Europe 2008
In and around Europe
This is our second trip around Europe after having to cut our first trip short last year and get back to New Zealand (see blog Europe 2007). This time we are starting in Berlin and continuing on the same itinerary, hopefully taking around 3 months to visit 30 cities in 8 countries...
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Imelda and Kris
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1
Berlin 2
We arrived back in Berlin after a year feeling excited about getting our European travels underway again. After having to cancel our trip and... Continue reading »
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2
Dresden
The warm European weather continued as we arrived in Dresden. Our hostel was only 20-30 mins walk from the town centre, but regular trams and train... Continue reading »
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3
Terezin
A short stop between Dresden and Prague was at the small town of Terezin just inside the Czech Republic border. This place was the site of a Nazi c... Continue reading »
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4
Prague
We arrived in Prague mid-afternoon and decided to get straight into the Czech nightlife with a good old pubcrawl. We caught the tram into the centr... Continue reading »
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5
Cesky Krumlov
This small medieval town nestled in the rolling Czech countryside was described to us as a miniature version of Prague. This turned out to be right... Continue reading »
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6
Vienna
There was so much to do in Vienna that we are going to have to go back. 2 days just wasn’t enough. The central district holds all of the main museu... Continue reading »
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7
Salzburg
Like Vienna, Salzburg was also in the grip of UEFA fever when we arrived. The main squares around the Salzburg Cathedral were full of beer tents an... Continue reading »
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8
St Johann in Tirol, Austria
We only had an overnight stop in St Johann to fit in with the bus schedule, but we have both decided that Tirol is somewhere we want to come back a... Continue reading »
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9
Venice
We arrived in Venice late and were relieved to see that the camping ground we were staying at seemed to have great facilities including a bar and a... Continue reading »
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10
Ancona
Little more than a ferry port. We had to kill a bit of time here while waiting for our ride across to Split.
Friendly bus drivers...
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11
Split
Before arriving in Split we were under the impression that it was merely a staging post for reaching the islands of Dalmatia. But after spending se... Continue reading »
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12
Omis - Croatia Islands Boat Trip
Part of our Europe Trip 2008 included 7 days aboard a sailing boat called the Viktorija. We departed from Split and visited 6 other island destinat... Continue reading »
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13
Makarska - Croatia Islands Boat Trip
This is one of the larger mainland resorts between Split and Dubrovnik and deserves its popularity for its extensive tree-lined beaches. We spent t... Continue reading »
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14
Hvar - Croatia Islands Boat Trip
Our first stop on the boat trip was the town of Hvar. This is a favourite party spot for the rich and famous and apparently Paris Hilton had been s... Continue reading »
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15
Korcula - Croatia Islands Boat Trip
After spending the morning cruising between the islands and most of the boat sleeping off the previous night’s antics, plus the daily swim-break ri... Continue reading »
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16
Mljet - Croatia Islands Boat Trip
One of our favourite stops on the trip was to the seaside village of Pomena at the western end of the island of Mljet.
We moored up in the e... Continue reading »
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17
Dubrovnik
Without doubt the highlight of Croatia, this ancient city came heavily recommended to us before our trip and we also endorse it as 100% must-see. T... Continue reading »
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18
Bari
Bari is similar to Ancona in that it is mainly a hub for the ferries to Greece and Croatia. We think we were ripped off by the taxi driver who charged... Continue reading » -
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Lecce
This town was typical of many in southern Italy in that it had a beautiful ‘old town’ at the centre surrounded by dirty urban sprawl. There were so... Continue reading »
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20
Gallipoli, Italy
A local recommended a quick visit here on our way from Lecce to Matera. We only had time for a quick drive along the waterfront and through the old to... Continue reading » -
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Matera
We arrived in Matera after quite a long drive through the dry Italian countryside. Driving into the town centre, we were a bit confused by the numb... Continue reading »
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22
Messina, Sicily
The biggest one day drive of our trip around southern Italy was from Matera down to Villa San Giovanni and across the strait to Messina in Sicily.... Continue reading »
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23
Taormina, Sicily
Driving south along the picturesque Sicilian coast from Messina, we soon caught our first glimpses of the most active volcano in Italy, Mount Etna.... Continue reading »
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24
Catania and Mount Etna, Sicily
Heading further south along the foot of Mount Etna we reached Catania where we would spend the next two nights. After a little while struggling thr... Continue reading »
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25
Siracusa, Sicily
We were lucky to have accommodation right in the middle of the historic ‘old town’ for a night in Syracusa. This area is situated on a tiny island... Continue reading »
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26
Palermo, Sicily
This is a sprawling city similar to other cities in southern Italy we had visited in that it had an interesting historic centre surrounded by dingy... Continue reading »
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27
Piazza Armerina, Sicily
We were told that there were some excellent Roman ruins here, so we took a detour from our long drive between Syracusa and Palermo to check it out.... Continue reading »
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28
Paola
Needing an overnight pit stop on our way from Sicily to Pompei, Paola had a B&B which suited us, but was also a pleasant suprise. Situated a mi... Continue reading »
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29
Paestum
A short drive south of Salerno is a site famous for its ancient Greek temple ruins. An entire town has been preserved amongst the fields, including... Continue reading »
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30
Salerno
This city is one of the main gateways to the Amalfi Coast and does not have a lot of sights to see. We spent two nights here and found the people g... Continue reading »
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31
Amalfi Coast
There are two ways to see the Amalfi Coast. By road (either bus or drive yourself) or by boat. We decided to take the car and soon discovered why m... Continue reading »
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32
Sorrento and Capri
With views stretching out across the bay of Naples towards Mount Vesuvius, Sorrento is a well developed resort town sitting on top of sheer cliffs... Continue reading »
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33
Pompei
Our visit here was made extra special by our terrific host whose B&B was by far the best we had stayed at in all of Italy.
