European Travel

Question

Hi! My wife and I are traveling to London this summer for the first time! We have been to South America before, but never to Europe! We will be staying in London for a week and then hoping to travel somewhere else in Europe to stay for about a week as well! We are having a hard time deciding, because we want to go everywhere! We are looking for a place that has beautiful sights to see, good food, and lots of active type things to do (theme parks, zoos, hikes, swimming, etc.) A museum or 2 is great as well, but especially looking for more active type of things. Some of the places we are considering are Copenhagen, Dublin, Seville, Rome, and Athens. I was hoping to see if people have been to some of those places what they would think, or if there is somewhere else in Europe that is relatively inexpensive to travel to from London that would be the place to visit! Any input would be a big help!!

Thanks! Josh

I would personally go for Dublin...but I've just discovered I have a tad bit of Irish in me. - rac1, Feb 6, 2017

Nothing in Europe or London is inexpensive mate , in London you need a second mortgage just for a coffee. - ray76, Feb 8, 2017

Answer 1

I'm glad to see that you are thinking to come to my city (Sevilla). But, I think that there are more important cities to see in Europe than Sevilla: Paris, Berlin, Rome, Prague, Vienna, etc....

If you have one extra holydays week you can go to:

1) Rome. Firenze and Pisa are near, so you can also see them.

2) Vienna. You can also visit Prague and/or Budapest

3) Seville: You can stay here for a week doing one-day-visit to Granada, Cordoba or Merida. Or you can stay one or two days on the beach.

There are a lot of places and no much time.

If you need some help about the south of Spain, please, tell it to me.

Thank you! That is great advice since you live in Sevilla yourself. I will look at Vienna too, as I hadn't really thought of Vienna before! Thanks!! I will get in touch with you if we do head to southern spain for some questions! Thanks! - Kicker4, Feb 7, 2017

Answer 2

I am surprised you only have one answer. Ian a moderator here is very well traveled and has special knowledge of Denmark.

1 week isn't long. Are you keen to see one of the 'must sees; or just enjoy getting used to a different country? For example I can 'tick off' things like Machu Pichu and The Taj Mahal but I chose holidays where I wasnt rushed as I didn't anticipate returning.

You need to look at how you will travel and time of the year. You can take the Eurostar to Paris or Bruxelles. There are links to other cities/countries but it will take time. There are cheapish flights from Stansted, Gatwick, and Luton. There are also flights from Heathrow but a matter of luck if they are cheap. City airport, if you are staying in the centre of London would be the most convenient - they do Málaga and Granada but you may find it difficult to find a cheap flight. I am not keen on heat and Southern Spain and Greece will be very hot mid July and August.

I have recently watched a TV series by Rick Stein looking at long weekends and food. Iceland looks very different and if you went to Copenhagen you could probably go to Sweden - great in the height of summer. I loved Florence and Venice - I haven't been to Rome yet and everyone has a quick look at the Leaning Tower of Pisa [don't worry if you miss it] I would like to go to Sicily for the food the ruins and Mount Etna.

However, as you can speak Spanish I would make it Spain. txusta boy can give you an insiders guide.

1. If you want to avoid extreme heat [it will still be hot] Santiago de Compestela in Galicia then time on the coast eg la coruna or the Rias Baixas. You may be able to go to Oporto or Lisbon from there but I haven't tried it and it may be too much. Watch carefully Ryanair bookings as they often stop some way from the city. They do fly very close to Santiago. However, it will be packed close to 25th July the feast day

2. I loved Sevilla but I went in December when it is quiet. Ryanair flies to Seville. You could spend a few days in Sanlucar de Barrameda renowned for Manzanilla a salty sherry and a gateway to the Donana national park or perhaps to Cádiz. Jerez de la Frontera has an airport which is between Cádiz and Sevilla. When I flew there I stayed in Arcos de la Frontera a white village. Unmissable is the Mezquita at Cordoba a mosque with a church built inside. You could do it as a daytrip from Sevilla by train. I stayed overnight. You could carry on to the Alhambra at Granada. Throughout that area there is a strong Arab influence and lots of music and flamenco from the gypsies. I flew to Málaga then went by train to Cordoba. Málaga is an interesting town on the coast but the main benefit is the train network and the huge choice of flights.

3. Barcelona or Valencia give a coastal location and interesting sites. Near Barcelona is Girona a small ton with a Turkish bath, Roman walls and an amazing Jewish quarter.

I would look at some tour sites eg Intrepid Intepid It will give you an idea of the spirit and important sites in a country I have used Ryanai to Reus south of Barcelona, Girona to the North, Seville and Santiago. However I prefer Easy Jet and I have heard Norwegian is good.

If you look on rtve they have programmes about all the cities

Awesome thank you so much for all of your help! Those are all really good ideas and itineraries. We will be going from June 6th - June 20th and so will probably be in London until around the 13th or 14th, then would like to head to one other place - Kicker4, Feb 7, 2017

for the 2nd week, before returning home. Ryanair is definitely the airline I've seen as the cheapest! I will check out Santiago, as I don't know much about it at all, but sounds like a good location! Visiting Copenhagen we would definitely go to Sweden - Kicker4, Feb 7, 2017

too, which would be an obvious benefit of choosing Copenhagen, however if it would be possible to go to Santiago, Spain and visit Portugal from there, that would be a neat trip as well! - Kicker4, Feb 7, 2017