mcirish

Hi there, <BR>I am 23 now, and planning a trip for next fall or winter. I plan on spending at least a month traveling around, possibly 2 before heading home for grad school. Never been to Europe and wanted to know if there are any can't miss destinations that might be of the beaten track. Any tips would be great, as I am starting a prelim itinerary.<BR>Thanks much, <BR>Meg

rquirk

Europe is very populated so off the beaten track is very hard. Cant miss destinations get visited by tourists so are not off the beaten track. Personally, I think the remainder of the genocide war in Bosnia-Herzegovina is off the beaten track. Not many people go there because the front line was / is still mined. It is a must see to understand how Croatians, Bosnians and Serbs forgot themselves, dwelt in the past of suspiscion and killed their ethnic neighbours. One house is immaculate the next in a bombed out shell. Do you consider that a must see sight or a sweep it under the carpet, never to be seen again sight ?

try Rick

A good guidebook for your situation is "Europe thru the Backdoor" by Rick Steves. It will help you get started with itineraries, but also transporation & lodging options, travel style & budgets, packing, etc.

mcirish

Wow, thanks so much for your witty and kind responses. Rick Steves' is great, I'll make sure to check out that book, good tip. As for the sarcastic gem above, I will actually be meeting up with some friends at some point in Craotia, believe it or not. Any other responses that are neither smug nor rude would emensely appreciated. Thank you for your time in reading this,<BR>Meg

Lea

Really, Meg, look at some books like R. Steve's, get some ideas and then come back with a more specific question. Alot of people here will help you and not be snide and they will have more to go on when you have made some basic decisions. Happy researching!

Michael

Back in 1967, I purchased a car in Wolfsburg and then traveled ten weeks through Europe, including Yugoslavia. The itinerary was Wolfsburg, Berlin, Salzburg, Bled, Ljubljana (sp?),Belgrade, Titovo Uzice, Sarajevo, Mostar, Kotor, Split, Trieste, Venice, Lago di Garda, Florence, Pisa, two days near Cinque Terre, Lake Como, Chamonix, Brian&ccedil;on, Cannes, Apt, Vaison-la-Romaine, through the Gorges du Tarn to Albi, Carcassonne, the high Pyr&eacute;n&eacute;es, up to the Dordogne for a few days, the Loire valley and then Paris. We drove to Antwerp to ship the car. We made sure to stop a few days here and there to rest. It was summer time and the Adriatic and Mediterranean were wonderful. Instead of Yugoslavia, you could do a similar trip spending time in the Czech Republic, Hungary and more time in Austria. The possibilities are endless.