Deciding Where to Go
How do you decide where to go in Europe, especially if you’ve never been there before? Many people head for the famous, big cities and often miss out on special places that aren’t dominated by tourists. I suggest learning all you can about Europe using a wide variety of sources. Talk to friends about their trips. Look through guidebooks and coffee table books. Watch movies and read books set in Europe. Watch travel programs and videos. Browse travel websites and sign up for their newsletters. Read online trip reports and blogs and look at travel photos. Write to tourist offices and get free literature. As you learn more about possible European destinations, you’ll find that some places draw you closer and appeal to something deep inside.
Travel magazines
Condé Nast Travel
International Travel News
National Newspapers with good travel sections
Most of these newsletters send out a periodic travel newsletter, which include links to their latest articles and information on travel deals. You can register for newsletters on the website.
Travel videos; movies and books set in Europe
Our Provence Store (our Amazon store of books, movies and other resources related to the south of France)
Cotswolder Amazon store (Books, movies and maps related to the Cotswolds area of England)
Slow Europe Amazon store (Guidebooks, memoirs and novels related to Europe)
Travel Video Store (videos to buy)
Netflix (travel videos to rent)
Movies about Italy or set in Italy
Fictional Cities (books set in London, Venice & Florence)
Amazon Booklists for Italy and Specific Cities/Regions
Directories of resources
Directory of on-line travel magazines
Directory of travel publications and on-line magazines
Directory of on-line travel publications; provided by the European Travel Commission
European Tourist Offices
Websites for European Tourist Offices
Europe for Visitors directory Write for literature or order online.
European Travel photo websites
Slow Photos About 40,000 photos (search function available)
Kathy’s European photos Over 2000 photos, organized by location and topic.
Travel Images Pick a country and take a look
Go Europe Directory to photo galleries for Europe
Go France Directory of good photo galleries for France
Pictures of Places Links to travel photography, organized by country.
Travel Photo A professional photographer’s photos
European Travel Message Boards
Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Travel Forum
