r/traveleurope

Hello, I'm helping clients plan their first trip to Europe. They have a $25K budget for 10-12 days and are looking to go around late December '26 or early March '27. Budget must include business class (or higher) round-trip. I'm looking at river cruises (Paris to Normandy and others); private and semi-private tours, and all other options, but would love ideas. Especially since dates are soon/ a little outside-season for Northern Europe river cruising (most Christmas market river cruises I've looked at are sold out). They may or may not also bring their teenage son. They are open to anything (including other regions of Europe), but he is a war history buff, and she appreciates beautiful things. This trip should be more relaxing than adventurous, but I want them to be able to experience as much as possible since it's their first time. Tia for your insights!

• How rough is late August heat in Italy and France compared to say June?
• Packing tips for someone used to Kerala humidity but not this kind of dry European heat?
• Is AC actually reliable in hotels/coaches? Would love to hear from anyone who's done this recently

• How rough is late August heat in Italy and France compared to, say, June?
• Packing tips for someone used to Kerala humidity but not this kind of dry European heat?
• Is AC actually reliable in hotels/coaches?

Would love to hear from anyone who's done this recently.

We are 4 guy friends (24 M*4) and have a hotel in the Prague 6 area. So any locals or previous tourists that have some good places we should check out and spend our time.

We are down for both chill stuff and more party related stuff. Or anything social to meet people or just spend our time well together?

Hallo! I have an upcoming trip to Germany, and I was wondering whether it would be better to spend...

1 day in Regensburg and 1.5 days in Dresden

OR

2.5 days in Dresden

As it stands, I'm doing 4 days in Berlin, 4 in Munich, then I have another 2.5 to play with. I figured I should go somewhere from Munich that's back in the direction of Berlin to cut down on travel time, hence Regensburg and Dresden.

Thank you!!

Hello! I will be traveling in Europe with my husband in September. Currently debating on whether to spend an extra half day in Munich or in Paris. For context we will probably have about 1.5 days total to enjoy Munich and 2 days total in Paris. We have a travel day in between the two cities. Should we leave early to enjoy an extra afternoon in Paris or leave later to enjoy an extra half day in Munich? We plan to spend one day at Oktoberfest in Munich and I did not include that in the timeframe above.

TlDr; We visited Riga for five days and had a great time.

Hello everyone,

A few days ago, I reached out to this and an other related sub asking some questions about Riga and its surroundings (Jūrmala). As we have completed our five days trip, I would like to share our itinerary and experience hoping that it might be useful to others.

We arrived Sunday at around 1 AM at the Riga airport. As our flight had a delay and we were quite tired, we decided to take a Bolt to our hotel which was located close to Elisabeth Street *(Elizabetes Isla)*. I had downloaded the app beforehand thanks to the many recommendations, and the process was very easy.

On Sunday noon at around 12:30 PM we attended the English language church service at St. John's church *(St.-Johannis-Kirche Rīgas Svētā Jāņa baznīca)* as we are Christians. Despite the great service itself, some locals attended as well who gave as insightful tips for places to go in Riga and Latvia. We continued our tour at the old town from the Bremer Stadtmusikanten (right next to the church), going to the Blacksmith's House, the Town Hall, the Swedish Port, Riga dome and Market Square which can be all reached by a walking distance. Locals recommended the Ala Pagrabs restaurant to us where we went for dinner and which turned out to be quite nice.

Monday, we stayed at the beach in Majori, Jūrmala. We went there by train from Riga's central station and bought the tickets with the Mobily app. The trains are really fine and the beach is great with a lot of space and good facilities. There are showers and restrooms for free and a good variety of cafés and restaurants. It is recommended to walk around in Majori as well, because they have a lot of good wooden houses–a very interesting architecture!

Tuesday, we went to the Latvian Ethnographical Open Air Museum *(Latvijas Etnogrāfiskais brīvdabas muzejs)* which is located outside of Riga at the Jugla lake. We planned half a day there and enjoyed it a lot. There are a lot of old buildings brought together from different parts of Latvia. You can learn a lot about Latvian culture and history and enjoy the beautiful nature. The museum staff was very friendly, we were able to have some personal conversations and learn some additional information. In the afternoon, we explored the Riga's new town with the Art Nouveau buildings and especially visited in the Saint Gertrude church. In the evening, we went to the observatory of the Latvian Academy of Science which offered a good view over the city.

Wednesday was our museum's day: We visited the “Corner House” (KGB museum) in the morning and the Latvian Art Museum in the afternoon. Both museums are very different by nature, but very impressive and recommended as they both give valuable insights into Latvian history. We also went to the Latvian National Library because we read about an other observatory platform there as well, but unfortunately it had been closed despite different information on the webpage. The building in itself is impressive and offers interesting exhibitions, so it was still worth visiting.

