h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

On the 5th of May, I'm going to France. My great-uncle is getting married in Nice, so I'm going over with my parents to the wedding. My sister and her husband are coming too, and my brother will be back from Canada. His finacée (they've finally got engaged) won't be coming, due to her work.

His sister, my granny, will be there from Kent, and so will be their other brother, my great-uncle Eugene, whom I've never met before. He lives in the States. Colorado, if I remember right.

I'm going over with my parents, but I won't be coming back with them. I thought I'd get an InterRail ticket and wander around France on my own. But when I went up to the station the day before yesterday to get all the information, I found that single-country InterRail tickets last for only eight days. France may do its own rail passes, of course, but the all-Europe twenty-two-day InterRail pass is only 309 euro if you're under twenty-six. So I bought it yesterday. I can see Rome. I can see Prague, Copenhagen, Athens, Sofia, Istanbul, Edinburough! Reality hasn't quite sunk in yet. I don't really believe this.

So, community, write my itinerary for me!

TRiG.

Well where do you start? What about heading to some nice cafe and having some local cuisine on the terrace?

I start in Nice on the 18th June. Where do I go next?

Rome, Prage, and Copenhagen are on my list, and since Turkey's included I might go to Istanbul. And there are the Meteora in Greece, of course. Other than that, I don't have a notion, except that I'll probably pop by Paris again. I like Paris.

Of course, I have the UK too. Isn't there a meet in Hull during that period? And I've never been to Scotland.

TRiG.

Hull: A35488155

Well try places you've never been to as well as places you love. If you love Paris, head there and Scotland as you've never been. Though might make sense to do Scotland on your way home.

You can go on the 'Stendhal' sleeper train from Paris in the evening and wake up in Venice the next morning. I've always wanted to do this:
http://www.seat61.com/Italy.htm#Venice

Oooo that sounds nice!!

If your coming to England make sure you bring your wellies, waterproof jacket and trousers also some warm clothes!
Weathers pritty poor at moment it's ing cr@p...

Wheres Summer!!!!

Whatever you do, go to Granada. The Alhambra is the single most astonishing place you're likely to see, ever, and the city itself is a wonderful mix of modern and historical Spain. It's almost as far out on a limb as you could get on any pan-European itinerary, but utterly, utterly worth it.

I would also advise, if you only have three weeks, that you pick a few areas you'd like to see in detail rather than try to see everything at once. It's very easy to get tempted into a Paris-Amsterdam-Rome-Madrid in a week type of schedule, but you spend more time travelling than you do enjoying yourself. Taking Andalucia as an example because I've already mentioned it, you'd enjoy yourself more if you spent a couple of days each in Sevilla, Granada and perhaps Malaga or Ronda rather than visit one of them for a day as part of an Iberia in a week tour.

Finally, bear in mind that, in general, the larger the city, the more time it takes for you to begin to enjoy it.

Hi Shanky. I know I can trust your words on travel, so I'll go to Granada. I'll be travelling to Nice with my parents, and my Dad decided to drop by Venice en route (well, not exactly, but it's not too far off). I'll probably sleep on overnight trains a few times.

Cities are probably the easiest places to be a tourist in, but I want to see some countryside too (and not just from train windows). I've been told Bavaria is good. I have the Thomas Cook Rail Map of Europe, which highlights the high-speed lines and the lines with good views (scenic routes, it calls them).

I was told today to visit the historic town of Caussade in the South of France.

TRiG.

Can I list you as a possible for Hull? Or is that not possible at all?

I live near Hull!!!

What about Emu? Do you live near him too??

In that case, I'd suggest that you pick perhaps four regions to spend 4-6 days in each, depending on how much interest you have in them. You could start in the south of France before heading to Andalucia, then take a long overnight train across to northern Italy, and finally swing home via Bavaria - or hit Bavaria directly from Andalucia and go home via the Netherlands. Either way, you'd see a pretty good mix of cultures and sights, and it would be an incredible journey, too.

I'd also recommend that you find a city to base yourself in in each of the regions you decide on. That way, you're not spending a couple of hours every day tramping around with a heavy pack looking for hotels you can afford, and you'll get to know one place pretty intimately. You could base yourself in Granada and take day trips into the Alpujarras mountains, to Seville and to Ronda, for example, returning to Granada each evening.

If you're going to Andalucia and have a day or two to spare, by the way, Tangiers is only a couple of hours from Algeciras by ferry. Well worth an overnight stop.

Germany's lovely. In Dresden there's a VW factory that gives tours and you can see them making the cars. Not sure of price or anything though.

I'm not a 'him' and i'm not an emu!!!!!

TRiG I have seen many places and met many people. It's the people I remember. Do try and make Hull, because I'd like to meet you; plus Gnomon will be there and lil & Prof & ST & scorp & MMF & Vicki Virago & Moonhogg & Tabitca (I've met all those lovely people already) plus Jim Cracker and an_acromatic_eye have signed up so they're yet-to-meets, (are you tempted yet?) I can crank up the charm a bit more

The last time I was InterRailling (not alone, I was with my brother and a friend), InterRail was done in zones. One zone for sixteen days, two zones for twenty-two days, or all Europe for one month. We bought two zones (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg; and Spain, Portugal, and Morocco). This also gave us half-price on the Algeciras-Tangiers ferry. We really bought the second zone only for the extra days, but since we had Morocco we decided to visit. We spent a couple of nights in Casablanca (a dirty old town, but fun), and also saw Essauira (spelling?), Marakhesh (very briefly), and of course Tangiers. I want to go back to Morocco, and do it properly, with some preparation. However, Morocco is no longer an InterRail country, so I can't travel around there on this ticket. I don't think I'll do the flying visit to Tangiers you suggest.

Roast chicken for three at a table outside a cafe in Casablanca cost us, I think, 70 dinars. At an exchange rate of roughly 11 dinars to the euro, that's less than 7 euro. We gave her 100, which is a genorous tip still coming in at under a tenner!

There was a music festival at Essauira, and we were there for the last day, but we left before the evening. We ate there in a tiny restaurant staffed by a man and a boy of about fifteen. We were the only customers, and the three of us nearly filled the place. We ordered in French. When we'd finished, the boy thanked me in Arabic for stacking the plates up to make the table easier for him to clear. Chocoran, I think. Something like that. One of the few words of Arabic we'd learned.

The square was large and empty, but a tiny allweyway leading out was packed with market traders selling everything. Just for the sake of it, I bought some sweets. Perhaps I shouldn't have. But it was probably the water, rather than the sweets, which gave us all stomach ache. The other two were hit worse than I was.

TRiG.

Two errors (that I've noticed): Leaving on the 5th of June (the 5th of May has already passed), and the town in France recommended to me was Carcassonne. I'm glad I worked that out, or I'd've gone to the wrong place and wondered why it had been recommended to me.

The InterRail ticket starts on the 18th of June and lasts for twenty-two days, so it will've expired before the Hull meet.

TRiG.

Oh Noodles!!!


That is what you might call, 'Bad Timing', on your part..