Travelling to Europe alone

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Achtung11

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Aug 2, 2010
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Hey everyone. I'm a guy in my mid-twenties and I need to revamp my life because I've gone through some rough things (was in an emotionally abusive relationship with my gf, got betrayed by multiple "best friends"). I'm thinking of going on a 1-2 week vacation to Europe by myself. I want to get around, see new unusual things, and especially meet a lot of new people and hopefully make some international friends.

Does anybody here have recommendations on how I can go about doing all of this? Where in Europe are the best places to go alone? I don't want to do a huge tour of many countries, since I would only have about 10 days - I'd rather explore quality of places than a quantity.

But yea, for going about it alone, meeting people, what would be a good idea?

Thanks everyone. :)
 
I would love to do this. I've actually been thinking about it, but I don't have the money.
 
If you like to save a little, I could recomment couch surfing to you. Of course only if it's your thing. A friend of mine offers his spare room here in Berlin to couch surfers. It's very well sought after, but also a great opportunity to have a cheap stay and, depending on your host, some local who can show you parts of the town you are going to that are not that easily accessible for tourists. It's also a big community with lots of activities in some cities, but no strings attached. Neither do you have to offer your appartment in return, nor are you supposed to do things with your host. You can limit the host you are looking for very well on the website for couch surfers, so you get pretty much the kind of housing you are looking for. And it's free. You may give tips, but there is no rent or something like that.
CouchSurfing - Participate in Creating a Better World, One Couch At A Time That should be the website, but I could ask him to make sure.

The obvious place for a U2 fan is, of course, Dublin, and it's a very nice place, or so I've been told. :wink: Attached to a beautiful country as well.

As a Berliner I could also recommend you my town. Most of the people that've visited told me it has been the greatest city they've been to so far. It was my city of choice, so I can understand, but still it surprises me each time again. I just have to think of cities such as Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris, London, New York, San Francisco, Sydney (though I prefer Melbourne), Tokyo, Rome... and what great places these are, and am fascinated that such a tremendous number of people come to Berlin and say, quite honestly, that it's been the best city of all they've been to.
It's a very international place and it's easy to find your way around. Even on your own and without a knowledge of the language. Further, Berlin is a relatively cheap city, so you can do lots of things and still pay less than in most other major cities.
 
Thumbs up for CouchSurfing. We stayed with a really friendly couple just outside of Salzburg, Austria, this summer (just overnight since we were passing through on our way to Northern Italy). They took us on a bike ride into town on the world's most beautiful bike path, showed us the sights and cooked an awesome vegetarian Indian meal.

I learned much more about Salzburg this way than if we'd stayed at a hotel.

If you're looking to make friends, CouchSurfing is a great way to go.
 
I have to second Berlin - it's fantastic. I was there a couple of weeks ago and I was surprised by how much I loved it. Really fabulous food (not just the German stuff either), relatively cheap compared to other Euro capitals, good bars/pubs, very modern, etc. I'd have no hesitation going back there. And everybody speaks English so if that sort of thing worries you, Berlin is no problem at all.

Barcelona is probably another good city for meeting people, as it's teeming with tourists, though usually drunken English ones in my experience.

If you want to meet a lot of new people then hostelling is probably a good way to go. It also depends on the time of year that you're going. If it's something that's already crossing into winter weather you may prefer the Mediterranean countries (or at least, I would).
 
As a U2 fan, I'd agree with the others Dublin is a must not to mention it's visitor friendly and fun. Some of the larger metro cities would be fun if that's your thing, like Lisbon, Amsterdam, Barcelona, London and I agree even Berlin. Hostels are aplenty throughout Europe and public transportation not only excellent and a bargain but fairly easy to navigate once you get the hang of it. Lots of people traveling especially on the trains:up: Getting in and amongst the locals is a great way to learn about inexpensive fun places to see and things to do. What an excellent trip to take now from what you describe you've been going through. Always be careful traveling alone, always be aware of your surroundings and DO NOT LOSE YOUR PASSPORT! (scan a color copy of it and email it to an accessible email address to yourself so you'd have access to it if necessary, or carry a color photocopy of it). Have a great adventure, take lots of photos and report back after your trip! Good luck! (I'm jealous)
 
I've done several of these trips (and a couple alone in my 20s). Many cities are dead during the week, so I'd stick to cities with universities or large cities where something is going on all the time. Keep jetlag in mind too - it may be difficult to stay with someone if your schedules are hours apart (e.g. midnight there is 6pm here). London, Paris, Berlin are good choices, as others have said. Look into rail or cheap flight options to get around.
 
Achtung11 said:
Cool, what did you do there? Did you meet anyone from U2?
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No, I was there the week the Vertigo tour started in the US, which was fine with me. I did some U2 sites and also some churches: St Patrick's, Christchurch (for Easter Sunday services) and St Michan's. I also took a tour up to the Giant's Causeway. I loved it; it's one of my favorite vacations ever. :)
 
Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, Prague, Vienna are all fantastic places to explore over a few days. I had a fantastic week in Paris by myself last year.

Make sure you always have cash on you when you travel - sometimes ATMs at the airport can't be relied on!
 
Crickey this is difficult.

Eastern Europe is a great place to visit...the old world becoming a new world. It's quite cheap once you are there (hotels and metro travel) but getting there is more expensive. If you're looking to do any of the obvious places (London, Paris, Milan) then getting a flight into Eastern Europe could easily set you back more than your flight from the US.

