# Where to go on Holidays in Europe?



## A.J (18 Mar 2009)

Hi All,

Myself and the hubby want to head away for about 10 days first two weeks in June to Europe and I'm looking for some inspiration! 

Last year we got married and did the honeymoon on the south of France and loved it - juan les pins, cannes, did a good bit of sites, monico etc and back through Paris for 5 nights.  It was fab!!
Obviously we won't be staying in as lavish places as we did on honeymoon but still want to stay in some nice places, boutique type hotels or even rent a nice villa or soemthing...

We aren't that into beach/package holidays, love site-seeing and exploring, we would love to maybe visit a few really pretty places have a bit of relaxing time and stay in some nice places.

So would love some feedback.
Thanks


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## coleen (18 Mar 2009)

I think Lake Garda would suit you.  You could go to Venice for 1 or 2 nights and then a night in Verona with 7 days in lake Garda and possibllly stay in 2 locations Sirmonie in the bottom of the lake and Riva or Malcisine at the top. These are wondeful towns with lots to do quaint restaurants walking cycling etc. We flew with Ryan Air to Treviso and got the bus to Venice about 45 mins I think and We spent 2 nights there. We got the train from Venice to Desenznao and got a taxi to Sirmonie. We spent 3 nights there then got the ferry to Malciisine It was a lovely trip up the lake stopping at all the towns. We really enjoyed the trip. There is also tour operaters who will put the package together for you.


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## spursfan1234 (18 Mar 2009)

where is monico??


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## Petal (18 Mar 2009)

Austria is fantastic in June. Lakes, mountains, beautiful cities, sunshine, brilliant food...


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## Mommah (18 Mar 2009)

Petal said:


> Austria is fantastic in June. Lakes, mountains, beautiful cities, sunshine, brilliant food...


 
Have to agree..we stayed in a town called St Gilgen on a lake a few years ago...it was fabulous.


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## A.J (18 Mar 2009)

Thanks for all the replies.

We have actually been to Italy on a several occasions, sorry should have mentioned that and we love the lakes, have also been to Venice. So looking for a change from Italy, gone skiing and tuscany also. 

Regarding Monico, we drove there and spent the day visiting the palace and the grand prix route.

Austria sounds nice, any more info?


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## lynsalot (18 Mar 2009)

spursfan1234 said:


> where is monico??


 lol
thats just taking the **** lol it's monaco


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## kingfo (18 Mar 2009)

We spend a good deal of time between Southern Germany and Austria at Lake Constance. For scenery and beautiful small towns this is a very hard place to better. The Austrian Alps in summer are a treat and you are not far from the Swiss Alps. From Lake Constance(aka Lake Bodensee) you can travel to 3 countries within a very short space ot time.The food is first rate and not too expensive, there are lots of small hotels and b&b,s and the locations of these come straight from picture postcards, they are just as you would imagine them to be. If you like activities everything is available, but if you just like walking or driving around you could have a very relaxed break in this area.


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## Petal (18 Mar 2009)

Well, there is Vienna (and Salzburg), full of beautiful buildings and lots of sightseeing options, grand museums, lots of musical history, spanish riding school, outside eating experiences, vinyards, surrounding forests... But it's a City. Salzburg is smaller, probably quite touristy with all the Mozart and Sound of Music stuff going on. Then there are lots of little towns/villages, surrounding mountains and lakes, boating, sailing, swimming, hiking, taking cablecars up onto mountain tops, going into icecaves, salt mines.... Countless options. It depends on whether you're more looking for the nature experience or the City vibe. Have a quick look at  or this


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## samanthajane (18 Mar 2009)

haha lynsalot nooooo.........it's just around the corner from timbuktoo!!!

Gonna sound like a bit of a duh here but i cant be bothered to google it first and find out. I had a great holiday in rhodes a few years back. Loads of things to do and see ( is rhodes even in europe??? i dont know but it's close enough i think......oh i should of paid more attention in geography class!!)


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## lynsalot (18 Mar 2009)

We found Vienna very expensive and not great 
salzburg is very quiet. italy is just beautiful truly gorgeous in my opinion. switzerland is gorgeous too although not in the EU but deinitely worth a trip. what about a med cruise? They're cheap enough and tons to do on board with plenty of day trips for sight seeing?


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## A.J (19 Mar 2009)

lynsalot you are gas!

Thanks for all the replies, some interesting ideas mentioned there and I'm going to check them out at some stage today!

Not sure if a cruise would be our thing to be honest.


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## Mommah (19 Mar 2009)

I'll give you a sort of run down on our St Gilgen experience.

Heres a site with some photos


We were 2 young couples...booked a very cheap bargain break through a tour operator (not usually our thing) included half board.
The dinners in the hotel were very poor. But the local restaurants were fab.
There was tons to do on the lake.
We hired these electric boat and wandered around the lake ....diving off and swimming around...we did wind surfing lessons with no wind and in german (which we don't speak)...we went water-skiing. We hired bikes and cycled around the lake on cycle paths and stopped at cute places for liquid refreshment.

We sun bathed on the wooden piers around the lake.


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## micamaca (19 Mar 2009)

I would suggest the Mosel Region of Germany. You could start in Trier, the oldest town in Germany and hire a car and visit other pretty towns such as Cochem, Bernkastel-Keus, Heidelberg, Freiburg is even within reach. Strasbourg is not far either and well worth a visit. Overnight in a few different places. Nature parks galore in the Eifel Region of Germany...which isn't far from Trier by car. Castles to visit...if you like hiking, you will love it here. 

