Eurotrip

[pureconcepts]

Just from noticing the Location tags for all the users of this forum, Powweb seems to have a precence internationally. I think this is great. As such, I was hoping to get some feedback from those Users in Europe. I am heading on my first European vacation in about 3 weeks. Most everything is booked to visit London, Paris, Berlin, and Rome over a 2 week period. As I don't expect to see everything in these cities, I wanted to know any places I MUST see, SHOULD see, things to TRY, etc. This would be much appreciated.

[Builder]

I can't provide any insider info, but having been to London a couple of times, and speaking as a tourist, here's what I found interesting:

The Tower -- get a tour from a "Beefeater"; personal opinion: although spectacular, the Crown Jewels were not worth the wait but as you are going "off-peak" the que may be much shorter.
Westminster Abbey
Royal Observatory in Greenwich
Naval/maritime museum -- (down the hill from the Observatory)
Covent Garden
Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace

If you can get outside London for a day, Oxford and/or Blenheim Palace are worth seeing. I'm told Cambridge is as well.

On my list for next time (whenever that might be):

British Museum
St. Paul's
The Eye -- was being built last time I was there
and more...

If you are going from London to Paris or vice-versa, the Eurostar is fun.

I can't provide information on the other cities in your list as I haven't been to any, but it sounds like you're going to have a great time -- wish I was going along. :)

Kevin

[RamjetFDO]

Hi y'all... another "American in the UK" tourist, but here's my cut, too:

* London Eye (MUST DO!!)
* Walk across the Thames past Big Ben and Parliament
* Walk down the street to Westminster Abbey
* Walk across St. James' Park to Buckingham Palace (schedule the changing of the Guard, if possible)
* Tower of London (concur on the Beefeater tour and the comments on the Crown Jewels... if the line's short go, otherwise go through the Armory... much more interesting)
* Tower Bridge
* St. Paul's Cathedral

Others:
* Covent Garden
* Picadilly Circus
* Double-decker bus tour of the city (you can get lots of good drive-bys here)
* I've never done it, but heard a Thames river tour can be fun.

Getting outside of London is a *must*:
* The Midlands and the Cotswolds are beautiful.
* Warwick Castle is really nifty
* South to Dover (Chunnel transport to Europe) is nice, too... you get lots of great stop options along the way

I have my pictures and trip reports here:
Pix: http://photos.balettie.com/England2001
Reports: http://www.balettie.com/private/England/

My wife and I are taking our kids (high-school age) to England this summer. More pix, etc. then! :)

(begin edit)
Oh... didn't notice this the first time... we went to Italy last October. In Rome, you *MUST* do St. Peter's/the Vatican/Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum/Roman Forum, and the Pantheon.

Pix: http://photos.balettie.com/MedCruise2005
Rome (day 1): http://photos.balettie.com/13Oct05_Rome-Day1
Rome (day 2): http://photos.balettie.com/14Oct05_Rome-Day2

Roger

[IanS]

In London, Paris and Berlin you can get bus tours for a few dollars (well, you've got to pay in the local currency :D) and they are well worth the cost. The London and Paris ones are on London Red Double decker buses and the commentary in all countries has an 'English' option (some by a real live person, some recorded).

Rome may have such a tour, although I've not done that one.

A major advantage I find of going on these tours is you get to see what looks interesting and what isn't. It gives you a chance to see all of the tourist spots in one trip round the city in question.

In London, St Paul's: in Rome, St Peter's; in Paris the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre are the ones on my 'Must see, and will visit more than once' list and I've been to them all :)

Allow a full day for the visit to the Louvre - you may wish to visit Versailles as well (another 3/4 day). If you've got children with you, another day in Paris would be to the Euro-Disney park (although no-where near as good as Orlando) to keep them on board. :D Wrap up warm and a Baton Mouche (boat trip) on the Seine is a must.

[pureconcepts]

Thank you for all the responses thus far. I really apprecaite it, keep them coming ;)

Just as additional FYI, I am travelling alone as a single male, although I will be visiting a friend in france.

Also, what is the 'Beefeater' tour for the Tower, or is this something I will understand while in London?

[RamjetFDO]

"Beefeater" is the name for the Royal Guards... Once you see this, you'll know what we're talking about:
http://www.balettie.com/albums/19June2001/Patrick_Beefeater_at_Tower_of_London.jpg

They give the best tours (VERY entertaining!) at the Tower of London.

Roger

[BCB]

My wife and I spent a month in Europe after graduating from college. We only did 3 days in London and 2 in Paris, but 2 weeks in Italy (Rome area and Sicily), and 1 week in Germany. We had friends and family to stay with in Italy and Germany, so that was helpful.

We didn't get to see much of London due to the jet lag, and Paris was rushed as well. We saw Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, and a few other "standards" in London. In Paris we saw the Eiffel Tower and walked the Seine a bit, and went to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. We did not take any bus tours in either city. In Rome we took a walking tour of the city, led by an Australian woman. She was giving a free tour around the Colliseum and offered a walking tour (paid) later. It was worth it. We also went to Naples and Capri.

[Builder]

Roger's comments reminded me of a couple other items:
I did the Thames cruise my first time in London and it was nice.
If you want to try something a little off-beat go to the Thames Barrier just east of London. This is a series of gates across the Thames designed to prevent tidal surges from flooding London. No crowds and some interesting, hands-on stuff to do. If you are relying on public transportation I have no clue how you'd get there as I went with some English friends in their car. Most of the rest of the items mentioned can be done on foot, or by bus or the Tube/London Underground (subway).

