Europe - places to visit
 

Suppose you had two weeks to play with. October or May maybe.

You land at Paris where you'll spend a few days. It's a great introduction to Europe for someone who has never left Canada.

You return from Nice where they have the opportunity to see the Mediterranean, visit Monaco and maybe Cannes and enjoy some sunshine.

Now, if you could use a week somewhere in between, where would you go? And how would you travel via those places between Paris and Nice? No driving by car.

Geneva? Venice?

Nothing too hectic, maybe one or two stops. There appear to be some cheap flights about involving Venice but then it would be nice to see some scenery. Any train journeys recommended (or combination) that might end up in easy reach of Nice?

Genoa looks nice but maybe not different enough from Nice and Monaco?

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Bavaria, cross over into Austria and maybe if manageable sneak a peak at the Italian Lakes...

Not sure about train.... A car journey though?

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Central Massif and puttering through the alps to get to Nice. Genoa is a place I zipped through and it didn't look too appealing from the car (a port city) but the roads along the coast and inland from Genoa are fun to drive.

Most of my travels in that area have involved a car.

Menton is a nicer resort town than Nice but still a stone beach.

Saorge, France is a beautiful place..ditto goes for the Col du Turini. Unfortunately only easily accessible via car.

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Florence.

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Go back to Canada and make the most of the lack of snow and ice, it'll be back before you know it. í ½í¸ˆ

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Include some Scandinavia for sure.

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Corsica. Get the ferry there.
Amsterdam, Copenhagen. See some french castles.

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Munich, Verona, Avignon, Barcelona

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

All depends what you're interested in. C18 and C19 culture? Head from Paris to Vienna would be a good option, reaching Austria either through Switzerland or Germany. For Renaissance and Roman bits, head to Rome via Florence. Easy to get back to Nice from either place, though obviously the trip from Vienna is much longer. Or split the difference and go to Venice via Saltzburg and back through Florence and Genoa?

In any event, if a car is off the cards, take the train. Nowhere is much more than a day's travel from anywhere else, there's plenty of countryside to admire, and there are overnight/sleepers scheduled on a lot of the longer journeys if you're anxious to maximise time-at-destination.

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Berlin and Vienna.

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Throw some darts at a map and go to those places :) I'd love to visit Prague and Amsterdam. I love France and Venice is lovely.

May daughter leaves in two weeks on a escorted trip. She flies to Paris and then has to get to the UK (cheapest way we could figure the flights lol) She is then spending a week with family doing stuff. She then picks up a tour in London that goes to Paris, Switzerland, Spain, Monaco, Venice and Rome, now this one is aims at 18-30's but you can get adult versions too. Great taster to see where you would like to spend more time and it has the security of being in a group (which I really like as I'm not going to be there lol).

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

might also be worth looking at this

Interrail Passes | Interrail.eu

think it isn't just for students anymore

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

If you want syn then stay south. Rome, Pompeii, Barcelona.

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I never had the pleasure of the Italian lakes, just Swiss and Austrian ones. Might be a bit too much to do. I was thinking that Geneva might enable some shorter traveling time while taking in a different country and provide the lake experience as well. Plus a selection of boat trips.

Nice has the advantage of size and a location advantage for other trips I think.

Lovely idea but that's a bit too much of a detour for Paris to Nice. ;)

Barcelona might be an alternative to flying back to Canada, so maybe Paris, Geneva, Nice, Barcelona.

I never did get to see Vienna but I would need to try to keep all interested. Paris might be all the "culture" one of the group could take. Need to consider my 75 year old mother in law as well...mind you, she might be fitter than me. :lol:

Those Swiss railway journeys always look so nice.
Not to mention potential saving on accommodation costs.

Funnily enough one of the Geneva-Nice flights I saw goes via Amsterdam.

I've done two Amsterdam visits. Anne Frank House aside, I've never been impressed.
There are often odd prices like that.

I found flights to Paris and back from Nice for $800. If I added Paris to Geneva and Geneva to Nice it went to $1200 but Paris to Geneva and Geneva to Nice on the same dates was $200. Two flights plus two flights cheaper than four flights. :confused:
I like that sort of taster. It's how I became more familiar with Nice and Paris and got to see so many other places like Prague, Salzburg, Venice, Cologne, Bruges and a few others.



Absolutely. I was playing around with various rail journeys and passes were coming up as alternatives

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

And break my computer screen? :rofl:

A tad too far out of the way without increasing the length and cost of the trip.

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

You initially mentioned Greece. I would have suggested Santorini. It's the stereotypical island that has all the blue domed roofs and white washed buildings...definitely a lovely place to while away some time... but staying closer to France... Again, was going to suggest the Orient Express but even that has stopped now...

Having grown up in Eastern France that is where my heart is... you could travel through the Alsace and then pop in to Switzerland before making your way down to Nice? The old mountains in the Vosges are beautiful and there are many lakes there where the water is crystal clear...

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Find Novo and eat him out of house and home.

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We are saving for a trip to Europe. Wife want's to go to London, and Austria. Probably wouldn't have enough time, but I'd also like to see Paris (go to the Disney park) Norway, Iceland, Germany, Italy, Greece, and others...

