mely

This is my first post and it's a little overwhelming for me. I need advice for weekend jaunts from a central base in west France so that my fiance and I can see as much as possible in the three months we're there without breaking the tiny piggy bank!

We will be studying abroad in Angers, France from the end of August until Christmas of this year. We have classes to contend with, but want to travel on a few weekends and take in Europe, but our budget is limited.

We have some specific "wants" while we are there, and I should mention it is his first time abroad, ever. I traveled through the highlights (London/Paris/Rome/Switzerland) with my father after graduation, so I know the ropes and the rest is relatively intuitive. We both speak decent French.

Planned:
London, UK - flying in here, 3 days to do as much as we can before the program starts
Rome, Italy - possibly with the group at large so this part is moot, but I'd like to have a backup plan to see it just in case
Rabat, Morocco - I have studied abroad here before and we will be taking a long weekend with a flight out of Paris and staying with my old homestay family
Paris, France - will have a group visit here for an undetermined amount of time, and also three days after the program ends to hang around before our flights leave

Wants:
Him - see an old communist city! Moscow is out of reach, so Budapest? Prague? Berlin? he has recently been enthralled with the history of the Soviet Union
Me - see everything! Ok, so make sure he sees the cultural highlights. Geneva? Milan? Munich? Vienna? + his wishlist above.

Recommendations on which of our seven possibilities it would be best to focus our time/energy on? Also, what are the best times to see those cities? I'm planning the Morocco jaunt for mid-October. I'm open to a combination of railpasses and cheap flights - a France railpass seems almost a must since we need to fly out of Paris most times.

Thank you so much in advance.

Also, as far as my interests: I will be conducting research for a paper on Moroccan emigrants in Western Europe (particularly France) and their integration into French society, so any institutes/groups you think would be good to join up with - suggestions are appreciated!

USNR

One of the largest Moroccan populations in western Europe is in The Netherland. You might want to get in touch with Dutch authorities to find out more about this group.

nancicita

Hi mely! I've been in your position before and studied abroad in southern France. One thing I learned from my experience is that Europe will not disappear overnight (or at least I hope not!) and that you will always have time to go back. It's a lot more fun when you return as a working professional with more money to spend and pamper yourself. Of course we all travel with different budget requirements, but generally you have to worry less during travel when you have money money to cover your lodging/eating/sightseeing needs.

So if there is one piece of advice that I could give to you and other students studying abroad in Europe, it's that when you travel, watch your budget and really try to keep in mind that you will be able to return.

I don't think that doing weekend trips (or day trips!?) from Angers to Germany/Italy/Hungary is a good idea. Few weeks - good idea. Day trips - very bad idea.

You won't have enough time and it will be expensive. Day trips to Hungary from France would already waste your entire day if you choose to go by train. And if you choose to fly, take into account the amount of time you need to get to the airport. So it just wouldn't be physically possible to do day trips.

Having a tiny piggy bank will make things harder for you in your endeavor.

To narrow down your choices of which cities to visit, it would be a good idea to check out travel guides and read about the cities that you are interested in. Many people here on this forum are very knowledgeable and helpful when it comes to European travel, but you have to do your own homework first.

That is to say, it would not be as productive if you say "I'm going to study abroad in Europe but I don't have much money and I want to see EVERYTHING, so WHERE should I go?" than if you ask, "I haven't seen many posts here about rail passes in Morrocco. Has anyone purchased this pass?" OR "I read about a quirky but interesting museum of communism in Prague. Has anyone been there and what did you think of it?"

That being said, je vous souhaite bonne chance! ;-)

nytraveler

Neither Prague nor Budapest will look like "an old communist city". they were behind the iron curtain for only about 40 years - and most of the architecture is from before that - when they were part of Central Europe - the austro Hungarian Empire to be exact. Also, the shops and major streets now look exactly like western europe - same fast food places and designer boutiques.

And in many other places in central europe the communist governments restored the old town buildings tothe way they looked before destruciton in WWII. (CIties in Russia are very different - but still much of the architecture is pre-communist).

Michael

You should be able to find cheap flights to get to Morocco--google Nouvelle Frontieres. If you have the time and are willing to try it, there are long distance buses that go from major French cities to major Moroccan cities, obviously catering to a Moroccan population. These represent 24 or more hours of continuous travel time.

hausfrau

I studied abroad in southern France (Montpellier) and lived in Stuttgart for 2+ years, and I agree with nancicita - you will never be able to visit all the places on your wish list, so be prepared to prioritize and think realistically about your timeframe.

One of the best pieces of advice I can give you is to take advantage of your unique position and consider staying closer to home for your weekend travels. Some of the best short trips I took while living in France and Germany were those that I could reach within an hour or two by train or car. I ended up exploring parts of those two countries that I never would have seen as a regular tourist, and were further off the beaten track than most tourists ever go. This is a good way to save money too, since you won't be paying for a lot of long-distance travel.

Of course, that isn't to say that you shouldn't visit Rome or Munich or one of the other places on your wish list. But 2 days (including travel time!) is hardly long enough to do these cities justice. If you can squeeze out a few longer weekends, then by all means get yourself on the train and go. Do some more research on the places you are interested in, and come back to this forum with more detailed questions. Good luck!

janisj

I don't think there is a rail pass that would work for you - and besides you really don't have enough time to take trains on some of those wish list destinations.

