My wife and I have traveled often to Europe and been to the major cities in the west. We follow Rick's advice and assume we will be back (and have been back often). The question is, if we were to stay in one location for a week long trip and blend in local sights with 2-3 day trips, what are some good suggestions. Travel would propbably be in late spring (May) or early autumn (October).
Merci
Go to places you haven't been. Central Europe? Northern Europe? You don't post the countries, if any, you have missed.
I would choose Paris. You can enjoy time in the city, museums, shopping, sightseeing, etc, plus there are many many great daytrips you could take. Have you been to Chartes? Or Chantilly?
Paris, London, Florence, and Munich offer great cities and also good day trip possibilities.
I love Cortona, Italy. We have been there five times and plan to return in 2008. It is is on the border of Tuscany and Umbria. It is a great home base for day trips. We have made the following day trips from there: by train: Florence and Arezzo, by car: Florence, but train is much easier; Siena; Pienza, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Monticchiello, doable in one day; Orvieto and Civita; Assisi and Spello. Maybe more. We have rented three properties: Casa Melody, now managed by terretrusche.com, or it was the last time I checked, and La Certosa with a group(three times now) , and Pancrazi, through classictuscanhomes.com. If you go there for a week, I highly recommend you get a house or apartment. The last time we went, March 2008, we were there for two weeks and I spent the middle weekend in Venice. It was very easy to get to Venice by train from there.
We're going to do five nights in Venice in May. There are several day trips that can be done from there (Ravenna, Verona, Palladian Villas, Scrovegni Chapel, Murano/Burano) but we've been to Venice before and love it so much we may not leave the island once we get there. Rick Steves' book on Venice lists the day trips nicely.
And you won't need a car.
My choice for a leisurely weeklong stay with sidetrips would be the Oberallgäu in Germany (I've done it four times). It is kind of a miniature of Switzerland (Alpine dairy/ski). The major town there is the ski resort of Oberstdorf, but you might find less expensive accommodations in Fischen, Sonthofen, or Immenstadt. One of the big attactions there is hiking in the Alps, particularly in Kleinwalsertal, an Austrian valley completely unaccessible except from Germany. For €17 pP you can purchase an Urlaubs pass that gives you unlimited use of buses and trains in the valley for a week. With it plus an Anschuss-Ticket (€2 in 2002) you can go to Füssen by bus for an afternoon. Or, you can use a Bayern-Ticket to go to Lindau and the Bodensee for a day, or to go to Munich for and afternoon and evening.
I think the suggestions of Munich, Paris, London, and Florence are all good.
If you pick Florence (best choice this time of year), find a weekly rental (villa, agritourismo) an easy train or bus commute into town and work from there. Florence hotels aren't that nice and very expensive. You want a train or bus into Florence because you can't park downtown without a hefty fine.
Of course the logical question is where exactly have you been? If you haven't as yet been to these cities (Berlin, Hamburg, Prague) or the Cinque Terre, they would be wonderful places to park yourself and take a few day trips. If you would be a little more specific, we could be a little more helpful.
All of the suggestions have been very helpful. We have been to London three times, SE England, Wells and vicinity, south Wales (one of our favorites), Normandy, Paris many times, Amsterdam twice, and Rome.
Looking for something slower paced but new (for us).
Thanks.
Well, it's hard to beat slower-paced than Venice. No cars, no bicycles, no nothing on wheels except for handtrucks. Avoid the two main tourist crunch places *(Rialto and San Marco) during the peak times (10 am to 4 pm) and just wander around. There are small piazzas everywhere and free little museums in the guise of churches all over. It's jaw droppingly beautiful and you can't get lost - you're on an island!
I'd suggest London with day trips to any of the following: Windsor, Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon, Canterbury, Dover or Cardiff, Wales. Or,(my favorite) Inverness Scotland with day trips to Aviemore, Isle of Sky and Ellen Donnan Castle, Orkney and some part of the Whiskey Trail. We spent 5 days in Inverness this summer as part of a 2 1/2 week trip and wished we had more time there (and it wasn't our first time there either). Another area to consider is the Snowdonia area of Wales
I suggest Trier, Bacharach, St, Goar, Dinkelsbuhl and Rothenburg. All fairly small; all interesting; all fun. Take a ride on the romantic Rhine; see it from a train; enjoy a schneeballen; go to a puppet show; have a sausage on a roll in the square.
We did all these on one trip. We loved it!
By the way, the puppet show was all in German. We stopped there and asked if it would be in English but were told "No". However, the proprietor said we'd enjoy it anyway. We were the only Americans but he had asked us earlier where we were from. He then included references to Atlanta and added some English comments just for our benefit. It was wonderful - and the additions were just for my wife and me.
It doesn't get any better than that.
Hands down....Madrid. Not really slow (they keep late hours in Spain), but a city filled with sights to see and things to do. For daytrips, there's Toledo, Segovia, El Escorial, and Alcala de Henares all well within range. Prices are probably the cheapest in western Europe. I usually rent an apartment if I'm in one place for a week or longer....cheaper than hotels and nice to have a place to go "home" to. If you decide on Madrid, e-mail me, and I'll put you in contact with the owners of a nice apartment I usually use...375 Euro per week!
For something different how about Ljubljana, Slovenia. It's lovely and the food is great. You're an hour from Lake Bled, 2.5 hours from Zagreb, Croatia and you could potentially take an overnight trip to Salzburg or Vienna. We were there in October and it was beautiful.
I agree with Paris and London. We spent a week in both places and I still want to go back because we only scratched the surface of all there was to see.
Being one who prefers the country to the city, I would love to spend a week in the Bavarian Alps, anytime of year. There's so much to see and do with none of the hassles of the large cities. My personal favorite Bavarian destination is Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but there are many other towns just as suitable.
Mevagissey in Cornwall. There would be lots of day trips. Land's End, The Eden Project, Tintagel, St. Michaels Mount and The Lost Gardens of Heligen. Beautiful country and wonderful cream teas. Given enuf time you can see Dartmoor and the prison museum in Princetown. The Prince of Wales pub in Princetown offers a lovely local brew and really good stickey toffee pudding.
Eliminating the places you list as having visited,
I would suggest Prague and my wife would vote for
Venice. Both are lovely and have several side trips.
I spent a week in Rome once. Tried to see everything and still didn't see it all. I needed a vacation after the vacation to recover from all the nonstop walking and sightseeing.
Another time we rented a house in a small village in Provence (Cotignac) for 2 glorious weeks. Spent the time driving to other small villages for market days, going on picnics, hikes etc. I still rate it as one of the best vacations of my life! Good luck!
I would say either Paris or Florence, depending on your personal choice.
Each has a multitude of day trip possibilities, along with plenty to see & do in each city.
