Hi /trv/ >europe trip with gf, january 2018 >never been

Firstly, you have a whole year to plan this, so this isn't so urgent. As well, you have not told us how much time you have to spend, so it is difficult to tell you what to see, it is better to not try to take on all of the things Europe has to offer in one trip, simply because then you'll just hit a city for a day, see some tourist traps and then bounce, wearing yourself out and not really getting a feel for any of the places. In addition, you've said nothing about how long you're staying, so that affects things a lot.

Most importantly, you've not told us more about yourselves, when you first conceived of your Euro vacation, why Europe? What were the things you have in your head that pushed you toward that? Good food is a matter of taste, and everywhere in Europe is historical.

Prague
>lots of shit to do
>great nightlife
>cheap as fucking shit
>it is a big city but it still has that eastern european small town feel to someone who has never been to one
>best beer in Europe(Staropramen)

the Swiss alps
>god i think everyone needs to hike through the alps one in their life

Salzburg
>cool city, not too big, not too small
>hallstatt nearby
>eagles nest nearby
>used to be my favorite city

idk how you feel about eastern europe, but if you want to go, Slovakia, Hungary, Western Ukraine and Romania are all very nice and for the most part safe places

i'm >>1209243

Those are the places that would be good for a first trip, eastern europe is a little more rough, but if it is y'alls first time, try those places, pretty romantic and not too hard on the budget, except for switzerland

>>1209234
OP here
We have 40/45 days, but I don't know if the money will be enough. With 3/4 good weeks we'd be satisfied. What we want to avoid is exactly what you said, the whole a city in a day thing, We would prefer to get to know 3 or 4 places more profoundly. About Europe, we chose it because of the flexibility to easily travel between countires allows us to get to know different places and cultures in a short amount of time (our other option was USA)

>>1209243
Sorry but this is bad advice. Except maybe the Alps. Sure Salzburg is nice, but you're gonna send someone who might only have one chance to visit Europe to Salzburg instead of the Vatican? Instead of the Louvre? He's asking for the essentials, the must visits.

>>1209226

I've only visited 3 Eastern European countries, so I'm gonna limit my advice to Western Europe:

'How could you not go'-cities for museums/historical places: Rome, Paris, London, Saint-Petersburg. Barcelona is a bit less historic but definitely a must. Amsterdam same. Second line would be Prague, Bruges, Venice, Budapest.
Outside cities: Loire region in France (other regions in France really appeal to your criteria too), Fjords in Scandinavia, the Greek Peninsula (history too), the British islands have beautiful scenery too if you don't mind shit weather.

These are super cliché answers, but there's a reason these places are so known as tourist hotspots. They have things you can't see or do elsewhere.

>>1209243
thanks, will def look into prague and salzburg! how about brno? seems nice (on pictures haha)

>>1209226
Why not May or October? It is warmer. Anyway:
>South Europe
Lisbon, Madrid/Toledo/Segovia (maybe Barcelona too, but I don't think winter is the best time for going there), Toulouse, Marseille/Avignon/Nîmes, Milan
>East Europe
Tallinn, Vilnius, Gdansk, Krakow, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Ljubljana

I'd highly recommend Krakow, cheap and beautiful in the winter. Also everyone speaks English so it'd be quite a nice place to visit on your first time to Europe, and Auschwitz is a truly harrowing experience.

>>1209331
we both work, our holidays are in december/january. also we want to enjoy new years eve in a different place. thanks for your input :)

>>1209321
ok, london and amsterdam are pretty much locks. what other place would you recommend in UK/netherlands? (liverpool manchester rotterdam etc etc?)
thanks for the lengthy answer!

Look into the places that are connected through Thalys and Eurostar high speed trains. They re easy, reliable and if you book at the right time they can be very cheap.

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>>1209243
>it is a big city but it still has that eastern european small town feel to someone who has never been to one

Not even trying to be offensive here, but this is honestly mindbogglingly retarded.

Prague is fucking packed with tourists regardless of the season. It's pretty much the Paris of the "East" as far as tourist numbers are concerned.
Prague's old town is still beautiful of course and it's pretty much a must-see in Europe but how anyone could attest Prague a "European small town feel" is beyond me. The city has more of a Disney charme these days than anything else, and it's hardly an Eastern European city in the first place. Even Vienna lies farther East than Prague.

Pic related, Alatskivi, an obscure authentic Eastern European town for the seasoned RealTraveler™.

