Why do you prefer traveling mostly in Europe?

A good question for which there are many answers. Without going into to much detail here are mine:

• Relatively short trip from NY where we live
• Land of our ancestors
• Learned more European history in school then other continents
• Our involvement in two world wars
• Visit family and friends who live there
• Ease of language- UK speaks English as does most of Europe now
• Medieval sights - castles, walled cities, fortresses
• Art
• Food
• great transportation system for getting around within countries and to others
• can go it alone without tour group, other countries not so much for us

I’m sure I will think of more, but you get the idea.
I also get this question from people, and I just counter ask with, why do you not want to visit Europe.

That sounds about right.

Great list, Barbara!

It is not a short flight for us, but we are simply smitten, in addition to the many good reasons you mention.

We also appreciate that the food is less processed, more farm-to-table, more organic, and tastes better than most of what we buy at home.

In the US we need a car to get to the locations we like to hike in. In Europe, we jump on a train, a bus, a gondola and we are off! Also, we can hike to places that serve meals and have indoor plumbing. That doesn’t happen in the Cascade Mountains.

It's relatively cheap for me to travel to.

I live here, so it is easy with no need for long flights.

Lived in Europe for a number of years….I like going back every year to a specific location I’m familiar/comfortable with. That being said I have traveled the Middle East and Asia…..love it.

Barbara came up with a great list, and I would add two more reasons - the fascinating diversity between countries that are so close to each other, and the fact that people aren’t walking around with guns. Crazy people are institutionalized for the most part. I go solo a lot and I hike. I don’t feel safe hiking alone in the US.

Short answer - it's what I'm interested in.

More specifically, it's where my roots are from and the predominate roots of the culture I grew up in. Doesn't mean I'm not interested in other places but Europe is the origin of my preferred languages, music, food, literature, art and customs.

And I'd be interested in why people would ask this question.

I have no interest in visiting Asia, Africa is a mess and has been for decades, and there are too many political issues going on in S. America. If those get straightened out, I’d be happy to return to S. America. I’d love to visit a couple Middle East countries, but my wife doesn’t feel it’s safe enough to go.

We do not travel “mostly” in Europe. I think many people here travel elsewhere as well.

We tend to take 3-4 two-week trips a year within North America, 1 trip to Europe, and 1 elsewhere—Japan, South America, Australia, or New Zealand. We just like to travel; much of it to beautiful mountainous landscapes for hiking.

But agree with Barbara’s list when it comes to Europe.

Is the OP a real person?

Enjoyable thread to read, thank you OP and TF responders. Barbara nailed it for me and I add that for my personal transportation limit, I choose not to try to tolerate more than 9-hr flights.

I lived in the UK for many years, so it’s like a second home to me and I love going back to see friends and relatives…..and relive my student days there!
I love history so Europe is my happy place.
I agree with the person who talked about the fresh food there…..I never have gut issues in Italy, France etc……little to no preservatives in the food and wine.
I also have no desire to revisit Asia or the Middle East.
I lived in Saudi Arabia for years, so want to remember it how it was pre-war(s) when I was there.
Same goes for S. America.
I’m sure it’s wonderful, just not for me.
Now……where shall I go next…….

Europe is not my first choice for travel at present. I am later to the travel party, so want to see places that may be 'challenging' or at risk of change while I still physically can. My plan is to spread a wide net and then make it shorter and shorter as I age. I know I can hit a European city anytime, but I have a limited emotional and physical time for SEAsia, China, Asia and the Middle East. I had good examples from my parents and older siblings that the world is my oyster, not just Europe. Also, I live in a very multicultural city, and my kids have wide circles of friends. I want to keep up and understand.

We are like Lola. We enjoy visiting Europe, for the reasons Barbara gave, but we don't limit our travels to just one continent. Some of our most memorable trips have been to the Middle East and Asian countries. Next up, Egypt.

• Closer than any of the other Continents
• Birthplace of Western Culture
• Birthplace of Western Practice of Religion
• Birthplace of Western Democracy
• Birthplace of Western Art
• Birthplace of Western Music
• Birthplace of Western Architecture
• Birthplace of M&M's
• Home of my ancestors and most relevant direct historical line to the U.S.
• More relevant in evaluating the course of Western development.
• Different enough to be interesting.
• Familiar enough to be comfortable.

