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Itinerary Help! South of France or Poland?

Posted by on

Hi there!
My brother (18) and I (21) are taking a five week trip to Europe this summer. I have been to England, Scotland, Switzerland, and Italy before. It's my brother's first time in Europe.

So far our itinerary includes London, Paris, Swiss Alps, Florence, Rome, Munich, Prague, Berlin, and Amsterdam. We have three more nights in our itinerary and are trying to decide between South of France (Nice) or Krakow, Poland (or somewhere else we haven't thought of yet). We are interested in Nice for the beach mainly. Krakow on the other hand is interesting for its history and population of young people and college students. Either one could be added into our itinerary since we will be going from France to Italy, and will be in Prague and Berlin.

In general, we are most interested in beautiful scenery (nature or architecture), history, and unique experiences. We don't want to spend too much of our time in museums, but enjoy a really good one here or there.

I would love to hear about your experiences in either, and if you've been to both, which one you'd go back to! Also if you have another destination we haven't considered, we'd love to hear about it and why you'd recommend going there. Thanks!

Posted by
7175 posts

London, Paris, Swiss Alps, Florence, Rome, Munich, Prague, Berlin, and Amsterdam

The plan as you describe above flows well if you add Venice between Rome and Munich. Introducing Nice or Krakow would see you making substantial diversions.

Posted by
7054 posts

Krakow is not the only Polish city with a young/ university population. Check out Wroclaw - it's less out of the way too. If you're on a budget, you can use Polski bus to get there directly from Berlin.

http://www.polskibus.com/en/index.htm

Posted by
2696 posts

I've only been to Krakow so I can only assure you that if you choose to go there I'm pretty darn sure you won't be disappointed--it does indeed have a youthful vibe due to the colleges (but did not feel like party central, if you know what I mean), but is also quite beautiful with plenty of outdoor spaces to enjoy, particularly the Planty which surrounds the Old Town and the main square has something going on all the time. Plenty of museums but also Wawel Hill and Kazimierz areas to explore outdoors. Another reason to choose Krakow is the zloty is very much in our favor, so your dollar will go much further.

Posted by
6 posts

Thanks all for your input! I am definitely leaning more towards Poland, the history, architecture, culture, and general environment appeal to me a lot. However, if we skip the French Riviera, we won't be going anywhere else on the Mediterranean, and my brother and I are having a hard time giving that up! Although considering our money will go so much further in Poland, we may be able to justify putting off the French Riviera until we're older and not traveling on a budget. :)

Posted by
15098 posts

hi,

Given the choice of choosing Nice and the south of France or Krakow, I would pick Krakow, one reason I'm not interested in spending time on beaches. I've not been to Nice but southern France yes, to Avignon and Toulon. Krakow I was there once on the first trip to Poland, worth going back to and spending time in the outlying region.

Posted by
7054 posts

Although considering our money will go so much further in Poland, we may be able to justify putting off the French Riviera until we're older and not traveling on a budget. :)

Very smart choice. Look at Lonely Planet books (for each country) to estimate your budget. It's always good to mix inexpensive and more expensive (be careful not to break your wallet in Switzerland). Given your age, you'll have lots of time to return so there/s no point on focusing on very expensive places you can visit later when you have more money in the travel piggy.

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