Traveling Europe

[Squirrelly]

I've been planning to travel the Europe for quite some time, but haven't really been able to make the financial accommodations until recently, and since I know there are a lot of Europeans here, I had a few questions for you guys.

1) Should I purchase a motorcycle or 'hoof' it (use public transportation - on that topic, how is public transportation?)? Would my American license be valid? How would insurance work?

2) What are some places that are pretty much a required visit, and places that should be avoided at all costs?

3) How do I avoid being taken advantage of? :wink:

Any other advice you guys could throw my way would definitely be helpful.

[tofu]

1) Should I purchase a motorcycle or 'hoof' it (use public transportation - on that topic, how is public transportation?)? Would my American license be valid? How would insurance work?

2) What are some places that are pretty much a required visit, and places that should be avoided at all costs?

3) How do I avoid being taken advantage of? :wink:

Any other advice you guys could throw my way would definitely be helpful.

1) Public transport was fine for me, trains to every city I was going to (I went through Holland, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Belgium, UK). Within the cities it was fine getting around with a bike or transport. I would have liked to of had a car but saves a shit load of $'s not having to put up with it.

2) Depends on your tastes, I hate being a tourist and having to see X Y and Z, so I just hung out with the locals and for that I enjoyed Amsterdam, Koln, Bad Soden (30 mins outside of Frankfurt) and Luxembourg was pretty cool too, somewhat touristic but I've always liked the small nature of Luxembourg so it was worth checking out

3) If it's your thing, couchsurf your way around. Most hosts give you a wealth of info on the city you're in, would normally show you around too. Not to mention you dont pay a cent for accommodation: http://www.couchsurfing.com/

[FrieChamp]

You can get an international permit in addition to your American driver's license and that will allow you to drive in Europe AFAIK (better google if this applies to all EU countries). Nevertheless I recommend to take public transportation, especially when it's your first time to Europe. I don't know where you are originally from, but driving through Plano Texas is a rather different experience from driving through...Paris for instance There are also a few different rules and driving through England, well, that's a completely different story.. Public transportation within and between cities is usually pretty good, but I think it would be best to look for advice from Northern Americans who have been to Europe before, as us Europeans could be either biased or consider certain things as completely normal, whereas Americans might be surprised. Natives often have a different take on such topics than tourists

[e-freak]

take the public transport, esp considering our gas-prizes

i'd try to see the bigger cities (for germany: Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin and Köln) and some smaller towns on the trip - for the above it could be something like Frankfurt - Bad Soden/Darmstadt/Wiesbaden, Hamburg - Kiel/Lübeck/Bremen, Berlin - Leizpig/Wittenberg/Dresden, Köln - Bielefeld/Dortmund/Bonn.

You may also think about what you expect to see: If you're interested in european history you might just travel (again Germany as example) Berlin, Potsdam, Bonn, Weimar and Frankfurt, if you're more into art you might check out Köln, Berlin, München, city-life you may check out the same as for art plus Hamburg and Frankfurt and if you're looking for what the typical real life is you may just skip all of these, join some mapcorians in smaller towns, see some of the pubs and bars, some of the Mittelgebirge, while coolest places for Landscapes might be Mecklenburgsche Seenplatte, Elbsandsteingebirge, the Alps, some Mittelgebirge and the baltic coast.

Depends also on how much time you've got and what part of europe you want to see - it seems more and more tourists are coming to poland, russia, ukraine, hungary, while the majority of tourists only travel within the boundaries of 1989 (France, Italy, Germany and GB).

[Squirrelly]

Thanks guys, and specifically for pointing me towards that CouchSurfing program. That is essentially what I want to do; a world retreat to gain awareness of the various cultures of the world, not so much a vacation. I'd still like some more information on some great places to visit (specifically in England, Denmark, Sweden, and Italy) and areas that should definitely be avoided, perhaps from a fellow American that's traveled Europe? Thanks again!

EDIT: Also, what are prices like over there? How much does food, transportation, museums, and so forth cost?

[JAL]

Only advice I can give you is that the best time to travel in Europe is definitely between June - September and

If you're travelling on public transportation you might consider getting an EuRail Pass. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurail

[Squirrelly]

Aye, I've been looking at the Eurail, seems like a really good deal. And what's going on between June & September? Or is it just the most ideal time as far as weather?

[e-freak]

weather and the major tourism is heading south at that time.

[Sentura]

weather mostly. europe sucks in winter. i'd even say go as early as may or april, though you may be unlucky to catch some snow if you start up north (we had snow at easter last year). tourism as far as i know goes on all the time... but that's not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you stay in hostels. i've met some awesome people on my journeys in the US and the far east... chances are you'll find the same in europe.

do you have a plan of which countries to visit?

[Squirrelly]

Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, France, and perhaps England.

[st0lve]

If you go insane and go to norway, skip the south and east, go west and north. that's what you dudes wanna see, fjords and moose signs.

[Nysuatro]

For Belgium : Leuven and Gent

Public transportation is good in belgium.

[Sentura]

Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, France, and perhaps England.

not a bad choice of countries. personally i'd probably want to explore more of the inbetween countries you don't hear about that much, like croatia/serbia/belgium/ireland rather than just the ordinary "germany, france, england, italy". you do have greece on that list though, which i'm going to refer to as a journey to the land of win. as for denmark, i reckon that the only two interesting places that are close to sweden would be roskilde (for your viking history lesson) and copenhagen (for your drinking needs).

[FrieChamp]

For Belgium : Leuven and Gent

Public transportation is good in belgium.

Now that you mention it: What about Bruges? I heard it's quite nice and think about going there sometime as well!

[Corwin]

For Belgium : Leuven and Gent

Public transportation is good in belgium.

Now that you mention it: What about Bruges? I heard it's quite nice and think about going there sometime as well!

I went there recently, and I found it to be a beautiful town, but too touristic for my tastes. I don't know what you could do apart from just visiting the town, didn't even feel like people were living there.