I'd probably recommend the geographically compact combination of Paris, London, Amsterdam, Berlin. You could probably squeeze in Austria or Switzerland if you took an overnight sleeper. Mainland European trains are reasonably priced and very reliable. There's also a multitude of low-cost airlines (see skyscanner.net). Barcelona is a compact city, great for tourists.

Stick to hostels if you want to meet people.
 
I third the Berlin recommendation. Vienna & Lisbon are probably my other two favourite cities in Europe that I have visited.

Would you consider extending the trip to 3/4 weeks, if so, I would suggest inter-railing.

I wouldn't have any worries about travelling alone, plenty of people do it.
 
I've traveled alone through Europe a few times and never had any issues.

I don't have a lot of advice beyond what's been posted already, so this post is largely useless.

I will just say that of all the place I've visited, Vienna was the one that I liked best. Just a wonderful experience.
 
purpleoscar said:
Speaking of lonely planet there's a Lonely Plant Thorn Tree site where you can ask questions and read about other people's experiences.

Thorn Tree travel forum - Lonely Planet

You can select individual countries to read more specifically.
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Ooh, cheers for that.

(I read that as "Thom's Tree travel forum" :lol:)

SeattleVertigo said:
I think I'll get to visit Vienna at around New Year's -- I'm very excited.

I love Budapest -- the Paris of the East, they say.
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I thought that was Bucharest in Romania?
 
Vincent Vega said:
As a Berliner I could also recommend you my town. Most of the people that've visited told me it has been the greatest city they've been to so far.
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That's because they haven't been to Vienna :tsk:

Seriously, I second that. I love Berlin so much, I go there a lot and I always discover new things. I have seen many European cities, but Berlin certainly stands out. My other favourite European cities are Prague and Barcelona.

Vienna is my hometown, but I still love to see it with a visitor's eyes.

Berlin is also cheap compared to other cities, it's definitely cheaper than Vienna.

It's hard to make a decision here. I love arts, culture, architecture, it's the main reason for me to travel, so many European cities and countries are very attractive in my eyes.

Have a great time :up:
 
When you're in Europe, what do you want to do? See museums? A culinary trip (if so, what kind of food do you like)? Hiking? Going to beaches? Nightlife?

There's a lot to do, so giving people a sense of your interests and what you would like to do would help better narrow down the options. In short, though, you cannot really go wrong with your decision. Every city, town, and village is unique.
 
Flaming_C said:
When you're in Europe, what do you want to do? See museums? A culinary trip (if so, what kind of food do you like)? Hiking? Going to beaches? Nightlife?

There's a lot to do, so giving people a sense of your interests and what you would like to do would help better narrow down the options. In short, though, you cannot really go wrong with your decision. Every city, town, and village is unique.
Click to expand...

Good question. I'm not too interested in museums/historical things as I have seen a lot of that before. I'd rather do something where I can meet a lot of people - so Nightlife definitely. I really like this Couch Surfing idea that others mentioned in this thread and I even created an account with the site.

You're right, I probably really can't go wrong with anything. But in order to help narrow down, I found out that I will be taking this trip in January, right after new years, for 2 weeks.
 
Hey everyone, thanks for all your responses. I'm surprised and happy to see that so many of you are suggesting the same cities - Berlin and Vienna, because it really helps me narrow down my choices. But what is it about them that is so much better then the other big cities, such as Paris and London?

As I wrote in my previous post, I'll be making the trip in early January for two weeks. I think Berlin may not be enough for two whole weeks, so I'm thinking of going to one or two other nearby cities as well. Would Munich be a good addition for my goals on the trip? Does anyone have any other suggestions to add along with Berlin?

Thanks especially to Vincent Vega for suggesting Couch Surfing, it seems awesome, I'm definitely going to be doing that.
 
Achtung11 said:
Hey everyone, thanks for all your responses. I'm surprised and happy to see that so many of you are suggesting the same cities - Berlin and Vienna, because it really helps me narrow down my choices. But what is it about them that is so much better then the other big cities, such as Paris and London?

As I wrote in my previous post, I'll be making the trip in early January for two weeks. I think Berlin may not be enough for two whole weeks, so I'm thinking of going to one or two other nearby cities as well. Would Munich be a good addition for my goals on the trip? Does anyone have any other suggestions to add along with Berlin?

Thanks especially to Vincent Vega for suggesting Couch Surfing, it seems awesome, I'm definitely going to be doing that.
Click to expand...

No worries, you are very welcome. :)

Berlin in January usually is pretty cold, especially with the wind from the east. But I think we've seen the worst this January, so the next one should be milder. :wink:
Since you mentioned you wanted to do nightlife rather than historical stuff I'd say Munich isn't really the place to go. It's also a big city and certainly has its places for nightlife, but it's way different than Berlin would be. People from Munich usually say it's more of a town than a big city.
If you book early, you might be able to get a cheap flight to a place abroad, maybe more south again. E.g. Barcelona. Nightlife there is also very famous, and you could regain some body heat. ;) With the added bonus of seeing another country for some time.
If you look for something closer, I'd prefer Hamburg over Munich.

I don't have the answer to the question why people seem more amazed with Berlin or Vienna than they are with London, Paris or other places. Maybe it's a thing of expectations and people just have heard so much about Paris or London that it will always be a letdown when being there for real (similar to this Paris-disease some Japanese tourists apparently suffer from). Or those cities have lost some of their authenticity. But I haven't been to either one, so I can't say.
 
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