This article differs from a number of other travel articles on Dave’s Travel Corner in that it is not written about a specific place, location, or destination. It is written from personal experience based upon numerous trips to Europe and is intended to give the independent traveler to Europe additional information about a diversity of activities or experiences across the continent.
The initial countries we visited before writing this article were the following: Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Germany, & France. We have since visited every single country in Europe and in the process gained our own European citizenship.
The information in this article is presented to give one a general overview and a broad idea of what to expect from traveling in Europe.
Some of the information presented may focus on only one or several countries, rather than all of Europe; we will mention these particular instances as they occur in this article. In our experience most of the “horror” stories that you hear from fellow travelers or from travel books involving crimes are by far the exception, rather than the rule.
Taking the proper precautions will decrease your odds of getting pick pocketed, robbed, or mugged to almost zero. Staying aware of your surroundings at all time is the most important part of avoiding theft while traveling.
However, knowing about all the different techniques and strategies that people can use to rob visitors, is very valuable. By knowing these, especially individual stories, one can be more aware and cognoscente of the situation before it develops into a potentially harmful one. Many of the travel horror stories are good because they help to heighten our awareness about possible harmful situations, but some are sensationalized and those seem to cause rumors and tend to cause the wrong impressions about a country or place.
Traveling around Europe is very easy using train or bus. Europe also boasts quite a few budget airlines and flying is often cheaper and certainly much faster than taking trains or buses. Budget airlines tend to fly to the lesser known airports even in major cities.
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Looking forward to returning to Europe this year – visited a few times in 2011. This time going to go to SE Europe – Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Romania etc.
I live in Europe and there are so many nice places to go, starting from the powerful western countries such as UK, France, Germany etc. to the poor eastern countries. Every one of them has something unique which deserves to be seen.
Tourist – thats right 🙂 I’m also a citizen of the EU (Italy) – I esp like Luxembourg (relatives there) and Belgium.
Italy is one of my favorite. Last year i went to Rome, Sienna, Florence and the Elba island. Great views, nice weather and food. What else do you need. 😉
Yes, that is right! Did you visit the new Antinori Winery about 1/2 way between Sienna and Florence? It is new and quite impressive. Tuscany is great!
Hi David! Continue your list of european countris with Ukraine 🙂 I’m sure you like it!
Olga – I must have written that post before I visited the Ukraine – I was there last year 🙂
Next time I want to go to Odessa and try some of the amazing dessert wines in that region.
Spain is a beautiful place to go and the people is amazing
Really a nice post, great job
Izy – Spain is great! I’ve been fortunate to have visited several times – really enjoyed the rural areas and towns outside of Barcelona during my latest visit.
Has anyone been to Belarus before or lives there? This is my last European country to visit – and I’m not sure where in the country I should start with…
Eastern Europe in particular have some fantastic locations to visit that you will not find on a regular travel guide. The Czech Republic is a fantastic country to visit with many historic sights to see.
Europe is such a nice place to visit with some wonderful attractions and nice places to visit in England, Germany, France and many other countries.
Geared – yes, thanks for the reminder, I need to get back to the Czech Republic 🙂
Joyetic – what are your favorite activities in Europe?