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>>1209321
God not this fag, yeah i've been to the vatican. and i've been to the Louvre, compared to what I posted the SUCK ASS

The Vatican
>congested as fuck
>huge tourist traps
>shittiest city in europe
yeah it's cool but no where near walking through the old town of Prague

Louvre
I just don't like art and paris was cool but seems like its the cliche thing to do

also bruh salzburg is fucking wonderful, especially during winter, if I had a chance to stay for 5 days in Paris or Rome, or 2 nights in Salzburg, i'd choose salzburg time after time
>nice people
>clean city
>Hallstatt
>hallstatt
>schnops
It's a great city and a must stop

all of my crazy ass interesting stories came from eastern europe

>>1209385
this is not a thread about seasoned travelers, this is for the first time visiting Prague, and during winter? Have you been during winter? When it's not the christmas markets, there are virtually no tourists, and yea during the warmer months, tourists are fucking everywhere, but still nothing compared to Rome, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, London, etc.

plus yes Vienna is more east, but it still keeps that Western feel to it, the German, the food, the beer

Prague and the surrounding areas have completely weird ass food, different beer, and a bat shit crazy language, i don't get a disney feel at all, i get disney feels from the alps, some french and german cities, but not Prague

>>1209346
Just because it's highly famous doesn't mean it is good, consider that, Rome is not a great city, it's filled with trash and slums, yes the monuments are cool and great, but even at the Colosseum there was trash EVERYWHERE

If you are going to Italy i recommend that you take Rome in 1 day and leave, just putting in my 10 cents, the first time i went i was so excited then let down once i realized how shitty the fucking city is
inb4>"muh historical relevance"

also another couple suggestions

Assisi
>look it up, my favorite town in Italy

Zermatt
>gotta see the matterhorn

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>>1209430
pic related, it's not Australia, it's Czech countryside

also this pic is from Assisi, barely any people there, it's great

>>1209430
Oh, the "trash everywhere in Rome" guy again. As buttmad as ever I see.

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>>1209433
You know it, i showed pictures of the trash and yall could never show me pictures of no trash

like my picture, hmmm no trash here, that's the trash that Nero left was it?

i forgot that cities just leave piles of trash everywhere
get wrecked Romefag

>>1209433
inb4
>it's outside of Rome

here is the address
> Largo di Porta Castello, 2/A, 00193 Roma, Italy
right next to the vatican, a pile of trash, lel get fucked with that "no trash" bullshit

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>>1209430
>pic
You can find similar landscapes pretty much anywhere in Europe. Pic related, Lithuania.

>The Vatican
>congested as fuck
>huge tourist traps
That's Prague right here.

>Have you been during winter?
I've been to Prague three times, once in the winter. Obviously it was not as crowded as in summer but there were enough tourists to remind me that Prague has become a mainstream destination.

>Prague and the surrounding areas have completely weird ass food
In many aspects Czech and German cuisine are strikingly similar, mostly owing to Bohemia's long history as part of Austria-Hungary.

>plus yes Vienna is more east, but it still keeps that Western feel to it
Bohemia was never considered Eastern Europe. For long time it was part of the Holy Roman Empire and Austria-Hungary, and its history is intertwined with the history of Germany.
The only Eastern European thing about the Czech Republic is that the country got cucked by the Soviets in the latter half of the last century.
Given that you're American, I doubt you know much else about geography let alone the country's history, so it's okay that you're a huge pleb.

>>1209226
I mean the classic "cities of cities" would be London, Paris and Rome. They are all pretty lovely in their own way. Naturally they are also very touristy so it really pays to research in advance and avoid tourist traps.

Apart from those three i'd really cast a ballot for Vienna. It has that old imperial grandeur that you don't see anywhere else (i.e. everything is huge and opulent). I was there for 2 days during an inter-rail trip and really got to experience a lot since the city center is packed with sights.

As a somewhat alternative suggestion i'd heartily recommend Budapest. It's eastern so it's pretty cheap, but it's lovely and hasn't been swamped with tourists yet. Also with its wealth of coffeehouses, goulash and bath-houses it's an ideal place to recharge and warm up during the the cold winter months.

Aside from Paris, London, Rome, Amsterdam, and Prague, what are some other cities to see?

>>1209446

I support this post wholeheartedly. It's spot on.
Vienna is HUGE and everything looks so fucking important. It's probably got the most varied and impressive architecture in Europe. Hardly any city can compare.
Budapest might turn into the new Prague in a few years from now, so go there while you can. It's a dope city with lots of stuff to do without being as clichee as Prague.

