lufthansa rates), but I'm probably going to spend most of my trip in Prague, Budapest, and possibly Florence.

People have always told me to not try to do too much - stay a while in each place and enjoy it. You can always go back.

Ireland.

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I’m not going to die, I’m going to see if I was ever alive. - Spike

It's not your right to decide whether they live or die. They deserve a chance! - Vash

It's hard to choose what countries to see imo. I'm planning to somehow enjoy Europe but not run around day by day. I do want to visit London and Paris. I also like mountains.

It might be a bit expensive, like in London. A pound is almost twice as much as a dollar now. But it might change.

Hmmm. What about Austria and Denmark?

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Snail racing: (500 posts per line)
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Ireland, Austria. That's all you need.

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I’m not going to die, I’m going to see if I was ever alive. - Spike

It's not your right to decide whether they live or die. They deserve a chance! - Vash

You really shouldn't overlook Central and Eastern Europe. Prague is supposedly one of the most charming cities in the world.

I once vowed that I would see Austria before I died...

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"The Oracle told me I would die with my boots on. I've worn tennis shoes ever since." - Axis

[This message has been edited by Axis (edited February 22, 2004).]

Watch the movie eurotrip first and take notes about what NOT to do

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Dont press the red button. Whatever you do, DO NOT press the red button......you just pressed the red button didnt you?

I went to Italy last spring, and at the risk of sounding corny, it stole my heart. That country is so beautiful, the cities spectacular. You will never see anything like it. I have to go back some point in my life. That's really the best I can describe it, words usually fail me when I talk about the trip. just go there, you will not be disappointed.

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"Buildings that we have created to be aesthetically pleasing are slaughtering birds."

The real reason to go to Prague is the alcohol. I haven't been myself but I know that it's one of the most popular destinations for British students.

I just want to go to the Scandinavian areas.

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"It's OK for us to randomly attack people!"
-BV

Damnit, I was gonna say that!



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All the prism in the world couldn't make hue.

Points to me for speed and inginuity!!!....and bad spelling

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Dont press the red button. Whatever you do, DO NOT press the red button......you just pressed the red button didnt you?

Paris, London, Dublin, Prague, Budapest, Vienna...

I've visited those cities and they were damn great. Just my suggestions...

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<landfish> FastGamerr > Satan

London is a great city to visit, if a bit on the expensive side. Paris is fine if you want to visit the Louvre. But the city itself is pretty dirty. Venice, Italy is also nice, but also dirty. I'm a big fan of the Swiss Alps and Austria. Also, a town called Rothenbberg in Germany is absolutely awesome.

Poland is a good country to visit as well. Warsaw and Cracow have some really nice old castles and old markets. The coast towns of Gdnask and Gdynia have a lot of neat stuff there. I absolutely love going to the markets and buying fresh fish. Also, if you go to Poland, make sure you visit the Tatras. That mountain range is stunning. Plus, goat's milk and goat cheese are really good.

In caseyou can't tell, I'm from Poland, so yeah...

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"I'm a funny guy, really I am."

If you drop into London, we could meet. Or something.

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The Earth is the cradle of the mind, but one cannot stay in the cradle forever.
-- Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, The Father of Rocketry

Come to Budapest. We've got nice looking girls.

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"Most people fail to realise their insignificance because of their utter stupidity." -Unknown

