What made you pick your European destination?
 

What makes people choose???
Art? Food? Scenery?

My last trip was Amsterdam/Venice/CinqueTerre/Amalfi/Rome.
It was my sisters first trip to Europe. She likes pretty much everything I do.

We picked Amsterdam because it is non-stop from Seattle and I love the canals,
Van Gogh Museum, Albert Cuyp Market, and the coffeeshops.
My sister truly enjoyed herself here.

We picked Venice because I wanted my sister to fall in love with as I did for its canals and magical qualities. She did. :)

Neither having been, We picked CinqueTerre because we wanted to see the little villages and the views. We werent disappointed.

I picked Amalfi because I loved Positano and wanted to show my sister.
The houses cascading down the cliffs were sure to please. I was right.
She loved the Amalfi but was a bit frightened by our driving it.
Our favorite was a little village called Nerano over on the Sorrento peninsula.

We picked Rome because who could go to Italy for the 1st time without going there.
I wanted to show my sister the Pieta, the Trevi, Moses, ect...
She fell MADLY in love with Rome.
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This fall we are back to Amsterdam because of the reasons listed above and because we will do a week long canal boat in Holland.

Then on to Paris because I want to share that with my DH.
It will be his first European trip.
I want him to see Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the street markets, the bakeries, and the Seine. Things I know we both are interested in.
We both want to see the Impressionist in the d'Orsay.

About half of our trips are determined by where one of us travels for work, and the other half are by a complicated equation of everyone in the family offering two or three destinations for consideration. I'll price the approximate airfare and lodging costs for each, then the least expensive three are voted on by secret ballot. We've been to Vienna, Prague, Berlin and Paris (work-related); and to Paris, London, Tokyo, Kyoto, Rome and Tuscany (pure holiday), and leave next week for Bavaria (holiday.) Thus far, no one has been disappointed with the chosen destination! We also spend the last week of the summer on Cape Cod--it's our way to rejuvenate before the hustle and bustle of the school year begins.

Malta - long time fascination with it
Croatia - hadn't been there before (not one of my favorites)
Scotland - heritage
Italy - food, frescoes, sculpture; such diversity
France - what's not to love!
Belgium - architecture, great people

I need places with interesting architecture, art, and food; scenery alone is not enough.

<i>What makes people choose???
Art? Food? Scenery?</i>

None of the above -- for me, it's ALL about capital cities.
I absolutely love seats of government, parliaments & courts.
Favorite post-vacation activity is watching news reports (almost invariably from a location like the Brandenburg Gate) and saying "remember when <b>we</b> were there?!?"

So for me, it's an easy choice, as each country has but one capital --(unless you consider Amsterdam/Den Haag.)

I pick places because I have heard about them all of my life and it would be like meeting a geographical movie star.

Every time we went to the local Disneyland I was fascinated with the Matterhorn, so I had to see it in person. The Eiffel Tower and Venice canals and the unique mountain shapes of Bora Bora, etc.

Same with famous and not so famous artists and their works, my mother was an artist so I had plenty of opportunity to become to know different mediums and to choose the ones I loved and wanted to see in person.

Interesting question!

In the early 1980's we lived near London and in Vienna for several years due to my husband's job.

While living in Vienna, we studied German and find ourselves most comfortable in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The scenery is amazing and we love the abundance of castles and cathedrals. The food is also great.

I also love the UK because of it's scenery, history, and museums.

My husband's family came from Poland so it is also on our list for future trips.

Business first seats available for Frequent Flyer miles is a big factor!

My daughter's name is Brittain - we have planned to visit Britain since she was born - decided high school graduation would be perfect time. london just seemed to make sense for us.... LOVED it

I've only been to Germany and Austria so far - Italy was actually our first choice, but we couldn't use our FF miles for flights to Italy, so we went to Germany, which was our 2nd choice.

We flew in and out of Munich because that seemed more interesting than Frankfurt - and we did really love Munich. My husband was stationed near Nuremberg when he was in the Army, so we went to Nuremberg and then visited the town where he was stationed. Made a day trip to Rothenberg OBT from there too. We honestly chose R because of the train schedule and train fare - we were also considering Wurzburg and Bamberg that day. We also went to the Fuessen area to see the Ludwig castles because I had been hearing about Crazy King Ludwig all my life and wanted to see his fairytale castle for myself. And we went to Austria because we were right there :)

We are currently planning another trip to Europe, this time to Belgium and Amsterdam. Belgium is for the beer and Amsterdam because I've always been facinated by the city.

I begin with great modern art, modern architecture, beautiful scenery and hiking. I like castles, beer and throw in pork and nice people, it all adds up to Germany.

This year, it was an irresistible airfare deal.

Besides that, it has to be (or have been) a metropolis, with grand old architecture, good museums, performing arts, and preferably a scenic river and a beautiful language.

London? English Football! WooooHooooo!!!

thereyet

My husband and I have a goal to visit every country in Europe. We have been to many but definitely have a ways to go! We look for the following when going to Europe:

- history
- architecture
- all aspects of food including local ingredients, markets, preparation, how it ties in with culture and of course eating
- natural/dramatic scenery
- coast/sea (we are landlocked)
- castles, ruins, abbeys
- fabulous B&Bs
- charming and atmospheric villages that time has forgotten
- culture, customs, traditions
- intriguing village festivals such as making gigantic truffle omelettes, donkey races, sword dances, etc.
- language
- peaceful and idyllic countryside for tranquil rambling
- things we cannot do here such as truffle hunting, crushing olives for oil, etc.

Nothing modern or cosmopolitan for us. :)

I've always had wanderlust and it doesn't take much to make me want to visit a place.

Sometimes I'll just see a picture of a place I've never been to, or maybe never even heard of before, and that's enough to make me want to go. I haven't been disappointed yet.

Same as panecott. I have loved everywhere I have been.
Musts for me are history, architecture, culture and just seeing how dufferent cultures live their day to day lives.
I have a real sweet tooth so I make sure to test the chocolate in every country I go to. So far so good!!

I was tied up by a gang of marauding travel agents forced out of business by Expedia, etc and made to visit Paris.

Mostly cities with museums , galleries, things to do..

London
Paris
Madrid
Barcelona
Amsterdam
and similar

don't care for small towns, quaint villages, castles,
beaches, driving around....

Its it amazing how different all of are and what we want out of our vacations.

I think I am a mix of wanting big city and country in each trip.

Art and food are always on my list.

like sea urchin --
"I pick places because I have heard about them all of my life and it would be like meeting a geographical movie star. "
(so well put sea urchin!!)

and like jetset --
we also always love " to mix big city and country" in each trip.

but food, history, architectural beauty, and culture are always musts. food possibly being the biggest priority for my husband.