Speaking of the Tube, get a map of it before you go. It is definitely the cheapest (well, next to walking) and fastest way to get around. You may want to take a taxi ride just once, though. While somewhat expensive, the legendary knowledge of the cabbies is worth a ride.

With only about 3 days in each city (2 weeks, 4 cities, travel time between figured in), you cannot do justice to any of them. But hopefully this'll get you started. You just have to figure on going back to see what you missed the first time!

Kevin

[BCB]

The subway was definitely the best means of travel in London, Paris and Rome. My suggestion would be to not try to cram too much into a short time span. There is so much to see.

[pureconcepts]

Thanks for the display of the 'Beefeater'. I will take his tour ;). I appreciate everyones input. I understand that for only 2 weeks my trip may be a little crammed by visiting 4 cities/countries. I suppose I should have gotten this advice earlier. Hopefully it will end up okay and not rushed. I do plan to go back, this was more of a graduation trip, so it had to be somewhat squeezed in.

[woodchuck]

In Paris, a boat ride on the Seine is actually pretty good. There's a tour operator with smaller open boats (Vedettes de Paris, maybe? Green trim on the boats), that are more fun that the monster boats of other lines.

The Louvre is huge and can be crazy busy but is also tremendous. If you go there is a smaller entrance north of The Carrousel Arc de Triomphe in the Tuilleries that often helps avoid the worst of the lines.

Picasso and Rodin museums are quite good. Musee d'Orsay and the Marmottan have boatloads of impressionist art if you like that sort of thing.

A walk that I like for seeing a lot of the central stuff is to start at Etoile/Arc de Triomphe, then down the Champs Elysees straight through the Tuilleries to the Cour Caree at the Louvre, turn right and go out across the Seine on Pont des Arts, then left again up to Ile de la Cite where you'll find Notre Dame and St. Chapelle.

Frog and Princess (http://www.frogpubs.com/pub.php?lang=en&pub=frogprincess&topic=events) is essential for good beer. (It's mostly English expats in there, but, I mean, beer.)

London:
I'll third the recommendation to go on the London Eye. Sadly, they've retired all the Roadmaster busses, so I don't think there are any more double-deckers as part of the transit system, but I'm guessing there'll be private tour companies running them.

When you're in Berlin try to get to the old Eastern part of the city. Alexsanderplatz(sp) and other stuff on that end of the city. The transformation is incredible, and there are still some examples of how run down it was before unification.

It's kind of too bad you're spending 2 weeks in so many places, you're spread pretty thin. But you'll have a terrific time anyway. On your next trip I'd recommend getting out of those major cities; in some ways the countryside is much more interesting.

[ANHS]

Woodchuk...how can you not mention the Eiffel Tower in your Paris places to see? ;)

My girlfriend and I are leaving for Paris in May and we'll be spending 2 weeks there. Will be my first time out of North America and the third time to Paris for my gf. We are already planning everything for our trip: places to see, budget, restaurants, etc... Can't wait...87 more days before we leave...can't wait!!!

[IanS]

London:
I'll third the recommendation to go on the London Eye. Sadly, they've retired all the Roadmaster busses, so I don't think there are any more double-deckers as part of the transit system, but I'm guessing there'll be private tour companies running them.
There are some still running as tourist buses, but they'll be hard to spot. Many of the tourist buses are double-decker, open air (freezing cold at this time of year, even if it's not snowing or raining).

There's a 'DUKWS' doing the tourist run, http://www.affiliate.viator.com/brochure/product_show.jsp?ID=1010&PRODUCTID=1016&CODE=3268FROG&AUID=1911 a cross between a boat and a bus (based on a vehicle used in the D-day landings!). There's also vintage (1930's ish) buses around doing the tourist runs. You may not see them at this time of year though.

[woodchuck]

how can you not mention the Eiffel Tower in your Paris places to see? ;)

You can't not see it; It's visible from everywhere! ;-) Everyone's "essential" is different, of course... When it comes to something like Sacre-Cour, I'm on the fence; it's great, but also very crowded. For me only, I think I find some of the second level tourist stuff and non-tourist stuff more interesting in a way.

Any street market, especially the organics market (Friday maybe?) and the antique flea market; I think this is on Sunday. Bistro du Dome is a superb and affordable restaurant choice. Many of the Seine bridges are cool; Pont Grenelle and Ile des Cygnes sort of odd-cool and has the model for the Statue of Liberty.

And Tour Eiffel is pretty cool too. ;-)

[primrose80]

Thank you for all the responses thus far. I really apprecaite it, keep them coming ;)

Just as additional FYI, I am travelling alone as a single male, although I will be visiting a friend in france.

Also, what is the 'Beefeater' tour for the Tower, or is this something I will understand while in London?

Hi there,
saw this post quite late. Anywya, we have a travel guide to Rome on
www.fonisol.com/rome/romeindex.htm
You might find this useful :)
Enjoy ur trip
Primrose

[Andromeda]

oh nice.. thanks for that link Primrose

[pureconcepts]

Thank you everyone for your replies!! I have taken something from every post and incorporated it into my trip. As I leave tomorrow, no more tips are needed. At least for me anyways ;)

Thanks again!

[IanS]

Good luck and enjoy. Take loads of photos and post them on a web-site (yours of course) to let us see what you got up-to (no incrimating ones need be shown :D)