swissmiss85

Hi everyone,

I am an 18 year old Canadian working in Switzerland right now and I just found out that I will have a week off in february. I would like to use it to travel somewhere else in Europe, but I'm not sure where to go. I have already been to London, Rome and Venice, and am planning to go to Paris in April. I am very much a budget traveller, so somewhere that I could get to easily by train or with a discount airline would be best. Other than that, I'm pretty open to anything. I could probably stay in Barcelona for free with a family my sister knows(haven't really checked into it yet), but I don't mind staying in a hostel somewhere else either. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Ruud

Don't come to Holland. It is in that time of year wet and/or cold

JudyC

Perhaps you could take trains down to Crotia or Serbia. Both countries have some interesting cities/towns to visit.

The weather in Crotia shall be better than Switzerland, and it is much cheaper than to travel in other western European countries.

sueteach1

Austria! Go to Salzburg, Vienna and Innsbruck. It'll still be cold, but I went in the winter and it was beautiful--like a fairytale land. As far as budget travel goes though, at 18, you would like Prague and Budapest.

RAR

I second Austria. It's right next door so you won't waste much time getting there. Salzburg and Vienna are great in the winter. No tourists!

college_travelers

Hey swissmiss85. Sounds like you have my dream job (working in a foreign country and getting to travel).

To answer your question: I have travled all over Europe and I find myself asking the same question. One day, I was getting my hair cut in Germany a man told me the best place to go is Prague.

He said Prague is soooo cheap and is one of the best places to visit. He couldn't belive that I had traveled all over but had never been to Prague.

I am sure you can take a long train ride from Switzerland to Prague.

If Prague is not the answer, try Amsterdam!

Another favorite of mine is taking a train to Fussen, Germany. It is one of the best train rides you'll ever experice!

swissmiss85

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I have heard that Prague is such a great place, but I need a travel visa to go there. Austria is definitely a possibilty, I could get there by train pretty easily. How about Sevilla and Granada in Spain? I could fly to Barcelona for cheap, stay there maybe two days and then take the train to the South for about 4 days. I have no problems in taking night trains to maximize my time. Then I would fly out of Barcelona. Does this make any sense? Thanks again for the tips.

NEDSIRELAND

Carnaval in Cadiz (Spain)! It ends on 24 Feb ('Fat Tuesday' after which Lent begins) and it should be warm & sunny.

Cicerone

I second Spain, and would also add Portugal, Morocco and Tunisia to your list. All are close, cheap and interesting. Weather will not be hot but will be temperate and certainly better than Switzerland (where I also live) and the Czech Republic. You might consider Egypt and Jordan, but flights could be more expensive than you want.

I love Prague, but would save it for the summer or early fall when it is light later and more enjoyable than dreary dark cold days of February. FYI, visas are very easy to get for most countries as a Candian citizen.

nytraveler

I agree with the spain idea - it will be much warmer. I'm not sure if I would try to do Barcelona along with the south though - it's a lot for a week. Aren't there any superdiscount airlines that go from Switzerland to Torremolinos or Marbella. You could then have enought time to see Seville, Cordoba and Granada at least briefly.

(By the way are your sure you need a visa for Czech Republic? I have no knowledge of this - just assumed that the rules for Canadians would be similar to Americans and we dont need visas for Eastern europe - except Rusia the last time I went).

swissmiss85

Thanks again for the input. I don't know of any other discount airline besides easyjet that flies out of Switzerland. If anybody else knows another one, that would be great.

I think Prague would probably be better to go to in the spring, but it's good to know that travel visa aren't too difficult to get for if I do go. (...which Americans don't need for Czech, but Canadians do...)

So that leaves Austria and Spain. Spain would probably be more expensive because it would cost more to get there and around, but the warmer weather is tempting.

I'm sure I'd enjoy both, so I guess I'll just have to pick one!

Cicerone

Germanwings flies out of Switzerland. Website for germanwings is http://www16.germanwings.com/index.en.shtml. You will probably have to connect through a German when flying Germanwings.

Depending on where you live in Switzerland, you might consider taking a train to Frankfurt airport and flying in and out of there, as there are more low-cost airlines which service Frankfurt, like Ryanair.

RAR

Oh if you have that week off during Carnival, you really have to go to Cologne!

GSteed

18 years old! Skiing? Try Zakopane, Poland or Slovakia. Poles ski Slovakia as prices are lower. Check Slovakia High Tatras. There are many resorts at many prices. Local trains connect most areas. Remember Poland and Slovakia made bid for Winter Olympics. I met Japanese students and Russian engineers in Stary Smokovec They had come to ski.