Cheap & Relaxing European Vacation
July 19, 2010 1:01 PM Subscribe
Cheap, relaxing 5 day vacation in Europe, preferably by a body of water. What do you recommend?
A friend and I would like to spend about 5 days on vacation somewhere we can relax and swim in August. We'll be starting from near Frankfurt, Germany and are open to heading anywhere in Europe that can be reached on a cheap flight or train ride. We're hoping to find a hostel or a similarly priced place to stay and spend our days walking/hiking/biking around outdoors and swimming in a lake or ocean. Somewhere that isn't too hot would be nice, but really anything goes. Any suggestions would be great!
A friend and I would like to spend about 5 days on vacation somewhere we can relax and swim in August. We'll be starting from near Frankfurt, Germany and are open to heading anywhere in Europe that can be reached on a cheap flight or train ride. We're hoping to find a hostel or a similarly priced place to stay and spend our days walking/hiking/biking around outdoors and swimming in a lake or ocean. Somewhere that isn't too hot would be nice, but really anything goes. Any suggestions would be great!
Gdańsk plus Gdynia and Sopot!
Gdańsk is a Gothic jewel; Gdynia is a working seaport with lots of boating/maritime heritage things, and Sopot is a huge spa/resort town (my Polish sunscreen bears its name!). There's a really huge set of parks and nature reserves right behind/west of the cities, and you're within striking distance of the the world's largest brick castle at Malbork. Want more beaches? Try the 33-kilometer-long Hel Peninsula just up the road. More on other attractions here.
Fly to Gdańsk nonstop on Lufthansa or LOT from Frankfurt International, or Ryanair from Frankfurt-Hahn. You won't need a car - the region, called the "Trójmiasto" (Tri-city), is linked by cheap, frequent interurban/local trains. English is more prevalent in Gdańsk than anywhere else but the whole region is Poland's summertime playground so they're built for lots of tourists - multilingual menus, etc, are all over. If you've got some German language skills that's even better - lots of older people might have some German but less English.
Aaaaaand €1 is about 4.12 zł today, so eating out, staying in hotels/hostels/guesthouses, etc, is, overall, much cheaper than anywhere in the Eurozone, though a bit more expensive than the rest of non-touristed Poland.
Finally, tourist Polish is relatively easy to master - the guide I linked above has a quick run-down of the essentials!
posted by mdonley at 1:28 PM on July 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Gdańsk is a Gothic jewel; Gdynia is a working seaport with lots of boating/maritime heritage things, and Sopot is a huge spa/resort town (my Polish sunscreen bears its name!). There's a really huge set of parks and nature reserves right behind/west of the cities, and you're within striking distance of the the world's largest brick castle at Malbork. Want more beaches? Try the 33-kilometer-long Hel Peninsula just up the road. More on other attractions here.
Fly to Gdańsk nonstop on Lufthansa or LOT from Frankfurt International, or Ryanair from Frankfurt-Hahn. You won't need a car - the region, called the "Trójmiasto" (Tri-city), is linked by cheap, frequent interurban/local trains. English is more prevalent in Gdańsk than anywhere else but the whole region is Poland's summertime playground so they're built for lots of tourists - multilingual menus, etc, are all over. If you've got some German language skills that's even better - lots of older people might have some German but less English.
Aaaaaand €1 is about 4.12 zł today, so eating out, staying in hotels/hostels/guesthouses, etc, is, overall, much cheaper than anywhere in the Eurozone, though a bit more expensive than the rest of non-touristed Poland.
Finally, tourist Polish is relatively easy to master - the guide I linked above has a quick run-down of the essentials!
posted by mdonley at 1:28 PM on July 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Croatia for sure! Hundreds of beautiful, unique islands. Plenty of opportunities for land-based activities, too.
posted by acidic at 3:17 PM on July 19, 2010
posted by acidic at 3:17 PM on July 19, 2010
One random but fun option, not too far away - head to the Lucky Lake Hostel, just outside of Amsterdam and situated a few minutes' walk from a huge, man-made and (I'm told) beautiful lake, with lots of recreational activities and swimming and such. Hostel is basically a whole bunch of camper trailers arranged in a big oval, with some cabins as well and a nice outdoor kitchen/eating area. Fun, relaxed, and cheap for Europe, especially for Amsterdam. You can hop a shuttle/train combo to the city centre in very little time and without much trouble, or just spend your time at the camp site. Disclaimer: I never actually made it to the lake, so this is relying on the assertions of others.
