[Vacancier Permanent]

I'm thinking of hitting Europe for a few weeks shortly. I haven't been in Europe in a long time, so I'd like to get as much out of it as possible. My itenary would be like starting in either Germany or Holland and then, go to Belgium, England, France, Spain, Portugual, back to France and onto Italia, then hit East Europe before returning to Germany/Holland. I'd rather not spend too much time in the major touristy cities in all these countries (more than 2-3 days), so any suggestions about good 2nd/3rd tier cities would be very welcome, especially in Belgium, Holland, England, Spain, Portugal and Italia.

I'd like to ask the guys in here who either travel to Europe frequently or live there, what are some good sites for cheap flights between European cities, as well as train tickets and all. Of course I'm going to do my own research on line, but I thought I'd also ask guys who have first hand experience with that. Also, is there something equivalent to Asia's agoda.com for great deals on hotels all around Europe? I could always use my private membership, but it requires in most times, 2-3 weeks advance bookings and when I travel, I'm very spontaneous, that's why in Asia, I loved agoda.com as I could book the same day if/when needed. So guys, I'm all ears.

Cheers.

[oldnemesis]

(04-22-2011 03:51 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

I'd like to ask the guys in here who either travel to Europe frequently or live there, what are some good sites for cheap flights between European cities, as well as train tickets and all.

If getting it cheap is the most important for you, stick to local low-cost airlines like RyanAir. Take greater care when planning connection flights, as if you miss the flight (just because your previous flight was delayed), not only they will not rebook you automatically, you'll have to pay for a new ticket. They're also less reliable than AirAsia.

Also the trains are good, in most cases taking an overnight train is cheaper than just staying in a hotel, not to mention taking a flight afterward. And you can meet girls in a train as well, works very well for quick hookups.

[Super Etoile]

Air Fares here.

Lots and lots about train travel here (it's very UK-centric for obvious reasons, so if you're looking for timetables between cities in mainland Europe go to Bahn.de).

More to come later.............

[Vacancier Permanent]

Thanks guys! Much appreciated!
Any suggestions regarded worthwhile 2nd/3rd tier cities in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Italy?

Cheers.

[Roosh]

This trip sounds like it's not at all for girls and mainly to take pictures of monuments.

[rudebwoy]

Ryanair
EasyJet

I have used Air Berlin, Swiss Air, Lufthansa and BMI

[Gringo]

Quote:

This trip sounds like it's not at all for girls and mainly to take pictures of monuments.

He said "I'd rather not spend too much time in the major touristy cities" so I'm not sure he's planning on being a 'typical tourist' but even if so there's nothing wrong with it. Personally think it makes much more sense to go to places where there's things of interest to see and do in terms of attractions, history, culture etc rather than just because you heard the girls there are nice. .

[Vacancier Permanent]

Roosh,
Wherever I travel, girls are only the icing on the cake. I have yet to find one place in the world where I would return there solely for the girls. There are more to life than just chasing tail.

[mercati]

(04-22-2011 05:10 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

Thanks guys! Much appreciated!
Any suggestions regarded worthwhile 2nd/3rd tier cities in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Italy?

Cheers.

If you're looking for a 2nd tier city in Belgium, I recommend you to visit Ghent. It combines a great nightlife with great culture.

Another option is Antwerp. It has the best nightlife but much less culture and the poeple there are snobs.

3rd tier cities are Leuven and Bruges. Bruges is nice for a day trip but during night there is nothing compared to other cities. Leuven is a students city and is dead during summer.

Last but not least, try to spend half a day in brussels. Only to see the Grand Place (one of the most beautiful squares in Europe) and a bit of the center. Longer than that is not necessary, as the cities are close and you can travel quick between them.

Ryan-air and Wizzair flights arrive to and depart from Charleroi (Brussels south) airport. It's quite far from the center of brussels, consider a trip of one hour and and a half.

i hope this can help you and feel free to ask more!

