a question of tourism in europe

[silvia]

I'm still saying Scotland... you can do all this there:

Beck, Scotland seems great (I've only been to Glasgow and Edimbourgh, haven't travelled around) but it's a bit complicated to get there, it's expensive to us and I'm sure the food is fantastic but italians are hard to beat to it
And you drive on the wrong side

 

[mikkak]

THen Tuscany is perfect for you, but there's no night life at all, at least in the countryside.
THe region is fantastic and it's perfect for relaxing holidays and good eating and then you also have Florencia (imprescindible!), Sienna and lots of nice towns and villages.

On the other hand, why not in Spain? Have you been to Asturias? Is stunning, green, with great beaches and great cheap food, and lots of things to do an visit. I have travel a bit around Spain and it's definitly one of my favs places

I know what you mean when you say that Spain is one of you favourite places because I do think the same, I haven't been to Asturias and sure that I would love it!!!! but we want to go to another country !!
I read what you wrote about Tuscany in you road trip review and I really fancied that part of Italy. Apo likes a lot the idea but she also likes a lot the idea of going to France, lets see what my other friends stand for, in this moment i have a crush with Tuscany but I still haven't studied other options...

thank you all for all you tips, Italy, France , Scotland mmmm
I am still open to other places so if anybody else have a suggestion...

 

[stivi]

grego, silvia and of course mikkak: lombardy and tuscany are both great and very nice regions. but how about the piedmont (piemonte) just south of torino??? i've been there in april this year and its simply wonderful! ...especially if you are a tastebud! in fact, i think in 10 days you could quite see a lot of the north italian part, without hurrying too much!

 

[LagunaBeachCA]

1. Bergen, Norway
2. Scottish Highlands
3. Obersalzberg, Austria.

 

[mikkak]

Thanks for the 2 new recomendation ( Nostrum & Lagu) !!!! and Hi Fahim!!!!


Just another question, maybe is a very ignorant one!!!! if we decide to go to Tuscany as from Mallorca there is a very bad connection with plane and it's very expensive, the cheaper ones are about 5 hours, we are thinking of renting a car from Barcelona and going by road to Tuscany, is about 10 hours, and I know it is more like a road trip but just to arrive and go back, and I think is nice to go past france... the question is: rent a car companys allow you to take the car out of the country? anyone know?
Thanks

 

[grego]

Thanks for the 2 new recomendation ( Nostrum & Lagu) !!!! and Hi Fahim!!!!


Just another question, maybe is a very ignorant one!!!! if we decide to go to Tuscany as from Mallorca there is a very bad connection with plane and it's very expensive, the cheaper ones are about 5 hours, we are thinking of renting a car from Barcelona and going by road to Tuscany, is about 10 hours, and I know it is more like a road trip but just to arrive and go back, and I think is nice to go past france... the question is: rent a car companys allow you to take the car out of the country? anyone know?
Thanks

no lo sé.

take the train??

 

[Fraz]

Dont expect any big towns or anything there though.

quote]

WTF

You make it sound like there are no towns or cities in Scotland

 

[Beckiboo]

Dont expect any big towns or anything there though.

quote]

WTF

You make it sound like there are no towns or cities in Scotland

I'm talking about the Scottish Highlands... there aren't any big towns there! Unless you cound Aberdeen or Inverness... but where I would go for a holiday wouldn't be near them (not saying there's anything wrong with living there before I get jumped on! Mikkak's asking for holiday destinations!). And anywhere they're hardly your Liverpool/Newcastle/Birmingham size are they

 

[Moha]

Nostrum is right; Piemont is a great region especially if you're into good food.
When are you planning to go? there's a fair for truffles (truffes) in the region in October/November; you can buy and taste pasta w/truffles. It's the white truffles(the bestIMO compared to the black french ones). Like Nostrum said; your tastebuds will thank you.
Tuscany is not bad either; get an agroturismo to sleep, rent a car and travel around, go shopping around in factory outlets(Prada, Gucci....you name it). The best deal is to be close to Florence.
My favourite spot in Italy is around Bologna; the Reggio Emilia is numero uno for food.
@Sil; too bad you didn't visit Bologna area; they have my favourite Moto GP circuit Mugello.

