Europe Priorities

I'd add London, Switzerland, specifically the Lauterbrunnen area, Austria (Salzburg, Lakes area, Vienna) to a list of "must sees" but some of that is due to my background in classical music....and I really enjoyed the Sound of Music. Others will probably mention Amsterdam which personally wouldn't make my Top 10. For my husband, the list would also have Normandy, France.

Thanks for your input! We've been considering a few of those places, so I appreciate knowing that you enjoyed them.

Go east! Your dollars go much farther if you take them farther☺ Krakow, Prague, Vienna, Budapest - classic 2-week trip on public transportation. If you have less time, drop Krakow (just because it's an outlier). Spain is another country that has everything, and is cheaper than France or Italy. If you only have 2 trips left, these are the 2 I'd recommend - hard to choose between them. Both are very different from the places you've been.

edit: Yes, indeed, Berlin instead of Krakow, slightly more expensive but a classic 4-city trip by train.

GREECE,!,,

We just visited Naxos and Mykonos, would have skipped Mykonos ( but Easyjet flys there from London cheaply if booked well in advance) , we loved loved loved Naxos. Clean, cheap, super nice people( mykonos folks seems very tourist jaded , only nice to you if you are buying or spending).

Hotel room with small balcony with sea view 100 meters to great beach, great homemade breakfast included, FORTY FIVE EUROS!!! ( Hotel KYMATA) You will minmally pay twice that in Mykonos for similar.

We rented a car that broke down in middle of nowhere, walked up narrow mountain rd and found a closed restaurant all on its own. Restaraunt Rotunda . A man was doing renos, woman was gardening.

Asked for help .

These people were amazing!!! Took us into restaurant ( which was obviously under renos) but was on side of cliff with spectacular views.

Turns out was owners son and wife, p,ace was family owned for decades.,grandpa had built it. They phone rental car agency for us , spoke to them in greek for us, served us ice cold beer , and then woman dissapppeared , returning in 10 minutes with fresh hot donut type sweet she had just whipped up for us, and we were group of six.

They REFUSED to take one dime from us!!!

We wasted almosg an hour of their day and kept them from work , and they made no money off us, that is GREEK HOSPITALITY!

I have been to many places in europe, this was a memorable experience.
Visit the islands , avoid the touristy ones like mykonos or santorini, ( ( they are beautiful so worth seeing just so expensive and packed ) or just give them a few days, and try some other islands. My daughter loved corfu and i loved my visit to Paros also.

If your heritage traces to any particular country in Europe you might consider combining future travel with a "roots quest" of sorts. Have done that for myself (Ireland) and my wife (Poland) and it made the trip even more memorable and enjoyable for both of us. Even found the Polish village that my wife's great great grandparents had emigrated from years ago, after doing some genealogical research with other family members. The research and planning was half the fun.

Barcelona
Berlin

Consider Berlin and avoid one of RS's faves,Lake Hallstatt.

I tend to look at 3 'musts'...
--Must visit cities
--Must see man made sights
--Must experience natural wonders

In terms of natural wonders, Europe has but a few to consider...
The Alps
Norwegian Fjords
Greek Islands
Italian Lakes
Plitivice Lakes
Croatia's Adriatic Coast

Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Do your research. Rick's materials are very good.

There are some places that come to mind immediately when you think of Europe. You've been to most, so without thinking too much, what's left is London and Switzerland. The rest is just icing on the cake.

Agree with Chani, go East, your money will go further and you won't be disappointed with the cities. Been to Prague 2x, cesky krumlov, vienna 4x, Budapest 2x. Would go back to all again. In the Czech Republic I would also check out Brno (my husband has been there). We are planning on Poland soon. Croatia is also fabulous, we have family there so we go often, but we only visit in the warm weather because of the beach. It is still inexpensive. Also love Amsterdam, we spent 9 days there last summer (my second visit) and still missed a few things on our list. Their museum pass is the best value.

