Where would you go for a European vacation (summer)

[skategoat]

Thinking of Spain with my wife. Maybe even run with bulls while I still have a fighting chance of outrunning them (or just outrunning the next guy). Any other suggestions?

We like to eat. We like to "go native" as much as we can - ie. small hotels or house rentals, shop and cook for ourselves. We like it low key, unhurried. We're not much into touring. We like to stay in a small area for two weeks and get to know it.

Done Tuscany. Loved it but want to try something else. Prague? Hungary?

[kipstar]

Done Tuscany. Loved it but want to try something else. Prague? Hungary?

No, thanks, I just ate :-)

How about Scotland? If you like Whiskey, it is da bomb. pretty too in the summer. Portochello I think it is called is a nice boaty place.

Alternatively, go somewhere cool like Aussie or Kiwi. Cheaper, more fun, and lots of sporty stuff without hordes of people.

[freecarver]

What about Greek Islands?

Beautiful sandy beaches,crystal clear waters,really sunny weather, excellent food and great night life for all the tastes and ages.

If you're in watersports(Windsurfing,Kitesurfing,Waterskiing) and not only, then we're talking about a paradise destination.

[Bullwings]

ever watch the movie Hostel??

well, don't go where they went...

locations along the mediteranean are nice. they have great weather.

Nice, france was great from what i remember (i saw my first pair of breasts there when i was 11, after that, i saw countless more in amsterdam 2 weeks later -- too bad i was only 11 at the time).

[skategoat]

No, thanks, I just ate :-)

How about Scotland? If you like Whiskey, it is da bomb. pretty too in the summer. Portochello I think it is called is a nice boaty place.

Alternatively, go somewhere cool like Aussie or Kiwi. Cheaper, more fun, and lots of sporty stuff without hordes of people.

Scotland eh? I think you missed the part where I said we like to eat. Keep the suggestions coming. Greece sounds pretty good. I liked the movie "Shirley Valentine".

[Jack M]

Start in Barcelona. Drive up the coast, through the French riviera, finish in Cinque Terre, Italy.

[FTA2R]

I studied and traveled throughout spain for 6 months. it sounds like you want to visit either a smaller town or even a resort (the coast) Madrid is not low-key (although can be relaxing) and I don't know the "Barcelona beach scene" enough to comment, but it's a tourist destination for sure (and rightly so).

r u sure u want to make big leap across teh pond and not see the sights?

Speaking from experience, Southern Spain (Andalucia, specifically Granada) is def. more laid back, and you may enjoy Cadiz (very southern tip), especially during Carnaval (if you want a cool "local" party). Personally I agree with Jack, start out with the big ciites, either Madrid or Barce, and then you can proceed to a more relaxing destination. (the coast or the south). of course it's your choice... In the north, San Sebastian in the Basque region is very cool "local" destination. Also consider The Algarve (Southern Portuguese coast) We drove from Madrid to Lagos, Portugal- beatiful drive, and a very cool little (primarily summer) beach town.

Pamplona (ROTB) during the second week of July is a big, famous party and not low-key. i'm sure you know that.

preparing your own food is not the way to go if you want to sample local. eating out at least a few times will do the trick. Spanish cuisine was the one thing many of us were not fond of, however.

Prague. was just there in sept, 2nd visit. very cheap and a beer lover's paradise. city has a cool dark / gothic feel to it and tons of history. the "tram BO" in Prague will give you plenty of "local feel" (or should i say "smell") hahah. (sorry to our Czech carvers here). many hotels there do not have AC, which means you may have to keep the window open. this can be a major problem when trying to sleep if your hotel is near a tram line or a busy street. this happened to me and sleeping was frustrating, to say the least. as a general statement, Spain will have more tourists.

if you want to spend a little more $, go to one of the Norweigan fjord towns and spend some time there. very relaxing, very few toursists. may get bored, though...I have the name of a place if you want. go during summer.

email me if you want more info...

[Allee]

If you like to eat and "be local", have you ever thought about doing a gastronome trip through France or Italy? Have a look on www.gapadventures.com. They've redone their entire trip schedule for this year and I haven't had time to check it all out yet, but they used to have cooking school trips in all sorts of places that sounded like a blast. I've travelled with them three times (Costa Rica in Feb will be 4), they're totally laid back, really into the culture, go off the beaten track a LOT, and are unbeatable value for the $$.

If you use the trip finder on the side I think it has an option for "food"...

I was planning Paris and Rome for Feb, but ran out of money :( . I'm jealous.

