European destinations - what is your favorite?

[klpca]

sorry to hijack this thread--but options for decent TS in Europe without a car is super! I'm putting Bad Gastein and Les D on my list. I'll add that Marriott's Ile de France outside of Paris is pretty fantastic IMHO. We've been 2X (even paying cash to stay).

It's the perfect hijack! Knowing about these options is fantastic. We have driven on all of our trips except Italy and our week in London so we can do it. We just prefer not to whenever possible.

 

[klpca]

My gosh I don’t know how y’all plan these European trips. We would really like to do an extensive European tour but I simply don’t have the patience to plan it all out.

We are hoping we can get to Denmark to see some friends and plan on doing that as soon as we can. We’ll add some additional travel to that trip but the amount of wonderful places to see is dizzying.

We usually start with a tour itinerary (no intention of taking a tour) and tweak our personal itinerary from there - adding and dropping things to suit us and changing the duration of different places. I do logistics and my husband is more of the "things to see" planner. So far it has worked well. Btw we are not 100% DIY and have no problem adding day tours or hiring a guide to get us to places we'd like to visit, especially if it is a place where having a guide improves the experience.

 

[Ken555]

It's the perfect hijack! Knowing about these options is fantastic. We have driven on all of our trips except Italy and our week in London so we can do it. We just prefer not to whenever possible.

Driving can be challenging, especially on narrower streets, blind corners, and on the opposite side!

FWIW (another tangent), I’ve found Google Maps in advance and the InRoute app (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/inroute-route-planner/id703796787) while driving extremely helpful. I create a trip map in Google Maps, share it with friends for advice and input (especially among those joining me), and is helpful to plan each days driving with destination and any known stops. When done, I add it to InRoute by day so I can keep it active in the car. On the last few trips I use it on my iPad while using Waze on my iPhone for easier/better directions (easiest with a data plan).


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[JanT]

Thank you so much. We will definitely take a look at doing it that way. Hopefully, we'll be able to put something together that works for us.

We usually start with a tour itinerary (no intention of taking a tour) and tweak our personal itinerary from there - adding and dropping things to suit us and changing the duration of different places. I do logistics and my husband is more of the "things to see" planner. So far it has worked well. Btw we are not 100% DIY and have no problem adding day tours or hiring a guide to get us to places we'd like to visit, especially if it is a place where having a guide improves the experience.

 

[nerodog]

I

I spent as much time planning as actually on the trip! I see why people just do tours. But with a family of 6 and some late sleepers, a tour was not practical for us. however, I enjoy planning and learning about the historical places, culture, and great places to eat!

Agree , doing the research ahead of time is part of the fun. I feel like sometimes once I arrive, it's almost familiar in some ways and avoids disappointment with wasting time . I have also enjoyed escorted tours .I love the Eyewitness Travel books as well. Great photos and maps on particular highlights.

 

[Laurie]

Also recommend TS in Madeira. Many choices and a great place to explore and walk the levadas!! Some of my faves there are the Pestana Group...Miramar and Pestana Palms .Hoping to do an exchange in Malta and Tenerife, Canary Islands in 2021 providing things improve. Looking in the latter part of the year.

Yes yes, Madeira is fabulous for spectacular hiking without a car, stay in or at edge of Funchal if possible. Loved our Pestana resort stay also, used cheap city buses and map of levadas (paths along old irrigation trenches, mountain views but almost level walking!), went on one guided hike, there are many. Plus you can go almost any time of year due to temperate climate. We went over New Year's for one of the best fireworks displays ever.

sorry to hijack this thread--but options for decent TS in Europe without a car is super! I'm putting Bad Gastein and Les D on my list. I'll add that Marriott's Ile de France outside of Paris is pretty fantastic IMHO. We've been 2X (even paying cash to stay).

To manage expectations, Les Diablerets wasn't rated GC in 2017 when we went, and wouldn't have deserved it - it was fine and adequate, maybe they have upgraded, no reviews in RCI anymore. The free local transportation pass they'll give you is described here - we took all the operating lifts for hikes, and visited most of the towns on the plan:

Free Access Card

The Free Access Card: more than 30 free activities and transport in Villars, Gryon and Les Diablerets

www.villars-diablerets.ch

 

[Paumavista]

Our trip did involve driving.....We started in Barcelona (cheaper flights)....and toured the south of France to Nice (at the end of 3 weeks we flew up to Paris, spent a few days & flew home; because it was a cheaper airfare). The south of France in May was beautiful and charming.....the castle in Carcassone!, Collioure! Staying in L'Isle surla Sorgue & visiting Gordes, St Remy, Roussillon...then staying in Antibes near Nice while exploring the area. (we had seriously thought of visiting the UK.....but the unpredictable weather scared us away).....We were gone 3+ weeks and had one morning & one evening of showers during the entire trip (probably lucky.....)