Germany also has cheap flights to Turkey, which is itself a relatively cheap country to visit. It will definitely be hot at this time of year, which might rule it out for you, but the Mediterranean coast is lovely and if you spend a few days on a gulet (do a Google search for 'blue cruise') you can swim in the ocean and sunbathe and buy ice cream from roving ice cream boats and do all of this without spending crazy amounts of money. At least, not what I would consider to be crazy money for a 4-day Mediterranean boat cruise.
posted by nicoleincanada at 4:37 PM on July 19, 2010
Germany also has cheap flights to Turkey, which is itself a relatively cheap country to visit. It will definitely be hot at this time of year, which might rule it out for you, but the Mediterranean coast is lovely and if you spend a few days on a gulet (do a Google search for 'blue cruise') you can swim in the ocean and sunbathe and buy ice cream from roving ice cream boats and do all of this without spending crazy amounts of money. At least, not what I would consider to be crazy money for a 4-day Mediterranean boat cruise.
posted by nicoleincanada at 4:37 PM on July 19, 2010
You might like Rugen in the Baltic. I visited there some time ago but it was lovely
posted by bluesky43 at 6:22 PM on July 19, 2010
posted by bluesky43 at 6:22 PM on July 19, 2010
Sweden!
Some more info here and another person's experience kayaking the Stockholm archipelago here.
I spent about ten days in Stockholm and the Stockholm archipelago last summer, and while I didn't do anything super outdoors-y, it was fantastic. I wish I could go every summer!
posted by midatlanticwanderer at 7:37 PM on July 19, 2010
Some more info here and another person's experience kayaking the Stockholm archipelago here.
I spent about ten days in Stockholm and the Stockholm archipelago last summer, and while I didn't do anything super outdoors-y, it was fantastic. I wish I could go every summer!
posted by midatlanticwanderer at 7:37 PM on July 19, 2010
I second bluesky43's vote for the Baltic. You could take a train straight from Frankfurt to the north part of Germany and be at a nice, cheap, not very hot beach town in less than 3 hours.
posted by msk1985 at 7:58 PM on July 19, 2010
posted by msk1985 at 7:58 PM on July 19, 2010
Bled, Slovenia. Beautiful castle, charming lake with a church on an island in the middle, scenic gorges, lots of other stuff a short trip away ...
posted by leahwrenn at 8:06 PM on July 19, 2010
posted by leahwrenn at 8:06 PM on July 19, 2010
Seconding Lake Bled. That said, a lot of the accommodation there is a bit box hotel and like other tourist spots gets its fair share of coach tours. If you do go, be sure to go and have a drink at the Vila Bled.
posted by MuffinMan at 12:20 AM on July 20, 2010
posted by MuffinMan at 12:20 AM on July 20, 2010
My girlfriend and I just got back from a really nice week on Rab, an island in Croatia. We spent, combined, less than a thousand euros, including transportation, lodging, meals and entertainment.
This was my third trip to the Croatian coast, and her second. We've enjoyed every trip we've taken there, so far.
I'd suggest an island near Split - Brac or Korcula are good candidates. You can get a small apartment in walking distance to the beach with a kitchen for 30 euros a night (even in the high season) if you're lucky.
We usually find it cheaper to have an apartment and eat food bought at the grocery store, rather than staying in a hotel/hostel and eating out all the time.
It may get pretty hot, but the Adriatic Sea is beautiful - crystal clear and refreshingly cool.
If you really want to go the hostel route, Dubrovnik may be a better option. I stayed in an apartment there a couple of years ago, but there were tons of backpackers who were staying in hostels, and there are some nice places to swim right around the city.
posted by syzygy at 5:24 AM on July 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
This was my third trip to the Croatian coast, and her second. We've enjoyed every trip we've taken there, so far.
I'd suggest an island near Split - Brac or Korcula are good candidates. You can get a small apartment in walking distance to the beach with a kitchen for 30 euros a night (even in the high season) if you're lucky.
We usually find it cheaper to have an apartment and eat food bought at the grocery store, rather than staying in a hotel/hostel and eating out all the time.
It may get pretty hot, but the Adriatic Sea is beautiful - crystal clear and refreshingly cool.
If you really want to go the hostel route, Dubrovnik may be a better option. I stayed in an apartment there a couple of years ago, but there were tons of backpackers who were staying in hostels, and there are some nice places to swim right around the city.
posted by syzygy at 5:24 AM on July 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
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posted by _dario at 1:16 PM on July 19, 2010