Sunday, July 24, 2005

Thinking of France

Watching the last stage of the Tour de France had a delicious bakery croissant for breakfast as a treat for having to go to work first thing this morning.

I recently got a roommate, which seems to be working out really well. The plan is to take advantage of the help paying for rent and save up for some more travel, maybe a trip to France to start (I’d love to go to Spain, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand, and back to Washington state/British Columbia as well, but I think France has to be my first stop.) Target dates are April, May, or September next year.

So … any thoughts/recommendations from folks out there on when to go, places to see, guidebooks to use, etc.? I’ve never been to Europe, so all advice is welcome!

:)

C.

2 comments:

Bernadette said...

Hi Eclecta,
I'm Linda's cousin and followed her link to your blog. Europe is a fabulous place. I've been to Portugal (I am portuguese), Spain, Holland, Germany and Belgium (The last three countries in 1994 in 10 days..)
I would suggest you read as much as possible (internet sites such as Lonely Planet, Fodors, etc.). Another suggestion may be a bus tour of a couple of countries. It will give you a 'taste' of Europe. I wouldn't recommend too many countries if you only have a couple of weeks. You would want to spend a couple of days in each place if possible. Just some suggestions. We stayed a couple of days in Amsterdam and then rented a car for a week and drove around Holland, Germany & Belgium. We stayed in B&B and hotels. I found out I really really love Antwerp Belgium and would have loved to stay longer. It was very European.

All the best,
Bernadette (Ben-Linda's cousin)

glor said...

Hi there,
I'm just getting around to going through your blogs and I love your observations and stories.
Anyway, your original post hit on one of my passions - travelling!

I was planning this big trip to Europe and then I changed my plans and went to teach in Japan instead. But I had researched a lot into the best Europe guide book and I decided on Let's Go Europe. Although I would trust my life on anything Lonely Planet says and I've done all of my travelling with Lonely Planet (guidebooks and website), I felt the Let's Go book was better for all of Europe. But if you plan on doing regional travelling, then it might be worthwhile to explore what options LP offers. Personally, with my experience using LP, I can gauage the standards used with the guidebook series (i.e. when they say something is worth see, I trust their word, if they say a hike is difficult, I know I'm in for some work). So if you have had good experiences with a certain guidebook series, where you liked their format, language, mix of listings, descriptions and tips, then go with that one. Depending on your styld of travel but if you're going the independent budget route, then overally, I'd suggest 1) LP 2) Rough Guide 3) Let's Go.