sarashipley

Hi all! I am studying in the UK and have a break for the holidays and would love to do some exploring but I have no idea where to start. I only have ten days so I need to be strategic. Suggestions? I'm open to anything really but kind of wanted to steer towards Italy/France or maybe Germany and also thought I'd try to find some cheap options at AirBnB but wanted to see if anyone could recommend places to see or a route I should follow.

Thanks!!

dulciusexasperis

That's pretty vague don't you think?

What are your interests? 'Open to anything' doesn't narrow things down. What kind of budget do you have? There is no use someone suggesting a week in Paris if you can't afford it.

Staying in hostels, eating supermarket food and paying for the odd museum entry or beer, requires a budget of at least 50E per day not including transportation. Anything more than that obviously costs more. Since you are a student, I would expect budget to be important so it's important you say how much you have to spend.

The more relevant info you provide sara, the more relevant responses can be.

Dickie_Gr

Sara

Where are you from originally?
Do you want to be hot or cold for your break?
Have you visited anywhere in Europe other than the UK?
Can you drive?

How close are you to an airport?

mamcalice

Answers to all of the above questions will help us to help you. It is especially relevant to know your interests and where you have been in Europe. With only 10 days and a modest budget, you will probably want to visit two places, thus cutting down on expensive transportation costs. Let us know your interests.

sarashipley

Thanks for the reply!
Yes, very vague. Sorry.

I'm really interested in suggestions on what I should be trying to see. I'm used to traveling in groups where someone else takes the lead on planning adventures, so this is the first time I'm trying to plan out my own.

I am excited about taking photographs and typical "touristy" attractions - not necessarily into anything that costs a large amount of money. For example, I'd love to see the Eiffel Tower, but would skip the cost of going inside. However, in saying that, I have a pretty decent budget. Coming from the UK, I'm thinking more in terms of pounds, but 50-75E per day is probably reasonable. Some days I'm sure I'll spend more, some days probably a little less.

sarashipley

I'm from the US
I don't mind being cold - I kind of want it to feel Christmas-y
CAN drive, but would probably prefer not to.
I've traveled through Ireland previously, but it was on a guided bus tour so everything was planned out ahead of time.
I'm staying in Newcastle - so am close to Newcastle airport or a short train ride from London airports.

lavandula

Had you thought of the Christmas markets somewhere? What about a few days in Paris then a trip to Strasbourg to see the markets? Or a couple of different locations in Germany - fly into Frankfurt and take the train up the Rhine (too cold for boats). See Cologne Cathedral and catch the Christmas markets there, go to Ruedesheim and Mainz for the markets there. Wine tasting in Ruedesheim. Back to Frankfurt for the museums on the river bank of the Rhine and then home.

Just kicking around a few ideas - all entry-level...

Lavandula

lavandula

Oops, just need to point out - many Christmas markets stop before 24 December. I think Strasbourg goes on until after Christmas. I don't know the dates of your break so don't know how feasible these ideas would be for you. But the Rhine thing would still work, just possibly no markets. Germany gets a bit colder than the UK so rug up!

Lavandula

StCirq

Instead of us throwing out ideas based on what appeals or has appealed to US, why not take the time to pore over a few guidebooks, look at a few maps, and determine what YOU are interested in doing? I don't really have any idea what you "should be trying to see." There's no formula. You should be trying to see what YOU want to see. When you've assembled a list of things that might grab your fancy, come back and countless people will help you refine and expand.

lavandula

Another oops - should be 'river bank of the Main', not Rhine.

Lavandula

hetismij2

If you are in Newcastle you could take the overnight ferry to Ijmuiden and start with a couple of days in Amsterdam or thereabouts then get the train to somewhere else that appeals, or get the train straight away and return to Amsterdam for a couple of days before getting the ferry home again.

Goldens

How about Rome and Florence?

sofarsogood

Simplest thing to do is to look at flights from Newcastle airport and see what grabs you

http://www.newcastleairport.com/Medi...ed8-150813.pdf

Go skiing in Austria if you want Christmassy.

Look at cheap flights with easyjet and jet2

sarashipley

Thanks all! This is s a good place to start! Great suggestions

Dukey1

I think you might consider one more thing: you can go and see a lot of places externally but I really think you should consider going inside places.

If you want to "see" the Eiffel Tower you can do that from a long way off. Part of the experience is going up to the top of it.

There are many ways to do things, even on a tight budget and one of them is making sure you don't try doing too much or over-extending yourself financially.

Going to places like Florence, Rome, etc., are fine but spending money to go all that way and then not seeing the insides of places seems like a waste of money to me.

On another note, are you aware of the budget flight possibilities available to you

use these two sites to explore those:

www.whichbudget.com

www.skyscanner.com

julies

Plan on spending more for lodging during this period because all places jack up their prices for the holiday period.

We spent two weeks in Venice and Rome a couple years ago during this time period. If you want to do a lot of all day walking around outside during the day, you may want to give climate some considerations. These two cities were a nice combo for that time of year.

dulciusexasperis

I agree with StCirq. You need to do YOUR homework and figure out what you are interested in. Having people list places THEY are interested in can only result if taken to it's logical conclusion, in having a guidebook written here in responses.

Go to the library, get a guidebook to europe, Fodor's, Lonely Planet, et al and start reading.

sarashipley

Hi again!
Thanks so much for the help so far. Now that i have my details together, I have a question about booking trains ahead of time.

I'm flying into Zurich because it was much cheaper to do that and stay there for one night then to fly into Venice. Here is my itinerary:

FLy into Zurich (December 20th), stay one night
Train to Venice, staying 2 nights (December 21st-23rd)
Train to Rome, staying 4 nights (12/23 - 27th)
Train to Florence staying 4 nights (December 27th through the 31st)
Flying back to London (December 31st)

I have my flights and accommodation booked already, but have not booked trains. SHould I do that ahead of time? Or when I'm in the specific cities?

rialtogrl

Book trains now! You will save money.

It is a busy time and a lot of the sale fares will already be gone. But I just plugged in Venezia Santa Lucia - Roma Termini on Dec. 23 and there is a morning train for 29 euros and an evening train for 59 euros. Lots of other trains but they are all 80 euros.

www.trenitalia.com