I learn to travel alone not in groups. And I have been to Spain a few times on travel by myself. I think it is a beautiful country, and I'd love to go back for awhile. Cities like Costa Brava Spain and Mallorca Spain are all unforgettable. If you're in Barcelona be sure to check out the Picasso museum as well and the best way to get around Spain is by train. I recommend you go to Spain, if you want to travel to Europe.

I concur.

The best way to get around Europe is by train.

:smile2:

Depends on what you are going to Europe for, Sparky. I've done a lot of Europe and sometimes take tours, usually Globus, and sometimes just travel by myself, with my wife actually. Both have their advantages.

When you travel with a group you make a great bunch of friends to share your trip with. You are on a bus together, stay in the same hotels, go out for lunch and drinks together and just have a good time. On our last tour a dozen of us even got kicked off the tour bus the last night for being a bit too rowdy. We had been in Montmarte for dinner with the entire group plus another tour group. There were unlimited drinks so everyone but me was a bit tipsy. As you know, I don't drink alcohol. When the two groups got on the bus to go back to the hotel we discovered they had ordered too small a bus and there weren't enough seats for everyone. Rather than let wives sit on husbands laps the idiot tour director decided to make four husbands get off the bus and wait for a taxi. The problem was, it was in the middle of the World Rugby Tournament and there were no taxis to be held. Needless to say, when the husbands were removed their wives elected to join them. The tour director paniced and started yelling. At that point a few more of us elected to join our friends on the sidewalk so half empty wine bottles in hand we walked off the bus despite the angry shouts of the tour director to get back in our seats. There we stood, on the sidewalk, arms locked together, singing. After about a half hour the tour director begged us to get back on the bus. After making her sweat for a while longer we relented and squeezed on to the bus for the trip back to the hotel where we proceeded to sit in the lobby, drinking until almost two in the morning. The only bummer was the fact that my wife and I had to leave the hotel at four fifteen the next morning to catch our flight back to The States.

Stuff like that doesn't happen when you tour alone.

Train travel is really simple in Europe though and the ICE (inter-city express trains) are wonderful. My wife and I often leave our tour groups to see something on our own and then take a train to the next hotel. Once we had to take a train across Austria when my wife broke her ankle in Vienna and had to spend the night in the hospital. On another occassion we were traveling from Milan to Heidelberg by train. We were going by way of Zurich and Stuttgard. We kept looking up at the train board for the train to Stuttgard. never realizing that the Italians called it Stoccato. We finally figured things out, got on our train and relaxed. Luckily I speak German because as we neared Zurich a conductor went through the train telling people in Italian, French and German that only the first three cars would be continuing on to Stuttgard. The others would be staying in Zurich. We were on the next to the last car of a twenty five car train. We had to really scurry, dragging our suitcases in order to make it to one of the first three cars.

Our last trip was with a tour group and we had a great time. We are already planning our next trip and it will probably be on our own. We will purchase a Eurorail pass here in The States and book our hotels in advance. Then we will be on our own.

Both ways are fun.