Wow! What a crazy 2 weeks it has been! But now I'm back home in Boston, and ready to start sharing this incredible journey with all of you!
Welcome to my European adventure!
This will be your intro to this great adventure, where I'll talk a little bit about what inspired it, how I began to plan it, and then an overview of the trip, to be followed up by individual posts for each significant part of the trip! So, let's get started, shall we?
It all started with Paris. I've been there quite a few times, and it is one of my favorite cities that I've been to, but I haven't been in about 5 years. So an opportunity arose to go for fairly cheap due to some travel hacking tips as well as a place to crash for a couple weeks. Booked.
Awesome! I'm going back to Paris! For 2 weeks! Cool! I can see all the things I've seen before...again...for 2 weeks..? Hmm. Maybe 2 weeks is a bit long for a city I've been to so often. It would be great to have a couple little trips to break things up... I know! Maybe I'll go to Cannes for a few days in the South of France! But, I've been there too, and my great uncle there is going through some things, maybe not the best time. Hmm. Oh! Maybe my friend Natyra whom I met traveling while in Israel is still living in Switzerland! I could see her for a day or so and check out Switzerland a little bit, the trains are pretty cheap, no? searches trains to Zurich Wow! This is doable, and I've never seen Switzerland! Let me shoot her a message!
After speaking with her, turns out she won't be there when I will, as she is going on her own adventure. But, the idea is already in my head, and so are these prices. But, if it's so cheap to go to Switzerland....where else could I go?
From here, the adventure began to take shape: I would spend 1 week in France, with a 2 day trip to Normandy, and then I would spend the 2nd week traveling across Europe, but where to go? The first place that came to mind, was Amsterdam. It's a famous place I've always heard about, not very far from Paris, and has cheap buses that go there. That will be the first stop.
Okay, now where to? Let's see. Switzerland is still in my mind, and there's an overnight train to Luzern, so I can sleep on the train, save money by not getting a hostel, and get there right at day break! Awesome!
Okay, wow, hostels are pretty expensive in Luzern, plus I don't think I need more than 1 day there, so what could I do.... Woah! Where is this amazing place?!? Lauterbrunnen? Sold! I'll go there the same evening, sleep there, and have 1 day there!
Okay, I've seen an amazing Swiss sort of metropolitan city, I've seen an amazing Swiss country side village, what about something in the middle, a bit of a cross of both? Enter, the Swiss city of Lugano! On the coast of Lake Lugano, and on the border of Italy!
Alright, now I need to get back to Paris, and I have one day before my flight that I could use for this trip, or spend it in Paris...Hmm....Off to Milano, Italy it is, where I can score a cheap TGV train ticket back to Paris from!
Whew! Pretty crazy, huh? 6 main cities in only 7 days, and even more, that you'll read about later!
So to recap, the plan was, Monday, November 5th, overnight bus to Amsterdam, leave at 11pm, arrive at 6:30am. Stay there that night. Wednesday, leave at 7pm, arrive at 8am in Luzern, Switzerland on Thursday. Leave Thursday night to Lauterbrunnen, sleep there. Leave Lauterbrunnen Friday evening, arrive in Lugano. Leave Lugano on Sunday night, and arrive in Milan that night. Leave Milan on Tuesday morning, and arrive back to Paris.
From now on, I will refer to the 2nd week as "The Euro Trip", and after booking my hostels and train tickets, it came out to $371.00 for that week. Perhaps I'll break down these costs further in another post later on if you'd like that?
So, with this brief introduction and overview out of the way, the next chapter will be either on Paris or my adventures in Normandy, where I explored the beaches and monuments of the D-day invasions! Make sure to check back in for the next installment! And feel free to ask any questions you may have!
Best,
Sean Gold
Instagram.com/SeanGoldPhotos
www.SeanGold.com