So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so months
 

So this year at the end of August I want to go to Europe. I'm considering moving to Italy for say 6 months to a year or at least just traveling Europe for a decent while not just a month. I assume I have to get a passport and what not. What else do I have to do? I have a decent amount of cash put away. I mean I wouldn't even mind considering just staying in one of these places if I found it nice enough. Any suggestions on places to go. I also hate flying so if anyone could tell me what the flights are like and so on. Thanks in advance.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so months
 

If you plan on staying longer than 90 days (in the EU, not each country), you are going to need a visa.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so months
 

Are you saying that I would have to work or either go to school for them to let me stay in Europe more then 90 days?

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so months
 

Great idea! My junior year in college, I spent 6months at Univ of maastricht (holland), and it was by far the most amazing experience of my life. There is so much to do, so much to see, so much history in europe and if you appreciate architecture, it will absolutely blow your mind.

The flights are not too bad, well worth it.

Must sees...
Prague
Spain (barcelona, Ibiza , bigo, (madrid is blah)
Greece ( the islands are amazing , especially mikinos. Athens was nothing impressive imo)
Italy (everywhere)
France (paris)
Ukraine ( kiev and oddessa)
budapest
Holland (maastricht, amsterdam)


This will turn out to probably be the best decision of your life! Have a great time.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so months
 

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Are you saying that I would have to work or either go to school for them to let me stay in Europe more then 90 days?

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Those are valid options on trying to obtain a visa. I recommend you do some research at google on obtaining a visa, or contacting the US state dept and the embassy of the country you wish to get a visa from. (I think you can get a visa for say Spain, and then travel freely throughout the entire EU without any problems past the 90 day no visa exemption.)

One problem you may encounter is some difficulty in getting a visa now as a result of how difficult our lovely government has made it for the rest of the world to obtain a US visa. Eye for and eye and all.

Also, do you plan on staying in hostels and traveling around, or do you want to rent an apatment for say 4 months and then spend the last 2 months hosteling.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so months
 

Europe,is expensive,take this into account.
Consider a Eurorail pass which will give you options freely and decide on which country after you have visited a few.
Also if you plan on playing poker Italy is not a wise choice.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so months
 

Okay, I thought we weren't allowed to talk about poker, but say I did play that game, and that game has allowed me to hence to take this trip. Where would be a place to go for an extended period of time, while still being allowed to do all the activities i say my do in front of my computer at home.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so month
 

England, and its tax free baby.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so month
 

Many countries but not Italy.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so month
 

[ QUOTE ]
If you plan on staying longer than 90 days (in the EU, not each country), you are going to need a visa.

[/ QUOTE ]

I guess you could do the in-and-out strategy by going into Switzerland for a bit, right?

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so month
 

I would just go to Ibiza and snort coke the whole time

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so month
 

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I would just go to Ibiza and snort coke the whole time

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I can help with where's good to go in Ibiza as I worked there for 4 summers...

U should visit london for a week at some point....A lot to do and a lot of history...


Vava

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so month
 

[ QUOTE ]
If you plan on staying longer than 90 days (in the EU, not each country), you are going to need a visa.

[/ QUOTE ]

incorrect. You just have to leave the country (not the EU) every ninety days. I'm in Prague wo/ a visa, i just have to leave for my little weekend jaunt every once in a while and i can stay indefinetely.

(after like a year of this you might get questioned at the border).

Cliff Notes: No visa, No problem.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so month
 

I gotta say something about the northern part of europe. Denmark's nice and chilled out, norway is absolutely stunning. At least stockholm would be worth a visit in sweden I'd say, and in either northern sweden or finland you should go in winter to experience the darkness and rather mild winter. Jukkasjärvi Ice hotel is a very special experience (www.icehotel.com), but there's also a rather fun hotel in northern finland that have rooms with glass roofs where (mostly) japanese couples stay to get pregnant under the northern light.

By the way, I spent the last summer traveling eastern europe. I'd say the most rewarding cities on that trip were bratislava and sarajevo. Lithuania was awesome as well. Of course, I may have some peculiar interests. The visit in lithuania included among other things a trip to the soviet nuclear power plant Ignalina. Now that was a place very far off the beaten track. I'd definately recommend it for anyone though, or at least the small town made to accomodate the workers (Visaginas).

I hope you will have a great time!

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so months
 

If you want to experience it (not just view) 6 months is not much time due to Europe's diversity, so I would recommend to visit 1 country in each "category". I.e. 1 Scandinavian country, 1 North Central European former communist country (Poland, Czech or Slovakia), etc..

