Flashpacking, backpacking, hostels, trains and EasyJet. The styles and transport methods of the classic European budget trip have evolved like much of the travel world, but the cultures, adventures, Old-world villages, stylish shopping avenues, and languages all still meld to create a personal journey like none other.
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Personal to the point of being able to roam individually as always, but also to connect with thousands of other travelers to find the right places to stay, the best deals to get around, and the right clubs to hit.
Coming soon from traveler.com...the ability to connect, share, and document the new European vacation - hopefully better than the National Lampoon variety...
Featured Articles
Medieval hill towns of Provence manage to maintain their charms
Some people say it served Peter Mayle right when a fan tracked him down in Provence and walked into his sitting ...
Readers recommend: Cooking tours in Italy
ITALY Appetizing trip Tania Pascuzzi organizes cooking tours in gorgeous Tropea. We cooked in a country home, ...
Take the plunge in Budapest
In Budapest, Hungary's vibrant capital, you can sample spicy paprika at the Great Market Hall (designed by Gusta...
By bicycle, an up-close visit to Denmark's Funen island
While this year's Tour de France cyclists struggled to overcome rain, cold and hills, I took a four-day bike tri...
Copenhagen by bike, to take part in the social whirl
It seems as though everybody bikes in Copenhagen: moms pushing kids in three-wheeled bike carts, chain smokers, ...
Planning your trip to Copenhagen, Denmark
BIKE COPENHAGEN WITH MIKE 011-45-26-39-56-88, www.bikecopenhagenwithmike.dk, depart from Copenhagen Bikes at ...
Stockholm a stunning blend of old and new
With its steel-and-glass Modernist buildings and dedication to green living, Stockholm has the feel of a gleamin...
Planning your trip to Denmark
THE BEST WAY From LAX, connecting service (change of plane) to Copenhagen is offered on Delta, British, Air Fr...
France's Vaux le Vicomte vs. Italy's Villa Farnese
I spend a lot of time looking for a second home in Europe. You know -- the sort of place to spend lazy weekends ...
Archaeological tours and programs in Rome
Visiting archaeological sites where digs are underway and tourist access is limited is generally discouraged. Bu...
Rooting up ancient Rome
It is often said that you can't repair a water main, break ground for a parking garage or dig up a potato in Rom...
Recent archaeological developments in Rome
A new home for the Ara Pacis altar, a masterpiece dating from 13 BC that commemorates the military victories of ...
How European tourist scams play out
Gelato in hand, you're strolling down a street in Italy, when suddenly an attractive woman starts arguing with a...
What's Italian for sandwich?
Never mind gelato. Italian sandwiches are cheap fast food for the gods, constructed with equal concern for flavo...
Readers recommend: Sete Colinas hotel in Lisbon, Portugal
PORTUGAL A Lisbon bargain Lisbon is amazing. The best part was finding a wonderful hotel that was conveniently...
Mark the fall of Berlin Wall with tour
1 Germany Stop a random handful of Berliners on the street and ask where you might still find a stretch of the...
An American holiday outside Paris
It's Fourth of July weekend. My wife, Kathy, and I have a bag full of red, white and blue pinwheels, some Stars ...
Tours & cruises: Dublin, Ireland, package lets you plan your own itinerary
DUBLIN Footloose in Ireland Immerse yourself in Irish history with Sceptre Tours' \"Dublin City Package,\" whi...
A vacation with Cold War games? Head for Russia and Ukraine
Forget ballerinas, St. Petersburg's frothy architecture and the herbal aromas of bathhouses. There's another, ha...
Barbizon's natural artistry
It was one of those spring days in Paris that makes even the French smile. The trees along the Boulevard St. Ger...
France's Palace of Fontainebleau offers the royal treatment
Visitors to Paris almost inevitably take a day away from the city to see the nearby Château de Versailles, seat ...
Planning your trip to Barbizon, France
THE BEST WAY TO BARBIZON From LAX, Air Tahiti Nui and Air France fly nonstop to Paris. Delta, United, American...
Driving tour of villages near Gâtinais National Park where artists lived
As soon as the rail line from Paris reached Fontainebleau in 1849, the forest became a popular destination for ...
Paris museums reign supreme for viewing Barbizon paintings
Around 1850, American artists and collectors discovered Fontainebleau Forest, including the New England painter ...
