For those of you who have been following this blog for a while, you’re probably well aware of how poor of a planner I truly am. My plans are constantly changing, even at the last minute when there appears to be absolutely no chance at all that my plans could possibly change. Well, they do change. And they do change often. Such is the life of a permanent nomad.
About one month ago, I actually wrote a post called “Choosing My Next Travel Destination” in which I asked all of you, the phenomenal readers without whom this site would never exist, for advice on where I should travel to next. The response was simply awesome, with over 100 comments and emails full of interesting suggestions that included places as diverse as the Philippines, Colombia, Romania, Latvia, Georgia, India, Japan, the US and even Antarctica.
And the number one suggestion, by far, was the grand continent of Africa. Readers left such positive comments, not only describing their own travel experiences, but also explaining why Africa would be such a good match for me.
I must admit that every time I read one of those comments recommending that I pack my backpack and head off to Africa, the excitement grew exponentially!
That’s why, in one week from now, I’m heading to Europe.
I know, it sounds ridiculous, but let me explain what’s going on before you throw your tomatoes at me and boo me out of the room.
IT’S TIME FOR SOME TRAIN TRAVEL
Recently, I was contacted by Eurail.com, the company that offers the popular Eurail Passes that allow travelers to easily use the extensive train system in Europe. The reason they contacted me was to offer a 15-day Eurail Pass that I could use over a period of two months, not just to travel around Europe, but to also experience first-hand the benefits of using such a pass, something that I have never used on any of my previous visits to Europe.
So naturally, I was intrigued.
However, before accepting the deal, I asked Eurail if they would kindly agree to one condition that I really felt was necessary…
I told them that I wanted my readers to choose the destinations I would visit. There simply was no way I could accept such a trip as this one without all of you being able to participate as much as possible.
And they instantly agreed!
So, now it’s go time and I really need your kind assistance…
Basically, as of this very minute, I have zero plans for this trip. The itinerary I end up creating will be based solely on your recommendations and suggestions. And those recommendations and suggestions can be ANYTHING.
Feel free to suggest countries, cities, towns, villages, specific sights, restaurants, bars, goat farms, antique shops, parks, bakeries (please, someone recommend a good bakery!), festivals, canoeing clubs, psychics and/or haunted cabins by a lake.
Heck, I’d love to meet any specific people you can put me in touch with as well!
Anything and everything goes.
Of course, the only catch is that I need to travel to countries that are included in my Eurail Global Pass. Luckily, there’s 22 of them, so it shouldn’t be much of an issue. These countries are:
Austria (including Liechtenstein), Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland
And just for general information, the countries on that list that I have not yet visited are Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Liechtenstein, Romania and Slovenia.
So when am I leaving exactly?
Well, the plan is to fly out to Europe on the 25th, in just six days from now. As a result, on Thursday, September 22nd, I shall compile all of the suggestions and create my itinerary, trying to cover as many of your ideas as possible. And a few days later, I shall take off and begin the adventure…crazy, I know.
WHAT HAPPENED TO AFRICA?
Valid question indeed. And for those of you ready to toss those tomatoes at my head for not traveling to Africa right now…hold on! My plan is to finally make it to Africa in December.
Of course, now that you know me, you probably won’t be surprised if I end up in the Solomon Islands or Bolivia instead, but as of right now, I shall be traveling over to Africa at the end of the year. And I have all of you to thank for leaving such compelling comments the last time around that convinced me that I need to visit that continent soon.
But of course, that’s still a few months away. Now it’s time for Europe.
So I hope you’ll take a moment to offer your thoughts, recommendations and suggestions for my upcoming trip…
Any ideas?
(I thank you ever so much in advance!)
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Nice to see that you’re going to Slovenia! I reiterate my recommendation above – definitely try to see Radovljica and the bee museum, etc, and taste the delicious honey. It’s all not far from Bled, which I’m sure you’ll go and see. 🙂
Hey Miranda – You got it….Radovljica is on the list! I should get to Slovenia in about a week from now and I can’t wait to see as much as possible, including that bee museum 🙂
Hey Tim – I just read through your post and also the website for the hostel and I can’t wait to be in Ljubljana! The hostel seems like such a unique place to stay and the city itself seems to be worthy of a few days. And since I’ve done almost no research, your tips are very helpful and that’s where I shall stay. Thanks for that Tim!
[…] me begin by saying that I could not have asked for a better collection of comments on my previous post, comments so full of tempting travel suggestions as well as offers to show me around parts of […]
[…] me begin by saying that I could not have asked for a better collection of comments on my previous post, comments so full of tempting travel suggestions as well as offers to show me around parts of […]
Hi there! I hope I’m not too late! I have to say, I don’t read blogs, it’s not my thing, but I’ve been following yours for the past 2 years! I love learning about the places you go and file away your advice for future trips (I hope!). And, I’ve been to some of the places…even your love of the Yankee Candle home store…I grew up not too far away! So, if I had to give advice on Europe…here I go…4 spots from west to east…and I’m sure most of these places were loved so much by me because of time/circumstance/company/chance – but maybe you’ll have the same luck!
Sintra, Portugal – I recommend taking the run bus to the castle, having to hike up the opposite side of the hill/mountain – missing the last bus down and having to hitchhike back down…this place always stays with me.
Carcasonne, France – a bit cheesy/touristy – but go for a walk along the river at night. Quaint in it’s own right. I heard a French girl singing “Me and Bobby McGee” along the river that would have impressed Janis.
Arles, France – I just liked it, just spent a day or so there, but it made an impression.
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland – Just a beautiful setting and they had a wonderful hostel there…well, 10 years ago they did. Hiking, waterfalls, small mountain villages. Lovely.
I hope this doesn’t get to you too late. I’m actually living in South Sudan at the moment. And, while you do need to see Africa, and I enjoy living here, I would not recommend Juba for one of your destinations!
Hey Caroline – Your comment definitely wasn’t too late and even more importantly, thank you so much for following my blog for so long! And your suggestions were good ones. In fact, I’ve already been to Sintra and Arles and I will try to get to Lauterbrunnen while I’m in Switzerland 🙂
On a different topic, I’m very curious as to what you’re up to in South Sudan. That is a place that is definitely on my list for my upcoming trip to Africa. And while Juba may not be such a great destination, I’m always up for traveling somewhere different and I’d say that city falls into that category!
Earl, I am surprised that Hungary hasn’t gotten a mention. Since you seem to be leaning toward including Romania and Slovenia on your list, you’d have to travel through Hungary anyway. I also gather from your post that you’ve already been to Hungary. Even though I don’t know where in Hungary you’ve been, Let me give you some specific suggestions:
– Obviously Budapest, the capital. I am sure you have been there if you’ve been to Hungary and I am sure that you have been to the Buda Castle and to the Szechenyi baths. A few little known gems is right outside of Budapest, Szentendre and Gödöllő.
: Szentendre is just about 20 minutes north of Budapest and can be reached by using the suburban railway going North. It is a beautiful historical town right on the river Danbube. If you go another 45 minutes up, following the Danube river, you come to Esztergomb which is a beautiful place where the Danube suddenly takes a turn from going west to turning south. Great hiking here!
: Gödöllő is also just outside of Budapest, also accessible on a suburban rail line but this time to the east. The highlight here is a palace where Franz Josef who was King of Hungary and his wife Elisabeth (“Sisi”) lived in the 1880’s.
Moving outside of Budapest I’d suggest visiting:
– Eger, a beautiful, beautiful city about 100km to the east of Budapest full of history and the setting for the book Eclipse of the Crescent Moon a novel written in the very early 1900’s. The city has an awesome castle and easily spend a day here.
– Pécs, in the very south center part of Hungary just a few kilometers from the Croatian boarder. So much to see here, easily could spend two days. The mountains around the city are also great for hiking, if that interests you, add another couple of days. The city is also filled with history dating back 500 years and is a hidden beautiful European gem. But because it is has a major medical University it is also an awesome college town!