Yes, I know; WESTERN, WESTERN, WESTERN; but no other influence has as much meaning to life here, now.

We have visited Europe more than any other continent, however, we have enjoyed our travels in the Middle East, Africa, South and East Asia as well as South America, Australia/NZ.

Don't ignore the rest of the World.
Some key places to visit there are
1) Israel and Jordan
2) Egypt
3) kenya and Tanzania for safaris
4) China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, the UAE and Oman
5) Argentina, Chile, Peru, the Panama Canal, Costa Rica and the Caribbean
6) North America, Canada and Alaska, as well as the USA and Mexico

Is the OP a real person?

I was wondering the exact same thing. Rick Steves Turing Test, perhaps?

-- Mike Beebe

I was wondering the same thing. With a name like AI you never know.

You only need to look through the poster's history. Over 230 posts and if you read some of the replies, they don't sound like AI generated stuff.
Also, there have been a number of similar topics by longer time members....just stuff for discussion.

My first time away from family and Calif, undertaking the big adventure going as a solo college senior in the summer of 1971, the first time on a flight was to Europe flying from OAK to Gatwick, on the big trip of 12 weeks to western Europe. I've been hooked ever since.

I much prefer traveling in Europe, now after 50 plus years, almost exclusively for reasons of language, (French and German), history, culture, geography, and , specifically , engaging in cultural immersion (regardless if you are viewed as an outsider, which I see as irrelevant), tracking down esoteric historical museums or sites pertaining to different historical topics. I owe it to a good number of locals in France and Germany helping me out in tracking down these sort of places.

To add to a couple of other reasons for me not mentioned yet.

There’s many places that seem fascinating and yet reading about traveling there make me understand they aren’t for me. I really don’t want to be followed around by every single tout and annoyed by everyone trying to get my money.

Also, I grew up watching the Rick videos on PBS and they intrigued me about Europe. He really did fill a niche between absolute shoestring Let’s Go travel and the 4 and 5 star places only travel guides.

Also, while I roll my eyes occasionally at the excessive safety obsession in many threads, I know that advice applies only to most of Europe and that there are real safety concerns in other parts of the word. Wandering off the usual tourist track is fine almost everywhere in Europe.

I do plan to visit some of the more developed Asian countries. I do kick myself for canceling a planned Asian trip a few years before Covid. Almost all of my relatives are the type to watch the news incessantly. There was a lot of family turmoil going on then and I really didn’t want the entire trip to be relatives sending me alarmist stories about ‘someone got their drink spiked in Tokyo by a prostitute and was robbed of everything!’ Did I mention most of them vacation in Las Vegas, a city which does have lots of prostitution!

It didn’t start out this way when I took my first solo 4 month trip in 1977, but it ended up this way with even an update last summer from Ancestry. Wales was my last ancestral country to visit.

🇬🇧 England & Northwestern Europe 34%
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland 29%
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales 8%
🇮🇪 Ireland 3%
🇸🇪 & 🇩🇰 Sweden & Denmark 16%
🇸🇯 Norway 7%
🇩🇪 Germanic Europe 3%

That first trip was primarily about seeing art and architecture and making my way around on my own in places where I didn’t know the language. It was also about previewing what it might be like to live in Europe for awhile which I was able to make happen in 1982-85 by working for the US Army and living in Nürnberg.

Trips I've taken over the years long before as well as since I knew anything about my DNA have included some countries from the Northwestern Europe part above like France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Other trips have been to places I've learned from and even loved without a DNA connection including Mexico, Canada, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey and Russia.

Europe-centic? You bet! With limited time and funds, I've had to prioritize. With unlimited time and funds I'd probably add Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Peru, Egypt and maybe one or more of the Persian Gulf countries just for the contemporary architecture.

Far more likely for me these days is a river cruise like the one linked below. I've always been intrigued by doing a loooong river cruise if I was able to do that financially and physically. This European Sojourn goes many places I've never been and wouldn't go on my own so it might be worth the splurge: https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruise-destinations/europe/european-sojourn/2024-amsterdam-bucharest/index.html

With a name like AI you never know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq-gYOrU8bA

I don't.
I enjoy travelling in a variety of other places just as much.