Europe for a month

[greyeyes]

So I'm going to Europe this summer and I have about a month to go around and see what I can see. I'll be in Spain for about two months studying spanish but before I get there and after I leave I'll be able to travel around. So, does anyone have any suggestions for places to go? How about any tips helpful hints?? I'll be traveling alone for the first part and probably teaming up with a few friends for the latter portion of the trip.

[hunnychile]

My favorite city in France is Nice. So extremely pretty & nice people to chat with. Go see the Matisse Gallery (his home too!) and the church with Chagall's stain glass windows. It is a town kissed by the sun and you'll love the visit.

Lot's of great music around there too. Enjoy. Oh and never skip Amsterdam Holland. WOW is all I can say.

[snowy]

Personally I think Amsterdam is really overrated. There are much nicer places to visit in the Netherlands where you're less likely to get your pocket picked. Haarlem is a great place to stay, and if you do want to visit Amsterdam, it's 15 minutes away by train. The beach is also 15 minutes away in the other direction. There are all sorts of smaller towns in the Netherlands that are cool to visit, too, and the Dutch all speak English for the most part--no matter where you are. And they love to practice speaking it, so be prepared to answer a lot of questions about who you are and where you're from.

I also really liked Paris, especially the Latin Quarter. We spent a lot of time in dusty bookstores there. Paris is just the kind of city you could spend a whole week wandering around in and still feel like you've barely scratched the surface. Parisians are much nicer than people give them credit for. We didn't have any problems, though I would recommend having a basic grasp of French before visiting. People there will speak English to you, provided you make the effort in French first.

[amonkie]

Spending time in the Parisian Vietnamese quarter is a fun thing as well. While Paris is known for being an expensive city, eating at a restaurant or deli in this part of the city was extremely economical, as well as REALLY REALLY tasty

There's quite a few things in Germany as well ... a lot of it will depend on how you want to travel. If you get a train pass, it will not take you very much time to hop from area to area - that will open up your options quite a bit.

[Lucifer]

I'm heading for Portugal this summer, and I'm pretty familiar with the Porto area as I lived there for about 3 years in the 1990's. If you think you might be heading that way, I can suggest a couple of things.

[Charlatan]

I spend a lot of time every year in the South of France and can easily vouch for Nice.

There is the beach, there are the many museums and galleries. Additionally, within the vicinity are a ton of cool things to do.

If you have some money to spend I can recommend some *very* good restaurants.

[taboo]

you have to visit Greece.
Especially the island of Crete..the south-western part...it's beautiful.....

[greyeyes]

This trip is definately going to be on a tight budget. I am planning on spending some time in the Netherlands and France, and I'm most definately going to make it to Greece. are there any specifics that someone would think important about these places? Also, is there anywhere else that I should visit??

[greyeyes]

Originally Posted by Lucifer

I'm heading for Portugal this summer, and I'm pretty familiar with the Porto area as I lived there for about 3 years in the 1990's. If you think you might be heading that way, I can suggest a couple of things.

Yeah, I'm actually spending two months in San Sebastian Spain and taking some spanish classes there. I was hoping to take the train to Portugal for a weekend trip or something.