The Berlin Wall, 20 years after the fall
For almost 30 years, desperate East Germans tried to drive through it, tunnel under it and fly over it. More tha...
Obika: Where mozzarella acts like sushi
Silvio Ursini, an Italian who earned a business degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and serve...
Campania region is where fresh mozzarella roams
The Italian buffalo is a massive beast with eyes that glow red and a bony rump. Resistant to any change in routi...
How to get to Italy's mozzarella hot spots
THE BEST WAY From LAX, Continental, Lufthansa, American, Air France, British, US Airways, United, Delta and KL...
Italy: Beautiful, unspoiled Paestum
Even if there were no fresh mozzarella cheese on the wide plain that edges the Gulf of Salerno in southern Camp...
Peace in Bahamas, beauty in Rome
She has been competing internationally since age 14 and now, at 42, swimmer Dara Torres has 12 Olympic medals fr...
Left Bank vs. Right: A tale of two cities
PARIS--In the middle, there is no need to choose. And the middle of the City of Light is the Seine River and th...
Zurich's spring greeting
We knew something was afoot in Zurich when our lazy walk through the streets of the old city turned into a full-...
At Barcelona's heart, the soccer stadium
You've been to Barcelona. So what? Unless you've experienced a match in Camp Nou, the home of FC Barcelona, the ...
Winter wine tasting in Montepulciano and Montalcino in southern Tuscany
The grapevines of southern Tuscany rest in winter. You see them in soldierly rows around the hill towns of Mont...
Planning a trip to Siena, Italy
THE BEST WAY TO SIENA From LAX, connecting service (change of planes) to Florence is available on Lufthansa, A...
Tuscany in winter brings shivers of delight
I was feeling lucky. That was my excuse for going to Siena in the dead of winter, when Tuscany is generally col...
It's that lascivious time of year for Venice
VENICE--As 2008's financial meltdown spreads to the world economy, this year's Carnival of Venice for many may b...
Off-season adventures in the French Riviera
The honest, pathetic and irritating truth is that after devoting myself to travel the last 15 years -- going far...
Go native in Europe and Japan -- take the train
Who rides trains these days? Europeans, for starters. And the Japanese, of course. And maybe you, if you're loo...
Touring the French Riviera on foot
NICE, France--Warned of absurdly high cab fares, I shrugged off another warning about Nice--its robbers and pick...
Planning your trip to Iceland
THE BEST WAY TO ICELAND From LAX, service to Reykjavic begins on American, Virgin America, Air New Zealand, US ...
Suddenly, Iceland is affordable for Americans
At Keflavik International Airport, a big, red sign at the bottom of an escalator makes a U.S. tourist feel sligh...
Iceland's magnificent night life
Iceland is famous for two kinds of night life. One is the manic weekend reveling in the capital, Reykjavik, wher...
Cultural capitals of Europe
The newly anointed Cultural Capitals of Europe for 2009 are Linz, Austria, and Vilnius, Lithuania, both a bit of...
London: A royal (but cheap) expedition
God save the queen, and maybe a few pounds - sterling, that is. London may have a deserved reputation for being...
A room with a view and then some
The worst thing about being a tourist in Paris is feeling like one. No matter how proud you are to be an Americ...
Bosnia's laid-back ski slopes
There is a saying that visitors and locals alike use at the Jahorina ski resort, just outside Sarajevo, Bosnia-H...
Puttin' on the Ritz, at The Ritz in London
In times of economic recession, some would argue that the best remedy is to go out and live it up. As always, Lo...
Athens overrated? Yes, and there's more such travel spots
Travel is a magical way to discover the sweet spots at the center of your soul. My many journeys help me leave b...
Planning your trip to Amsterdam
GETTING THERE From LAX, KLM offers nonstop flights to Amsterdam. United offers direct flights (stop, no change...
Amsterdam romances guests at a Thanksgiving destination wedding
When friends heard where my stepson and his fiancée were planning to tie the knot, the inevitable response was: ...
Your Scene: Double exposure in the City of Light
This photo within a photo was taken in the elevator of a Paris hostel named Oops. The shooter is Patrick Norton,...
Hotels and restaurants near U.S. military cemeteries in Europe
If you go: THE AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION Court House Plaza II, Suite 500, 2300 Clarendon Blvd., A...
American military cemeteries in Europe honor heroes in both world wars
On Veterans Day, Americans are asked to do something for the country besides voting and paying taxes: We are enj...
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