– Vészprém West of Budapest about 120km is also a beautiful historical town with a large castle in the city center. Just north of Hungary’s large lake, Lake Balaton.
Other cities that are very nice and interesting:
Debrecen in the east on the Romanian boarder is also a College town, Hungary’s second largest city. Nice city, but only worth spending a day there. However, about 15km from there is the Hungarian Cowboys on the Hungarian Plains (Puszta). There you can take a day ride on a horse-n-buggy and see a great show that Hungarian cowboys put on. A lot of fun! Debrecen also has a large indoor water slide park if you are into that. A lot of fun when it is freezing outside.
– Szeged, on Hungary’s 2nd largest river, the Tisza in South-east Hungary on the boarder of Romania and Serbia. Also a beautiful city, but half a day is enough.
– Kecskemet is half way on the train between Budapest and Szeged and worth stopping in and spending the other half-day. Also a really nice city with an awesome feel to it.
I am an American, but I’ve been living in Europe for 18 years. Other mentions of places worth going outside of Hungary:
– Maribor, Slovenia, on your way to Lubjana from Hungary. A great place!!
– Kracow, Poland. In my opinion the most beautiful city in Poland (the only beautiful city in Poland if you ask me, but I know many would disagree). Awesome place!
– Hamburg, Germany an incredible city that is so, beautiful. I think it is Germany’s most beautiful city.
– Portugal, anywhere
– Malaga, Spain: Can still go in the sea in October. Lovely place on the sea!
– Whitby, England: the only place in England where the sun typically is shining. A great little town on the eastern coast of England. An awesome town. Easily spend two days here.
– Venice, Italy: If you haven’t been (although I’m sure you’ve been), you must go.
– Graz, Austria has already been mention, but Linz shouldn’t be missed either.
– Although Athens is volatile right now, I’d still go to Athens. I go there for work every couple of months & there is no problem. Must go to downtown Athens.
– However, northern Greece is awesome, specifically Thessaloniki. Wonderful city. Then you can go to the tomb of Alexander the Great’s Father, Philip which is about an hour’s drive from Thessaloniki in Vergina.
– It is also worth going to Halkadiki (Locally spelled, Chalkidiki) which are the peninsulas east of Thessaloniki. There are three of them and locally referred to as fingers, because the look like fingers. My favorite place that is if one drives to almost the end, about 2 hours east of Thessaloniki between the 2nd and 3rd “finger”. You take a ferry boat about 10 minutes to the island Ammouliani. Very authentic Greek, incredible beaches and virtually no tourists in September and October, but the weather is still perfect!
– All of Switzerland is beautiful.
– Prague is great, but I think it is a bit overrated.
– If you go to Poland and you want to be hit in the face with horrible history, go to Auschwitz. Not a fun place, but one learns A LOT!
– In Romania, all of Transylvania is beautiful. The mountains are incredible. The roads and the trains are….. not so much, but improving. Must experience it.
I could give you more, but that is probably more than enough. Let me know if you go to Hungary. I live there. I didn’t mention the food in Hungary is INCREDIBLE and you tell me where you go & I’ll tell you where you must eat.
Hey Kelley – Thank you for all of that detailed information!! I have in fact been to Hungary and to most of the places that you’ve listed outside of Hungary as well but there are definitely a few on your list that I have yet to visit. On this upcoming trip, it looks like I will try to go from Slovenia to Romania via Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia, so I might end up passing by Hungary this time around. But there will be some flexibility built in just in case I change my mind or am forced to re-route. And if I do end up in Hungary, you can bet that I will be in touch. Seems like you have a wealth of knowledge about the entire country!
Well, if you are looking for great bakeries I would suggest Italy, France and also Germany. Other countries that I would personally love to visit are Romania and Portugal, so I would really enjoy seeing them vicariously through your posts before making the trip myself 🙂
How very cool…we also leave on the 25th for a week on the Amalfi Coast followed by 5 days in Lisbon, and a couple of days in Rome.
You should definitely go to Copenhagen, an amazing world class city. And……if you have never been to Graz, Austria, go….it’;s an amazing city with lots to do.
Hey Scott – Thanks so much for your input and even better that you’re heading off on your own adventure! I have never been to Graz actually and it just might end up on the final itinerary which I will post tomorrow 🙂
Hi, Earl, Scandinavia is worth visiting, you should try Finnish sauna 🙂
Pitty that Latvia isn’t in Eurorail pass but Riga is just a short flight away from Stockholm, Helsinki or other cities. So if you decide to visit Baltic countries after all, you’re more than welcome to Latvia, let me know if you’re coming to Riga 🙂
Hey Kaspars – I agree, it is a shame that Latvia is not on the list as I would love to get up there, along with Estonia! And a Finnish sauna sounds perfect, although I probably would never want to leave the sauna because I can’t stand the cold weather at all 🙂
I am starting to work on my itinerary today so once it’s finished, I’ll post it here. And if I do make it to Latvia it would be great to meet up with you!
Dee Williams
September 21, 2011 at 5:59 am - Reply
I think you should visit the countries you haven’t been to first- Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia.
Jeremy Fischer
September 20, 2011 at 6:02 pm - Reply
Hey Earl,
I would suggest two small towns that are a couple of my favorite places.
LaGuardia in northern Spain is amazing little walled town on a hill overlooking a valley in the Rioja region. It is amazing there.
Czesky Krumlov in the Czech is definitely a backpacker/tourist town but it is supercool. People go there for a day and stay fora month. And it is in an “s”bend of the River Voltava so you walk over three bridges all over the same river.
Hey Jeremy – Well, Cesky Krumlov happens to be one of my favorite European destinations as well. When I had a Czech girlfriend a few years back I spent a good amount of time in Czech Republic and I simply couldn’t get enough of Cesky Krumlov. I even went there during the middle of winter once just to have it all to myself, without many other tourists around. I could spend a year there easily!
Looks like Berlin and Slovenia are getting a lot of votes, which I would definitely second. So to connect them, you might as well pass through Cezch Republic and Austria right? And I happen to be in Linz (a city between Salzburg and Vienna) for the next few months, so let’s meet up if you can swing through. It might be a bit colder than you’re used to in central Europe this time of year, though. Hope you’re prepared, and looking forward to seeing you again, if possible.
I’ll be in Stockholm, Sweden! I’ll show you around, could possibly give you a place to stay out on the gorgeous Swedish country side. We’ll kick some cow ass.
Austria (including Liechtenstein), Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland
And just for general information, the countries on that list that I have not yet visited are Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Liechtenstein, Romania and Slovenia.
Hey there – last spring I ended up going to Liechtenstein, Finland, and Slovenia among your ‘non-visited countries’. I’ve been to Finland a few times and I personally love it – but what I love most about it comes from my wonderful friends there and having experiences with real Finnish people – I mean sauna is just so much nicer at someone’s summer cottage. So while I recommend Finland – a lot – I think if I had to pick I would recommend Liechtenstein and Slovenia more highly for a trip like this.
Liechtenstein is so small but the area around is so gorgeous, so you can never get too sick of the trip there. 🙂 And as small as it is, it’s kind of nice to be able to explore a place so thoroughly, especially when it has mountains and castles and cool covered bridges to offer!
Slovenia was a surprise favorite for me. Bled and Bohinj rank in the most beautiful places I’ve been in my life (right up with Norwegian Fjords and Lago di Garda in Italy… I guess you can tell what kind of landscape I like!) There’s also a car-train you can drive a car onto (!!) and the big mountain Triglav, the beautiful bright blue source of the river Soca… etc. Besides that, the country is just fascinating in other ways since its at an interesting cultural crossroads.