>>1209449
hmm those covers many of the traditional bases i.e. french, british, italian, north western (as a Scandinavian i feel i'm allowed to call it that although Amsterdam is really quite distinct) , and central European. I guess the next on the list (apart from Vienna and budapest as i mentioned above) would be somewhere Spanish, Germanic and proper eastern european.

For Spain it's gotta be either Madrid or Barcelona. Both have tons of culture and culinary experiences. My impression is that Barcelona is slightly more touristy in both the good and the bad way. I'd probably recommend Madrid just because it's slightly more "cool" (bear in mind that i'm not actually a cool person, but just someone on the internet) and distinctly spanish.

As I recommended above Vienna is a cool hodgepodge of very European experiences and you can probably cover a lot of the more "germanic" experiences here i.e. go to a beerhall and have some Schnitzel.

saying "somewhere eastern european" is of course highly misleading since it includes so many countries, cultures and climates. As recommended above Budapest is a cool and comfy city at the cusp of entering mainstream tourism fame.

Another city on many must see lists is Krakow in Poland. I haven't been there myself but I believe it has one of the oldest city centers in europe. It's also a good staging point for visits to auschwitz if you are into that stuff.

I've personally had wonderful experiences in Bratislava and Ljubljana, but i suspect that they are mostly summer cities. That said Slovenia is has a wealth of natural sights. So if you feel like your trips is leaning a bit heavily on castles,museums and old city centers take a trip to Ljubliana and make it you base for visiting the Postojna Cave, lake bled and Triglav National Park.

Iceland and Switzerland or Austria and Hungary?

Who has better women?

>>1209472
On the other end of the spectrum we have some places i'd hesitate to recommend.

Brussels
The city center is a dreadful tourist trap and the sights are pretty meh. go here for great beer and a waffle and then leave immediately after

Scandinavia
Just not a lot of bang for your buck i'd say. Everything is expensive and the real unique sights are in the middle-of-nowhere Norway. bear in mind that i, being a native, am very biased against it as a tourist destination, so probably ask someone else.

I was gonna put Athens on here as i'd imagine going there during the winter would take away most of the charm, but then i looked it up and it seems like the temperatures are still quite pleasant and it has a lot fewer tourists. If any locals can corroborate this it might even be highly recommendable (being the birthplace of modern civilization and all that).

>>1209475
Of those i'd guess Iceland, but most of them are studying in Scotland or Copenhagen. Hungary if you are on a budget.

>>1209472
What about some smaller cities in Spain? Like Salamanca for example. Is it "cool"?

austria: vienna, salzburg, where else should i go?

czech: prague or brno?

germany: i've read that west germany sucks lots of time on 4chan, is that truth? should i stick to berlin and munich?

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some snow can give European cities an fairy tale look

>>1209331
Milan is shit, last place to visit in Italy as far as I am concerned (and I lived there).

Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam,Londen,Kopenhagen, Wenen,all of Norway, some cities in Spain, Rome maybe. are all pretty cool. Places not to go are Brussels just super boring with no real cool places to visited. If you want to go to Belgium go to Antwerpen or Brugge instead. Paris isnt all that great either. If you really wanna visit go for it but its overrated in almost every way. Just check what cities you like there are a lot to choose from.

>>1209761
It is better than Genova, tbqh

Smart comment, there are cities in EU that are utterly overrated, Paris beeing one of them. Odervise a good itinerary, i would add some of the south-east countries, like Slovenia, Croatia...

>>1209226
The usual stuff is pretty simple anyway, I just want to add a word of advice, a lot of the southern stuff
>Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Venice, Athens
to name a few, will look pretty bald and grey in Dec/Jan with ok tier weather, temps can be comfy, but it's still winter and the scenery won't live up to the pics you know.
They start to shine and come to life in early spring like March/April.

