So we’re taking about 2-3 weeks in Europe this summer. We’ll start in Barcelona, spend a few days there. Then we’ll drive along the coast, through France – probably spend a couple days in Nice, a day in Monaco, then to Genoa.
We’ll spend a couple of days there, then the remainder in Venice.
Anyone have any ideas or suggestions for what to do along the way?
I hate you.
That sounds like a miserable trip, I feel sorry for you. Bastard. ;)
I haven’t looked at the schedule, but if Formula 1 is in Monaco while you are in Europe you should check it out.
Prioritize.
I could easily spend three weeks in any of the countries/areas you pass through, so don’t be like a cruiseship full of Americans and spend one day in each major place along the way - pick a few and stay a bit longer.
Also bear in mind that along the coast is where some of the wealthiest people in the world likes to hang out. Especially Cannes, Nice and Monaco. So with the dollar as low as it is, expect to spend unless you choose to race through there.
That’s very general advice. I’d love to be more specific, but that depends on what you’re looking for in your holiday. Nature, cities, local customs. Is it your first time in all the places/coutries? Etc.
A trip like that should be made in a rental Citroen 2CV, to get that laid back feeling. Or make that two, because there’s no way a family of 3+ with 3 weeks of luggage will fit into one.
Alternatively, rent Ferraris. Where the same space constraints apply.
The only advice I can give you is not to stop if someone from another car frantically points at your wheels and screams something. He wants you to stop so he and his buddy can rob your ass.
P.S.: The second piece of advice I can give is: don’t do it. Driving through Spain and France is incredibly dull. They’re two countries of emptyness. Spain moreso, it’s like this: you drive for half an hour without seeign any kind of house or village, then you pass a “town” made of two “clubs” (politespeak for whorehouse) and two old and trashy houses, and then you’re off for another half hour without seeing anything. BTW, mainland Spain’s highways are private-owned and VERY expensive. France is a bit better, but not by much. I’ve done the tour twice, from Cádiz to central-Germany; France’s coast roads might be much more interesting.
He won’t be driving in the mainland but along the very scenic coastall the way. I haven’t driven the route, but seen many parts of it and it’s definitely worth the trip.
And while he of course should be carefull who he stops for, painting those countried as some sort of dangerous boring wasteland with muggers and prostitutes littering the roads only waiting to grap his money is incredibly stupid.
Par for the course for you, though.
painting those countried as some sort of dangerous boring wasteland with muggers and prostitutes littering the roads only waiting to grap his money is incredibly stupid.
Par for the course for you, though.
Hello? There must be two Spains. I’ve driven along the Spanish east coast, from Cadiz, through central France to central Germany. Spanish roads on the east coast ARE empty and boring. What I’ve seen of France, as I said, is a bit better, and I have said that I haven’t driven along France’s coast. You should look at wikipedia or a map and see what Spain’s population density is. And I’m not saying that he’ll get mugged everywhere in Spain, but it is a known FACT that the “stop! your tire is flat!”-thing is a robbing scheme that is used VERY much, almost exclusively in the area between Barcelona and France, which is exactly where he is going.
So, before you resort to name-calling you should maybe get your facts straight, wiseguy.
This just in: Some of the most beautiful, scenic and popular tourist destinations in Europe are actually ugly, Mad Max-esque wastelands. You all just failed to notice. Oh, wait.
I have never done Southern France or Venice, but make sure you spend some time in Barcelona before you set off. It’s an absolutely amazing place. If you like architecture at all, and probably even if you don’t, you owe it to yourself to check out Gaudi’s work across the city - particularly in Park Guell. Find a place that serves decent paella too. Man paella is good.
This just in: Some of the most beautiful, scenic and popular tourist destinations in Europe are actually ugly, Mad Max-esque wastelands.
I take it you’ve never been to Extremadura.
This is southern Spain:
Wow, pretty! Look at the fascinating flora and fauna! It’s greener than Thailand, actually!
Man paella is good.
It’s also pretty easy to prepare. I like paella mixta a lot.
Outside Valencia:
You’re really getting me wrong if you claim I said ALL Spain looks like that; Spain’s north, especially Asturias, is VERY beautiful and green. I’ve driven from Madrid to Vigo, and there’s some very impressive scenery to be seen there, so much in fact that I thought it looked a lot like some beautiful parts of New Zealand you see in the Lord of the Ring films, like some huge, beautiful lakes, and hills covered with beatiful white rocks:
Well, Southern Spain is dry, yeah. My girlfriend’s family have a villa near Murcia, so I’ve been there a few times. Just because somewhere isn’t green and lush doesn’t mean it’s without aesthetic merit, mate. Ask Sergio Leone or Paul Thomas Anderson. Or, if you want to get well pretentious, even ask your compatriots Herr Kant and Herr Schopenhauer about the Sublime versus the Beautiful.
I feel so much better in green places. I hate dry, arid places like this (Granada):
Landscapes like that have a really depressing effect on me. That’s why I loved every minute of northern Spain, but hated the South.
Stayed in Northern Spain on the French Border last year. Drove from there to Barcelona and while bits of it are as Format describes (apart from the robbing and the whorehouses) Northern Spain into France is stunning.
Barcelona is fabulous, you could easily waste a week there. If you’re only planning to spend a couple of days, get the tourist bus pass. A bit cheesy but it will take on you a big loop of all the major landmarks and you can just get on and off as you want for a couple of days. If a restaurant is quiet in the evenings, go somewhere else, we had some crappy, expensive food by picking somewhere quiet to go eat having given up trying to get a table/wait somewhere busier.
I have never done Southern France or Venice, but make sure you spend some time in Barcelona before you set off. It’s an absolutely amazing place. If you like architecture at all, and probably even if you don’t, you owe it to yourself to check out Gaudi’s work across the city - particularly in Park Guell.
The park, even packed to the rafters with tourists is superb, it’s a bit of a walk from the tourist bus stop, but well worth the effort to go visit. Apart from the park itself, you get a stunning view over Barcelona.
It’s been a few years since I was there, but a day in Monaco is enough, you don’t earn enough money to stay longer.
I’ll be going to the real Oktoberfest this year. hic
while bits of it are as Format describes (apart from the robbing and the whorehouses)
You really didn’t see the whorehouses? Maybe you just didn’t notice them, because many are only marked as such by a “Club”-sign or -writing on the wall. Maybe you mistook them as regular bars, or perhaps they’re just less frequent in northern Spain. IIRC, they were more frequent in the south and southwest, and I also saw some between Madrid and León.
DO NOT EVER COME TO TEXAS. You will HATE it.
I think you’ll find knocking shops are everywhere in any country, no matter where you are. Some are better disguised than others. I pass a place called “666 Sauna” with boarded out windows on my way to work every day. I somehow doubt the sinful implications are confined to the hot stones.
To be fair, you do tend to see ladies of questionable repute chilling out on roundabouts in Spain with some regularity. It’s not the sort of thing you really take much notice of though.
To be fair, you do tend to see ladies of questionable repute chilling out on roundabouts in Spain with some regularity. It’s not the sort of thing you really take much notice of though.
Boy, yes. On Tenerife, in the middle of Playa de las Américas, the island’s main tourist resort, there are two streets you can’t cross without having two dozen women throwing kisses at you and offering “fucky fucky!!”. I’d say probably 80% of them are African, the rest is equally split between incredibly hot latinas and local girls, plus a few trannies and MI(not)LF.