I'd need months....lol

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

That was in the Groceries thread - bizarre as that sounds ;)


That sort of thing probably needs a road trip though.

I had a stop in Colmar once. That was a lovely place.

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

If you fly Icelandair, you can stopover a few days in Iceland for 'free', mind: Iceland's an expensive place. Iceland air offers great prices on these tickets if you book well in advance!
Disney Paris is really not worth the trouble IMHO, I mean, Disney is US, the best version is there if you like that kind of thing. Much more interesting is Legoland Billund. The Danish are mighty friendly!

@BristolUK If you take a TGV from Nice to Paris, you could make stops in Avignon, a really nice place, bit hilly.... Lyon, quite different, good for some French food. Vienna is something completely different, Austrians are quite friendly. Oh and a cottage in the Champagne region that's on my want to do it again list. You'll need a car though.

Stuttgart comes to mind, it's different from France, it has water too, so bound to be able to find a boat ride, it's not your everyone goes there travel destination....

And I get what you say about Amsterdam, think Leiden or Haarlem, they've got canals and the canal houses, they've got museums and are much friendlier places to be in.

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Iceland Air is actually who we would take for that stop over in Iceland... I only want a couple days in Iceland, nothing long.

London and Austria would be the main places we would visit.

It's several years away, gotta save up for it....

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Paris to Geneva on TGV, takes 3 hours, Geneva to Munich - takes most of the day but superb scenery, goes via austria, Munich to stuttgart, stuttgart to amsterdam, amsterdam to Paris, Paris back to Nice. go look here for info on continental trains The Man in Seat Sixty-One - the train travel guide... a brilliant site. I used to travel all over Europe and used trains 85% of the time. Lovely way to travel, quite cheap if booked in advance or interail , not bad food.

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Wow, that's a superb site!

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Yes, and it's kept fairly well updated too. Just remember that certain travel concessions are only available if you book them OUTSIDE Europe. so investigate carefully when you've built an itinerary to ensure you get the best deal before leaving Canada.
I used to work for Canadian companies and my bosses all loved travelling by train in europe. Less security and no problem with luggage - or silly carry on liquids rules!

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Oh, and don't forget you can do a side trip to London on eurostar from Paris in 2 hours - so a day trip is quite feasible.

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I was on one booking site and they were asking 2nd class and 1st class, is 2nd just a different term for coach? I assume that it is, but not fully sure.

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Yes.

And "coach" means bus.

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When the time comes, I'll have to make a list of terms that mean different things over there, I am sure there are a few more, don't want to get confused when booking hotels and such...

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Went to Leiden a few times. It was a transfer point from the train to bus for Katwijk aan zee :) Delft is nice too.

Will do, thanks.

I've never been that keen on single days in London. It would seem weird to take the 'kids' and mother in law to Europe and not "call in" on England but if I did that you can be sure I'd be expected to go to Bristol and that would just take too much out of the time or require more time and money for the rest.

Years ago the original plan was to make an extended visit to the UK, stay in Bristol and do a series of things from there, like a few days in Paris or other 'city break' style, a Swiss/Austrian trip, a week in Greece or Spain...

But then my wife's health made that impossible :(

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Funnily enough I was about to suggest the same.

BristolUk would be welcome to spend time with us in Normandy in our location very close indeed to the fascinating history of the landing beaches and the Battle of Normandy, the Marais de Cotentin, the medieval city of Bayeux with its glorious cathedral, it's bustling saturday market, its porcelain and its lace.

Easily accessible from Paris (or the channel ferry ports at Cherbourg or Caen) by train.

Bring your own bottle.

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Newcastle Brown? :lol:

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:thumbup:

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If you are planning on using the budget airlines, bear in mind that it can cost twice as much to check a suitcase as it does to buy a seat. Last year we spent a few days in Paris, then flew to Stockholm, then to Rome and back to Paris again. Flights cost between 19-60 euros each, with Stockholm to Rome being the most expensive. To check a bag was 50 euros, so you need to budget for that or do what we did and pack light and get everything into hand luggage. Other thing to remember is that the airports used are often some distance away from the city.

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Can we all come?

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An excellent point. The fares I saw involving Venice looked ridiculously cheap and that could be why.

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It depends on your bottle.

<but yes>

Re: Europe - places to visit
 

Hmm, I did go back and I couldn't find the reference to Greece it is true...still think you should go to Santorini. They have the most beautiful sunsets on earth...

Maybe a road trip would be necessary sadly. Colmar was maybe 70km from where I grew up. Haven't been back for several years and now I'm in Canada it's even less likely but I love that whole area...lots of good memories of growing up....

Wherever you go will be a wonderful change of scenery... don't go everywhere and then it's the perfect excuse to go back again!!!! :thumbsup:

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Hey Bristol you'll love a trip there! No real ideas but depends on your mood too I guess. Have lots of fun and wishing you a happy, safe journey (watch out for pickpockets and keep your goods in deep pockets or strapped safely) :cool:

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Having chased the bag snatcher who grabbed my mum's handbag in Nice, I have personal experience :nod: