Travel through Europe by country:
Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San-Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Sweden, United Kingdom, Vatican City
Travel through Europe by popular city:
Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Bern, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Ibiza, Lisbon, Ljubljana, London, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna, Zagreb
Travel through Europe by popular things to do:
Acropolis, Anne Frank House, Eiffel Tower, London Eye, The Louvre
Travel through Europe with our writers:
Across Northern Europe, Balkan Odyssey
According to the tags on ourmanwhere’s page, this photo was taken in Krakow, Poland during the Christmas season. I love the old-school feel of the shot, as though it were taken 60 year ago. The sun seems to hover over and beam magically from above the distant cathedral, as though the two were spiritually connected.
If you’ve got some great travel photos to share, upload them to Gadling’s Flickr pool. We peruse the pool daily for cool shots for our Photo of the Day feature!
I would never pass up the opportunity to spend a few days in Madrid. On my way from Portugal, I couldn´t be so close and not come here for some tapas and paella. When asked if I prefer Barcelona over Madrid (and I have been asked this question more than once) Madrid would get my vote. I can´t really explain why.
There is only so much one can write about Madrid that hasn´t been written already. What surprised me the most is the Spanish obsession with playing the lottery. It took me a few hours to figure out why there has been a consistent, long line (and I mean long, hundreds of people–see picture) at the Puerta del Sol. Then a friend told me that people regularly line up here to buy lottery tickets. ¨The Spanish people are very superstitious,¨ she explained. Apparently, no other country on Earth has such religious lottery-following, even though other countries´s top prizes are much higher than here. The Spanish state-run National Lottery dates back nearly 250 years.
The most eagerly-anticipated draws of the National Lottery are those which take place over the Christmas period, El Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad or El Gordo (The Fat One), and El Niño (The Boy). The purse in El Niño is held on January 6th (hence the line yesterday and today) and the top prize in each series is 2 million euro. You can still buy a ticket, folks!
Some people say that in order to win, you have to buy your ticket at the Dona Manolita, a lottery vending shop which opened in 1931 and has become a Spanish institution. They apparently sell all the winning tickets. Now, that is what I call superstition!
One of my favorite things about traveling to Europe is hanging out in cafes all day and reading the paper. My least favorite thing about Europe is sitting in these same cafes and inhaling all that horrific secondhand smoke.
Well, I’m happy to report that this New Year’s Eve, just like the last couple, has brought with it more regional legislation prohibiting smoking in European pubs, cafes, and restaurants. This year the smoke-free axe fell in France and eight states in Germany. This means that all those legendary watering holes of Hemingway’s Paris and Isherwood’s Berlin will now be without that infamous haze in which various characters wiled away lifetimes of afternoons.
Personally, I couldn’t be more excited. Now if only the dollar would improve, I might actually be able to afford a smoke-free drink in one of these places.
Oh, and in case you want to risk it and light up, France is levying a 450 euro fine for the smoker and a 750 euro fine for the bar itself. So do everyone a favor, and don’t try it.
Usually around this time of the year trans oceanic ticket prices start to fall. And winter and spring is a great time to travel if you’re a northerner (see pictured: my car yesterday), so if you can take advantage of some of the good fares it’s often pretty easy to bang out a quick vacation at minimal cost.
The first slew of good prices this year seem to be to destinations in Germany. Searching from a variety of departure points, I’m finding prices around the 400$ range to anywhere from Munich to Dusseldorf to Hamburg to Frankfurt, leaving over various times in the next few months.
Sure, it’s not the warmest part of the year in Germany, but if you’ve got friends, family or an adventurous streak you can always slip out for a few days and enjoy some authentic German food and beer. Or, if you’re willing to make a couple of connections you can always leave immediately from Frankfurt or Dusseldorf on a low-cost-carrier and be in the Mediterranean in a heartbeat.
Happy travels!
So far, I have enjoyed Algarve, Portugal immensely. Together with ten friends, we rented a villa overlooking the town of Santa Barbara de Nexe, which is a pretty cute town, but it is literally overrun by British tourists who own all the property.
Needless to say, we have turned the house into a party house. There are only two problems with it, and–incidentally–both have to do with animals.