I stayed in Radovlica, not far from Bled, and its the center of honey production in Slovenia – a big deal apparently. There’s a bee museum where you can see a really large collection of bee-hive covers (yeah, whatever, but seriously they paint them in a special way and its an art form unique to Slovenia) and see the special species of Slovenian bee that are brown and grey and quite nice. The honey is also very very good, I ended up buying quite a lot of it along with honey schnapps for friends and family back home.
Also the Postojna cave is enormous, and nearby you can go to Predjama castle, which is built into a cave, and tour both the castle and the cave. Ljubljana was not the highlight of the country for me, but worth a walk around and probably a great place to sleep while you’re in Slovenia doing the other things as day-trips.
Finally I’m sure there’s a lot of great stuff to see in Spain that you haven’t overdone yet. 🙂 I stayed half a year in the north of Spain, in Pamplona, and thats still my favorite city in the world. The state it’s in, Navarra, just has a huge diversity of landscapes and cultures for such a tiny state – Pyrenees rising in the east, badlands in the south, Basque landscapes and witch caves in the east and north. The Camino de Santiago also enters Spain there. I also loved Galicia, the Basque Country, and the Pyrenees.
If you have a freebie pass to Romania and you don’t hit up Bran Castle, I’m unfollowing your blog lol (j/k!)
About 8mi off the west coast of Ireland is an island called Skellig Michael. It’s a 600 step climb to the top where there’s an abandoned monastic settlement. You’d have to rent a boat/capt to get there, but I hear it’s beautiful, and not a lot of people go there (something like 300 people/day in the “peak” tourism months). It’s one of the places I dream of seeing someday 🙂
Hey Lindsay – Alright, alright, Bran Castle is now at the top of the list!! 🙂
And that island off the coast of Ireland sounds unreal. I’m not sure I’ll be able to get there due to the logistics of my train pass but either way, that place is now on my list of destinations I need to visit at some point!
I second the lazy travelers – Dingle & Galway are possibly the two best places in Ireland (and Dublin of course!) but Dingle doesn’t have a train link. You can get the bus (about 1.5h) from Killarney.
Yay! wanderingearl + eurail – what a great partnership! So many choices in all of Europe. Just looking at the Eurail map is so much fun.
This is what I would do. If you are not already booked for a flight, get the cheapest flight out to Europe using https://www.kayak.com/buzz . From there I would have to include all the countries you haven’t been to.
And dear readers, remember that Earl is now completely tropified, so don’t send him to Scandinavia in November. Start in the north and work your way down (plus you’ll be closer to Africa that way).
Royce Fullerton
September 20, 2011 at 5:14 am - Reply
Hi Earl,
I’ve been following you for awhile. I’m moving to Sibiu, Romania (in Transylvania) next week. You’re more than welcome to crash if you are in the area.
I appreciate that Royce! I’m quite sure that Romania is going to make the final list so there is a good chance I’ll be in Sibiu. And being able to crash for a night would be excellent!
We got set up with a place last week and have a decent pullout couch you’re welcome to crash on, email me if your interested or want to meet up while in town.
Thanks for that Royce! I’d definitely be interested in crashing or meeting up and as soon as I figure out when I’ll be in your ‘neighborhood’, I shall let you know.
Hey Earl,
What a wonderful opportunity! Last year I took a train from Berlin to Prague, then Prague to Zagreb, Croatia via Austria and Slovenia. Highly recommended! The scenery through the Alps is breathtaking as the train curves along around mountain sides, past cliff-top castles and above silver brooks. I also met some really interesting people on the train along the way – locals going for holidays were common and had some great tips. I wish I had spent some time in Slovenia (it’s on the list for next time) and Zagreb, a city of cafes. Here’s a link to a couple of posts I did about the train trips in particular, but I covered the whole trip if you’d like a bit more of an overview. Just send me an email if you have any questions. Cheers, Nic https://nicfreeman.com/tag/train/
Thank you for your input Nic! And it’s great to read your posts as well about your own train journey in the region. I really do like that route that you followed, especially with the scenery and cities covered. Once I have my plan mapped out if I have any questions I shall be in touch….thanks again!
Thanks so much DJ! If Belgium makes the final itinerary, I shall let you know!
Lotte Sorensen
September 20, 2011 at 4:23 am - Reply
Hey Earl,
I definetely recommend Eastern Europe: beautiful nature, interesting history and super nice people. And if you decide to come to Denmark, I’ll be happy to show you around 🙂
Went to Slovenia a couple of months ago. Liked the Bohinj area (Bled, the lake, the nature, the mountains, the atmosphere) very much. And Ljubljana is a must visit. Such a relaxed city! To me the whole city has a atmosphere which is comparable to a nice hostel 🙂
Oh and you haven’t visited Belgium; the cities Gent and Bruges are defenatly worth a visit. Brussels and Antwerp are nice too. For nature i can recommend the Ardennes region!
Talkingtostones
September 20, 2011 at 3:44 am - Reply
Of the countries you haven’t been to, I can heartily recommend Liechtenstein and Finland. It’s still a great time of year to go to Finland now, while there is still some sun. Helsinki is a really great city, but also strongly recommend getting out into the countryside — it’s the land of 10,000 lakes. Rovaniemi is also high on the list — interact with reindeer, as well. It’s a stunning country and we found very friendly people. Sauna, of course, is not to be missed, and highly recommend you try Karelian piirakka, pulla, and oululimpuu (traditional Finnish rice cakes, sweet bread, and dark bread) — our family anscestry is Finnish and we’ve grown up on these; even better to taste them there.
Liechtenstein is basically one side of a mountain, from which you can look down into a valley and across the border into Switzerland. We started at one end and traveled the main road to the other end, veering off on random side streets that attracted us, exploring little towns with historical and attractive buildings and squares, stopping at roadside shrines and monuments, winding our way up to the heights, laughing at the calves that tried to race us (penned in between curves in the road), and finally staying in a small hotel we came across that overlooked the valley. It was beautiful and fun.
Earl get yourself to Turkey! Not only is Turkey an amazing country overflowing with culture and yummy treats, it is also the warmest place in Europe at the end of the summer! You can arrive in Istanbul by train from other countries in Europe, but if you want to explore anywhere else in Turkey you’re probably best off looking for a bus.
Email me if you want more info – I lived there for years!
Hey Liv – Thank you for the suggestion! I actually did visit Turkey last year, although it wasn’t for a very long period of time. I do need to use the Eurail Pass which doesn’t include Turkey, however, if I finish the trip in Bulgaria, I just may cross back in Turkey to explore some of the regions I missed the last time around.
I was in Spain 2 years ago and spent time with a family in Almeria, Spain. It was a wonderful and exciting place. So wonderful I got the symbol of the city as a tattoo. Also, a town just a few minutes away, Aguadulce is beautiful. I ate lunch in one of thier ‘suberbs’ set into the high hill tops that overlooked the ocean. It was amazing!
Slovenia is definitely an awesome place. Especially Ljubljana. Maybe I’m a bit biased with Ljubljana, but the Metelkova is amazing. Do take tons of pictures, and it’s close to the train/bus station and the shopping area.
Other places I recommend are Germany, Austria, Italy, and Croatia. Awesome places. Sucks that Serbia wasn’t included in the countries list though. Loved it there.
Love the sound of your plans. Give me a shout if you’re in south Africa anywhere between Oct and Feb 🙂
Have a fab time in Europe. I would highly recommend Heidelberg in Germany…
Hey Colleen – It does look like I’ll be in South Africa at some point during those months, so it would be excellent if we could connect and meet up! Let’s keep in touch and as the time gets closer hopefully we can make some plans…
Take the train frtom Zurich to Milan–beautiful trip–and then from Florence to Assisi…There is a tiny train that goes from Udine to Cividale in Italy that’s great fun.
Also a train that follows the Liguiran cost in Cinque Terra–very pretty and Take the train and cover the Italian Riviera right into France. And then the high speed from Avignon to Paris…
This is the best souorce for rail lines I have found: http://www.europeanrailwayatlas.com It’s a great investment.
I will be in Italy, traveling by train myself next week, and more. Let me know you schedule and perhaps we can have some coffee.
Hi Earl! I just came across your blog and I must congratulate you on such inspiring, interesting and informative writing.
If you haven’t already I can recommend you come to Salzburg (Austria) and visit the surrounding areas (it’s not all about Mozart and The Sound Of Music!). There are some amazing mountain hikes and quaint Alpine Huts (which you can stay in) along with beautiful lakes and lots of culture. You can eat as much schnitzel, apple strudel, sausage, sauerkraut to last a lifetime and drink Schnapps until you fall over. You can pass by on your way from Vienna to Munich and continue on to Berlin from there.
I’d be happy to give you any information about Salzburg and other destinations in Austria.
Hope you have a wonderful trip in Europe and maybe bump into you somewhere in the world!
Definitely Venice and Paris. These were my favorite cities. I have heard good things about Bulgaria too from my friends and also as someone else already said, Llubljana. Happy Travels!
Dear Wandering Earl. I am traveling in Europe at present. If u happen to travel to Switzerland, there is a small suggestion I have for u. The Swiss passes are tehre, but there is the option of a ‘Commune Pass’ as well. It is issued individually for any particular day, issued well in advance and in small numbers. The cost just CHF 35 per day and make u eligible for free travel anywhere inside Switzerland(including GldenPass trains). You also get 50% off on the expensive Jungfraujoch cog-wheel train[more on that later as I will be making that journey next week].
As suggested by my friend who stayed in Switzerland, she bought some for me for consecutive/non-consecutive dates. So, if u have a freind who stays in Switzerland, u can ask them to buy/reserve them for urself.
based on our own experiences, we can whole-heartedly say:
France – Aside from Paris, of course, we also recommend traveling south and exploring the coastline. Particularly Antibes, Eze, and Nice.
Ireland – Dingle & Galway were everything we expected Ireland to be
Italy – Along with all the highlights (Firenze, Venezia, Roma, Milan), we loved Cinque Terre. The hike is amazing and the towns are gorgeous.
We’re also planning a trip to Belgium next month and can’t wait for Bruges! Check out our page for a list of where we’ve been–would love to offer recommendations wherever possible!
I haven’t traveled in Europe very much (only quick trips to Ireland and Italy), but I am DYING to go to Romania. Maybe Bulgaria, too. There are some awesome old monasteries there, and I’ve heard Brasov, Romania is well worth a visit.
I understand you’ve already been to Norway? But anyway, I’m suggesting it. I live in Norway myself, in Tønsberg, which is the oldest town in the country. It has some incredible history from the Medieval, and there are a lot of ruines and historical monuments if you are interested in such things. In the center of the town lies a little “mountain” (or more like a “berg” or something) of which the city of Túnsberg was placed in the Medieval (from year 1100). It got invaded by the Swedes and I don’t really know what happened after that, but if you like history like that, Tønsberg in Norway is a great place to visit. I know I would.
Also, some people may have heard of Princess Kristina from Tønsberg. She was the daughter of the king of Norway in the 1200’s, and she was married to a Spaniard, just so Norway could strenghten their ties with other countries. They lived in Sevilla in Spain until she died at the age of 28 and was buried in Covarrubias.
In 1953 there was found a sarcophagus they thought were empty, but it turned out to contain a woman’s body, which was Kristina from Tønsberg. The legend says that Kristina wanted a chapel in honour to St. Olav in Spain. The chapel was never built, but they are now planning to build one in Covarrubias in connection with the 750 years anniversary for her departure from Tønsberg.
She is now a symbol of love and… some other things, I don’t know what, in both Norway and Spain, and in a monastery in Covarrubias, her sarcophagus lies, and many couples in love us to travel to Covarrubias to visit it. I don’t know what’s the thing about this “love” and Kristina, but if you research it, you might find out. 🙂
I don’t know whether this kind of history is in any of your interests at all, but it’s my suggestion anyway! 😀
Hey Elise – I love interesting snippets of history that most people don’t know about….and I think the tale of Kristina would fit in that category (at least outside of Norway)! I’ve been a few times to Norway over the years but just the natural beauty alone is more than enough of a reason to return over and over again!
I have to suggest the town of Tarquinia, it is the town where my family is from and when they came to America, they changed the ‘a’ to an ‘o’ so from Tarquinia to Tarquinio. Anyway, my aunt went there this past May and said it is a cute little town on the coast, north of Rome.
And… since you MOST LIKELY will not head to Tarquinia based on my last name suggestion (hehe), I heard that Isle of Capri is amazing as well. Can’t wait to read about your experience while you are there!
Hey Julia – Well, with the way I travel, the history of your last name is as good a reason as any to visit a particular destination 🙂 I have spent a good amount of time in Italy over the years though so I’m not sure if I’ll get as far south as Rome if I do pass through again on this trip.
Well its a shame your Eurail Pass doesnt include Turkey! Slovenia is absolutely definitely worth a visit though (especially as you hadnt been). If you had to make a “Europe” snowglobe – it would pretty much look like Slovenia. Unbelievable variety in such a small country. Also…I dont recommend you come to the UK right now…its cold and rainy here!
Vincent Prinzie
September 19, 2011 at 5:18 pm - Reply
In my humble, biased opinion, you should definitely visit Belgium, especially Antwerp.
Arriving there at the train station is an attraction already, because the central station of Antwerp is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful train stations in the world. I know that you don’t really like touristic stuff, but trust me, you’ll be amazed (I know I am, every single time I’m there). You should also visit the Hendrik Conscienceplein, which is a small and cosy square, located in the centre of Antwerp. It’s right in front of a church and usually you can find a street musician there playing the violin.
As you said, you haven’t visited Belgium yet, and you’re always excited to visit new countries! Plus on top of that, we have the best fries and the best beer in the world! You can easily find fries in what we call “een frituur”, but for a beer you should visit ‘t Paters vaetje (it’s located right next to the cathedral on the left side), because it’s got the typical belgian atmosphere and you have an incredible range of belgian beers you can try. If you want, I could even guide you a bit around!
I second the suggestion for Berlin! I should be here through December, so make your way over and we can meetup. There’s a lot happening in this town, an exciting place to be!
I suggest you make CASTLES IN EUROPE your theme …. there are some gorgeous ones in every one of the countries you mention. Sintra in Portugal is spectacular, Augustusburg in Germany is a UNESCO world cultural heritage site, the medieval castle of Hohensalzburg in Austria is one of the largest medieval castles in all of Europe … if you want to narrow it down castles in the countries you haven’t yet visited, that works too.
Sounds like an exciting adventure coming up! I’d definitely recommend Romania (esp Brasov) and Slovenia (Ljublana). A lot less tourists there and very charming. International trains in/out of Greece are halted so that’s something to consider too. The Bahn.de site and app is great for checking schedules for all trains in Europe. Enjoy!
Hey Lily – Thanks for the heads up about Greece…that’s definitely good to know ahead of time. Romania and Slovenia are receiving enough votes that I think they will be on the final list for sure!
You want a good bakery? Well then you definitely have to include Germany!! There’s no way around that 🙂 I also loved the bakeries in Portugal and I think Lisbon & Porto should definitely be on your route.
Not sure where you’re flying to in Europe to start with, but if you’re anywhere close to Berlin I hope you stop by! We’ll be here until Oct. 7 and would love to meet up for more than just a quick bar stop.
Outside of my selfish reasons for you to visit Berlin, you should still visit this city – it’s a fun place. Stay in Kreuzberg or Neukolln, rent a bike and just ride around to your heart’s content. It’s the best way to see the city and appreciate the vast differences between neighborhoods.