-@%

Warning, long and a probably poorly written/formatted post ahead:[*] [b] Iceland [/b] is pretty, but devoid of any forests. Lot's of outdoor glacial trekking opportunities though. Geysers are worth seeing. [*] [b]Portugal. [/b] Explore around Sintra. Very nice countryside. Cities are crowded, but old quarters of Lisbon are beautiful.[*] [b] England. [/b] London has plenty to do, but very expensive. I prefer the Lancashire, the Yorkshire Dales (fun to drive through with it's curvy winding narrow roads) and the Lake District. Definately try to see the Lake District, it's just so serene. Lakes with mountains rising up 500 meters beside them. Friendly people. Plenty of sheep. If you've seen 28 Days Later, then the latter half is pretty much in that area. The very end where they get spotted by a Finnish (yay!) Hawk trainer (...) is pretty representative of the Lake District. Drive up to Scotland and Hadrian's Wall while you're at it. Eat Scottish Biscuits. Drink Tea. Steer wide of the Sellafield powerplant. Dover and the southern cliffs. Stonehenge. Bed & Breakfasting is an excellent choice if you're on a budget.[*] [b] France. [/b] Plenty of stuff to see everywhere. Meribel is an excellent ski-resort in the French Alps where you can sometimes catch a glimpse of Mont Blanc (the highest mountain in Europe) towering high above. Paris has plenty o' stuff to see. Just walk around and enjoy the architecture and "la Vie Parisienne Quotidienne". Expensive though. The Catacombs, Montmartre, The Eiffel Tower etc. By night it's very pretty. Admire the culture in general. Provence and the southern vineyard districts have their merits too. Normandy for the small quaint villages, cheese or for the historical value (60th anniversary coming up). See the massive cemetaries of both sides. St. Mère Église has plenty of museums on the subject. Absolutely see the Point du Hoc, with the bunkers still pockmarked by impacts and the terrain still cratered. Go see Caen and Rheims while you're in the area. Rheims has a massive cathedral if that's your thing. Mont st. Michel becomes an island at high-tide. Puy de Dome is a very nice big rounded former volcano. See Carcassone if you like big medieval fortress-towns. Pity plenty of these sites are so touristy, cheap knick-knacks and t-shirts abound. Strasbourg is nice too. Toulouse and the Pyrénées are very beautiful. Stuff I've seen happen to other tourists, and to avoid at all costs if you're American: - Go pull a "We bailed you out" speech on them, and demand a rebate. Likely to get you killed... - Have a prissy/stuck-up kid in a family who demands burgers & fries at a restaurant and throws a tantrum. They WILL look at the family with an air of disgust that only the french can manage. But in general, a very warm and friendly people, especially outside of the major cities. Treat them with the same respect as you would want them to treat you.[*] [b] Italy. [/b] I have not been there (yet), but I'd love to see the Italian Riviera, Venice, The Dolomites (Cinque Torre in particular. Google it, and you'll see why), Florence, and maybe the Vatican.[*][b] Switzerland [/b] is just amazing. Good for skiing.[*] [b] Austria. [/b] Don't remember all that much. Has many fine skiing places, as well as Salzburg and Wien/Vienna for cultural cities.[*] [b] The BENELUX nations. [/b] The Ardennes are nice. Luxembourg, the city, has many scenic bridges (one of which is/was fortified by cannons that stopped the invading Austrian host). Vianden (Lux.) has a castle that is fun to explore. Laugh at the ugliest language in the world, Letzeburg. Belgium... well... I guess you could see Antwerp, Bruselles, and Bastogne (if that's your type of thing). Try to catch a race at the Spa/Francochamps track. Eat from the fried cuisine (hey, they invented the waffle and frenchfries). The Netherlands has plenty of cheese, windmills, dykes/dams, canals, pretty girls, and goths if that's your thing. Oh, and the old houses in Amsterdam just look so unique. lovely facades. [*] [b] Germany. [/b] Hmmm, can't say I really remember seeing very much there. Köln has a cathedral with a MASSIVE spire though. I'm sure Berlin has stuff worth seeing. Bavaria is alright too. Hockenheim and Nurburgring are good races if you can get tickets for the Formula 1 or DTM events (Deutsche Touring Mästerschaft? Stock-cars in any case). I'm sure the Germans on the board can help out more with stuff to see. The food is good in any case. [img]http://forums.massassi.net/html/smile.gif[/img][*] [b] Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. [/b] Honestly, if you're going to pick only one, pick Sweden. Stockholm has pretty much everything Helsinki has only more. Helsinki does have a lovely contradictory feel. It's the capital, but it feels like a small city, which it pretty much is, with only 800-thousand people in the district itself, compared to the 1.7 million or so in Stockholm. Stockholm also has an Old Medieval City quarter with cobblestones, narrow alleys, and buildings dating from the 16th century (the quarter also houses one of the, if not [i] the [/i] finest sci-fi fantasy stores in Northern Europe). In comparison, Helsinki is cleaner though, and is absolutely spectacularly fun during the summer. Suomenlinna/Sveaborg is the largest fortress archipelago in the Baltic area, and it's right at the mouth of Helsinki. It's the Gibraltar of the North, an 18th and 19th century complex spanning several islands. The Hangö archipelago is great fun to explore if you can rent a boat or if you've got a friend with one. Relatively calm waters and you can find narrow straights where there are still giant iron mooring thingies where the British docked, restocked and hid their warships during the Crimean War. Gotland & Åland are good places to visit during the summer, though Gotland has more to see, Åland is tax-free (useful for some ...commodities). You can easily rent bicycles and see the area by just biking around. The majority of Finland is incredibly flat, since the Ice Age scraped away our mountains and deposited them on Sweden and Norway (b*stards! [img]http://forums.massassi.net/html/tongue.gif[/img] ). Then there's always Lapland. Plenty of mosquitos during the summer. Plenty of snow, and no sun during the winter. Fun if you like being outdoors, seeing as practically no one lives out there... The Aurora Borealis are worth seeing though. And Denmark? Well there's Copenhagen, tobacco-snuff, sand beaches and Legoland [img]http://forums.massassi.net/html/smile.gif[/img] . Most (young) people are able to speak English somewhat well, at least in the urban areas (at least in Finland it's a required learning language these days). Haven't been to Norway yet.[*][b] Spain: [/b] Only really been to Gibraltar, Granada and the Marbeilla district. At least they speak English well there since the British flock to the area like ...masses of flocking things, right? Rhonda has an impressive bridge and the Alhambra in Grenada is a big Moorish castle. [i] Incredible [/i] architecture! Gibraltar is fun because it's Tax-free. Good selection of DVD's/CD's/Cigars/Alcohol to stock up on if you want. Best of all: monkeys! [url="http://home.wanadoo.nl/mekkelmania/Granada/granada2.htm"] Here's [/url] a page with lot's of the sites that I mentioned.[*][b] Eastern Europe: [/b] As several people already mentioned, there are indeed very beautiful places to visit. Unfortunately I haven't been there, except for a quick stop in Tallin. Prague does look fantastic in films though [img]http://forums.massassi.net/html/smile.gif[/img] . Ummm... those are pretty much all the places I've been to in Europe (the benefits of living 9 years in the center of continental Europe, Luxembourg, become apparent [img]http://forums.massassi.net/html/tongue.gif[/img] ). Anyhow, I've found that It's cheapest and easiest to travel by train across the continent. Anyhow if you need more specific information or ideas, feel free to ask. I hope you've found something useful in this long-winded post stuffed with smilies. On that note [img]http://forums.massassi.net/html/smile.gif[/img] . [edit: formatting + additional info] ------------------ [i] Lost in a flood, run red with your blood [/i] I've just locked an open door. Strange, yet symbolically compelling! [This message has been edited by Daeron the Nerfherder (edited February 23, 2004).][/*]