[Gringo]

Taking trains is Europe is a good way to travel because you get to see the country, they'll be quite expensive in most of the countries you've talked about though where as Eastern Europe / Balkans they are ridicolously cheap!

[rudebwoy]

VP - forget England and fly directly to Continental Europe. For hotels I always used hotel.co.uk/com but I am sure there are others to be found. Since you are approaching summer, I would hit most of southern Europe and exchange won't kill you like some of those other countries.
Eastern Europe is always good value and I think you can combine almost everything you are looking for (Culture, girls etc).

[Vacancier Permanent]

Rudebwoy,
I know that England has not much to offer and I have never been attracted to visit it, however, the only reason I'm going there is to catch a couple of Arsenal matches and possibly, the Champions League final, at Wembley. I did a quick search for tickets for the game and they're going for 1K pounds per ticket. I'd love to see Barcelona kick Man Yoo's ass at Wembley but I won't be paying 1,000 pounds for a ticket. However, if my team, AC Milan was in the final, then that would have been a totally different story. Speaking of that, the main reason I'm doing this Euro trip is to catch as many live football matches as possible, specially of Milan and Barça. And in the process, going back to France, to see my friends from my hometown whom I haven't seen in a long time and then going with them to hit the beach in Biarritz. Eastern Europe has been a place that's been growing in my radar so to speak, but I probably won't do it this time, I want to devote a full trip just on that region, and that will be at a later time, possibly next year.

[Roosh]

(04-23-2011 01:40 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

There are more to life than just chasing tail.

Something I would have said before my two months in Denmark. Now I'm not so sure!

[nmmoooreland20]

(04-23-2011 08:47 AM)rudebwoy Wrote:  

VP - forget England and fly directly to Continental Europe. For hotels I always used hotel.co.uk/com but I am sure there are others to be found. Since you are approaching summer, I would hit most of southern Europe and exchange won't kill you like some of those other countries.
Eastern Europe is always good value and I think you can combine almost everything you are looking for (Culture, girls etc).

Seasons are gonna be over pretty soon no? Barca’s last match is May 12th I think.

[whosyourdaddy]

A lot of great little places in Europe are college towns or based around colleges, just like they are in the United States. But i'm not sure what they'll be like out of session. However, i believe the European academic calendar runs later in some countries, i know in Germany, lots are on vaction until October, meaning they may not get out till July or something.

France: Montpelier has a raucous nightlife, but it is a small town. Toulouse is ok has a lot of spanish influence and people like to party, (but not like in Spain) aix en provence is a nice, but very bourgeois place. Lyon is the best second city, i spent a lot of time there. Do not miss Fete de la Musique which happens on June 21 or 22nd.

UK: I had fun in Manchester. I think Leeds might be ok, too. Don't go to Birmingham, it's the Detroit of the UK, and its very spread out. You're likely better off visiting Edinburgh/Glasgow, or Dublin/Galway. Manchester is the best 2nd tier city, but its pretty industrial, best for its music scene, but not much else. Cambridge isn't bad either. Edinburgh is a real standout city for sightseeing. Try to hit one of the big music festivals in the UK, just check the back of UK music magazines for dates and locations.

Spain: Barcelona/Madrid and Seville are the main places to go. All three are awesome, but Madrid just rocks when it comes to nightlife, some of Europe's best. Seville pales compared to the other two in size & breadth, but the people are a LOT friendlier and the whole pace of life is way slower, making it an excellent choice as well. Salamanca is also a really fun place (college town) i went out every single night there. Ibiza and the costa del sol near Malaga should be good in summer, although the CDS is full of drunk brits.

Portugal: Lisbon, Coimbra and Porto are decent spots. Never been to the Algarve. I might go as far as to say you could consider skipping Portugal.

Belgium: Had great fun in Antwerp, the nightlife was awesome. Liked Leuven a lot (college town), never been to Ghent, but have met a lot of cool people who were from there.

Holland: Had fun in Utrecht, but i believe it's another college town. Went to some parties about 20km from Amsterdam, but can't remember where (was brought there). Maybe try Leiden or Delft, but i think they may be college towns as well.

