Hi All.

A lot of my family (from Australia) is going over to UK for a Great Aunt's 80th birthday at the end of Jan 2010. That started the idea of me doing a UK/Europe trip because I've got my long service due early 2010 (which is three months paid leave). I will also have another 90 or so days recreation leave which will give me maybe 7 months paid leave.

I have all 2009 to save for it so I hope to have around $10 saved (on top what I will be paid while over there).

I'm obviously going to spend time in the UK, visiting family that I have never met. The other places I know I want to go is France (for the castles), but I would like to get some suggestions from the people here.

I've got a friend here who recommends eastern europe is really underappricated (as opposed to France, Germany, Spain, Italy etc).

My interests are: architecture, scenery, food, walks (4-5 hours),taking photos,meeting people.

Your thoughts please...

Hi!

That is awesome that you get all that time etc! Maybe I will move to australia haha. Europe is filled with all kinds of stuff that you can see, but you need to decide what you're interested in first before you go. Your listed interests are pretty broad.

I'm not sure if your "scenery and walks" is more oriented towards "history & Castles" or "mountains, and natural beauty"

This past summer I spent 9 weeks in Europe traveling Central and Eastern Europe. I am from Canada so I don't really care to much to see Natural beauty, I can see that at home, all the time, so I wanted history, and famous things!

I highly recommend Ljubljana & Lake Bled (Slovenia). It's so under-rated. People don't even know about it. The city itself has some amazing architecture, and is super clean. It's like a family paradise with open air cafes lining the river. Then Lake Bled is only about 30 min bus ride away, and it's this beautiful lake that you can hike and walk around... amazing.

Other ones, would be Croatia and the Dalmatian Coast, and Poland. Bulgaria was definitely interesting, and the Riga Monestary might be of interest to you. Germany has some fantastic Castles though as well, and obviously the UK - I just finished up in Scotland and we saw some of the most beautiful Castles.

Good Luck!

miraclepie, thanks for you thoughts.

To narrow it down further:

I like architecture (so castles, churches etc).

Places of great scenery. Where I live there are no mountains.

Short hiking trails, say no longer than half day to a full day.

Love my food. Plan to hit southern France in a big way and eat myself stupid. Anywhere else?

Nightlife, I like places where there is good clubs and bars, but that's not to be the only reason for going someplace.

Go for it. Wish you a very happy journey. Long live your Aunty and wish him a pleasant happy birthday! You can go many places in your period of time. Lots to see and lots to enjoy.