 

[zapa]

If you want to have peace and quiet in your holiday, come to Finland - land of 1000's of lakes

Though by car it is quite far away from Spain..

 

[silvia]

mikkak driving from BCN to Tuscany it's a very long shot and very expensive cos it's paying all the way. And also, it's one of the busiest motorways in summer with all the holidaymakers going on holidays.

We needed 10 hours to arrive to Genova, and that's with a bike. With a car with all the traffic jams we found I would say 14 hours minimum. Then from Genova to Tuscany there's another bit.

From the few "last" km in France to Genova it's a very curvy motorway with about 200 tunnels which makes it really annoying, then add the italian drivers and lots of big lorries.
In Genova "circunvalación" there are permanent traffic signs of traffic jam, so the one we found wasn't an exception (and we spent one hour to arrive to our hotel!!)

The France bit it's not nice, it's just motorway, you don't see France, you only see the motorway.

mikkak, after reading what kind of holidays you are up for, I think you should go just for one place (Tuscany or France) if you only have 10 days.

 

[Fraz]

I'm talking about the Scottish Highlands... there aren't any big towns there! Unless you cound Aberdeen or Inverness... but where I would go for a holiday wouldn't be near them (not saying there's anything wrong with living there before I get jumped on! Mikkak's asking for holiday destinations!). And anywhere they're hardly your Liverpool/Newcastle/Birmingham size are they

Correct Thank you for clarifying

 

[Moha]

From the few "last" km in France to Genova it's a very curvy motorway with about 200 tunnels which makes it really annoying, then add the italian drivers and lots of big lorries.
In Genova "circunvalación" there are permanent traffic signs of traffic jam, so the one we found wasn't an exception (and we spent one hour to arrive to our hotel!!)
.

Just thinking of the drive through Genova makes me sick. There's been road work for the last 20 years in those tunnels.

 

[silvia]

Just thinking of the drive through Genova makes me sick. There's been road work for the last 20 years in those tunnels.

On our way back we really enjoyed that motorway cos it's curvy and nice for biking, but that was at midnight with no italian drivers, no lorries and the road just for us.

The motorway that shocked us the most was the Milan-Genova

 

[mikkak]

mikkak driving from BCN to Tuscany it's a very long shot and very expensive cos it's paying all the way. And also, it's one of the busiest motorways in summer with all the holidaymakers going on holidays.

We needed 10 hours to arrive to Genova, and that's with a bike. With a car with all the traffic jams we found I would say 14 hours minimum. Then from Genova to Tuscany there's another bit.

From the few "last" km in France to Genova it's a very curvy motorway with about 200 tunnels which makes it really annoying, then add the italian drivers and lots of big lorries.
In Genova "circunvalación" there are permanent traffic signs of traffic jam, so the one we found wasn't an exception (and we spent one hour to arrive to our hotel!!)

The France bit it's not nice, it's just motorway, you don't see France, you only see the motorway.

mikkak, after reading what kind of holidays you are up for, I think you should go just for one place (Tuscany or France) if you only have 10 days.

you just convince me!!!!! plane to get there!!

This thread and the Becki blog thread just makes me realize how much I need to travel, so many places I would love to go...
There isn't any suggestion in this thread I could throw to the bin, I would love to visit every country/zone that all of you suggested. It is just a matter of certain cultural needs, fancys, time circunstances, money circumstances that will put one country top of the list. This next summer Italy and the other one India!!!!!! I am so happy!! and in the midle of it some short breaks to Barcelona, London, and another place still to be decided!!!
Thanks to everyone

 

[sandi]

Pietrasanta on the Tuscan coast in beautiful, esp the old town. 8)