Earl, great news. That’s an awesome deal from Eurail. AND you’re still coming to Africa. Nice. I will be Cote d’Ivoire for most of december and then Mali into January in beyond with a side trip to guinea, sl and liberia at some point. I don’t what your plans will look like, but if you are in Mali at that time we should definitely meet up. January is the best month temperature wise and there are some incredible music festivals then including festival au desert outside of timbuktu https://www.festival-au-desert.org/ which may be the most unique music gatherings in the world and certainly one of the most incredible settings. Africa is a big place, though, and you may be heading to a completely different part of the continent. Keep me posted, though. Looking forward to following your European adventures as well. Take care, Phil
Nice to see that you’re going to Slovenia! I reiterate my recommendation above – definitely try to see Radovljica and the bee museum, etc, and taste the delicious honey. It’s all not far from Bled, which I’m sure you’ll go and see. 🙂
Hey Miranda – You got it….Radovljica is on the list! I should get to Slovenia in about a week from now and I can’t wait to see as much as possible, including that bee museum 🙂
A big recommendation of Slovenia from me – was in Ljubljana last year and thought it was great. Here’s the blog post I did at the time (check out the cool Hostel Celica): https://aerohaveno.blogspot.com/2010/05/ten-fragments-of-ljubljana.html
Hey Tim – I just read through your post and also the website for the hostel and I can’t wait to be in Ljubljana! The hostel seems like such a unique place to stay and the city itself seems to be worthy of a few days. And since I’ve done almost no research, your tips are very helpful and that’s where I shall stay. Thanks for that Tim!
[…] me begin by saying that I could not have asked for a better collection of comments on my previous post, comments so full of tempting travel suggestions as well as offers to show me around parts of […]
[…] me begin by saying that I could not have asked for a better collection of comments on my previous post, comments so full of tempting travel suggestions as well as offers to show me around parts of […]
Hi there! I hope I’m not too late! I have to say, I don’t read blogs, it’s not my thing, but I’ve been following yours for the past 2 years! I love learning about the places you go and file away your advice for future trips (I hope!). And, I’ve been to some of the places…even your love of the Yankee Candle home store…I grew up not too far away! So, if I had to give advice on Europe…here I go…4 spots from west to east…and I’m sure most of these places were loved so much by me because of time/circumstance/company/chance – but maybe you’ll have the same luck!
Sintra, Portugal – I recommend taking the run bus to the castle, having to hike up the opposite side of the hill/mountain – missing the last bus down and having to hitchhike back down…this place always stays with me.
Carcasonne, France – a bit cheesy/touristy – but go for a walk along the river at night. Quaint in it’s own right. I heard a French girl singing “Me and Bobby McGee” along the river that would have impressed Janis.
Arles, France – I just liked it, just spent a day or so there, but it made an impression.
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland – Just a beautiful setting and they had a wonderful hostel there…well, 10 years ago they did. Hiking, waterfalls, small mountain villages. Lovely.
I hope this doesn’t get to you too late. I’m actually living in South Sudan at the moment. And, while you do need to see Africa, and I enjoy living here, I would not recommend Juba for one of your destinations!
Safe and happy travels,
Caroline
Hey Caroline – Your comment definitely wasn’t too late and even more importantly, thank you so much for following my blog for so long! And your suggestions were good ones. In fact, I’ve already been to Sintra and Arles and I will try to get to Lauterbrunnen while I’m in Switzerland 🙂
On a different topic, I’m very curious as to what you’re up to in South Sudan. That is a place that is definitely on my list for my upcoming trip to Africa. And while Juba may not be such a great destination, I’m always up for traveling somewhere different and I’d say that city falls into that category!
Earl, I am surprised that Hungary hasn’t gotten a mention. Since you seem to be leaning toward including Romania and Slovenia on your list, you’d have to travel through Hungary anyway. I also gather from your post that you’ve already been to Hungary. Even though I don’t know where in Hungary you’ve been, Let me give you some specific suggestions:
– Obviously Budapest, the capital. I am sure you have been there if you’ve been to Hungary and I am sure that you have been to the Buda Castle and to the Szechenyi baths. A few little known gems is right outside of Budapest, Szentendre and Gödöllő.
: Szentendre is just about 20 minutes north of Budapest and can be reached by using the suburban railway going North. It is a beautiful historical town right on the river Danbube. If you go another 45 minutes up, following the Danube river, you come to Esztergomb which is a beautiful place where the Danube suddenly takes a turn from going west to turning south. Great hiking here!
: Gödöllő is also just outside of Budapest, also accessible on a suburban rail line but this time to the east. The highlight here is a palace where Franz Josef who was King of Hungary and his wife Elisabeth (“Sisi”) lived in the 1880’s.
Moving outside of Budapest I’d suggest visiting:
– Eger, a beautiful, beautiful city about 100km to the east of Budapest full of history and the setting for the book Eclipse of the Crescent Moon a novel written in the very early 1900’s. The city has an awesome castle and easily spend a day here.
– Pécs, in the very south center part of Hungary just a few kilometers from the Croatian boarder. So much to see here, easily could spend two days. The mountains around the city are also great for hiking, if that interests you, add another couple of days. The city is also filled with history dating back 500 years and is a hidden beautiful European gem. But because it is has a major medical University it is also an awesome college town!
– Vészprém West of Budapest about 120km is also a beautiful historical town with a large castle in the city center. Just north of Hungary’s large lake, Lake Balaton.
Other cities that are very nice and interesting:
Debrecen in the east on the Romanian boarder is also a College town, Hungary’s second largest city. Nice city, but only worth spending a day there. However, about 15km from there is the Hungarian Cowboys on the Hungarian Plains (Puszta). There you can take a day ride on a horse-n-buggy and see a great show that Hungarian cowboys put on. A lot of fun! Debrecen also has a large indoor water slide park if you are into that. A lot of fun when it is freezing outside.
– Szeged, on Hungary’s 2nd largest river, the Tisza in South-east Hungary on the boarder of Romania and Serbia. Also a beautiful city, but half a day is enough.
– Kecskemet is half way on the train between Budapest and Szeged and worth stopping in and spending the other half-day. Also a really nice city with an awesome feel to it.
I am an American, but I’ve been living in Europe for 18 years. Other mentions of places worth going outside of Hungary:
– Maribor, Slovenia, on your way to Lubjana from Hungary. A great place!!
– Kracow, Poland. In my opinion the most beautiful city in Poland (the only beautiful city in Poland if you ask me, but I know many would disagree). Awesome place!
– Hamburg, Germany an incredible city that is so, beautiful. I think it is Germany’s most beautiful city.
– Portugal, anywhere
– Malaga, Spain: Can still go in the sea in October. Lovely place on the sea!
– Whitby, England: the only place in England where the sun typically is shining. A great little town on the eastern coast of England. An awesome town. Easily spend two days here.
– Venice, Italy: If you haven’t been (although I’m sure you’ve been), you must go.
– Graz, Austria has already been mention, but Linz shouldn’t be missed either.
– Although Athens is volatile right now, I’d still go to Athens. I go there for work every couple of months & there is no problem. Must go to downtown Athens.
– However, northern Greece is awesome, specifically Thessaloniki. Wonderful city. Then you can go to the tomb of Alexander the Great’s Father, Philip which is about an hour’s drive from Thessaloniki in Vergina.
– It is also worth going to Halkadiki (Locally spelled, Chalkidiki) which are the peninsulas east of Thessaloniki. There are three of them and locally referred to as fingers, because the look like fingers. My favorite place that is if one drives to almost the end, about 2 hours east of Thessaloniki between the 2nd and 3rd “finger”. You take a ferry boat about 10 minutes to the island Ammouliani. Very authentic Greek, incredible beaches and virtually no tourists in September and October, but the weather is still perfect!
– All of Switzerland is beautiful.
– Prague is great, but I think it is a bit overrated.
– If you go to Poland and you want to be hit in the face with horrible history, go to Auschwitz. Not a fun place, but one learns A LOT!
