Europe – Traveler’S Paradise!

Planning a vacation in Europe? If so, you have picked the perfect destination for a memorable holiday. Europe is one place where you can experience an exciting mix of scenic beauty, wonderful locales, culture and rich heritage.

In spite of being the one of world’s smallest continents, preceding only Australia, Europe is home to 45 different countries, all linguistically and culturally very diverse. Europe has a variety of climates, but most parts of the continent experience mild weather.

While planning your trip, it is essential for you to find out the best time to visit Europe. Weather-wise summer, especially June- July is the most popular time to visit. Most tourists flock to Europe during this season. Everything is particularly beautiful and the atmosphere is dazzling in this part of the year. The only flipside is that summer being the peak season, air fare and hotel rates skyrocket and you will see more tourists than locales at this time. Spring (April to early June) is known as the shoulder season (neither peak nor low season). Surprisingly this is perhaps the best time to visit Europe, as the weather is just right – warm days and cool nights, it is not as crowded as the summers and the air fares and hotel rates are reasonable. Most part of the winter season, except Christmas time is considered low tourist season. Winters are chilly in most parts of Europe, while some places are severely cold. However if you don’t mind the cold it is definitely worth visiting closer to Christmas, when most cities are lit up beautifully and there is a festive cheer all around. You can enjoy the Christmas markets, carnivals and festivals, attend cultural events, ski and indulge yourself in some yummy winter special food and mulled wine. Airlines offer special discounts on flights and hotels have special winter deals, making winter the perfect time to plan a budget vacation to Europe.

You can visit many new places in a relatively short span of time, even though they are in different countries, thanks to the fantastic train system (Euro rail) and the common currency. With a Euro rail pass you can travel on trains throughout Europe. Getting a Schengen visa simplifies your travel within Europe. Schengen visa is a tourist visa, which enables you to travel between 24 European countries which are registered in the common visa system and air, train and road travel between two Schengen countries is considered as a domestic trip. This includes countries like France, Spain, Greece, Italy, Germany, Austria, Sweden and many more.

Continued in part II ………