Relaxing would be key. It might not be the most exciting place to visit, but if you like the outdoors and visiting sweet German towns and they are very sweet, this is the place. People are very friendly.


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## Bog Man (19 Mar 2009)

We stayed  in St Wolfgang in the Forsterhof Hotel for a week inJune 2008 and would recommend it to anyone that is into relaxing walks and sightseeing .The public transport is very good so you can visit nearby towns .The evening meal was an excellent Buffet and we never got bored with the food which was different every night.
[broken link removed]


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## Concert (19 Mar 2009)

Seville in South of Spain, beautiful catherdal, great flamenco shows and you could also take in Cordoba, Ronda and Huelva, even a trip to Granada, all beautiful places.


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## budapest (20 Mar 2009)

If you like the sound of Austria, but are keen to do a bit of exploring, stay in Vienna/lakes for a few days, then take either the hydrofoil or train (less than 3 hours) to Budapest and stay the other half of the holiday here.  Both stunning cities - Vienna is better for old world culture, while Budapest is much more fun (and extremely cheap at the minute due to the weak HUF).


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## Mommah (20 Mar 2009)

flahers2 said:


> Seville in South of Spain, beautiful catherdal, great flamenco shows and you could also take in Cordoba, Ronda and Huelva, even a trip to Granada, all beautiful places.


Totally agree, but the heat in that part of Spain in June could be blistering...we did that trip in March and it was FAB.



Bog Man said:


> We stayed in St Wolfgang in the Forsterhof Hotel for a week inJune 2008 and would recommend it to anyone that is into relaxing walks and sightseeing .


 
This is on the same lake and cycle track as St Gilgen...lovely spot...the town...dunno about hotel.


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## Yellow Belly (20 Mar 2009)

Have you thought about Quinta Do Lago in Portugal- very near Faro airport- stunning place, which is really beautiful.

If you like golf it is a mecca, but it also has an ecellent coastline, and is a good base for exploring the Algarve as a whole.

Have stayed a number of times in some of the beatiful villas most of which have large & well kept gardens. there is also the hotel option but this may be quite expensive.

As the whole estate in owned by Denis O'Brien there is often a large Irish influx but there is safety in numbers!! LOL- best of luck!


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## spursfan1234 (20 Mar 2009)

of course it is monaco . monico indeed !!!


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## A.J (20 Mar 2009)

of course it is monaco, sincere apologies for my typo 
LOL!
But thanks for all the interesting posts


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## roland (20 Mar 2009)

Yellow Belly said:


> Have you thought about Quinta Do Lago in Portugal- very near Faro airport- stunning place, which is really beautiful.
> 
> If you like golf it is a mecca, but it also has an ecellent coastline, and is a good base for exploring the Algarve as a whole.
> 
> ...


 
Jaysus, a large Irish influx, playing golf, probably all talking about property (or now the recession) and in a Denis O'Brien owned complex.  It's difficult to think of something worse.  Scary.  Actually no, getting there on Ryanair would probably complete the horror.


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## z103 (20 Mar 2009)

Check out 'train holidays'

We like to travel around Europe by train and stay in two or three different places.
One time we went from Ireland to Croatia on train and ferry. This is obviously more expensive than flying, but the journey is a major part of the holiday. We also stopped off in Austria, Munich and Italy.
You can fly into germany and get trains from €29. Go into Switzerland for €39. (You can get to italy with this ticket.) Look into getting sleeper carriage. Consider how much a night in a hotel will cost when looking into this.

Deutsche bahn do deals where you can travel to five or six cities. Try out really fast trains, when you only realise the speed when you get to the information panel at the end of the train.

Word of warning - it might not be entirely stress free holiday.


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## Brianne (20 Mar 2009)

Why not travel to Hamburg or Lubeck in Northern Germany via Ryanair or Aer Lingus?
Look up Baltic cottages or homes on the net, very reasonable. Did this a few years ago. Schleswig Holstein is beautiful and very cheap. Very nice for a relaxing family holiday.
[broken link removed]

You have Denmark to the north, the North Sea to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east. The rural area is very lovely with miles of unspoilt beaches and almost no Irish or British tourists.Lubeck is beautiful and if you go east you will see parts of the former East Germany that are still lovely. We toured from a cottage base and it was one of the most stress free holidays I've had. Lubeck airport is tiny  so no hassle ,roads are German roads so very good but quiet mostly . Weather in July was up to 30 deg but with a breeze. It's here that you see these beach chairs , used to protect people from the wind.
http://pro.corbis.com/search/Enlargement.aspx?CID=isg&mediauid={019CD807-C808-48BC-A0B9-ADFBCCF2DB8B}


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## eruptingetna (21 Mar 2009)

No mention of Sicily; an Island just waiting to be discovered!!  So much to see and do - or just relax on the splendid beaches.

Direct BA/Air Malta flights from Gatwick to Catania.  Ryanair flies to Palermo & Trapani.....what more do you want?

Come on, give it a try!


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## gearoid (22 Mar 2009)

We travelled by car from Santiago de Compostella in Galicia to Bilbao including small town Asturias and the bodegas of the port of Santander. Fabulous for two adults over two days.

Try the following for some beautiful hotels in Asturias...

http://www.casonasasturianas.com/


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