Help Me Plan A Trip In Europe!

[TwoNineMarine]

So considering there are a lot of Europeans on these forums I figured this would be a good place to bring this up.

I want to plan a trip to Europe with my wife for sometime within the next 5 years (hopefully).

The main things I want to see are the World War I and World War II battlefields and monuments. Especially Normandy Beach and the Monument to the Battle of Belleau Wood (I am a Marine after all).

But I also want to get your guyses input on what are some legit things to do and see. And hopefully get some tips on some lesser known spots and restuarants and things that most tourists normally miss. I love small mom and pop style restuarants that are out of the way yet amazingly good.

So any suggestions would be excellent. Also if anyone knows anything about the best routes/transportation while in the various countries that would be great. I'm not sure how tough it is to be able drive in these countries if you are a tourist. I'm good at driving on the left side of the road as well for the countries that do that (Did it it Japan).

Thanks up front guys! Excited to see what you all suggest.

[Deleted]

My fee is £50

[Kuniku]

you might well be interested in this little gem:

http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford

[TwoNineMarine]

you might well be interested in this little gem:

http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford

Oh that is incredibly cool. Thank you!

[Revi]

All the roman shit, lots of castles, old cities, some glaciers, some fjords, northern lights, cultural celebrations, excellent beer.

Depends what you're interested it. The Interrail is a very good option for transport. Will take you pretty much anywhere in Europe and they have excellent tourism support (trip advisement).

[TwoNineMarine]

All the roman shit, lots of castles, old cities, some glaciers, some fjords, northern lights, cultural celebrations, excellent beer.

Depends what you're interested it. The Interrail is a very good option for transport. Will take you pretty much anywhere in Europe and they have excellent tourism support (trip advisement).

Ah that's cool Revi. Thanks for the tip. I've heard the rail is pretty good but never knew anyone who has used it.

As for what I'm interested in. Basically everything. Chances are I'll only ever go to Europe once so I'd like to see and do as much as I can while I'm there.

[Deleted]

Don't go to Germany tho, I heard it's a lawless place like North Korea!

[Deleted]

If you need any help send me a PM - would be happy to assist. I do itineraries for Scotland and northern England, but I'm sure I can sort you out with the main sights of the continent.

[Puupi]

If you want to see much, renting a car is obviously the best choice. Although I don't know how it actually works if you don't want to drive back to where you rented it from (like rent a car from France and drive east up to Poland). And don't know if you are allowed to leave a country with a rented car either. Also, there are some different laws and regulations considering cars even within EU countries. Like in Estonia you need to have a fire extinguisher installed in your car, that is not required in Finland (basically nobody has that). It was a surprise to me when I was visiting Estonia, I had to install a fire extinguisher in my car before going there.

As an American, you probably need some visa's for some countries?

You should visit Auschwitz!

[Cybran]

Don't go to Germany tho, I heard it's a lawless place like North Korea!

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...a-1045207.html

The other half of the country is extremely difficult to tolerate in some places. Racist violence is on the rise. The German Interior Ministry registered 173 instances of criminal right-wing offenses against accommodations for asylum-seekers during the first six months of this year, almost three times as many as during the same period the previous year.

Between January and June of 2015, racists attacked facilities providing accommodations for asylum-seekers on an almost daily basis. It's a grim statistic, but the real figures may be even higher, because many refugees are afraid to report incidents to police. "We have to assume that further crimes will be committed against accommodations for asylum-seekers," says Holger Münch, the president of Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office.

Only against brown people.

[Puupi]

All the roman shit, lots of castles, old cities, some glaciers, some fjords, northern lights, cultural celebrations, excellent beer.

Depends what you're interested it. The Interrail is a very good option for transport. Will take you pretty much anywhere in Europe and they have excellent tourism support (trip advisement).

Yeah interrail is great if you want to have "backpack" traveling.

[Deleted]

Don't go to Germany tho, I heard it's a lawless place like North Korea!

Germany is awesome

[STS]

The main things I want to see are the World War I and World War II battlefields and monuments. Especially Normandy Beach and the Monument to the Battle of Belleau Wood (I am a Marine after all).

If you're into WW1/WW2 history, Verdun and especially Fort Douaumont are also an impressive places to visit and if you're driving by car it's on the route between Chateau-Thierry (Bellau-Wood memorial) and the German border.

As far as fascinating landscape is concerned, there is always the German middle rhine or middle rhine valley, one of the most beautiful landscapes this continent has to offer, though it's usually cramped with tourists during the vacation seasons.

As far as travelling is concerned, I'd always recommend going by car at your destination, especially if you want to visit some off-tourist sites.

[Deleted]

Meet me in Tallinn on or around the 7th-20th and I'll buy you a beer

Planning to go on a 3 month trip of Europe and Estonia is my first leg of the trip before I go back for christmas and resume it after.

[Strear]

It depends on how much time you're spending in the area. If you plan to absolutly visit Normandy, I'll try to help you so that you see a maximum of things around (You MUST see and maybe visit Mount St Michel, in lower Normandy in example). There's a nuclear submarine on Cherbourg quay you can visit. You may visit the K2 german military area and an old submarine in Lorient. You can visit the old St Malo city too. Define how much time you expect to spend in France, where you're going/coming from, (there's a ferry in Roscoff if you're renting a car in example and coming/going from/to UK ... many solutions). PM me if the post gets lost, I'll help you and give you the good ideas depending on how much you can spend per night in hotels (we have some hotel groups with a fix 24 € per night price in example, but less comfortable), local things to eat. Of course, the capital has much to see, is relatively well deserved by suburbs to leave your car in an external parking (Eiffel Tower, Invalides military museum, Le Louvre ...).

