eurotrip: advise me

Take the train to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port (southwestern France), get your pilgrim's passports, walk westerly until you run out of time, el camino de Santiago -- economical and you get to see the country.

Granada, Spain

Grenoble, France, dude. Scratch Montpellier and Paris. Have been there two of last three summers and am going back this winter break. Use Orbitz to get tickets. Start searching as soon and possible, and try different date combinations. I got roundtrip tickets for $550 all charges included. Check out Spain and Italy. Places like Prague and Budapest are all right (I lived in Budapest for a semester), but personally I like southern France a lot more.

Thanks for the advice. Karterlite, can you tell me what it is you liked about southern France as opposed to other places? I'm pretty much locked into the Paris/Montpellier school thing because I am a law student, and were I not to do that program, I'd have to get an internship here in the states. Screwing around in the summer is not looked on highly.

The weather is really nice, a bit warm but tolerable, and overall I'd say the people are pretty friendly, yes even (or especially) towards Americans. Central/Eastern Europe people tend to keep to themselves more, and the larger cities in France (such as Paris) just don't appeal to me. In Grenoble the ambiance of the city was very relaxed, the scenery is among the most beautiful in the world, and it probably helped that I went out and made some friends during my stay...also you can drive or take transportation out to the countryside, walk through vineyards, etc. Both times were a great experience and that's why I'm going back this winter. May I ask what the nature of your stay there will be (intern, language school)? I am a phd student by the way and I've also managed to put off corporate-type internships thus far.

It's a five week program, during which we'll take classes on comparative criminal procedure, comparative business law, and European Union business law. Really, it's a good excuse to spend some time in Europe, because it will be hard to find a big chunk of time like this in the future. I, like you, don't care too much about seeing the big cities or major tourist spots. I'd rather do things that are unique to the area. A friend of mine has a house in wine country, so I'm hoping to make it out there for a bit. Another friend lives in Dusseldorf, so that's on the agenda as well. Other than that, I'm wide open at this point. In your experience, to where has it been cheapest to fly, and how do you get around?

Visit Auschwitz

If you're gonna be there a month, I would look into the Eurorail website which should have month-long passes and such. A lot cheaper than flying around, and you get to pass through some nice places.

During the summer Scandinavia is a great place to see. Malmo Sweden and Copenhagen Denmark are only a short train ride across a bridge from each other and both are great places during the summer. Every country has places worth seeing at least once.

Sweden- Malmo was a fun city but one of the most expensive places to visit.

Denmark- Copenhagen is the cheapest capital city in Scandinavia and a great place to visit during the summer. Still expensive though.

Germany- Berlin, Munich, Hamburg are all great. Giant beers and nice views in southern Germany.

Belgium- Brussels and Bruges were my favorites. Make sure to take the time to "sample" the many different beers and chocolates.

The Netherlands- Amsterdam is overrated but still worth visiting. Take a free city tour during the day and do what you want at night.

Italy- Rome, Venice, Florence and Milan were fun. Southern Italy is a bit cheaper and more laid back than northern Italy but I had fun everywhere. It was by far my favorite country to visit.

Spain- Barcelona and Madrid are fun. Remember when you are in Barcelona you are in Catalunya not Spain, the people will remind you if you forget. Do not get fooled into playing any games on Las Ramblas and watch your wallet.

I hope you have as much fun as I did on my exchange. I was there for a semester so I was able to see a bit more but if you get there early and maybe leave later you can see a lot and have a blast. It was worth every euro and kroner I spent. I hope that the exchange rates get a little bit better for you because right now it sucks.

for scenic, highly enjoyable, very cheap, hang out in the pyrenees, especially pays de cathars in the aude.

its fantastic stuff, especially hanging with the hippies :)

and fantastic running trails, hot spings, great vibes, and great goat cheese and blanquette!

take the train to perpignan then north to carcasonne, then sw again. just make sure you don't wear nike, the hippies hate nike.....