Travel EUROPE: Travel Tips & Tricks

[Bloods86]

Yeah loved Budapest and Prague, trying to make a point this time of going to places I haven't been to yet haha.

Thinking Krakow, Bratislava, Innsbruck to start with

Krakow might be on my next trip, Innsbruck is on my further into the future list.

I'll send some recs for Bratislava later via PM. Food, sights, drinking.

 

[hotchilli]

Yeah loved Budapest and Prague, trying to make a point this time of going to places I haven't been to yet haha.

Thinking Krakow, Bratislava, Innsbruck to start with

Krakow is fantastic. Poland as a whole was a good time when travelled through Gdansk, Warsaw & Krakow.

 

[swingdog]

Krakow is lovely and, if you’re up for it, Auschwitz is worth a day visit.

But think about it carefully beforehand. It’s like no other place to visit and highly confronting.

If you have any appreciation for the history and what it means, then definitely worth it.

 

[raskolnikov]

Spent a chunk of last year bouncing around Spain instead of the Baltics and it blew me away how different each city feels. Madrid had that big capital vibe, Seville was all charm with flamenco spilling into the streets, and Granada felt almost like another world with the Alhambra and the mountains right there. Even within a single trip it never felt repetitive.

I didn’t want to deal with all the transfers myself, so I used Guided Spain Tours for part of it. They made hopping between cities smooth, which gave me way more time to just enjoy the food, plazas, and random late-night walks instead of stressing over schedules.

If anyone’s thinking about southern Europe beyond the Baltics, Spain is one of those places where every stop feels like a new trip

Do you mean Balkans, not Baltics?

 

[raskolnikov]

Planning a big long service leave trip next year.

So far have decided on the Mediterranean (Spain, South of France, Italy, Croatia), Germany, Belgium for a music festival and the Netherlands.

Thinking of Seville, Madrid and Valencia for Spain, is there anywhere else people would recommend? (Did the Basque region this year so don't need to go up there).

Italy, planning on NW Coast (Genoa, Portafino ect), Tuscany, Rome, Napoli, Umbria and Sicily. Do I need to do Calabria as well? Any recommendations welcome.

Also need to decide what to do in August while the Mrs is in Scotland for a month. Is Poland worth it? Has anyone been to Ljubljana and highly recommend it?

Poland is amazing Everyone raves about Krakow, and it is great. But for me Gdansk was my favourite city.

Ljubljana and Bled are beautiful. Well worth the visit.

 

[deck]

Krakow might be on my next trip

Just got back from there. One warning is if you plan to do Auschwitz you need to book tickets weeks in advance. Only very limited tickets are available at the gate.

A lot of tour companies offer tours but don't have the entry tickets. They then require you to start the tour at 4am or earlier so you can stand in queue to buy tickets at 7.30am. You then might not have a timeslot until the afternoon. Of course they don't tell you this until 24 hours before your departure.

Also Schindler's Factory is best to book in advance as queues on the day are long and we waited close to 2 hours to get in.

As a note this was a few weeks back so wasn't in peak season.

 

[RU_]

Looking at going to Europe in July for Ultra music festival (and Tomorrowland if my group can get tickets).

Based on that I’m definitely looking at Croatia, Belgium and have had Malta recommended. I’d like to do Amsterdam as well.

I’ll have some time to kill where I won’t be travelling with anyone - any suggestions on places I should go and see during that time?

Would like to see the sights, museums, typical touristy stuff. Also keen to see cool towns, etc.

First trip out of Australia, so I’m pretty excited!

 

[.Shotties.]

Looking at going to Europe in July for Ultra music festival (and Tomorrowland if my group can get tickets).

Based on that I’m definitely looking at Croatia, Belgium and have had Malta recommended. I’d like to do Amsterdam as well.

I’ll have some time to kill where I won’t be travelling with anyone - any suggestions on places I should go and see during that time?

Would like to see the sights, museums, typical touristy stuff. Also keen to see cool towns, etc.

First trip out of Australia, so I’m pretty excited!

Exit Festival in Novi Sad was great, Sziget in Hungary too. Belgrade was actually a really fun city when I was there in 2014. Plenty of underground clubs there at the time. We stopped off there on the way to Exit and wished we'd stayed a few more nights.

 

[Cruyff14]

Looking at going to Europe in July for Ultra music festival (and Tomorrowland if my group can get tickets).

Based on that I’m definitely looking at Croatia, Belgium and have had Malta recommended. I’d like to do Amsterdam as well.

I’ll have some time to kill where I won’t be travelling with anyone - any suggestions on places I should go and see during that time?

Would like to see the sights, museums, typical touristy stuff. Also keen to see cool towns, etc.

First trip out of Australia, so I’m pretty excited!

Slovenia is great. Lake Bled is beautiful.

How much time do you have and where will you be based/how far are you willing to go etc? I have heard wonderful things about Budapest too.

 

[revo333]

Would like to see the sights, museums, typical touristy stuff. Also keen to see cool towns, etc.

Ghent in Belgium.

Dubrovnik in Croatia.

 

[RU_]

Slovenia is great. Lake Bled is beautiful.

How much time do you have and where will you be based/how far are you willing to go etc? I have heard wonderful things about Budapest too.

Incredibly open for plans/being based somewhere, outside of the dates for Ultra/Tomorrowland.