Budapest is cool yea I like Paris, Berlin, Munich (Hofbräuhaus) - Germany is not that special I think, or I am just used to it
Go to Russia St. Petersburg

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My levels

www.i.hate.matyy.de

pazarol a világ, én meg segitek neki

You can't visit Europe without having seen Amsterdan, either. Seriously.

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Map-Review | Digital Core | The Matrix: Unplugged

Farewell, MaDaVentor. In our hearts, you'll always live on.

If I were to go to Europe, I would definately visit Normandy.

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And everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon...

DSettahr's Homepage

forget Europe and go to southern Africa
it's far better in look and feel... not to mention your money is stronger there (GBP is painfully stronger than USD atm... =( )

i'm going to Italy for a few days this summer (to see my sister) and i'll be in London... so i'll tell you what to do in Italy when i get back (=

as for London... Tower of London, do a double-decker tour bus, uh
if you have time go to Dover and see the white cliffs, absolutely amazing place with such a history!

make sure you get lots of steak pies and cadbury's chocolate
when Brittain colonised the world they spread good things, cadbury's and pie are the greatest of them (=

anywho, enjoy your trip, take pictures, post them here. ;D

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why is a raven like a writing desk?

I'm going to Transylvania...

To visit Count...

Herman.

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

Good post, Daeron.

Also, I can't stress this enough, listen to Sine & co and visit Prague in the Czech Republic. An absolutely enchanting city.

Ruth, have fun in Transylvania. I don't really like Romania because of the poverty (which was caused by their dictator whom they however overthrew). I'm visiting Riga in Latvia in the beginning of next month, though, and I know they definitely have their share of poverty.

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Or then not. --FastGamerr/Nikumubeki

Yes, Prauge rocks. Stockholm is kinda nice... but as a local patriot I'll have to mention Gothenburg

But yeah, Prauge and vicinity is really nice. You can get a pint of beer for like 80c.

Poland is also really beautiful. I recommend northern Poland -- stunning beaches, cheap beer and food... well, almost everything is cheap there. Language can be tricky though, as English won't get you far. German, Russian and Polish is the only thing you'll make yourself understood with.

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"For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries."
-Robert Jastrow

Spoken like a true college student.

... Really, really ignorant..

Everyone I've spoken to has said Prague is a very friendly and charming city that's just exploding with life since the fall of Communism. You can drink anywhere.