The ruins of P... Continue reading »
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34
Naples
Horror stories abound when it comes to Napoli. We had been warned several times that the over-populated city swarms with pick pockets, driving is a... Continue reading »
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35
Rome & Vatican City
After dropping off our hire car (thankfully with no damage sustained over the last two weeks of dodging crazy Italian scooters) and settling into o... Continue reading »
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36
Siena
This small hilltop town is located in the Tuscany region of Italy, about an hour south of Florence. We spent a day and a half here exploring the nu... Continue reading »
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37
Florence
Though very crowded during the late July holiday season when we visited, Florence was a hugely rewarding place to see. The city is world renowned f... Continue reading »
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38
Pisa
This was just a short stop on our way from Florence to La Spezia. Naturally we were here to see the famous leaning tower. We joined the hundreds of ga... Continue reading » -
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Cinque Terra National Park
Using the town of La Spezia as our accomodation base, we caught the train to the southern end of the five coastal villages known as the Cinque Terr... Continue reading »
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40
Milan
A day trip to Milan from La Spezia took about 3 hours each way by train, but it was a place we did not want to miss while we had the chance. Famous... Continue reading »
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41
Monaco
After spending a day walking around this steep harbour city, we realised that having grown up in New Zealand we had no idea just how ridiculously w... Continue reading »
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42
Nice
Our hostel was close to the train station, making it a good base for day trips to Cannes, Saint Tropez and Monaco. We were also close to the main b... Continue reading »
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43
Cannes
Famous for its International Film Festival when it is literally over-run with celebrities, fans and paparazzi, this scenic resort town had much better... Continue reading » -
44
Saint Tropez
We took an afternoon/evening bus and boat tour of the ritzy celebrity hangout, with a quick stop at Port Grimaud on the way (which is claimed to be... Continue reading »
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45
Avignon
One word sums up this town: cute. Tucked in close to the banks of the Rhone river and surrounded by old stone fortifications, it looked like nothin... Continue reading »
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46
Barcelona
We stayed for a week with some friends in the town of Sabadell, about 30 minutes train out of the city. They soon became our indispensable guides a... Continue reading »
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47
Valencia
Typical of the large cities we had visited throughout Europe, Valencia has a central old town core ringed by the remains of fortifications and watc... Continue reading »
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48
Madrid
Finally, after months of sticky Mediterranean heat, we had some respite in Madrid which is about 700 metres above sea level. The temperature was a... Continue reading »
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49
Burgos
This was a quick pit stop on the way from Madrid to San Sebastian. The air was still quite crisp after the heat and humidity of the Spanish souther... Continue reading »
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50
San Sebastian
This picturesque coastal town features two sandy beaches, one a long bathing beach and the other a hotspot for surfing. The main swimming beach was... Continue reading »
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51
Bordeaux
With the weather continuing to shower as we worked our way north, we arrived in French wine country and met up with another friend from New Zealand... Continue reading »
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52
Tours
This ancient town is reputedly the birthplace of the French language and where you will hear the purest French spoken in the country. Our vocab was... Continue reading »
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53
Paris 2
Our second trip to Paris was a bit of a wet affair, light rain shrouded the city a lot of the time. We had covered a lot of the main sights on our... Continue reading »
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54
Solothurn
We were lucky to have a friend living in Solothurn, Switzerland who we stayed with for a few days. The town is about 45 minutes train north of Bern... Continue reading »
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55
Bern
The Swiss capital is a charming riverside city with a relaxed atmosphere. The main streets of the old town are lined with medieval covered arcades... Continue reading »
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56
Lauterbrunnen
Nothing can really prepare you for the first time you pass through Interlaken at the base of the Swiss Alps and navigate your way into the green va... Continue reading »
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57
Lucerne
Switzerland is world renowned for its watches and pocket knives. The watch industry almost died out completely with tough competition from Asia, bu... Continue reading »
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58
Munich
The southern German province of Bavaria is a land of rolling farmland, forests, castles and beer. We made sure that we sampled the latter two durin... Continue reading »
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