Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with europe and holiday

People in Europa / Ciao ciao bella, Monaco

mippy — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:53:03 -0800

April. Europe. Our first proper holiday, and I haven't left the country in eight years. Where to go? On the shortlist are Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, and, um, somewhere Scandinavian or Italian.

As the pound is worth little these days, and I have to pay £80 to renew my passport, we need to know cities and places to stay that aren't hugely expensive (hostels are fine as long as they're safe), and food too. We like museums, art and graveyards, interesting urban architecture and culture, shopping (ie. things that we can't get in the UK - we like crafts and boardgaming, and I like thriftshopping), pubs rather than clubs, nice cafes, things to see and do and photograph. Neither of us can drive, but I'm a beginner cyclist so we can get around that way.

We're all going on a winter holiday

rus — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:18:43 -0800

Looking for real world holiday recommendations for Me and Mrs Rus + 2 yo old toddler in Oct this year Ideally something say 3-4 hours flight from the UK with a kids club (which for 2 year olds seems a bit hard to find) so we can have a bit of an adult and family holiday. We've got a load of brochures + ideas + lots from google but looking for people who have been there/done that. We have a reasonable budget

What's your idea of a romantic holidy in Europe?

alopez — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 07:02:23 -0800

What are your recommendations for a romantic holiday in Europe? We are American newlyweds living in Edinburgh for a short period (1-2 years) and we'd like to make the most of the opportunity. What are some romantic holidays that we can take while we're in Europe -- and most importantly, what do you find romantic about them? We're interested
in both weekend (or 3-4 days) getaways and longer trips, in any season (including Christmas, if there's something good). We like food, wine, and art, and we like to go off the beaten path, but don't want to be prescriptive and miss out on your great advice -- if there's something wonderful that doesn't include those elements we'd love to hear it.

Family attractions in Munich anyone?

sdevans — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:12:24 -0800

Can anyone suggest good things to see and do for a young family visiting Munich this weekend for the first time? The sdevans family is taking it's first foreign trip since evans junior was born (he's now 14 months old) and we hope the budget flight will be ok.

Do any mefites have any recommendations for must see and dos in Munich, involving only public transport / centre of the city, as we won't be renting a car.

We have only previously done domestic trips during the summer months and like going to see zoos, farms, places with play areas etc, which may not be so practical in December. My wife will no doubt be interested in shopping and markets, but I would like to find something memorable for our little one to do too.

Thanks in advance (PS: I've already copied the suggestions on a related question from a while back)

Where Does it Snow in Europe at Christmas?

mary8nne — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 05:39:42 -0800

Europe: Where does it Snow for Xmas? I'm looking for a nice romantic getaway for Xmas in Europe where we can be assured of Snow around actual Christmas Day? (ie a week around 25th December).

Not looking for a Skiing Holiday.

Just looking for a little cottage in the snow, to sit around with a book cook some goose, etc. head into town for some bread and pastries..

We were looking at Switzerland - (Lucerne or similar) but apparently it often doesn't snow there until Jan.

Please evaluate my route from Italy to Spain by car

zaebiz — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 02:07:07 -0800

I plan to drive from Venice, Italy to Valenica, Spain in April or May 2009 using the following route. I will stay for a few days or weeks in little spots along the way. I should have about six weeks in total. I mostly want to see a little of Spain and Italy, the French Riviera, Montpellier, Marseilles and finish at Valencia. Apart from that anything else I should try to see? Any parts of the chosen route I should avoid? What's driving like along that route? Any rental car companies which will let me pick up in Italy and drop off in Spain?

Recommendations for European holidays with a 19month old in tow?

blacksky — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:17:56 -0800

Recommendations for European holidays with a 19month old in tow? We live in the UK, and are looking for recommendations for holiday destination in mainland Europe that are toddler friendly, yet affordable.

Specifically which hotels/apartments have you stayed in with your toddler that you felt was well equipped and welcoming for little ones.

More generally, what are your experiences with resort holidays vs the more free-range type holiday with toddlers in tow?

Although we're open to package/resort holidays, in the past, we've booked our own flights, hotels, transfers etc in places like the south of France, or northern Italy and thoroughly enjoyed that kind of freedom. We are particularly worried about the availability of things like high chairs, cots, car seats etc to borrow/rent so we don't have to lug them around with us.

Where To Take A Month Holiday For Two?

chriswarren — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 08:19:37 -0800

My girlfriend finishes school in July and starts work in September. We'd like to spend a month abroad during August. What are good locations where we can live comfortably and be able to have a lot of experiences - touristy and not? While we don't have a budget set yet, I'd think we'd be looking at between US$3000 and US$5000. We'd originally discussed Europe, but the idea of New Zealand or Australia has come up as well. I've lived in Australia and spent a month traveling New Zealand before. She's studied in London.