Many factors in fact. PM me if needed, I'll do my best.

[ezgeze]

If you need any help send me a PM - would be happy to assist. I do itineraries for Scotland and northern England, but I'm sure I can sort you out with the main sights of the continent.

Sign me up to see this, its obviously the coolest place to go.



Just messing with you. Oh picture irony btw.

[Strear]

Saw one such in Aberdeen

[TwoNineMarine]

It depends on how much time you're spending in the area. If you plan to absolutly visit Normandy, I'll try to help you so that you see a maximum of things around (You MUST see and maybe visit Mount St Michel, in lower Normandy in example). There's a nuclear submarine on Cherbourg quay you can visit. You may visit the K2 german military area and an old submarine in Lorient. You can visit the old St Malo city too. Define how much time you expect to spend in France, where you're going/coming from, (there's a ferry in Roscoff if you're renting a car in example and coming/going from/to UK ... many solutions). PM me if the post gets lost, I'll help you and give you the good ideas depending on how much you can spend per night in hotels (we have some hotel groups with a fix 24 € per night price in example, but less comfortable), local things to eat. Of course, the capital has much to see, is relatively well deserved by suburbs to leave your car in an external parking (Eiffel Tower, Invalides military museum, Le Louvre ...).

Many factors in fact. PM me if needed, I'll do my best.

Awesome thanks man!!! Some great suggestions there!

As for the price we plan on going all out. The comfort level of the hotels doesn't necessarily need to be the highest but if we can get a nice place for a decent price I certainly wouldn't turn it down!

If you're into WW1/WW2 history, Verdun and especially Fort Douaumont are also an impressive places to visit and if you're driving by car it's on the route between Chateau-Thierry (Bellau-Wood memorial) and the German border.

As far as fascinating landscape is concerned, there is always the German middle rhine or middle rhine valley, one of the most beautiful landscapes this continent has to offer, though it's usually cramped with tourists during the vacation seasons.

As far as travelling is concerned, I'd always recommend going by car at your destination, especially if you want to visit some off-tourist sites.

Yeah I think we will use rail to get to the major cities then perhaps go by car from there!

I'd love to visit Fort Douaumont. Verdun as well. They are on the list!

Yeah interrail is great if you want to have "backpack" traveling.

I'd love to backpack travel for at least a bit of it.

If you want to see much, renting a car is obviously the best choice. Although I don't know how it actually works if you don't want to drive back to where you rented it from (like rent a car from France and drive east up to Poland). And don't know if you are allowed to leave a country with a rented car either. Also, there are some different laws and regulations considering cars even within EU countries. Like in Estonia you need to have a fire extinguisher installed in your car, that is not required in Finland (basically nobody has that). It was a surprise to me when I was visiting Estonia, I had to install a fire extinguisher in my car before going there.

As an American, you probably need some visa's for some countries?

You should visit Auschwitz!

Good to know! Thank you!

We plan on getting our Visa's here very soon.

And I definitely want to hit Auschwitz as well as a few others. So much history there.

If you need any help send me a PM - would be happy to assist. I do itineraries for Scotland and northern England, but I'm sure I can sort you out with the main sights of the continent.

Awesome! I'll hit you up in a minute!

Also does anyone know much about Bastogne? Do they have any monuments there? I plan on visiting regardless but would like to know details if anyone has been there.

- - - Updated - - -

Meet me in Tallinn on or around the 7th-20th and I'll buy you a beer

Planning to go on a 3 month trip of Europe and Estonia is my first leg of the trip before I go back for christmas and resume it after.

Oh awesome! I'd love to meet up with people when I'm there. That would be a blast!

[Strear]

Hmmm how can we proceed.
1 - Determine how long you'd be able to spend over here in Europe
2 - Then the places you'll absolutly want to visit
3 - Then, I guess we can alltogether do the rest, to set up the good itinerary with the things to see without having to make long drives for things that might become anecdotic considering the way to travel to reach these.

More specifically, I'm workd for a french navy contractor, I'll ask my colleagues (90 % retired navy pilots/electronic warfare guys) what are the things that have to be seen on the topic here, and then you'll check what deserves a trip or not.

[TwoNineMarine]

Hmmm how can we proceed.
1 - Determine how long you'd be able to spend over here in Europe
2 - Then the places you'll absolutly want to visit
3 - Then, I guess we can alltogether do the rest, to set up the good itinerary with the things to see without having to make long drives for things that might become anecdotic considering the way to travel to reach these.

More specifically, I'm workd for a french navy contractor, I'll ask my colleagues (90 % retired navy pilots/electronic warfare guys) what are the things that have to be seen on the topic here, and then you'll check what deserves a trip or not.

1. My guess is about one month. Give or take.
2. Must visit places: World War I and World War II battlefields and monuments. My wife wants to see Rome and Greece (She loves the old architecture).

Thanks for the help Strear! Outside those things we are pretty open. We'd like to see the big stuff like the Eiffel Tower and what not. But I'm more interested in the small out of the way things that most people don't see when they visit.