Tickets go on sale for Tomorrowland in a few weeks - looking at the dates of around 01 Jul - 20th July in Europe.

Never travelled so not aware of ease of movement, but willing to go anywhere that I can jump on a plane or bus, obviously don’t want to spend the entire trip sitting on transport, but very flexible.

 

[Seeds]

Incredibly open for plans/being based somewhere, outside of the dates for Ultra/Tomorrowland.

Tickets go on sale for Tomorrowland in a few weeks - looking at the dates of around 01 Jul - 20th July in Europe.

Never travelled so not aware of ease of movement, but willing to go anywhere that I can jump on a plane or bus, obviously don’t want to spend the entire trip sitting on transport, but very flexible.

If never been to Europe and going to be in Belgium then go to Paris for 4-5 days and then Italy (florence, siena or amalfi coast, rome). Can either fly or do overnight sleeper train between belgium/paris and italy. Bruges is potentially worth seeing given in belgium if you want to see cute small towns.


Try not to visit to many spots as travel days are lost days and often the best experiences arent seeing the main sites.

 

[Cruyff14]

Incredibly open for plans/being based somewhere, outside of the dates for Ultra/Tomorrowland.

Tickets go on sale for Tomorrowland in a few weeks - looking at the dates of around 01 Jul - 20th July in Europe.

Never travelled so not aware of ease of movement, but willing to go anywhere that I can jump on a plane or bus, obviously don’t want to spend the entire trip sitting on transport, but very flexible.

Berlin is incredible. I really liked Nice. London is great.

Wasn't a fan of Venice.

 

[RU_]

Thanks everyone for the recommendations!

Will be planning on jumping into some hostel bars (probably can’t stay in them as I have medication that has to stay cold, and wouldn’t trust a communal fridge) to make some human connections/travel friends when I’m off on my own.

Have written these suggestions down for when I plan my mudmap route!

 

[Seeds]

If you like theme parks the phantasialand looks incredible. Not far from belgium. Europa park further south as well.

 

[Bloods86]

Looking at going to Europe in July for Ultra music festival (and Tomorrowland if my group can get tickets).

Based on that I’m definitely looking at Croatia, Belgium and have had Malta recommended. I’d like to do Amsterdam as well.

I’ll have some time to kill where I won’t be travelling with anyone - any suggestions on places I should go and see during that time?

Would like to see the sights, museums, typical touristy stuff. Also keen to see cool towns, etc.

First trip out of Australia, so I’m pretty excited!

Some of the places already mentioned I can second.

Bruges for a day trip at least
Amsterdam
Ljubljana in Slovenia, can do Lake Bled, Postojna Cave, Predjama Castle 1 day tour
Budapest
London
Berlin
Amalfi Coast

I'd also add that Sarajevo, Bratislava are cool (can do day trip via train to Vienna from the latter). Prague I don't think has been mentioned, well worth a visit.

Also loved the Baltic countries and Scandinavia, but might be a bit further out of the way.

 

[getthefooty]

Wouldn't bother with exploring too much of Belgium outside the festival tbh.

Berlin, Amsterdam, Switzerland (though v expensive), London all better options around there. If you make it to eastern Europe then Prague, Krakow, Budapest all great options and will see your $$$$ go a lot further.

 

[hotchilli]

Wouldn't bother with exploring too much of Belgium outside the festival tbh.

Berlin, Amsterdam, Switzerland (though v expensive), London all better options around there. If you make it to eastern Europe then Prague, Krakow, Budapest all great options and will see your $$$$ go a lot further.

Agree there, Brussels is a dump.

 

[revo333]

Agree there, Brussels is a dump.

Good base though for Bruges and Ghent.

Easy train or bus to continue onto Paris or Amsterdam.

 

[raskolnikov]

Spent the last few days in Portugal.

Most people who have been to Portugal say they prefer Porto over Lisbon.

I'm going to be the odd one out and say I liked Lisbon more. They wete both good though.

 

[HirdyLannister]

Spent the last few days in Portugal.

Most people who have been to Portugal say they prefer Porto over Lisbon.

I'm going to be the odd one out and say I liked Lisbon more. They wete both good though.

Portugal was one of my favourite countries when I 6 month backpack in 2011, I preferred Lisbon over Porto.

I remember the seafood dishes were incredible and prices insanely cheap, I bet a lot has changed over 15 years.

 

[Bloods86]

Portugal was one of my favourite countries when I 6 month backpack in 2011, I preferred Lisbon over Porto.

I remember the seafood dishes were incredible and prices insanely cheap, I bet a lot has changed over 15 years.

I went to Lisbon in 2024, instead of Porto as it was easier for a friend to get to. Had heard Porto was better, but I really liked Lisbon.

Seafood dishes definitely still good! Pastel de nata for breakfast every day too.

 

[RU_]

Didn’t get tickets to Tomorrowland and opted not to do Ultra.

Flights are booked though.
Only locked in dates are Ibiza from 10th-15th July for some rave fun!

Thinking:
Paris
Barcelona
Valencia
Madrid
Ibiza
Lisbon
Amsterdam

 

[raskolnikov]

Currently in Florence. Amazing city.

 

[wadistance]

Spent the last few days in Portugal.

Most people who have been to Portugal say they prefer Porto over Lisbon.

I'm going to be the odd one out and say I liked Lisbon more. They wete both good though.

Lisbon is infinitely superior to Porto. The coastline on the other side of Sintra is magic too