My daughters, 19 and 21 want to travel for 2 weeks starting the 2nd week of July from Barcelona to other coastal cities in either italy, france or greece on a budget. They are not interested in museums and churches but more into beaches, views, yummy cafes and nightlife. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go, how to get there, and reasonable places to stay? I haven't booked their return flight to los angeles yet so i have flexibility on where they fly home, it could be back in Barcelona, but doesn't have to be if it doesn't make sense to travel back, but preferably they fly out of a city that has low priced flights back home. Thank you for any of your advice and counsel, as this is there first trip alone and while we took a trip a couple years ago as a family to paris, rome, amalfi coast, they haven't backpacked without parents. PS my older daughter is in Barcelona now studying abroad, so her little sister is flying out to meet her at the end of her 6 week program for their travel.
Posted by
1229 posts
As your eldest has been there for 6 weeks, she likely has some ideas about places she is interested in visiting, yes? I would eliminate Greece from this trip, for budget and time reasons. They can travel easily by train along the coast between Barcelona and the Cinque Terre in Italy, and then fly home from a near-coastal airport like Nice, Milan, Pisa, or Florence, depending on where they decide to go and for how long, and where the end (like, maybe they will want to spend two weeks exploring the Cote d' Azur, ending in Nice, then flying home from Nice makes the most sense). They should read, read, read (especially books, or sections of, that focus on the Cote d' Azur and the Italian Med.) and study maps! We spent time in that region last summer; the Calanques in Cassis were spectacular, Nice is a nice coastal, relatively big cities with some interesting museums (if they decide to do something 'cultural'), the Cinque Terre is very different from the Cote d' Azur and has some beautiful hikes, despite complaints of overcrowding. Then there's snorkeling in St. Tropez, or they could ferry to Porquerolles (!). Lots of fun and beautiful places. Lots of research for them to do ;)
Once they start prioritizing places, they can figure out how many nights per place makes sense, and it will start to come together...
Posted by
Costa Mesa, CA, USA
503 posts
As this is the height of tourist season I would recommend checking reservation availability ASAP. As for "reasonable" and "budget" that all depends upon your definition - if they are looking for under $100 a night that will be challenging. Best bet would be to look into an apartment - either through airbnb or through an agency.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
If they mostly want budget beach life and relaxation, they could fly to Greece or Turkey and spend the whole time in one of those two countries. Those two are generally more budget-friendly for private rooms and taverna meals than much of Europe and they'll still have the chance to stumble upon some culture. I don't think that one needs to travel far and wide (e.g., multiple countries in one trip) to try all the good beaches, or at least not until one is less concerned about budget.
In France, on the other hand, youth hostels are a good budget strategy - lots of locations, often pretty large and institutional, many with a kitchen available (http://www.fuaj.org/en/). They could also base a plan around those for two weeks.
Denmark also has some excellent hostel locations near beaches (https://www.danhostel.dk/en) and weather may be less hot, although it's not as budget friendly in every respect (such as the price of beer).
Posted by
Portsmouth
5532 posts
How about the Belearic Islands? Plenty of beach and nightlife there, particularly Ibiza.