Other places that weren't named to consider:
>Munich
always fun, great food, awesome beer, comfy places around it also Deutsches Museum just google it
>Hamburg
top tier night life, kinda bipolar as the hippie like communes are just next to meeting points of the jetset, the harbour with the unesco world heritage Speicherstadt and a large number of german "top rated" chefs have their restaurants there.
>Strassbourg
small but romantic town, awesome scenery, they don't know if they're german or french and the food is god tier, you won't find a higher density of very affordable Guide Michelin/Gault-Millau restaurants anywhere and their Christmas Market is awesome

Budapest is an absolute must

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>>1209735
Austria, pretty much stick to Salzburg, Hallstatt, and Vienna

Czech: both are great cities, do both

Germany: Western Germany isn't bad at all, you have the Alsace region, which is fucking gorgeous, check out colmar, strasbourg, and the entire region, also western Germany has Stuttgart which is a pretty chill place, NorthWestern Germany is alright, nothing to spectacular

pic related

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>>1210055
>Western Germany isn't bad at all, you have the Alsace region

>>1209735
Innsbruck is worth a visit

>>1209318
When I travelled I budgeted for 1k a week. At the time it was equivalent to the same in ameribucks. Should be cheaper if you're not moving around much, though Rome - Tuscany isn't a bad italian adventure.

>>1209226
Italy. Florence is an absolute must, Rome comes right after.

Make sure you go to Slough, Scunthorpe and Grimbsy if you don't visit these places there is literally no point in travelling to Europe.

>>1210055
>>1209735
>Stuttgart
Stay the fuck away from that place. I've lived there for 4 years and let me tell you there is nothing beautiful about this city. Konstanz or Heidelberg are way better choices if you happen to be in south west Germany.

>>1211141
Anywhere is bad when you live there long enough, was Stuttgart the best? No, but still a cool little town, also I agree Heidelberg is great but very expensive, lol but still no where near Switzerland

>>1209243

Disregard this advice...it's poor.

>>1209318

45 days on 5k? Hope you like hostels or your GF plans on turning tricks.


And OP, 5k isn't going to get you far so just do one of the following two trips.

LONDON - PARIS - BRUSSELS - AMSTERDAM

or

BARCELONA - NICE - FLORENCE - ROME

>>1211130

This.

>>1209226

Also visit Lille, Marseilles, Frankfurt, Rotterdam Malmö, Birmingham, Innsbruck and Zurich. Literally the most underrated cities in Europe.

>>1209226

Sounds like you're planning to do a lot in a relatively short amount of time. Also asking for "absolute musts" makes me feel like you'll stick your head around a corner, mumble "so this is [insert country/city]" and make your judgement and be on your way, and when you're back home you'll feel like you've "seen Europe". It's great that you're travelling and exploring, but I just want to stress that there are no "absolute musts" or objectivity here. Asking for tips when you visit a city is a great idea, but it's a bit weird to do this for a country, let alone a continent. You probably know all this, but just stating the obvious.

>>1209226
go to the great great swedish north

>>1211294
This poster wants you to get robbed

If you come to Spain my advice is come to Madrid. Segovia and Toledo are gorgeous too and they're 1hr away by car from the capital.

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>>1211270
>not good advice
>recommends Brussels

>>1209735
West German here
If you like beautiful nature visit the Eifel region next to Belgium. West Germany doesnt have a "must-see" city but the bigger ones lie pretty close to each other on the Rhine river. You can visit Bonn (museum city), Cologne (great shopping city, Cologne cathedral, great culture) and Dusseldorf (weeb city) in 1 day if you want.

>>1211843
lol not OP and i've been around in Germany and never hit dusseldorf

How is it a weeb city? Just curious, might need to take a train to it soon

>>1211920

>In 1985 the general manager of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Düsseldorf, Akira Arikawa, stated that of all of the cities in the world outside Japan, Düsseldorf had the highest concentration of Japanese residents
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_community_of_D%C3%BCsseldorf

>>1211926
Got it, nevermind not going there

>>1211936
But, there isn't really a fancy 'Japantown'.

Some restaurants and books shops.

>>1211719

After hitting post, I regretted that. Should change it to Bruges or just skip Belgium altogether.

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>>1209226

If you plan to visit German cities the most beautiful are:

Nuremberg, Bamberg, Heidelberg and Dresden

Nuremberg and Bamberg are medieval. They have the adventage of being close by, so you can visit both in a few days.
Dresden is more 17th century classicism.

If you are into

None of these cities are very huge. So in a few days you're through.
They have a lot of tourists but are not overrun. You can still find proper athmosphere

If you and your gf are into culture i recommend you plan your cities according to historical periods or styles.

If you've seen paris with its huge spaces for example there's no reason to visit Dresden because the styles look quite similar.