Germany:Berlin is obviously the hotspot, but Germany seems to have lots of regional cities that are all decent but not quite standouts. Hamburg and Munich slightly edge out the others, but i prefer Frankfurt, Koln and Stuttgart, as Munich is very expensive and conservative. Tubingen is the standout college town, Munster isn't bad either.

Italy: Bologna, Perugia and Genova, of all places were fun. Genova is a dump but has all of its nightlife concentrated in one area. Make sure to visit Capri, near Naples, the Italian Riviera, the hill towns in Tuscany, lots of very historic little towns to visit, like Sienna. Palermo was surprisingly enjoyable to visit, but not so much for the women/nightlife. Rimini on the adriatic may be a good bet for nightlife. Italy didn't seem to excel in nightlife. It's a laid back, but very conformist country.

[Gunner]

Spain: Granada(Alhambra, good tapas, good girls but not in the summer). If I only had ONE day in Spain I would visit Granada. And if you're in Madrid take the AVE to Segovia, great place, good food too.

[Mystik]

(04-23-2011 04:30 AM)mercati Wrote:  

Ryan-air and Wizzair flights arrive to and depart from Charleroi (Brussels south) airport. It's quite far from the center of brussels, consider a trip of one hour and and a half.

This a very important point. Most cheap airlines that are present in large cities with more than one airport will depart from and land at the smaller airports that are far from the main city.

I used Ryanair or Easyjet maybe it was Vueling (I don't remember) to go to Barcelona from Paris. I had to spend one and a half hour changing and waiting form buses and the money that I saved was spent in getting to the airport. . So, if the city has more than one airport then don't use the cheap carriers.

For Spain, don't go to the second tier cities. I went to Valencia and it was a very backward city. Stick to Madrid and Barcelona.

For Italy and France, you can rent a car in a city in the south of France and do a road trip to Italy, the route is absolutely amazing!

[Mystik]

(04-25-2011 09:37 PM)Roosh Wrote:  

(04-23-2011 01:40 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

There are more to life than just chasing tail.

Something I would have said before my two months in Denmark. Now I'm not so sure!

Roosh,

CPH is a bad example. It is the most boring city that I have been to in my life. There is nothing to do, you can walk the entire city in a couple of days.

I can spend the a couple of months in Barcelona or Paris and have a great time without chasing any pussy.

[Pepini]

Two weeks before arriving to Portugal send me a PM I´ll hook you up.

Those are all the low costs flying to Lisbon:
http://www.flylowcostairlines.org/low-co...isboa.html
Ryanair doesn´t fly to Lisbon only Porto (north) and Faro (south). It´s the cheapest airline.

- Skyscanner (like said before), best for low cost;
- Edreams, rumbo, govoyage: are both for low cost and regular airlines;

[Vacancier Permanent]

Awesome run down whosyourdaddy!Very much appreciated man!
Pepini, will do man.

Thanks everyone for their feedback/tips.

Cheers guys.

[billy]

Liverpool and newcastle are the best cities in the UK for night life, they have some of the sluttiest women as well, the other bonus of scousers is that they are friendly and will almost always gove you a chance to game them.

[billy]

also for hotels Laterooms, booking.com, expedia etc all work for most of europe. Always phone the hotel before booking online though as smaller hotels may offer a better rate as it saves them comission.

[Gringo]

I can't believe you are recommending Liverpool and Newcastle to an international audience. Seriously avoid both places, they'll steal the socks off your feet in Liverpool and that's just the girls, the guys will knife you in the process.

[The Summerstown Kid]

I agree with billy, for nightlife Liverpool's good and Newcastle's even better!

[billy]

Gringo when was the last time you were out in Liverpool ? It has the friendlyest people in the UK and the women make tons of effort to look nice I know it has a ruff side but is is confined to areas tourists don't go, Manchester is far worse for violence and the women are ugly. Come to where I live and ask a guy in a pub about local girls and they will shove a glass in your face, do the same in Liverpool and guys help you out.