At our last day, Thursday, we went inside the market halls behind the train station (they have a lot of food and other things there) and afterwards went along the Daugava river to the occupation museum which we also visited. With that, our tour to Riga ended. I enjoyed the trip a lot, five days haven't been too long at all. Riga is very impressive and it is especially beautiful when you walk just some of its streets and explore the architecture and geography.

Hi! I'm a solo female traveler from Boston (BOS) treating myself to a birthday trip through Eastern Europe. Budget is a real priority right now, but safety and comfort matter too — private rooms only, no dorms.

I tried solo travel once and hated it. I need a small group tour with an English-speaking guide where I'll actually connect with people, not just sightsee alone in a crowd.

I want to go beyond the Budapest/Vienna/Prague/Berlin circuit — Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, and the Balkans are all calling my name. The more countries the better.

\*\*Looking for:\*\*
\- Small group tour, English guide, solo-friendly (no or low single supplement)
\- Budget-friendly, reliable, high-rated
\- Any European-based operators cheaper than G Adventures/Intrepid?

\*\*Questions:\*\*

1. Which tour gave you the best social experience — where you actually made friends?
2. Hidden gem cities worth adding?
3. Solo women — which cities felt safest and most welcoming?
4. Best cheap routing from Boston into this region?

Message me here if you want to swap notes. Thanks! 🙏

Hey everyone,

I'm planning a solo trip for this July and wanted to get some feedback on my route. I live near Munich, so the trip will start there, and it will end in Copenhagen, from where I will head back home. I have a budget of around €4000 and want to travel for about 26 to 30 days using only trains, buses, and ferries. I will be staying in hostels along the way.

I'm a bit more on the introverted side, so I’m looking for a mix of cool architecture, history, unique local vibes, and places where I can just wander around with my headphones on. I am definitely not into big party scenes or packed holiday resorts, and I prefer chill hostels over party ones.

The route goes from Munich to Prague, then Krakow, Warsaw, Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki, Stockholm, and finally Copenhagen before I make my way back home.

I traveled to Budapest last year and noticed prices went up quite a bit, so I know Eastern Europe isn't dirt cheap anymore, and I know Scandinavia will be pricey too.

I would love to know how realistic this timeline feels with an average of about two and a half days per city. Have any of you visited these specific cities recently and could share your experience? I would also highly appreciate if you could recommend a good, safe, and laid-back hostel in any of these locations that fits a relaxed solo-traveler vibe. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

Hello,

I'm going to be in Frankfurt in August and want to use that as a base to add one additional European city for 2-3 days. I'm a mid-range traveler (decent hotels, sit-down meals) and enjoy a mix of everything: ​history, architecture, food, and some nightlife.

I've already been to Italy, France, Spain, Greece, and Turkey, so ideally something that feels a bit different from those.

Currently debating between:

• Amsterdam
• Vienna
• Prague
• Copenhagen
• Reykjavik
• Dublin
• Edinburgh
• Staying in Germany (Heidelberg / Rhine region)
• Open to other suggestions!

What would you pick and why? Any tips on what to prioritize with only 2-3 days would also be hugely appreciated. Thank you!

i wanna get from vienna to switzerland on July 8 by night train, and then switzerland to venice on july 9 day train. is this possible? i just want to see the views of switzerland from my train window 🙂

so basically i wanna get from:

vienna to switzerland

& then

switzerland to venice

where would i book each of these trips? would appreciate any help!

We had planned a family vacation to my husband’s family’s vacation home in Greece this summer for 1 month. Bought our flights from Vancouver back in February. My husband just told me he can’t come because of a work opportunity that came up that he doesn’t want to miss. My options are to disappoint the kids and cancel the trip or to go with them on my own. I want to make it work but his family home is not accessible to me because you need to be a confident driver (very steep, narrow, windy mountain roads with no shoulder & no barrier to stop you from going off a cliff.) so we will just use our flights to Athens and then go off on a tour somewhere where I don’t need to drive. (I’m a nervous driver in our Canadian small town with wide roads). Where should I go & what should I do??? I’d like to keep it budget friendly. Kids are 13 and 15. Open to anything really as long as it’s fun & doesn’t require Driving. Dates are July 20- August 20.

Hi!

I have 2 weeks free in between conferences in London (7/26-8/9) and was curious what the recommendations and feedback is regarding how to spend it…

I’ll be by myself the entire time and am beginning to talk myself out of the heat/crowds I’ll face in Italy and south of France during this stretch.

Thanks, in advance.

My partner and I will be the Vindobono from Vienna to Prague and we thought the name or train number would be on the ticket but it wasn't, is that normal?