– In Romania, all of Transylvania is beautiful. The mountains are incredible. The roads and the trains are….. not so much, but improving. Must experience it.
I could give you more, but that is probably more than enough. Let me know if you go to Hungary. I live there. I didn’t mention the food in Hungary is INCREDIBLE and you tell me where you go & I’ll tell you where you must eat.
Enjoy Europe!!
Hey Kelley – Thank you for all of that detailed information!! I have in fact been to Hungary and to most of the places that you’ve listed outside of Hungary as well but there are definitely a few on your list that I have yet to visit. On this upcoming trip, it looks like I will try to go from Slovenia to Romania via Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia, so I might end up passing by Hungary this time around. But there will be some flexibility built in just in case I change my mind or am forced to re-route. And if I do end up in Hungary, you can bet that I will be in touch. Seems like you have a wealth of knowledge about the entire country!
Well, if you are looking for great bakeries I would suggest Italy, France and also Germany. Other countries that I would personally love to visit are Romania and Portugal, so I would really enjoy seeing them vicariously through your posts before making the trip myself 🙂
I would totally do Finland! It looks beautiful. Also, Bulgaria sounds great.
See you in Bolivia? lol!
Have fun. If I knew Europe I would hand over advice. :X
Dracula’s castle would be somewhere at the top of my list.
Ozzy
How very cool…we also leave on the 25th for a week on the Amalfi Coast followed by 5 days in Lisbon, and a couple of days in Rome.
You should definitely go to Copenhagen, an amazing world class city. And……if you have never been to Graz, Austria, go….it’;s an amazing city with lots to do.
Hey Scott – Thanks so much for your input and even better that you’re heading off on your own adventure! I have never been to Graz actually and it just might end up on the final itinerary which I will post tomorrow 🙂
Earl, you got the best of all possible outcomes – Euro rail and Africa – Go for it!
Hi, Earl, Scandinavia is worth visiting, you should try Finnish sauna 🙂
Pitty that Latvia isn’t in Eurorail pass but Riga is just a short flight away from Stockholm, Helsinki or other cities. So if you decide to visit Baltic countries after all, you’re more than welcome to Latvia, let me know if you’re coming to Riga 🙂
Good luck!
Hey Kaspars – I agree, it is a shame that Latvia is not on the list as I would love to get up there, along with Estonia! And a Finnish sauna sounds perfect, although I probably would never want to leave the sauna because I can’t stand the cold weather at all 🙂
I am starting to work on my itinerary today so once it’s finished, I’ll post it here. And if I do make it to Latvia it would be great to meet up with you!
I think you should visit the countries you haven’t been to first- Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia.
Hey Earl,
I would suggest two small towns that are a couple of my favorite places.
LaGuardia in northern Spain is amazing little walled town on a hill overlooking a valley in the Rioja region. It is amazing there.
Czesky Krumlov in the Czech is definitely a backpacker/tourist town but it is supercool. People go there for a day and stay fora month. And it is in an “s”bend of the River Voltava so you walk over three bridges all over the same river.
Have fun!
Hey Jeremy – Well, Cesky Krumlov happens to be one of my favorite European destinations as well. When I had a Czech girlfriend a few years back I spent a good amount of time in Czech Republic and I simply couldn’t get enough of Cesky Krumlov. I even went there during the middle of winter once just to have it all to myself, without many other tourists around. I could spend a year there easily!
Looks like Berlin and Slovenia are getting a lot of votes, which I would definitely second. So to connect them, you might as well pass through Cezch Republic and Austria right? And I happen to be in Linz (a city between Salzburg and Vienna) for the next few months, so let’s meet up if you can swing through. It might be a bit colder than you’re used to in central Europe this time of year, though. Hope you’re prepared, and looking forward to seeing you again, if possible.
Since you have not been to Finland, that would be a cool country to explore. See if you can get a picture of the northern lights.
I’ll be in Stockholm, Sweden! I’ll show you around, could possibly give you a place to stay out on the gorgeous Swedish country side. We’ll kick some cow ass.
Seriously. Stockholm. Sweden.
ill most probably be in prague fr a week in november…so u shud go der…n maybe i cud c u der!! hav a great journey man!
Truth be told, I can’t really recommend my home city Madrid over others throughout Europe, but do get in touch if you happen to drop by the capital!
Austria (including Liechtenstein), Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland
And just for general information, the countries on that list that I have not yet visited are Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Liechtenstein, Romania and Slovenia.
Hey there – last spring I ended up going to Liechtenstein, Finland, and Slovenia among your ‘non-visited countries’. I’ve been to Finland a few times and I personally love it – but what I love most about it comes from my wonderful friends there and having experiences with real Finnish people – I mean sauna is just so much nicer at someone’s summer cottage. So while I recommend Finland – a lot – I think if I had to pick I would recommend Liechtenstein and Slovenia more highly for a trip like this.
Liechtenstein is so small but the area around is so gorgeous, so you can never get too sick of the trip there. 🙂 And as small as it is, it’s kind of nice to be able to explore a place so thoroughly, especially when it has mountains and castles and cool covered bridges to offer!
Slovenia was a surprise favorite for me. Bled and Bohinj rank in the most beautiful places I’ve been in my life (right up with Norwegian Fjords and Lago di Garda in Italy… I guess you can tell what kind of landscape I like!) There’s also a car-train you can drive a car onto (!!) and the big mountain Triglav, the beautiful bright blue source of the river Soca… etc. Besides that, the country is just fascinating in other ways since its at an interesting cultural crossroads.
I stayed in Radovlica, not far from Bled, and its the center of honey production in Slovenia – a big deal apparently. There’s a bee museum where you can see a really large collection of bee-hive covers (yeah, whatever, but seriously they paint them in a special way and its an art form unique to Slovenia) and see the special species of Slovenian bee that are brown and grey and quite nice. The honey is also very very good, I ended up buying quite a lot of it along with honey schnapps for friends and family back home.
Also the Postojna cave is enormous, and nearby you can go to Predjama castle, which is built into a cave, and tour both the castle and the cave. Ljubljana was not the highlight of the country for me, but worth a walk around and probably a great place to sleep while you’re in Slovenia doing the other things as day-trips.
Finally I’m sure there’s a lot of great stuff to see in Spain that you haven’t overdone yet. 🙂 I stayed half a year in the north of Spain, in Pamplona, and thats still my favorite city in the world. The state it’s in, Navarra, just has a huge diversity of landscapes and cultures for such a tiny state – Pyrenees rising in the east, badlands in the south, Basque landscapes and witch caves in the east and north. The Camino de Santiago also enters Spain there. I also loved Galicia, the Basque Country, and the Pyrenees.
I’m jealous of your Eurrail deal. 🙂
If you have a freebie pass to Romania and you don’t hit up Bran Castle, I’m unfollowing your blog lol (j/k!)
About 8mi off the west coast of Ireland is an island called Skellig Michael. It’s a 600 step climb to the top where there’s an abandoned monastic settlement. You’d have to rent a boat/capt to get there, but I hear it’s beautiful, and not a lot of people go there (something like 300 people/day in the “peak” tourism months). It’s one of the places I dream of seeing someday 🙂
Hey Lindsay – Alright, alright, Bran Castle is now at the top of the list!! 🙂
And that island off the coast of Ireland sounds unreal. I’m not sure I’ll be able to get there due to the logistics of my train pass but either way, that place is now on my list of destinations I need to visit at some point!
I second the lazy travelers – Dingle & Galway are possibly the two best places in Ireland (and Dublin of course!) but Dingle doesn’t have a train link. You can get the bus (about 1.5h) from Killarney.
Yay! wanderingearl + eurail – what a great partnership! So many choices in all of Europe. Just looking at the Eurail map is so much fun.
This is what I would do. If you are not already booked for a flight, get the cheapest flight out to Europe using https://www.kayak.com/buzz . From there I would have to include all the countries you haven’t been to.
