Laranna

Hi there

I'm planning to travel to Europe next year. I'm from Australia and
have never been outside my country! So, I'm just after any tips and
suggestions on where to start, what to see, where to go, etc etc. If
anyone can help that would be great!

Thanks

David Bennetts

"Laranna" <> wrote in message
news:...
    > Hi there
    > I'm planning to travel to Europe next year. I'm from Australia and
    > have never been outside my country! So, I'm just after any tips and
    > suggestions on where to start, what to see, where to go, etc etc. If
    > anyone can help that would be great!
    > Thanks

Answer is virtually impossible to give without knowing something about your
age group, interests and whether you want to take group tours or go on your
own. Whether you would go as a backpacker, budget hotel, mid-range or
luxury would also have a bearing.

There's a huge range of cultural, historical and scenic experiences waiting
for you in Europe, and plenty of info on the internet to do your own
research.

For anyone to give you anything meaningful, I'd suggest you do some research
then ask some more specific questions.

Regards

David Bennetts
Australia

Charles Hawtrey

(Laranna) pondered the futility of human existence
in an uncaring universe and yet found the courage to write:

    >I'm planning to travel to Europe next year. I'm from Australia and
    >have never been outside my country! So, I'm just after any tips and
    >suggestions on where to start, what to see, where to go, etc etc. If
    >anyone can help that would be great!

"Europe" is a big place, though not so much geographically as
culturally.

Who are you? What are your interests? If you give more details we
(or at least I) will be glad to help.

Aramis

Gotta agree with the others Laranna - way too much to see and do to advise
someone unless their interest are known. You must know if you want to hit
the capitals, provincial towns, seasides, focus on one a couple of cultures.
Unless you are coming for 6 months to a year like many of your fellow
Aussies, you are going to have to prioritize.



"Laranna" <> wrote in message
news:...
    > Hi there
    > I'm planning to travel to Europe next year. I'm from Australia and
    > have never been outside my country! So, I'm just after any tips and
    > suggestions on where to start, what to see, where to go, etc etc. If
    > anyone can help that would be great!
    > Thanks

Reid

Following up to Laranna

    >I'm planning to travel to Europe next year. I'm from Australia and
    >have never been outside my country! So, I'm just after any tips and
    >suggestions on where to start, what to see, where to go, etc etc. If
    >anyone can help that would be great!

get a copy of something like Eyewitness Europe, that will give
you a starting point. Be aware when taking advice from your
fellow Ozzies that they are all go to the same places! For some
reason they always leave out Spain except for maybe the big
fiestas (where they make themselves a bit unpopular by being too
drunk or at Pamplona too dead). Do you want to see historical
stuff or meet <cough> new friends? You might like to start in UK
as there is no language barrier.
If you want some must sees, I would say The Alhambra and Venice
should be on the list but you of course don't learn much about
cultures at major tourist sites.

Iceman

(Laranna) wrote in message news:<>...
    > Hi there
    >
    > I'm planning to travel to Europe next year. I'm from Australia and
    > have never been outside my country! So, I'm just after any tips and
    > suggestions on where to start, what to see, where to go, etc etc. If
    > anyone can help that would be great!
    >
    > Thanks

What are your interests?

This list is far from complete; it's just some ideas to get you
started:

Art: Paris, Florence, Madrid, Rome, Amsterdam, London
Ancient History: Greece, Rome, Ephesus, Malta, Pompeii
Middle Ages: York, Brugge, Salzburg
20th Century History: London, Berlin, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Prague
Historic Cities not on the above lists: Paris, Florence, Venice,
Seville, Istanbul, Vienna
Classical Music: Vienna, Budapest, Prague
Architecture: Barcelona, London, Paris, Andalucia, Vienna, Prague
Palaces: London, Versailles, Loire Valley Chateaux, Vienna
Wine: Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhine Valley, several regions in Italy
Food: Paris, Provence, Northern Italy, Spain, Turkey
Adventure Sports: Interlaken (Switzerland), around Salzburg (Austria),
Slovenia
Battlefields: Waterloo, D-day beaches in Normandy, Gallipoli
Holocaust sites: Auschwitz, Mathausen, Dachau, Thereisenstadt
Multicultural neighborhoods: London (Brixton: Afro-Caribbean,
Southall: Indian/Pakistani), Paris (Chateau Rouge: African, Barbes:
Arab), Brussels (around Gare du Midi: Arab/Turkish, Matonge: African)
Party scenes: Barcelona, Madrid, Amsterdam, Prague, Ibiza, certain
Greek islands
Other recommendations: Siena, Edinburgh, Mont St. Michel, Krakow

Jenn

In article <>,
(Laranna) wrote:

    > Hi there
    >
    > I'm planning to travel to Europe next year. I'm from Australia and
    > have never been outside my country! So, I'm just after any tips and
    > suggestions on where to start, what to see, where to go, etc etc. If
    > anyone can help that would be great!
    >
    > Thanks

you need to start reading guidebooks to get a feel for options that
would appeal to you

if you want a hit and run see everything type trip, the Europe in 22
days type books by Rick Steves are excellent in laying out such a trip
-- they are a good place to start building your itinerary

if you are IMHO a more sensible sort and want to really experience a few
places well -- then you have to decide what they are -- when you know
that or have things narrowed down then come back to this group with more
specific questions

Derek F

"Laranna" <> wrote in message
news:...
    > Hi there
    > I'm planning to travel to Europe next year. I'm from Australia and
    > have never been outside my country! So, I'm just after any tips and
    > suggestions on where to start, what to see, where to go, etc etc. If
    > anyone can help that would be great!
    > Thanks
Ask around at home, so many Aussies have trod the path already.
Derek.

Dan Stephenson

In article <>, Laranna
<> wrote:

    > Hi there
    >
    > I'm planning to travel to Europe next year. I'm from Australia and
    > have never been outside my country! So, I'm just after any tips and
    > suggestions on where to start, what to see, where to go, etc etc. If
    > anyone can help that would be great!
    >
    > Thanks

Check out your local bookstore in their Travel section. There are
several First Time Europe-type books. Maybe get a big all-Europe book
and read through it to give yourself ideas. You know best what you are
interested in.

B Vaughan

On Wed, 31 Dec 2003 22:44:46 GMT, Dan Stephenson

    >Check out your local bookstore in their Travel section. There are
    >several First Time Europe-type books. Maybe get a big all-Europe book
    >and read through it to give yourself ideas. You know best what you are
    >interested in.

That's a good idea. I would add, get one with lots of pictures, which
are really useful for deciding where you want to go. For this book,
hotel and restaurant information isn't important. However, once you've
decided what you want to see, buy smaller, more specific guides to
those places, with hotel and restaurant recommendations in your price
range, and with good city maps, but without pictures (which make the
books too heavy to lug around.) You can leave the picture book at
home to plan your next trip.

For your actual trip, it's better to have separate smaller guide books
for each destination than one big book. Big guide books increase in
weight proportionately to the amount of time you carry them. By the
end of a week, you'll be trying to teach them to walk.
-----------
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup