We are doing a cruise in and out of Rome in October. Since we are already in Europe we thought we would add another week on to our trip and do some additional sightseeing - we have ruled out France, Italy & Spain but I am looking for any other suggestions where we can get good value for our dollar. All suggestions appreciated!

Were France, Italy and Spain ruled out because of cost?
What are you looking for relative to cost of a room, cost of a mid range restaurant, transportation costs, etc.?

[ Prague is not always a bargain these days. Budapest might not be either. ]

How about England, Ireland, Germany, Austria or Switzerland?

We have done a little bit of travelling in Italy, France and Spain - we are looking for somewhere we haven't been before. Germany leaves me a little cold-using the Germans we have met on our travels as an idication. England is a possibility as is Austria and Switzerland but I understand all of these countries are very expensive. As I said we would like somewhere where our Canadian dollar can get us the best value.

Two places to which I have traveled recently that seemed to offer good value are Portugal and Greece.

I haven't been to Greece, but we are going on our second trip to Portugal in October and I can vouch for Nikki's suggestion.

Portugal is very reasonable. Car rentals and public transportation are inexpensive.
Hotels in Lisbon can be had for under E100 per night.

There are beautiful beaches in the South that you can even enjoy in October, as the weather is mild.

Happy travels.

What about Turkey or Croatia?

Hi M,

>We are doing a cruise in and out of Rome in October. ...We have done a little bit of travelling in Italy, France and Spain ...<

Lucky you. Now is your chance to actually visit Rome.

See Helpful Information: Italy 2
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34568596

for helpful information.

I would absolutely second either Portugal or Greece in terms of the economics issue and the west coast of Turkey can be equally interesting IMO.

BUT, unfortunately, you haven't told us where the cruise goes so perhaps you'll have already had a taste of Greece?

Head for Ljubljana! Your dollar will go a lot further!

thanks so much for all the replys. We are going to do Rome pre-cruise, and have spent some time in Italy before. Our cruise goes to Mykonos, Rhodos, Athens, Santorini, Istanbul, Constanta, Odessa and Ephesus. We have done a fair bit of travelling thru Greece although none in Crete. I have been wanting to go to Portugal for a couple of years now, maybe this is our chance. Fodorites are so knowledgeable I wanted to make sure I had all the options before we make our final decision. Thanks again for the help.

When youre in Odessa make sure you have a vodka! The first sip will nearly kill you, but after that its so smooth and will go down a treat! Only had the one glass and had never tasted neat vodka before.
We tripped back to the cruise ship very cheerily!

We were considering kracow, but ended up booking flights to Pisa, with an apartment in Florence as that was the preference of our kids. Krackow loooks very interesting, and reasonably cheap, imo.