Also how early should we arrive at the station to find the platform it leaves from, will that information be on a departure board like "Vindobono Vienna to Prague 9:10am departs from platform X"?

hello everyone!
me and my friend (both early 20s) are planning to interrail in ireland in the beginning of september. we are planning to start off or end our trip in dublin and going to galway as well, but except for that we are a bit torn.
since the trip won’t be very long (probably around 10 days, maybe a bit more?) and we don’t want to spend too much time traveling, we want to focus on either the southern or the northern part of the island.
if we choose the southern part we’ve thought about visiting dingle, cork and killarney for example. in the northern part of the republic or ireland, plus some parts of northern ireland we’ve looked at visiting sligo, belfast, derry, seeing the giants causeway etc. we are also looking at maybe visiting county mayo.

we want to see the beautiful nature and scenery of ireland, possibly visit some beautiful forest, see some cliffs and see some historical sights, like old ruins of some sort.

what would you guys recommend? do you think the more southern route or the more northern route would be better? and what are the pros and cons of each route?
thanks for the help!

TLDR: looking for tips for interrailing ireland, and choosing between the southern part of the republic of ireland OR the northern part of the republic or ireland and northern ireland:)

EDIT: neither of us have a drivers license, so driving isn’t an option:/ but we are very open to buses and other forms of public transport:)

For our next trip to Europe I’m having a hard time deciding between Spain or Germany.

If we do Spain it’ll probably be Madrid, Seville, Granada OR Barcelona and Valencia. This will likely be 2 separate Spain trips.

If we do Germany we will spend a lot of time in Bavaria, so Munich with a couple Bavarian day trips and then might go into Salzburg Austria or Nuremberg. Haven’t decided.

I know these are very different experiences and the cultures are different. I cannot wait to experience both Spain and Germany (and Austria for that matter). I’m leaning toward Germany but I don’t know.

What would you all do? And have you been to Spain and Germany before?

I had this weird moment a few weeks ago where I was sitting in a cafe with my notes open, two apps, and a phone number I was afraid to lose, just trying to make sure one afternoon outing didn't collapse.

That was the point I realized I was tired not of travel just of coordinating everybody else's version of the trip.

The annoying part is that each vendor acts like their piece is obvious, but none of them seem to know the full chain. So you end up being the person who notices the missing pickup time, the wrong meeting spot, the unanswered message, the weird little detail that turns into a headache later.

I used to think this was just part of planning. Now it mostly feels like unpaid admin work.

Maybe that's normal now and I'm just late to the complaint, but I can't be the only one who's over it.

Rough itinerary

2 days London
3 days Amsterdam
3 days Munich
3 days Salzburg/austria

Is this going to be too much? We were planning on taking a short flight from Amsterdam to Munich. I’m just afraid we’re trying to cram in too much into 11 days. London is a direct flight from us so we figured that make it simple and then take the 4 hr train to Amsterdam. Is there anything you would change?

Bonjour!

My SO is turning 30 in February 2027 and I want to surprise him with a mini trip. We're from Belgium and every year we go to Little Tokyo in Brussels, but that's pretty small. He likes to buy manga and cool books for his collection. That's why I was thinking of booking a weekend away to Paris and visit Little Tokyo there as it is much larger. Having a quick look at the map, there are lots of places to go for food but I want to fill the trip with more than that. So I'm looking for these kinda spots:

- manga stores or book stores where he can explore some new things (eg: we were on holidays in South France and found a bookshop that sold an interesting art style comic books Yojimbot and he was very much in love with it)

- japanese streetwear he's always been fan of baggy clothes (he always buys XXL shirts because of the baggy feel) and I think he'd love to add this style to his wardrobe, especially baggy pants! He's been searching for one since forever but can't find a good fit. He's quite tall though, about 187 cm.

- a hotel to stay that's affordable and comfortable enough to just spend a few nights. Our kiddies will be 1 and 3,5 by that time, so a family friendly hotel would be lovely.

Since his bday is in February and it's probably cold, is it more interesting to plan the trip say in April/May?

Some of his other interests: lego, metal or mechanical puzzles, he's fan of Wardruna or Hans Zimmer, he enjoys music and plays the piano, not so fond of busy places but will adapt.

My train of thought is as followed: Friday evening we arrive and grab something to eat and enjoy the evening, Saturday we roam around and eat all day in Little Tokyo, and Sunday we grab some breakfast and head home. Will Saturday be enough to do stuff in Little Tokyo or should I fill it with

some sightseeing as well? Since we're travelling with two kids I asked my SIL and her partner to tag along so we wouldn't be handling kids all day so he'll have the chance to enjoy his bday!

Any information is welcome, even if it's something totally different than Little Tokyo, thank you!