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so months
 

while it may not be the best "partying" place, u will definitely see the best looking girls in Scandinavia.
just on average, everyone is stunning,
unlike the more southern places where there is quite a big variance in the field,
(ie, Scandinavia: High quality, low variance.
lower south: med quality,, very high variance

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so months
 

Scandinavia is less of a experience I think for many Americans than many other parts of Europe, simply because it is relatively similar (compared to i.e. southern Europe). And Scandinavians are more "boring" than most other nationalities. But if you like nature, I have been around much of Europe and I am yet to see something prettier than the most beautiful areas on the Norwegian coast.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so months
 

If you stay six months you will have to comply with immigration laws for the country in which you are staying. I stayed for that amount of time in the Netherlands and had to make numerous trips to the immigration police in order to be legal. If you want to work you would have to comply with laws governing the circumstances under which aliens can work. It is also possible to attend a European university--at least some of them have English-language programs.

I love the Netherlands and enjoyed living there. Sadly I had a serious heart attack while I was there, and I haven't been able to return since. I miss it terribly. (I think Dutch men are the sexiest on the planet.)

I would pick one country and rent a place--immerse yourself in the language and way of life. Then travel here and there for a long weekend or so. Distances are short compared to the US which makes it easy to see many places from one base, although going from, say, Amsterdam to Moscow is still a bit of a trek.

Go for it!

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so months
 

so do europeans hate all americans or just rude/loud americans?

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so months
 

If you want to see a lot of europe then the eurorail pass and travelling light and cheap is the way to go.
If you want to immerse yourself in the culture and see what it's like to live in europe then pick a country and use it as a base.
All of europe is expensive but the scandanavian countries are doubly so. If your aim is to immerse yourself in the culture but you want to stay in a big city I would personally recommend Barcelona. It is much cheaper when compared to other cities, (you can easily find a room in the centre of the city for around $250 a month), you can get away with not speaking spanish if you don't want to learn the language, Barcelona is one of the more vibrant and youth orientated cities in Europe, it is stunning and chock full of great galleries, museuems, etc.

You can ski within an hour and a half from the city plus you can use it as a base to explore Spain and then hop over into any other european country using the very cheap airlines that fly into it.

I would also strongly recommend St Petersburg. Apart from the amazing history, culture factor, it is extremely cheap and chock-full of stunning Eastern European girls who want to be discovered as models.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so month
 

Oh and if you hate flying, avoid ryanair and those airlines at all costs. Apart from that, using regular airlines isn't that bad. It's generally much better service than all american domestic flights I've tried, and most importantly, it's seldom more than one or two hours to go somewhere.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so month
 

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so do europeans hate all americans or just rude/loud americans?

[/ QUOTE ]

I didnt realise there was a difference.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so month
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
so do europeans hate all americans or just rude/loud americans?

[/ QUOTE ]

I didnt realise there was a difference.

[/ QUOTE ]

what's your problem? you realize you just called every person from two big continents rude/loud?

are you an englishman? oh wait englishman is an oxymoron...

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so month
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
so do europeans hate all americans or just rude/loud americans?

[/ QUOTE ]

I didnt realise there was a difference.

[/ QUOTE ]

what's your problem? you realize you just called every person from two big continents rude/loud?

are you an englishman? oh wait englishman is an oxymoron...

[/ QUOTE ]

I think he meant that there is no difference between Americans and rude/loud Americans.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so month
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
so do europeans hate all americans or just rude/loud americans?

[/ QUOTE ]

I didnt realise there was a difference.

[/ QUOTE ]

what's your problem? you realize you just called every person from two big continents rude/loud?

are you an englishman? oh wait englishman is an oxymoron...

[/ QUOTE ]

I think he meant that there is no difference between Americans and rude/loud Americans.

[/ QUOTE ]

Indeed, it would also appear someones sarcasm spotting sense of humour detector is broken.

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so month
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
so do europeans hate all americans or just rude/loud americans?

[/ QUOTE ]

I didnt realise there was a difference.

[/ QUOTE ]

what's your problem? you realize you just called every person from two big continents rude/loud?

are you an englishman? oh wait englishman is an oxymoron...

[/ QUOTE ]

I think he meant that there is no difference between Americans and rude/loud Americans.

[/ QUOTE ]

Indeed, it would also appear someones sarcasm spotting sense of humour detector is broken.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure whose. adsman is on level 27 humor. i just like making oxymoron jokes and get annoyed when people forget about all the other countries in the americas besides the US.

Anyway, among the three of us, we almost made a funny joke...

Re: So I\'m from the US and I want to see Europe for like 6 or so month
 

From my experiences about 5 years ago...

Places worth going

Croatia (Dubrovnik or Hvar Island)
Budapest
Transylvania (you could stay in Brasov or some other small town)
Istanbul
Krakow
Madrid

Places to avoid

Athens
Bucharest