Rick has a chart similar to what you mean in his Europe Through the Back Door, but it's no longer reproduced on this site because charts have been deemed not mobile-friendly. The same preferences are reflected in his guided tour itineraries. Versus those "Best of Europe" itineraries, points missing from your experience so far include London, Amsterdam, the Rhine/Mosel valleys, and Berner Oberland in Switzerland.

Although it doesn't feature in as many tours, Rick's also a big fan of Berlin. How about Amsterdam-Rhine-Berlin-Dresden-Prague?

For each separate country, our Explore Europe link at right includes an "At a Glance" list of city rankings, like on this link to Germany.

Central Europe and Greece are a couple of lower-cost destinations, as Chani and Pat pointed out. We had some wonderful experiences with Greek hospitality though not as "extreme" as Pat's. Flying to Athens will add to your long air travel days though, since you have to connect through a European hub like Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, etc.

London and Britain generally would be a "must see" for me if I hadn't already. London though is at the upper end of the expense scale.

And I hope you keep in mind that, after a few years of inevitably being tied to home, travel with children can be fun and rewarding for you as well as them. Don't think of having a family as the end of your European travel adventures, just an interlude till the kiddies are old enough to enjoy them with you -- and you with them.

Definitely London and other nearby areas of England
Istanbul and Ephesus
Amsterdam if you like art and Anne Frank House
Santorini

In terms of 'must visit' cities, I'd rate ...
London / Paris / Rome / Florence / Venice / Budapest / Vienna / Prague
Berlin / Amsterdam / Barcelona / St Petersburg / Athens / Istanbul

I have been to all of the cities on David's (see above) list, most of them several times over the year. I would add Madrid and Sevilla. That should make it fairly comprehensive.

I wasn't going to get involved because it seemed a little too broad. But I post I have reminded me of a potential angle. Choose priorities based on current vs possible future accessibility. My list on that basis, which does play a role in my decision making:

The Baltic States (before they are annexed)
Georgia (before it is completely annexed)
Moldova (before parts of it are fully annexed)
Ukrainian Black Sea Coast (before it is annexed)
Eastern Ukraine (oooops, too late)
Sweden (as they are going through a significant cultural conversion the Sweden of 1990 may not exist in 2020).
Romania, Bulgaria; (two countries going through a conversion; this being the 20th century taking root in a land that hadn't changed in the last 75 years - currently like time travel, but not for much longer)
Slovakia (before the tourist find one of Europes best kept secrets)
The Dalmation coast (before..... ooops, too late)
Montenegro (before the tourist move south from the Dalmatian coast and discover this amazing place)
Jordan (while it is still relatively safe)
Israel (while it still exists)
Azerbaijan (while it is still relatively safe)
Ubekistan (while it is still relatively safe)
Turkey (while it is still relatively safe)
Hungary (absolutely!)

Hi,

If you want esoteric historical sites, not only those mentioned in the general run of the mill guide books but those places and museums where any person visiting other than you will be a local, then I suggest: Poland, Germany, Austria, CR; Hungary, not only all the capitals of these countries but also province capitals.

Prague is the cheapest place I have been to, and it appeals to younger people. I assume you are younger since you have not started your family :)

Thank you so much for your insights, everyone! I really appreciate the good points you made. And I wasn't aware that Rick had a "Best of Europe"/"Europe Through The Backdoor" book out, so it sounds like that's exactly what I was looking for!

For those of you that have been to or are recommending Switzerland: my husband and I tend to enjoy the history and culture of big cities, or being by the sea. Obviously, neither of these fit the description of Switzerland, but we have had several people tell us that Switzerland is a "must see". Would you say that Switzerland is probably only a must for people that are very much into hiking/being outdoors, or is it so inherently impressive that even not-super-outdoorsy people should prioritize going here?

Thank you so much for your insights, everyone! I really appreciate the good points you made. And I wasn't aware that Rick had a "Best of Europe"/"Europe Through The Backdoor" book out, so it sounds like that's exactly what I was looking for!

