Europe - Traveling around Europe, any must see cities/areas?

I'm currently sitting (err...freezing) in Sweden for work. I'm thinking of taking a week or two off afterward to check out the rest of Europe.

What are good/interesting/fun cities to check out in Feb? I will stop by Milan to drop off my stuff and head off from there.

So far the following are on my list:

-Venice
-Rome
-Skiing in northern Italy.
-South of Spain/France area
-Ibiza
-Croatia (my friend said good things).
-Amsterdam

That's all I got really. If I can afford two weeks maybe head to Eastern Europe.

Thanks :D

I'd add Prague to that list.
If you still have time, then maybe Krakow and Budapest.

A week or two and freezing in Sweden. You may just want to head somewhere warm to thaw out.

Depending upon what you like to do or want to see it is difficult to say where to go. How would you travel from point A to point B along with how much do you want to spend will also dictate on what to do.

You could spend the who week in the Milano/Lago Como area. A week in Roma or Firenze may not be enough to see all the art and architecture.

If you like the work of Antoni Gaudi there is enough to do and see in Barcelona for a stay of one week.

Two weeks may not enough to see all of the Greek islands.

May I suggest in making a list - a) how much time, b) mode of travel between points and c) how much can to spend. Once you have these answers you will be able to get meaningful assistance.

keep Ibiza out of your list. Ibiza is a summer island, and if you're looking for all the party and the scene that the island is famous for, this is not the time of the year to go. Clubs are closed, no tourists and only the locals in theis day to day life.

You're covering a lot of ground, even for two full weeks.

If I were in your position, I would probably give Amsterdam a miss. It's not that nice in February and it's a bit out of the way from Southern Europe where you are looking to spend the rest of your time.

Thanks for the info. I guess Ibiza is off the list until warmer days, and Prague has been added. AMS may also be too far.

Unfortunately, it's almost a month in Sweden. By the end I'll be itching to get the heck out of here.

I have at least another 2 weeks here. That'll give me time to look into cities and travel arrangements.

:)

It's cold in Prague too!

It's cold in Prague too!

It's cold almost everywhere in Europe, but probably just not quite as cold as it is in Sweden :D :p

P.S. to the OP, I think you made a good move to give Ibiza a miss.

I'd trade Venice for Paris. I love Venice, but I think it loses a whole lot of its magic in cold, wet, gray weather (which you're likely to encounter in Feb.), while Paris retains a surprising amount of its magic, even in many of the outdoor settings, in winter.

Depending on your interests and susceptibility to Stendahl Syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal_syndrome), you could easily spend an entire two weeks, and more, in Rome and still come away wishing you had more time to see the sights. And if you're like me, you could spend a couple of weeks in Paris and still come away wishing you had more time to live there, regardless of the tourist sights.

It's cold almost everywhere in Europe, but probably just not quite as cold as it is in Sweden :D :p

P.S. to the OP, I think you made a good move to give Ibiza a miss.

I was thinking of checking it out as a "pre-trip" of sorts since I read about the party scene and wanted to return with friends. But why bother if it's as dead as was posted.

Since I'll probably coming back to Europe in a few months (fingers crossed), my plan was just to spend two or three days max in each place with no real purpose.

I figure I'm here already, why head back without traveling a bit.

Helena - I'll keep that in mind. Never been to either place, but my brother just sent pics from Venice. Weather didn't seem to bother him.

I was thinking of checking it out as a "pre-trip" of sorts since I read about the party scene and wanted to return with friends. But why bother if it's as dead as was posted.

Since I'll probably coming back to Europe in a few months (fingers crossed), my plan was just to spend two or three days max in each place with no real purpose.

I figure I'm here already, why head back without traveling a bit.


I should have clarified my post with a comment that it was still lovely despite being cold (except for Ibiza maybe, well... go there in summer).

In fact I love European cities in winter. Far fewer tourists, far less expensive, and locals being nicer because they aren't too flustered by too many tourists.

Venice hotels charge just about half the rate they charge in a peak season, for instance. I actually do recommend that people travel around European cities in winter if they can cope with the cold, which you obviously can for having coped with Swedish winter.

Due to the restricted amount of time you have (a week or two isn't much time to explore Europe), I would recommend you mainly look at cities that tend to get over-run with tourists in summer, especially Venice and Rome, and Prague to an extent, and then allocate the rest to having a look around the likes of Croatia and of course skiing. I'm not sure if you'd have enough time for that though, seeing you're going to Milan as well.