[skipuppy]

I was in PRAGUE last weekend and now I want to live there. It is a really good place to go for just walking around and being in the bustle of people- you can stay in the old town area with all the tourists, or go to the more government center/non-touristy shop area and just chill with locals. Money goes a long way there ($125 for the taxi to and from the airport, the hostel, two really nice meals and expensive restaurants, souvenirs including a hat, breakfast, and shots of absynthe). I am currently looking at teaching english options there so that I can move once I graduate from college. The age range is very diverse, many restaurants in the touristy areas know english/have english on their menus, people are friendly, and it is not JUST a place for tourists.

NORDERNEY is my favorite place to spend a summer and I doub't any Americans know about it. It is a small island in northern Germany in the North Sea (there is a small band of islands and any would really do- Norderney is just the one I have experience with). It is an island for the cure. This means that there are many older people who go there and spend time there. They constantly have free concerts at the cure centers (full orchestras and symphonies). The island is also so small that you can literally walk to the downtown area (which is only three blocks away from the beach), to the beach, to three or four beautiful parks. You can rent go-carts there and just drive all around the city. There aren't that many cars there as it requires a permit and you can walk or bicycle (lots of rentals available) anywhere on the island. They also have a nightlife with bars (maybe clubs- I honestly don't know). They will have some of the best ice cream you have ever tasted, and AMAZING french fries plus all the other regular german meals. E-mail me for more info on that place. They have really nice beaches with a promenade that is paved and smooth (I would rollerblade six hours every day during the summer). They also have windsurfing lessons (windsurfing competitions are held there). This one summer while I was there for a week I experienced a marathon, potato festival (potato pancakes, different kinds of potatos, and competitions for becoming the potato king and queen), and a kite festival in which we broke the world record for the number of kites (they also had these kites they flew at night that were lit up and looked like bats)

SOUTHERN FRANCE is the place to go if you want (Northern) Californian weather. The food is great but it is also fairly expensive there. I learned to love goat cheese there. If you stay at places by the Mediterranean they have some cities that teach kite-surfing which would be pretty cool. The problem with southern france is that I (and possibly you) would get bored of the small town I was in for a while and then every place worth seeing is hours away. We spent hours driving to various caves with stalagmites, stalagtites, canyons, stonehenges, and other natural phenomena. The good news is they have an abundance of cute little towns to visit so it is a good place to be if you want to hang out and be a local and are also willing to drive very far. If you want to know where some of those places are let me know and I can look it up once I get back to the states or try to research it. I do remember this one little village that we drove to and stopped at (after looking at the stonehenges) and they had this little stream that ran through it. It kept on cutting down into the ground until eventually it just became this deep canyon slicing through the town and completely separating one section. You could see parts of houses or the road that just fell to the bottom- that was really cool.

If you wanna go skiing you could go to Chile- all my latin american friends say that is the best place to go. They also oddly enough have german communities there. I've never been to Italy. This weekend I am going to Barcelona and next weekend will be Amsterdam and I will let you know what I think of those two.

Good luck

[skategoat]

Thanks for the detailed info Barry. I'll email you for specifics as we look toward more specific destinations.

We'll do some sights for sure but only for quick day trips. During our Tuscany vacation, I didn't really like Florence or Rome. We enjoyed driving to the small villages during market day, picking up fresh food and enjoying a sandwich and wine in the piazza. We always ate out for dinner but liked to prepare something fresh and simple for breakfast and lunch. Same thing in Paris. You could pick any little shop, pick up some bread and cheese and a bottle of wine and have a great lunch. Of course, you had to be careful where you sat because the grass there is definitely not for walking on and the gendarmerie make that very clear.

I'll check out Gap Adventures Allee. I've seen their brochures for South America and such but not Europe. BTW, I love CR. Did an "eco-tourist" trip there in 1992. Fantastic vacation. Loved the rain forest and interior. Hated San Jose and the beach.

[Allee]

Looking forward to Costa Rica for sure. The other half isn't keen on going to San Jose either, but I love big Central/South American cities - I find the chaos exciting (such a culture change from the politically correct North American BS) and their museums rock. Having been to Belize last year, but kayaking on the outer islands for a week and not seeing the interior at all, we're really hyped about this trip.

The grass thing cracks me up. What's the point of having it if you can't run around on it barefoot? That's why God invented it! We got the same in Cuzco in Peru - marshalls blowing whistles and all - hilarious!!

[Gecko]

Sardinia...or as they say Sargena. I spent a week there in OCT which is admitiedly OFF season but it didn't matter the place was awesome. Summer time would meen the beaches were open and the diving would be open along with some of the best climbing I've ever seen anyplace short of J-tree (the whole north end of the island where I was looked like J-tree) Food was amazing, so was the coffee (capoccino just isn't the same here in the states after sipping it on a piazza), the wine however was what was truely spectacular. House wine at every restraurant was as good or better than any $30 bottle I've found here in the states. Sargena is also a short ferry from Corsica which is also very nice though I only spent a day there (again off season).