Please help us find a great resource to send gifts in Europe!

theantikitty — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:17:06 -0800

It's holiday gift time, and once again I am presented with the problem of trying to send something to my in-laws on another continent. Usually, I spend a couple months shopping for tiny items that I can mail to the Netherlands for as much as I paid for them. Today it dawned on me...there must be an easier way! Please post your great online resources for sending gifts to Europe. I have two sets of in-laws (a divorce was in involved) in the Netherlands. I want to send them each something reasonably nice for Christmas. I don't have a huge amount of money to spend this year, but I am hoping to find a resource that I can use for many years to come.

I asked my husband, who is Dutch, what websites we might be able to peruse for holiday gifts, but we haven't come up with anything brilliant yet. A quick google reveals lots of slightly shady looking gift basket companies with (most likely) inflated prices. Does anybody have an internet resource that ships to the Netherlands? It doesn't necessarily need to be a Dutch website. It simply needs to be willing to ship there for a more reasonable price than the 50 bucks I usually spend during the holidays to mail them little American trinkets.

Nice gift baskets are certainly OK if you have a reputable website. We're open to any and all great resources you have for gifts to Europe. Hopefully, more money can go to my in-laws and less to the USPS this year! Thanks guys!

Budget holiday ideas, early September

billtron — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:20:14 -0800

Where to go from London for a few days of vacation? My wife and I are leaving NYC for a conference in London from September 6-8 and are looking for something to do for nearly a week following the conference. We have friends in Brussels we might visit on the way somewhere, and we were looking at Marrakech, which we know practically nothing about, and Vienna, since she's never been, but we would like more ideas.

We're on graduate student budgets, and we really like nature, history, and food. We don't really like resort culture, shopping or nightlife, although a periodic bar or club is not out of the question. We speak German, French, Portuguese and a little bit of Spanish. We'd like to stay in one place the entire time, if possible.

Returning to London is not entirely necessary since we are using miles with AA to get across the Atlantic.

Cheese Vacation

MrCheese!!! — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 06:45:38 -0800

European vacation with a focus on cheese? I'm starting to plan a two week European vacation and am seeking advice and tips. We'll hopefully be going next year. My main reason for going is to try a great variety of cheeses that I'll never find here in California. We also want to do general touristy stuff, but that is secondary.

Before I get down to the nuts and bolts of actually booking the trip I'd like to get a better understanding of the practicalities. I'll do more reading later on general tourist and American in Europe topics. General issues I'm wondering about now: (Please excuse the shotgun nature of this question)

- How hard is it to find good cheese shops in places we're likely to visit during a whirl-wind tour of Europe - France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, etc.? (I'm sure that's a stupid question, but there it is.)

- How much of Europe can we fit in in two weeks if our main goal is getting access to as many cheese regions as possible? My assumption is that we'll find a few cheese shops which will allow us to try cheeses from a large region. It would be nice to fit in British Isles, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and some Baltic counties. But is that doable?

- Since we speak zero non-English languages, how silly would it be to try this without a guide or interpreter?

- Here in California I'll go to a cheese shop and try lots of different cheese. But the expectation is that I'm going to then buy a bunch of cheese. That's going to be hard to do if I'm on the road without a fridge. I can buy a cooler of course, but that will just fill up and go to waste. Does anyone have a good solution here? I really need to try 50+ cheeses at a minimum.

- I'm assuming that I'll need to get hooked up with some sort of tour since I'm a clueless idiot American. I've been to Ireland on a couple freestyle trips where I just got a car and a pile of B&B vouchers, which worked out fine. But I don't think that will fly in a mad dash through France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, etc. Is this assumption valid?

(I should point out that I really like British cheeses, but I feel I can get my hands on those just fine here in the US. Or, more likely, we'll make that a separate trip.)

Best family beach holidays in Europe?

gfrobe — Wed, 24 May 2006 01:48:03 -0800

Where to go for a family beach holiday in Europe this summer? I live in UK and would like to take my family on a beach holiday in Europe this summer. We have two kids (age 7 and 2) so would prefer some activities for them. However, they both love swimming so the most important thing is a nice beach and ideally a pool along with some local sites. Oh, and we also need it to be relatively inexpensive.

We're leaning towards Majorca and found some good prices on flights. Can anyone recommend a nice place to stay there? Or other destination alternatives in Europe?

Thanks.

Enjoying NW Europe on the cheap?

knapah — Fri, 19 May 2006 10:14:22 -0800

TravelFilter: This summer I and 3 friends are planning on travelling around part of Europe by train and are looking for advice on the main areas we plan to stay in. Information on hostels or other cheap accommodation (first hand if possible) would be great (more inside) We are students in the UK and are planning on getting the Interrail pass for Zone E (France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) so we can travel with relative freedom for 16 days.

We plan to stay in these cities primarily (although advice on other places in the general area would be accepted):

Lille (2 nights)
Brussels (3 nights)
Amsterdam (4 nights)
Luxembourg City (1 night)
Northern France including Paris (6 nights)

What I am looking for in particular are cheap (in the vicinity of €20 to €30 per night) hostels in each of the first 4 cities and also general advice for places to stay/see in Northern France.

Any other advice from people who have had InterRail or Eurail passes before would also be appreciated.

Many thanks