You may appreciate southern areas of France in spring a lot more than you do in winter though, because it's just extremely pleasant then. Probably same with Spain. Whereas cities don't really make that much difference whether you go in summer or winter in terms of their pleasantness (except for the tourist numbers as mentioned before), so give those a priority over the 'countryside' bit. Don't forget Paris either. I forgot to mention it before.

I should have clarified my post with a comment that it was still lovely despite being cold (except for Ibiza maybe, well... go there in summer).

In fact I love European cities in winter. Far fewer tourists, far less expensive, and locals being nicer because they aren't too flustered by too many tourists.

Venice hotels charge just about half the rate they charge in a peak season, for instance. I actually do recommend that people travel around European cities in winter if they can cope with the cold, which you obviously can for having coped with Swedish winter.

Due to the restricted amount of time you have (a week or two isn't much time to explore Europe), I would recommend you mainly look at cities that tend to get over-run with tourists in summer, especially Venice and Rome, and Prague to an extent, and then allocate the rest to having a look around the likes of Croatia and of course skiing. I'm not sure if you'd have enough time for that though, seeing you're going to Milan as well.

You may appreciate southern areas of France in spring a lot more than you do in winter though, because it's just extremely pleasant then. Probably same with Spain. Whereas cities don't really make that much difference whether you go in summer or winter in terms of their pleasantness (except for the tourist numbers as mentioned before), so give those a priority over the 'countryside' bit. Don't forget Paris either. I forgot to mention it before.

Any city is sounding pretty good right about now....it's 11pm and I'm still in the 'office'.

Couldn't agree more about winter months and fewer tourists.

One thing I have going for me is I that I currently don't have a return ticket to the States....so I have flexibility here. I will use Milan as my home base, and then towards the end work my way to Paris.

Thanks for the info. In a week or so my plans may be more concrete.

OT question - flying into the EU, is a return ticket necessary?

I'm thinking of buying a roundtrip ticket from here since its 1/2 the price of a one-way and make the return leg in the summer some time.

I flew in on a one-way last week and the agent (in Asia) asked if I was going to book a return ticket back to States :p I said yes, she typed some stuff, and gave me my boarding pass.

But what about flying from the States?

You miss Germany on your list.

Must sees in Germany:

-Berlin for Culture, Arts and Night Live.
-The Rhine Valley between Wiesbaden and Koblenz. Good wine, beautiful scenery and tons of old castles.
-Munich and other parts of Bavaria.

There is more stuff to see but I think this are the most interesting parts.

@Rogi:

While the border control officers in Europe probably won't ask US passport holders to show any evidence of returning home the airline check in agent at the US airport you try to board your flight to Europe might have instructions to check for a return ticket. In general even if some people tend to believe Europe is more relaxed with border controls because Europe seems to be some kind of more liberal that's wrong. Visa violations like overstaying your 90days tourist visa can cause a 5 year ban from the whole Schengen Area. The SIS (Schengen Informtation System) works pretty good.

Prague is a definite. I'll probably be heading there again next month. Expect 30 degree Fahrenheit.

The clubs in Ibiza open in June...I hear opening weekend is crazy.

If you want to go to a beach, try any of the canary islands. Its always warm there.

I'm currently sitting (err...freezing) in Sweden for work. I'm thinking of taking a week or two off afterward to check out the rest of Europe.

What are good/interesting/fun cities to check out in Feb? I will stop by Milan to drop off my stuff and head off from there.

So far the following are on my list:

-Venice
-Rome
-Skiing in northern Italy.
-South of Spain/France area
-Ibiza
-Croatia (my friend said good things).
-Amsterdam

That's all I got really. If I can afford two weeks maybe head to Eastern Europe.

Thanks :D

you left off florence, paris, london, brussels, berlin, madrid, krakow, prague, athens, and istanbul(european side only).

you left off florence, paris, london, brussels, berlin, madrid, krakow, prague, athens, and istanbul(european side only).

Whatever was missed will be on the Europe Part II list for this summer (especially Ibiza and France) ^

So far my plan is to hitch a ride with a co-worker to Copenhagen for the weekend, then fly to Milan. Two weeks checking out different places, but mostly relaxing. I will buy a RT ticket from MXP back home, with the return being in August. I will also have the return portion back to CPH if it tickeles my fancy in August :D

If you are headed from South of France to South of Spain, Barcelona and Madrid are on the way and are definitely worth a stop (depending on how you are traveling, it may also be nice to break up a long trip). If you will be in South of Spain, Grenada is worth a trip as the Alhambra is one of the most beautiful spots in Europe IMHO.