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Single Gal / Two Younger Ladies Seeking European Destination

Posted by (New York) on

I'm starting to research where in Europe I'd like to go this summer. I may be joined by my friend. We are in our 20s/30s.

Looking to explore a place (or places) that are interesting and different, but also safe (considering recent events and the current climate) for one young woman or two young women to travel by themselves. Both women are very open-minded and love to experience different cultures, but don't travel solo a ton, so trying to make an interesting and safe choice for where to go.

Previous travels include:
Paris and parts of France
England (almost all of it)
Germany (all)
Scotland (lots)
Tuscany (Florence, Siena, Verona, Venice)

Was thinking of perhaps Spain or Portugal. Would love to visit Provence and South of France. Looking at about a week or week and a half.

Rick Steves readers' insightful thoughts always appreciated! Thanks!

Posted by
2393 posts

You could easily while away a week in either Provence or Spain. if you can stretch it to 10 days you could do 5 days Provence & 5 days Barcelona.

Posted by
3551 posts

Sounds like Provence and south is a place for u. It is safe , with alot of beautiful villages. It is easier to go by car for village to village transport but u could easily yse train for s France. Plan asap as hotels fill up quickly for summer. Much of Paris ends up south diuring August.

Posted by
1806 posts

I'd say Netherlands. It's small, good train system, most people speak English, you can cover a lot in a week and a half, or limit your trip to base in Amsterdam and then take a few day trips from there if you decide you only want to spend 1 week.

I wouldn't stress too much over potential for a terrorist attack. We were in France last year right after some stuff went down and while they certainly had plenty of highly visible security in place, we just went about our business as did thousands of others.

If it still concerns you, then maybe go to Ireland instead. Again, relatively small country, no language barrier, train system very limited but they have an extensive bus system if you decide you don't want to rent a car you can easily base yourself in a couple cities (ex. Dublin and Galway) and join up with some guided tour groups if you want to see things outside of the cities. Or take a ferry to the Aran Islands and then stay a night and bike around the island.

Unless you are spending a lot of time at the beach, Spain and Portugal are just really really hot in the summer months. That's a trip I'd save and do in either spring or autumn. South of France might be a little tricky depending when you are traveling. A lot of French take their major vacation the month of August and booking a reasonably priced room might be a bit challenging if you wait much longer.

Iceland might be a good one if you are willing to rent a car and you like doing outdoor activities. I've seen some incredibly low flight prices from NYC to Iceland pop up from time to time.

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