I am going to be in France (Paris or Nice) for two months next year. I have been to England and Amsterdam already.

I want to know the cities that I should not miss while in Europe! I want to travel on the weekends, and maybe before or after my studying, so any advice is greatly appreciated.

Hi J,

Now is a good time to go to the library, gets some travel guides and plan a draft itinerary.

Enjoy your visit.

Do not miss Berlin - that would be my top pick. It really comes into its own in the summer so plan a visit for then.

What will you be studying?

What are the chances that your tastes are the same as mine?

I know what places I like; I have no idea what you might like.

JessLynn, we really can't help unless you give us some more information on your likes and dislikes. For instance, I love old ruined abbeys, castles, and historic sites. You may love shopping and nightlife. They are seldom concentrated in the same city!

I would spend a lot of time in italy. Try to get to Rome and Florence, even Venice.
Then try to make it to the Greek Islands...

have a wonderful time!

Sorry, I guess I need to clarify my tastes a little bit here!!

I love historic sites, museums, ruins- but I also love shopping and good eating . I really like a good mix of those, which is why I fell in love with London! So it's definitely my plan to hit some of the bigger cities, but I guess I want to know which of those (like Rome, Madrid, etc.) that I shouldn't miss!

Generally, one could say that if the point was to see something special, you shouldn't miss any of the great historical cities of Europe. That would be most capitals and several other major sites that have been of great importance historically.


But you must know enough history to have an idea of that -- Paris, London, Rome, Madrid, and Vienna I'd put in there, as well as Prague and Venice/Florence and Amsterdam.

Rome and Barcelona would be my top two.

Hi JessLynn,

Hope you'll have fantastic time in Europe. Which months will you be here?

From Paris, you can do an easy weekend trip to London, Belgium and Bruges. I also recommend Prague, Venice, Rome, and Florence. These are big city destinations. I personally like Venice in autumn/winter as it's less crowded (would definitely avoid summer) though it's wetter and the days are shorter (I think it's part of the ambiance). Some part of Switzerland and Germany are very scenic, esp early summer or early autumn, good for hiking.

If you ski, there are plenty of slopes in French/Swiss/Italian Alps, though global warming is making the snow condition less reliable. It is hard to get good tropical beach in winter months, but Canary Islands are quite warm, sunny and not so expensive.

If you have more than a weekend, I would consider Turkey and Israel. It's much closer once you're based in Europe.

Since you're already in Paris and Nice, don't forget to explore where you're staying.

Wherever you decide to go, make travel plans (trains/air) in advance to get better fares.

W9London - I will be in France for the months of April and May, and I am not sure if I will travel at the end of March or the beginning of June. Thanks for the advice! I really am looking forward to it (as you can see, I am already thinking about it!).

Thanks for the advice from everyone. There are definitely some places in there that I wouldn't have thought about and am going to have to give some more thought to!

oh and to endlesssummer- (sorry I missed the question) I am going to be learning French. I already speak some Spanish, and I hope to become fluent in one of the languages!!

Now that you have clarified things, I would Rome top of the list.

A dead heat for second between about a dozen places, most of which have been mentioned here. Having Spanish could bump Madrid up the list a bit; slightly less so for Barcelona, where you might find a preference for Catalan.

Personally, I would sooner do my travelling at the end of March than the beginning of June, especially if I am going to places that have lots of visitors -- it's much nicer when the crowds are smaller. Of course, you could think of doing a little of each.

I would definately hit up Prague. if you want smaller towns, plaes like Krakow are nice. Vienna, Budapest are also lovely. I am heading to Ljubljana in a month - supposed to be beautiful
have fun!

barcelona, madrid, seville, lisbon, rome, florence, venice, prague, budapest, munich, salzburg, vienna....the list goes on and on. determine what your interests are and what locations you can reasonably reach for a weekend trip. Then, plan them out and enjoy!