And dear readers, remember that Earl is now completely tropified, so don’t send him to Scandinavia in November. Start in the north and work your way down (plus you’ll be closer to Africa that way).
Hi Earl,
I’ve been following you for awhile. I’m moving to Sibiu, Romania (in Transylvania) next week. You’re more than welcome to crash if you are in the area.
Cheers,
Royce
I appreciate that Royce! I’m quite sure that Romania is going to make the final list so there is a good chance I’ll be in Sibiu. And being able to crash for a night would be excellent!
We got set up with a place last week and have a decent pullout couch you’re welcome to crash on, email me if your interested or want to meet up while in town.
Thanks for that Royce! I’d definitely be interested in crashing or meeting up and as soon as I figure out when I’ll be in your ‘neighborhood’, I shall let you know.
Hey Earl,
What a wonderful opportunity! Last year I took a train from Berlin to Prague, then Prague to Zagreb, Croatia via Austria and Slovenia. Highly recommended! The scenery through the Alps is breathtaking as the train curves along around mountain sides, past cliff-top castles and above silver brooks. I also met some really interesting people on the train along the way – locals going for holidays were common and had some great tips. I wish I had spent some time in Slovenia (it’s on the list for next time) and Zagreb, a city of cafes. Here’s a link to a couple of posts I did about the train trips in particular, but I covered the whole trip if you’d like a bit more of an overview. Just send me an email if you have any questions. Cheers, Nic
https://nicfreeman.com/tag/train/
Thank you for your input Nic! And it’s great to read your posts as well about your own train journey in the region. I really do like that route that you followed, especially with the scenery and cities covered. Once I have my plan mapped out if I have any questions I shall be in touch….thanks again!
Earl, since I’m in Belgium (Antwerp), if you pass by I’ll give you a tour around the cities in Flanders 😉 (Ghent, Antwerp, Bruge)
Just contact me by mail (you should be able to see it in your wordpress dashboard)
Good luck!
Thanks so much DJ! If Belgium makes the final itinerary, I shall let you know!
Hey Earl,
I definetely recommend Eastern Europe: beautiful nature, interesting history and super nice people. And if you decide to come to Denmark, I’ll be happy to show you around 🙂
Lotte
Went to Slovenia a couple of months ago. Liked the Bohinj area (Bled, the lake, the nature, the mountains, the atmosphere) very much. And Ljubljana is a must visit. Such a relaxed city! To me the whole city has a atmosphere which is comparable to a nice hostel 🙂
Oh and you haven’t visited Belgium; the cities Gent and Bruges are defenatly worth a visit. Brussels and Antwerp are nice too. For nature i can recommend the Ardennes region!
Of the countries you haven’t been to, I can heartily recommend Liechtenstein and Finland. It’s still a great time of year to go to Finland now, while there is still some sun. Helsinki is a really great city, but also strongly recommend getting out into the countryside — it’s the land of 10,000 lakes. Rovaniemi is also high on the list — interact with reindeer, as well. It’s a stunning country and we found very friendly people. Sauna, of course, is not to be missed, and highly recommend you try Karelian piirakka, pulla, and oululimpuu (traditional Finnish rice cakes, sweet bread, and dark bread) — our family anscestry is Finnish and we’ve grown up on these; even better to taste them there.
Liechtenstein is basically one side of a mountain, from which you can look down into a valley and across the border into Switzerland. We started at one end and traveled the main road to the other end, veering off on random side streets that attracted us, exploring little towns with historical and attractive buildings and squares, stopping at roadside shrines and monuments, winding our way up to the heights, laughing at the calves that tried to race us (penned in between curves in the road), and finally staying in a small hotel we came across that overlooked the valley. It was beautiful and fun.
Earl get yourself to Turkey! Not only is Turkey an amazing country overflowing with culture and yummy treats, it is also the warmest place in Europe at the end of the summer! You can arrive in Istanbul by train from other countries in Europe, but if you want to explore anywhere else in Turkey you’re probably best off looking for a bus.
Email me if you want more info – I lived there for years!
I have to second that Liv! Loved Turkey. So colourful and warm! It was one of my favourites on my last trip.
Hey Liv – Thank you for the suggestion! I actually did visit Turkey last year, although it wasn’t for a very long period of time. I do need to use the Eurail Pass which doesn’t include Turkey, however, if I finish the trip in Bulgaria, I just may cross back in Turkey to explore some of the regions I missed the last time around.
I was in Spain 2 years ago and spent time with a family in Almeria, Spain. It was a wonderful and exciting place. So wonderful I got the symbol of the city as a tattoo. Also, a town just a few minutes away, Aguadulce is beautiful. I ate lunch in one of thier ‘suberbs’ set into the high hill tops that overlooked the ocean. It was amazing!
Bled, Slovenia! Do it!
Sounds like quite the adventure Earl, enjoy the ride amigo!
Slovenia is definitely an awesome place. Especially Ljubljana. Maybe I’m a bit biased with Ljubljana, but the Metelkova is amazing. Do take tons of pictures, and it’s close to the train/bus station and the shopping area.
Other places I recommend are Germany, Austria, Italy, and Croatia. Awesome places. Sucks that Serbia wasn’t included in the countries list though. Loved it there.
Barcelona is my fav. If you’re into partying, I hear Lithuania & Iceland is where it’s at!
I think you should travel to Warsaw Poland……………….I love it there.
Love the sound of your plans. Give me a shout if you’re in south Africa anywhere between Oct and Feb 🙂
Have a fab time in Europe. I would highly recommend Heidelberg in Germany…
Hey Colleen – It does look like I’ll be in South Africa at some point during those months, so it would be excellent if we could connect and meet up! Let’s keep in touch and as the time gets closer hopefully we can make some plans…
Bon Voyage Wandering Earl! Check out my blog for tips on traveling in Italy.. =)
Cheers
ps
@ Julia, Tarquinia is indeed very interesting!
Take the train frtom Zurich to Milan–beautiful trip–and then from Florence to Assisi…There is a tiny train that goes from Udine to Cividale in Italy that’s great fun.
Also a train that follows the Liguiran cost in Cinque Terra–very pretty and Take the train and cover the Italian Riviera right into France. And then the high speed from Avignon to Paris…
This is the best souorce for rail lines I have found: http://www.europeanrailwayatlas.com It’s a great investment.
I will be in Italy, traveling by train myself next week, and more. Let me know you schedule and perhaps we can have some coffee.
Hi Earl! I just came across your blog and I must congratulate you on such inspiring, interesting and informative writing.
If you haven’t already I can recommend you come to Salzburg (Austria) and visit the surrounding areas (it’s not all about Mozart and The Sound Of Music!). There are some amazing mountain hikes and quaint Alpine Huts (which you can stay in) along with beautiful lakes and lots of culture. You can eat as much schnitzel, apple strudel, sausage, sauerkraut to last a lifetime and drink Schnapps until you fall over. You can pass by on your way from Vienna to Munich and continue on to Berlin from there.
I’d be happy to give you any information about Salzburg and other destinations in Austria.
Hope you have a wonderful trip in Europe and maybe bump into you somewhere in the world!
Regards
The Young Foodie
Hey Earl,
Definitely Venice and Paris. These were my favorite cities. I have heard good things about Bulgaria too from my friends and also as someone else already said, Llubljana. Happy Travels!
Dear Wandering Earl. I am traveling in Europe at present. If u happen to travel to Switzerland, there is a small suggestion I have for u. The Swiss passes are tehre, but there is the option of a ‘Commune Pass’ as well. It is issued individually for any particular day, issued well in advance and in small numbers. The cost just CHF 35 per day and make u eligible for free travel anywhere inside Switzerland(including GldenPass trains). You also get 50% off on the expensive Jungfraujoch cog-wheel train[more on that later as I will be making that journey next week].