For those of you that have been to or are recommending Switzerland: my husband and I tend to enjoy the history and culture of big cities, or being by the sea. Obviously, neither of these fit the description of Switzerland, but we have had several people tell us that Switzerland is a "must see". Would you say that Switzerland is probably only a must for people that are very much into hiking/being outdoors, or is it so inherently impressive that even not-super-outdoorsy people should prioritize going here?

Switzerland is stunning, beautiful, gorgeous, un-G-dly expensive. Wonderful for the great outdoors. For countries dripping in profound and moving history, both ancient and very current then I suggest you head East. WWI, WWII, Gypsies, the Holocaust, the Revolution of 1956, the Velvet Revolution, the Orange Revolution, Euro Maidan; you can touch it, taste it and still smell it. Muslim Culture, Western Christian Culture, Eastern Christian culture, it all comes together and is alive in Eastern Europe. What will Paris look like in 20 years? My guess pretty much like it does now. What will Romania look like in 20 years? My guess, nothing like it does today; which is very much how it looked 75 years ago. Okay, I am a romantic, ignore me.......

I guess I'm one of the few who wasn't blown away by the Alps, so I'll chime in here. Like you, I enjoy the centuries of history and culture that I find in European cities and villages. I'm no longer a "beach person" but the views of the Mediterranean shores on Sicily and Malta were stunning.

I was lucky to live near San Francisco for 8 years and had a lot of vacation time to explore the West. For natural beauty, that's where I'd go. The Canadian Rockies are the best, but there are other mountain ranges that are breath-taking too and you can feel that you are in the wilderness, for hours on end and even see wild animals - lots of them. I spent a week in the Alps last year (on an RS tour) and I never had that feeling, and never saw a wild animal - just lots of cows and sheep. Sadly I never saw the Swiss Alps (which were shrouded in clouds) but if the French Alps at Chamonix are similar (those I did see), they were nice but nothing like the spectacular vistas driving on the highway between Banff and Jasper.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Any specific geographic preference? What about foreign langauge knowledge? There are towns and cities from the lower Vistula (if your interest is in Prussian history) to Moravia in the CR that were not damaged in the WW 2. Krakow and Prague are amonst the best known examples. The others are worth exploring to see how it was.

Fred, to answer your question, we have typically been most interested in Western Europe (particularly the Mediterranean), though the prospect of a trip to Prague/Vienna or the Swiss Alps has also piqued our interest as a way to see something different than what we've already seen. But to give you an idea of our general "style", Paris and Rome were the biggies on our bucket list, and after going there we'd love to go again someday - those places were good fits for us. I'd say our interests are more along the lines of ancient history, good food, famous sights, and culture (feeling like we are someplace very different than the US)...those things catch our interest more than nature, modern art, recent history, etc.

Agree with the poster above on Greece, although I would suggest Crete with at least a stop in Athens (as James E. says, before it's gone.) The Acropolis is a 'don't miss', IMO. It is an astonishing thing. Then spend some time in the Pelopennese. Amazing, evocative places.

I'd add Greece and Germany. Definitely Berlin. What a fun decision to make!

We went east (or central, I suppose) on our last trip before kids and absolutely loved Berlin, Munich, Budapest, and Slovenia. I would go back to any of those places in a heartbeat. I agree that it's hard to recommend "can't miss" European experiences, since what we enjoyed may not be your cup of tea. Enjoy your trip planning and travels!

London / Paris / Rome / Florence / Venice / Budapest / Vienna / Prague
Berlin / Amsterdam / Barcelona / St Petersburg / Athens / Istanbul

Why is it American's (and others), even some supposedly seasoned travelers, think of Europe as a just few large cities separated by uninhabited wastelands. There is a lot of beautiful country in between those cities. I've spent 85% of my time in the last 20 years outside of large cities.

Get out into the small towns. Most of the scenic landscape is out there anyway. I'd much rather spend time in the Harz, the Oberallgäu, Berchtesgaden, Schwarzwald, etc than in cities.