I agree w/ most of the above - I didn't live in France - but did live in the UK and 2-day weekends are really not long enough to get to and explore places that far away by train. Budget airlines will usually be cheaper if you book ahead of time.

If I was you, I'd concentrate on France and maybe plan a few longer weekends to go farther.

tmagyari

Having been to most of the places on your "wish list" (and they are all wonderful in their own right), I'll second the opinion to concentrate on France, and specifically the area within an hour or two of Angers.

Pick one or two off of the big ticket travel list and then stay close to home the rest of the time. Believe me, you won't be lacking in quality sites to visit by doing that.

Here are just a few places more easily accessible from Angers: starting with Angers itself--don't miss the chateau with excellent ramparts and museum with tapestries in the basement--outstanding; Loire Valley chateaux and Clos De Luce (de Vinci museum in Amboise). Vannes. Normandy. Mont St. Michel. Versaille. Chartes. Fontainbleu. Build a weekend around a few of these or see one of them in a day.

For example--here's a weekend trip on southern Brittany coast. Starting with Vannes, amazing Saturday market and medieval streets, chateau; standing stones in Carnac region; prehistoric Lamacquier and Gavrinis in the Bay of Morbihan; beaches in Quiberon; little fishing villages on the bay--all of this you could do by taking the train or bus from Angers to Vannes, and local buses to other sites.

In addition, I spent a whole summer in St. Lezin, a small village outside of Angers. I hardly left Maine et Loire, and I came home having seen and heard marvelous things. There is incredible culture, medieval villages galore, beautiful parks, vineyards, chateaux, famous horse museum and training park, inhabited caves, romantic walks down tree-lined lanes....take a bus out into any village, 30-60 mins into the Loire valley any direction and walk around.

IMHO, the best parts of most trips don't happen at the big "sites", they happen when we slow down and enjoy where we are, with the person we are with. These are the memories that last a lifetime.

Cathinjoetown

Agree with Tmagyari to take advantage of all that's on offer in relative close proximity to Angers. Poitiers is another small city that is often overlooked.

And, when you do go outside France or even intra-France, check the discount airlines flights out of Rennes, Poitiers, etc. Not always necessary to go back through Paris. There are certainly "reminders" of the Communist era in Budapest and Prague and either would be interesting for, if you can manage it, a three-day weekend.

See what's on offer locally--deals posted in travel agency windows or at your school--when I lived in England I took advantage of some relatively cheap weekend breaks to cities on the Continent, usually airfare and hotel packages, leaving you free to explore on your own.

orangetravel

Prague and Budapest are not reminiscent of the Soviet Union, at all. However if you do go to Budapest, you could visit the House of Terror Museum which is an excellent account of Budapest's occupation, and there is also a park outside the city that houses all the old monuments to Lenin, etc.

On a budget you might have fun exploring more of Morocco, if you haven't already, places like Essaouria and Fes.

mely

Thank you all - a lot to think about and I definitely like the idea of exploring France's smaller parts instead of trying to get to every major city in a matter of a few weeks.

I suppose the "big ticket" trips will be London, Rabat (not anywhere else unfortunately as it's just a weekend and I want to focus on seeing my homestay family and showing my Fiance around the capitol), Rome, and maybe Budapest if I can get a good flight deal.

If I were to get a France Eurail Pass, would that be sufficient to travel around for however many days without paying an additional amount for trains, esp. TGVs to/from Paris?

annhig

hi mely,

loads of good advice from others above.

however, in one respect I rather disagree with them about whether you get a feel of the old soviet block in prague, budapest, etc. in both places, [and in Krakow which we visited last month] we got definite intimations of what it was like in previous times. for example, in Prague, in the very first pub we visited, we found a bust of Stalin in one corner and Vaslav Havel's portrait in the other. [it wasn't a very touristy pub, LOL]

in Budapest we found many buildings which looked nothing on the outside but inside they were fascinastinng - presumably the idea was to hide what was going on from tehprying eyes of the authorities.

of course things have changed, thank goodness, but there are still interesting things to look for for you have an eye to see them.

and in Berlin there are celebratinosd this year for the 20th anniversary of the wall being pulled down. that might be the most worthwhile of all three!

a 3 night trip. if you could fit it in, woudld certainly not be wasted.

good luck in your endeavours

regards, ann

kerouac

Get settled in France first and ask around -- local people have lots of ways to save money while still traveling, and most of those people will have far more pertinent things to say than those of us who are not in the same location.

The SNCF often advertises fabulous deals for travel -- anywhere in France for 19€, for example, or at the moment, they are pushing the TGV to Germany for just 29€ from Paris to Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Kaiserslautern or Karlsruhe.

You just have to keep an eye on the specials and jump on them whenever you get a chance.

Keren

Judging from my 1-week trip to the area, where I based myself in Angers, I think this is a lovely town to be studying and living in for a while. The château, the old town and museums, the botanic garden, the river, La Doutre, all lovely. Some interesting cities and small towns to visit from Angers, all easily reached by train: Saumur, Nantes, Clisson, Langeais, Le Mans.