As suggested by my friend who stayed in Switzerland, she bought some for me for consecutive/non-consecutive dates. So, if u have a freind who stays in Switzerland, u can ask them to buy/reserve them for urself.
Have a great time!
-Dolly.
My vote is for Bulgaria, especially somewhere around the Black Sea. 🙂
based on our own experiences, we can whole-heartedly say:
France – Aside from Paris, of course, we also recommend traveling south and exploring the coastline. Particularly Antibes, Eze, and Nice.
Ireland – Dingle & Galway were everything we expected Ireland to be
Italy – Along with all the highlights (Firenze, Venezia, Roma, Milan), we loved Cinque Terre. The hike is amazing and the towns are gorgeous.
We’re also planning a trip to Belgium next month and can’t wait for Bruges! Check out our page for a list of where we’ve been–would love to offer recommendations wherever possible!
I haven’t traveled in Europe very much (only quick trips to Ireland and Italy), but I am DYING to go to Romania. Maybe Bulgaria, too. There are some awesome old monasteries there, and I’ve heard Brasov, Romania is well worth a visit.
Earl, you should be able to get some tips for things to do on the Europe a la Carte Blog.
Have a great trip.
You should not miss Estonia and Romania (esp. Transylvania).
I understand you’ve already been to Norway? But anyway, I’m suggesting it. I live in Norway myself, in Tønsberg, which is the oldest town in the country. It has some incredible history from the Medieval, and there are a lot of ruines and historical monuments if you are interested in such things. In the center of the town lies a little “mountain” (or more like a “berg” or something) of which the city of Túnsberg was placed in the Medieval (from year 1100). It got invaded by the Swedes and I don’t really know what happened after that, but if you like history like that, Tønsberg in Norway is a great place to visit. I know I would.
Also, some people may have heard of Princess Kristina from Tønsberg. She was the daughter of the king of Norway in the 1200’s, and she was married to a Spaniard, just so Norway could strenghten their ties with other countries. They lived in Sevilla in Spain until she died at the age of 28 and was buried in Covarrubias.
In 1953 there was found a sarcophagus they thought were empty, but it turned out to contain a woman’s body, which was Kristina from Tønsberg. The legend says that Kristina wanted a chapel in honour to St. Olav in Spain. The chapel was never built, but they are now planning to build one in Covarrubias in connection with the 750 years anniversary for her departure from Tønsberg.
She is now a symbol of love and… some other things, I don’t know what, in both Norway and Spain, and in a monastery in Covarrubias, her sarcophagus lies, and many couples in love us to travel to Covarrubias to visit it. I don’t know what’s the thing about this “love” and Kristina, but if you research it, you might find out. 🙂
I don’t know whether this kind of history is in any of your interests at all, but it’s my suggestion anyway! 😀
Hey Elise – I love interesting snippets of history that most people don’t know about….and I think the tale of Kristina would fit in that category (at least outside of Norway)! I’ve been a few times to Norway over the years but just the natural beauty alone is more than enough of a reason to return over and over again!
Hi Earl,
I have to suggest the town of Tarquinia, it is the town where my family is from and when they came to America, they changed the ‘a’ to an ‘o’ so from Tarquinia to Tarquinio. Anyway, my aunt went there this past May and said it is a cute little town on the coast, north of Rome.
And… since you MOST LIKELY will not head to Tarquinia based on my last name suggestion (hehe), I heard that Isle of Capri is amazing as well. Can’t wait to read about your experience while you are there!
Hey Julia – Well, with the way I travel, the history of your last name is as good a reason as any to visit a particular destination 🙂 I have spent a good amount of time in Italy over the years though so I’m not sure if I’ll get as far south as Rome if I do pass through again on this trip.
I’ll forgive you if you don’t make it to Tarquinia hahaha
Well its a shame your Eurail Pass doesnt include Turkey! Slovenia is absolutely definitely worth a visit though (especially as you hadnt been). If you had to make a “Europe” snowglobe – it would pretty much look like Slovenia. Unbelievable variety in such a small country. Also…I dont recommend you come to the UK right now…its cold and rainy here!
In my humble, biased opinion, you should definitely visit Belgium, especially Antwerp.
Arriving there at the train station is an attraction already, because the central station of Antwerp is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful train stations in the world. I know that you don’t really like touristic stuff, but trust me, you’ll be amazed (I know I am, every single time I’m there). You should also visit the Hendrik Conscienceplein, which is a small and cosy square, located in the centre of Antwerp. It’s right in front of a church and usually you can find a street musician there playing the violin.
As you said, you haven’t visited Belgium yet, and you’re always excited to visit new countries! Plus on top of that, we have the best fries and the best beer in the world! You can easily find fries in what we call “een frituur”, but for a beer you should visit ‘t Paters vaetje (it’s located right next to the cathedral on the left side), because it’s got the typical belgian atmosphere and you have an incredible range of belgian beers you can try. If you want, I could even guide you a bit around!
I second the suggestion for Berlin! I should be here through December, so make your way over and we can meetup. There’s a lot happening in this town, an exciting place to be!
I suggest you make CASTLES IN EUROPE your theme …. there are some gorgeous ones in every one of the countries you mention. Sintra in Portugal is spectacular, Augustusburg in Germany is a UNESCO world cultural heritage site, the medieval castle of Hohensalzburg in Austria is one of the largest medieval castles in all of Europe … if you want to narrow it down castles in the countries you haven’t yet visited, that works too.
Firenze, oh my an amazing city!!! Cinque Terre, Siena, Rosignano, Chianti, San Gimignano… amazing area will always go there in my trips to the EU.
You are welcome if you rail thru Amsterdam.
Hi Earl,
Sounds like an exciting adventure coming up! I’d definitely recommend Romania (esp Brasov) and Slovenia (Ljublana). A lot less tourists there and very charming. International trains in/out of Greece are halted so that’s something to consider too. The Bahn.de site and app is great for checking schedules for all trains in Europe. Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Lily
Hey Lily – Thanks for the heads up about Greece…that’s definitely good to know ahead of time. Romania and Slovenia are receiving enough votes that I think they will be on the final list for sure!
You want a good bakery? Well then you definitely have to include Germany!! There’s no way around that 🙂 I also loved the bakeries in Portugal and I think Lisbon & Porto should definitely be on your route.
Not sure where you’re flying to in Europe to start with, but if you’re anywhere close to Berlin I hope you stop by! We’ll be here until Oct. 7 and would love to meet up for more than just a quick bar stop.
Outside of my selfish reasons for you to visit Berlin, you should still visit this city – it’s a fun place. Stay in Kreuzberg or Neukolln, rent a bike and just ride around to your heart’s content. It’s the best way to see the city and appreciate the vast differences between neighborhoods.
Hey Audrey,
We’re currently in Berlin; would love to catch up for a coffee with you guys when you drop by.
Todd & Lauren @ Globetrooper
P.S. Earl -> Berlin
From that list a few places that jump to the front of my mind are Firenze and Pompeii in Italy.
Oh, I also LOVED my Eurail pass. Its hard to beat train travel for unforgettable memories…
Earl, great news. That’s an awesome deal from Eurail. AND you’re still coming to Africa. Nice. I will be Cote d’Ivoire for most of december and then Mali into January in beyond with a side trip to guinea, sl and liberia at some point. I don’t what your plans will look like, but if you are in Mali at that time we should definitely meet up. January is the best month temperature wise and there are some incredible music festivals then including festival au desert outside of timbuktu https://www.festival-au-desert.org/ which may be the most unique music gatherings in the world and certainly one of the most incredible settings. Africa is a big place, though, and you may be heading to a completely different part of the continent. Keep me posted, though. Looking forward to following your European adventures as well. Take care, Phil
I’ll be in Spain in October, you must come!
I spent six months in Spain – Toledo is beautiful, Granada is amazing, Los pirineos are some of the most incredible mountains I’ve seen!