Hello everyone,

As the headline suggests, I'm a male in my mid-20's looking for a little advice from you experienced travelers. I'm planning to go to Europe by myself this summer, but have never been there and only know the cities from stories and/or my own research. It's been hard to find enough friends my age with the time and money to spend on a trip and I'm a fairly independent person that enjoys exploring.

Ideally I'd like to find a country where they predominately understand English and I could spend 4-5 nights without getting too tired of the surroundings and without breaking the bank! Not too much to ask right?

So far the obvious candidates are the UK (London, Ireland, Scotland), Amsterdam, and possibly Switzerland?

I would very much appreciate any insight you may have into these places and/or other cities where a younger guy might have a little fun (i.e., museums, concerts, pubs, etc). Thanks for listening!

I think either Amsterdam or Switzerland would be what you describe

I think of those two Amsterdam is a little bit cheaper with more English spoken and understood.

Switzerland is very beautiful though, and while it is an expensive country, they have great hostels available at reasonable rates. But English will definitely not be 'predominately understood' from my experience. Depending on the part of the country, it's French, German, or Italian.

Is your total trip for only 4-5 days?

I would encourage you to stay longer. Because a plane ticket is always the biggest expense plus the time change and jet lag involved going to Europe (assuming you are coming from the US or Canada?) such a short stay seems a waste to me.

Thanks for that comment Suzy. I should have clarified that 4-5 nights was a conservative estimate of how many days I would be staying there...it excludes days for traveling, etc. So basically I would be in Europe for a week or more. It would be great to visit two cities, although I need to do some more research on the train transportation costs.

I would be flying out of eastern US...researching flights it seems as though the fares get more expensive the closer to summer it gets. Hopefully I'll be able to book it soon...thanks again for your input!

I suggest you also post on the Europe branch here at Fodor's. Although you are going solo, the information is the same, and WAY more people read and post on tohe Europe threads.

Another internet resource you might like is at www.lonelyplanet.com and go to their forum like this one called The Thorn Tree, Western Europe branch. There's something like 300,000 registered posters there from all over the world, many in your own age group (more so than here).

If you haven't been to Europe at all yet, and are concerned about language, how about London and Amsterdam, or London and Paris.

You might want to take a look at Virtualtourist.com There are tons of young travelers there and many are willing to meet you for a beer or a walk around town. You can post on the forums with specific questions or suggestions to meet for a beer. The Meetings section tells you about organized meetings (usually means meeting for drinks or dinner).

Have a great trip!

The Netherlands are WAY less $$$ than Switzerland or the UK. It's so small, you can see a lot of it. Plus, you can catch a train and check out Belgium.