>>1212004
Ficki ficki

>>1211987
Belgium is alright, i didn't go until i studied in Bern for a year, i took a couple days driving through it

wasn't bad but probably not the best choice to go on a trip to when you have the netherlands next door

OP here

>>1211270
45 days would be the max, but like I said we would be satisfied with 3/4 enjoyable weeks

>>1211302
I'm not planning to do a lot in a short amount of time.....I would actually prefer fewer cities/more time over lots of cities/few days in each. I came here for advice because I feel that what you can grasp of a city by pictures on google probably isn't really descriptive enough. Everybody has different preferences and biases so I won't take any opinion for granted, just wanted to see what more experienced travelers and people who already visited europe would recommend. Anyway, thanks for your input.

>>1212362
trust me, after your trip this is what you will become, you will have cities that you didn't like so much and you will have cities that you love

Also expect no one to give a shit about europe when you get back, first time i went for a month, it was a little hard to readjust and not talk about it to people

>>1209243
>Best beer in Europe
I think that prize would go to Germany or England

>>1209346
Go up north in England, try the lake district or Yorkshire dales if you like nature

>>1212362

Two people in Europe on 5k...unless you're staying in hostels and eating cheap, you will only get 2 weeks, tops.

>>1212560
lol, England's beer is on the same level as american beer

German beer was my favorite beer, until i visited Prague and tried staporamen

>>1213346
>England's beer is on the same level as american beer
If you drink Forster's or Carling, yes. English ale is good (and I say that as someone who despises the English in general).

>>1213346
>England's beer is on the same level as american beer

Stop embarrassing yourself

>>1213350
Can't stand English shit, but i guarentee you that England is not in the run for the best beer country in the world

>>1213368
Yeah you're right, i actually enjoy some american beer more than english beer

>>1213346

America has more variety in their beer than anywhere in the world. Just in my town alone, there are 20-30 breweries. Not to mention all of the fucking hipsters home brewing.

>>1213372
Enjoy your Coors light buddy boy, careful lad wouldn't want there to be too much flavour!

>>1211270
I live in Nice, going there in january isn't the best idea. The only special thing to do here during this time of the year is skiing. Other than that, the city is pretty much asleep. On the other hand, from may to september it's top tier - festivals, beaches, night life, hiking in the Mercantour, you name it.

If OP wants to have a taste of euro culture, architecture etc the Mediterranean is not the best place during winter, better go to the really big cities and see museums, buildings. Florence and Rome will probably be nice in winter altogether, dunno about Barcelona.

>>1213373
Good Point

>>1213376
Coors light aint bad, i love all beer (except english) and a real beer lover has a favorite light beer

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>>1209430
>I just don't like art

Just dropping by to say that the Louvre isn't just an art museum but also has thousands of interesting archeological stuff
Well I guess it's ancient art but my point being it's not just paintings.
I don't know why so many people think the Louvre is only an art museum when it's actually pretty much like the British Museum, full of artifacts

>>1213373
Quality over quantity, dumbass

>>1209475
Consider that a lot of Yugo girs and hungarians study in Vienna/Graz, so if you go there you can chose from all of them

If you want to meet Icelandic girls, go to Stockholm or Copenhagen

>>1211843
Also west German here
I'd sign that. Add Aachen if you're in Eiffel region if you're interested in history to learn about Charlemagne and the holy roman empire of German nation.
Go to Essen and Duisburg if you want to see the old mines and montane industry leftovers (It's awesome if you're into that "abandoned buildings" shit, apart there's not much to see)
If you like footbally, watch one of the matches of westerg German clubs, we have the best athmosphere in the stadiums

>>1209346
Mate, London is a shithole. Don't bother. If you want some really nice historic places you should check out the city of York.

>>1211987
Or you go to Antwerp and take some drugs if Amsterdam and Berlin are not possible

Also Bruges, Ghent and Leuven are pittoresk nice cities, but nothing for more then one day

>>1213708
Or bath or Edinburgh or basically anywhere that isn't London

>>1213350
>Carling
That's Canadian right there bud.

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>>1209226
How can you not stop pushing your stpid warmongering agenda on to Europe, fat American Pigdoge.

GET OUT

>>1214764
im not american but hey stay mad fag

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>>1209318
Well one thing you've got going for you is that you'll be there during Carneval & Fat Tuesday. There'll be celebrations all over Europe, with the most well known probably in Germany and Italy.

>>1209226
Try Oporto lad

>>1209226
>Europe
>january

You'll freeze to death.

>>1215042
We have these things called coats lad

>>1209226
americans, fuckk off form Europe, you destroyd it
go to paris, london, brussels, berlin and return to usa