European Adventure Travel
How should my sister and I spend our 28 day vacation in Europe?
Howdy All!
My sister and I are going on our first European adventure for 28 days from May 15 to June 11. As of now, our plan is to buy a 21 day Eurail pass and travel almost nonstop from France, to Italy, to Austria, to Switzerland, to the Netherlands, to Germany, to Denmark, and to Sweden. These 21 days would be sandwiched between to periods of time in England.
I think my sister is really pumped about seeing a lot of famous cities, but I'm worried that we're making a bad decision and I don't want to spend $600 on a pass I'll regret buying. There are a few places we have to see: Rome, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Stockholm. Do you think we should drop the rail pass idea, get cheap plane tickets to Italy, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen, then take the train to Stockholm. We are also interested in seeing old villages, with old buildings.
Like I said our other plan was to move almost non-stop from Paris, to Monaco, to Pisa, to Rome, to Naples, to Pompeii, to Rome again, to Florence, to Venice, to Salzburg, to Innsbruck, to Zurich, to Bern, to Lausanne, to Paris again, to Amsterdam, to Berlin, to Copenhagen, to Stockholm. Many of those are stops on the way to another place, like stopping in Pisa on the way to Rome.
That might give you an idea of some of the things we wanted to see; we are also on a tight budget. What should we cut, what should we see, and how should we get around?
All I have to say is have you seen the movie "Taken"? You are very brave! 
Valencia, Spain
Finding a holiday off the beaten track doesn’t have to involve trekking long distances. And this week Julia found a city refreshingly free of tourists in the traditional haven of British tourists: Spain.
Duration : 0:7:34
How to organize your European Vacation?
Friends often ask me to plan their European vacations, and more specifically, their vacation in Paris. Why me? Being a native of Paris I have the inside scoop as to cheap hotels, how to get special hotel deals and other cheap vacation tips. I can also tell you about travel weather and other useful information.
The first step consists of determining who exactly is coming on this trip, your destination, the length of the trip, and when do you plan on going. Don’t forget the most important consideration- your budget. Believe me, a European tour with two year old toddlers is not the same as the same as a honeymoon or even a vacation in London with just your partner in life. Actually, traveling with a baby may be easier than traveling with a bored teenager. There are ways to get their cooperation however. Young people of all ages, including my 70 years old parents who enjoy “roughing it”, plan very economical European tours living in youth hotels.
The time of year makes a great deal of difference as well. Summer and mid winter are the peak travel seasons, but those who are looking for resort deals along the Mediterranean shores or for ski resorts in the Alps might consider late spring or early autumn. Here retirees have a distinct advantage planning for travel in Europe, or any kind of travel for that matter, since they can be more flexible.
Talking about time and dates, one of the easiest ways to save money is simply to fly out and return in the middle of the week. Airlines are getting crafty though, and “week-end” can mean Thursday to Monday! That leaves Tuesday and Wednesday as mid-week days.
Still, if you do fly out on one of those days, it can save you a couple hundred dollars.
Alright, so you’ve decided on your budget, the number of people in your party, the length of stay and when you want to go. Here are a couple of scenarios.
First, let’s take a family of four – Mother, Father, 12 year old and 5 year old. This is their first time so they don’t want to be too adventurous, yet they do want to have fun. The safe part of their trip is London, since they speak English. The adventure is Paris where obviously most people speak French. So our family decides to spend a week in London, and a week in Paris during their children’s Spring Vacation which occurs in April, since that’s outside the peak travel time.
Another scenario could be two retired couples who decide to travel to Europe together. They’ve been there before and know their way around a bit. This group decides to fly to Paris, stay for a couple of days to see the sights and look up old friends, and then take a fast train down to the Mediterranean coast. There they’ll stay in Montpelier for a short visit before taking a cruise to the Greek Islands. Whether they opt for a luxury cruise or not, they will have a wonderful time at a very economical rate.
So you see, planning an European vacation is almost as much of a challenge as the vacation itself!
Veronique Merlin is the owner of VP-Travel.
Veronique Merlin
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/how-to-organize-your-european-vacation-4047.html
What is the climate of the Swiss Alps?
I am looking to take a trip to Switzerland and am wondering what the climate of the Swiss Alps is in the winter, spring, summer and fall as I would also like to do some snowboarding. Thanks for any help you can offer
I believe it's called "alpine". Colder than anywhere lower, because when you get into higher elevations, the temperature goes down (law of nature…heat dissipates, as you go higher – the air expands and becomes thinner…)
I live in the Colorado Rockies, pretty high up. We NEVER put away our winter coats in the summer. They may need to be pulled out at any time. Winter times, it can get below zero for up to two weeks at a time, and never go above zero. Often 30 below overnight for a week or so. (this is F.) In the summer, it usually doesn't get above 80, and drops to around freezing almost every night. I would expect similar temperatures in Switzerland. Maybe a little different. Bring LOTS of warm sweaters and t-necks for the winter, and always have a sweater or sweatshirt available in the summertime.
Snowboarding is going to be different there than in the US. Their laws are entirely different, which is reflected in how the lifts run, etc. It shouldbe quite an adventure.
Hiking is really big there for summertime, and the dairy products and chocolate (of course) are the best in the world!!! I have never lived there, (just visited…I think it was the coldest summer on record…all of Europe was chilly.) because I would just put on WAY too much weight!
Bloopers from my European Adventure Video. Travel in Australia – Great Free Pocket Guide of Melbourne by Flashbooking Website
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http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/travel-in-australia-great-free-pocket-guide-of-melbourne-by-flashbooking-website-100480.html