 

[klpca]

Agree , doing the research ahead of time is part of the fun. I feel like sometimes once I arrive, it's almost familiar in some ways and avoids disappointment with wasting time . I have also enjoyed escorted tours .I love the Eyewitness Travel books as well. Great photos and maps on particular highlights.

On one hand i agree, on another going in without any expectations is also fun. I'll admit it, I was not very interested in Italy. I did our logistics - flights, lodging, and transportation but I had very little interest in the details as it was on my husband's bucket list, not mine. He planned everything and it was amazing. It was like having 16 days of Christmas. Every day was something that I didn't even know that I wanted. I'm too much of a planner to do that again, but I should! It was really, really fun.

 

[nerodog]

On one hand i agree, on another going in without any expectations is also fun. I'll admit it, I was not very interested in Italy. I did our logistics - flights, lodging, and transportation but I had very little interest in the details as it was on my husband's bucket list, not mine. He planned everything and it was amazing. It was like having 16 days of Christmas. Every day was something that I didn't even know that I wanted. I'm too much of a planner to do that again, but I should! It was really, really fun.

Yes totally agree. Sometimes the unplanned events on a trip end up being the best!! I felt the same way about Poland. A family member really wanted to go. I ended up planning a tour and to this day, it was one of my best trips. Loved it!!!

 

[beejaybee]

Update:
We will be returning to Switzerland in 2023 (fingers X'd). This time we will not rent a car, but will be traveling by train with several other couples. Tentative plan is to spend 2 nights in Lucerne after an Avalon Rhine cruise that ends in Basel. From there I was thinking about the Gotthard Panoramic train to Lugano and perhaps the Centovalli R.R. to Domodossola and then up to the Jungfrau region, but now think it may be best to skip that "jog" and go directly to the Jungfrau region, staying in either Wengen, Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen for 4 nights. For ease of planning we will stay in hotels. Got a great little hiking guide for the Jungfrau region that details 13 easy walks in the area. Since many mountain transports are included the Berner-Oberland rail pass might be a better option than the Swiss Pass....
All thoughts, advice and suggestions welcome!

 

[klpca]

I just re-read the whole thread and what fun! Because things are taking longer to return to normal than I ever expected, we have kind of shelved European travel for awhile but maybe I should start planning again.

 

[Glynda]

I would love to spend a month in Italy with fewer people there now. I'd like to take an Italian immersion class several days a week. I don't know which school or which location but preferably someplace smaller and near a train station. Dream on...

 

[TravelTime]

I love Istanbul and Turkey in general. We did a 3.5 week trip about 5-6 years ago starting in Istanbul for 3 nights, then a 17 night back to back Windstar cruise from Istanbul, through Greece and the Dalmatian Coast and ending in Venice, then spent 2-3 night in Venice and 2 nights in Copenhagen before taking our nonstop flight back to San Francisco. It was an incredible trip, one of my favorites.

England, Scotland and Ireland is also great. We did another trip for about 2.5 weeks starting in London for 4 nights, then Edinburg for 3 nights, then a 7 night cruise around Scotland and ending in Dublin. Another fabulous trip especially because we had perfect weather during the entire trip.

 

[Passepartout]

I can't decide on my favorite. It's either my last trip to Europe, or the next one.

 

[elaine]

Beejaybeeohio. Lucerne is a lovely town. Based upon a random stranger’s advice on Rick Steve’s we went to wengen-3 kids and mum in tow. And loved it. The train ride is great esp the cog wheel. we stayed at hotel Baren (the bear) which is better known for its fantastic restaurant
.

 

[vikingsholm]

We did an Alps tour for a month from late August to late September this year. It was really great, busy enough with Europeans, but not too many Americans. I posted a balcony photo from Innsbruck earlier, but here's some more. We spent a week in the Italian Dolomites, a week northern Italy's lake country, a week at Lake Lucerne Switzerland, and much of a week at a Worldmark in Bavaria. We do a lot of outdoors activity and hiking, so the trip was ideal. This was our fifth trip over to that area, and it never gets old. Here's a small sample.

Dolomites:

Italian Lake country, Lake Como:

Switzerland:

Bavaria:

 

[bobpark56]

We love the Cotswolds. Also Andalucia province in Spain, as long as we stay away for the touristy beach towns (love the small pueblos blancos). Málaga itself is fine, too, as are Madrid and Barcelona.

 

[nerodog]

We did an Alps tour for a month from late August to late September this year. It was really great, busy enough with Europeans, but not too many Americans. I posted a balcony photo from Innsbruck earlier, but here's some more. We spent a week in the Italian Dolomites, a week northern Italy's lake country, a week at Lake Lucerne Switzerland, and much of a week at a Worldmark in Bavaria. We do a lot of outdoors activity and hiking, so the trip was ideal. This was our fifth trip over to that area, and it never gets old. Here's a small sample.

Dolomites:

View attachment 41673


View attachment 41674


Italian Lake country, Lake Como:

View attachment 41675


Switzerland:

View attachment 41676


Bavaria:

View attachment 41677

Great photos!

 

[nerodog]

So many beautiful places. We love Austria...Innsbruck is a fave. In Portugal , Braga, Douro Valley, Monzarez..Madeira Island a treat....we also lived Gdansk ,Poland and Prague. Bruge is a beauty. Switzerland is like a postcard!!! Cotswold, Lake district , New Forest.... Ireland small towns. Isle of Skye. So hard to choose.

 

[beejaybee]

@vikingsholm
Fantastic Photos!
@elaine
Glad to know you liked Wengen. Hotel Baren is one I'd already bookmarked!

Itching to firm things up but "patience is a virtue" and we are way too soon to book anything (other than the river cruise which for some reason the 8/29/23 sailing was priced $400 less pp than the previous or following ones).

 

[x3 skier]

For many years, I made two trips each year to Europe, one to London and the other to another country on the Continent. Having been to most of the continental major cities and some smaller ones, I continue to return to London since there’s always something new to visit and old haunts to revisit in this magnificent city.

Cheers

 

[CalGalTraveler]

For many years, I made two trips each year to Europe, one to London and the other to another country on the Continent. Having been to most of the continental major cities and some smaller ones, I continue to return to London since there’s always something new to visit and old haunts to revisit in this magnificent city.

Cheers

Can you recommend some places in London beyond the usual tourist spots (which I have visited)? I find London less interesting than the rest of the continent so use it typically as a 2 - 3 day stop on business, but perhaps we are missing out?

 

[x3 skier]

Can you recommend some places in London beyond the usual tourist spots (which I have visited)? I find London less interesting than the rest of the continent so use it typically as a 2 - 3 day stop on business, but perhaps we are missing out?

London Walks www.walks.com has many walking tours that cover some offbeat topics including pubs, Jack The Ripper and others. They also do day train trips to places like Cambridge, Oxford and Canterbury.

One of my favorite things is a Day Trip on The British Pullman which is the English portion of the Orient Express. Belmond.com. An experience like no other.

If you’re interested in WWII History, a short train ride to Bletchley Park to see where the code breakers worked is interesting as is a visit to the Churchill War Rooms on Whitehall or The Imperial War Museum.

Taking a No. 9 or No.10 Bus is cheap way to pass by major sights.

Any show in The West End is well worth the money.

if you’re a member of a private club in the USA, you may have reciprocal membership at one of the private clubs in London. A few offered day passes in the past but I haven’t participated a few years.

if you have any specific interests, let me know.

Cheers

 

[vikingsholm]

Great photos!

Thanks. It's a little smartphone camera that could. The stunning scenery makes it a lot easier though.

Interesting that the hiker in front of me for the Swiss photo must have been in her early 70s, but in the Alps all ages seem to go hiking, and it seems like more of a pasttime to them than watching sports or such, and using the poles helps out too. It's one reason that many of the older folks that I see there seem to be in pretty good health, I suspect.

 

[beejaybee]

23 years ago! Probably blurry photos from old album retaken by IPad just now. DH and I are hiking out of Grindelwald from the Pfingsteggbahn toward the Restaurant Stieregg. Love being able to pause for refreshments when hiking in Switzerland!