The European Conclusion

I am not going to try to write a summary in the same fashion as I did for South East Asia, for Europe. It doesn't make as much sense given how much I moved around and how little I saw of some countries - often only the capital city!

Instead I will just reflect on the places that stood out for me and for what reasons. Obviously I can't comment on the countries I didnt make it to - the most notable I missed out on were Italy, Greece and Croatia - but based on what I did see, here are my thoughts.

Best Party - Budapest, Hungary

Budapest has got to be one of the top party destinations in eastern Europe, and it is definitely on the Australian backpacker radar. Fuelled on by Sziget and huge crowds of internationals coming in, my time in Budapest was a whirlwind of fun.

The party hostels here are crazy, the town is beautiful and the festival was insane. It is a city not to be missed if a good time is to be had.

Best Architecture - Ghent, Belgium

While I consider that Krakow, Poland, deserves an honorary mention for its stunning city centre and beautiful buildings, Ghent held the candle for me as the best medieval city. The three towers clustered closely together in the city centre make for brilliant viewing, with its gothic architecture really standing out to me. 

Ghent is also a city that I don't believe is on enough people's radars. Most in Belgium go to Brussels, Brouges or Antwerp, skipping the little one in the centre in their planning process. I spent a day in Brouges as was thoroughly underwhelmed in comparison to Ghent! And you cant forget the Belgian beer...

Best Food - Granada, Spain

Tapas. Enough said. 

Granada is the only town left in Spain still widely offering free tapas with their meals. Virtually any drinking establishment you visit will include a portion of food along with your drink - which generally only costs around 2 euros!

It's also a vibrant student town, playing host to both Spanish students moving from their hometowns and European exchange (ERASMUS) students. This fact both drives prices down and ups the competition - gotta fight for those poor students!

Food often includes bread based dishes - long rolls sliced thin topped with salsa and hamburgers - up to fish and seafood! Unfortunately I don't generally take photos of food so have nothing to add in here... just take my word and experience it yourself!

Best Backpacker Vibe - Porto, Portugal

Atmosphere is a big thing for a solo traveller. I cant even begin to count how many hostels I have stayed at this year but I'd be surprised if I hadn't hit 100! Some cities just do not have a solid backpacker vibe about them, usually prices have an impact on that fact. Paris was the stand-out worst for me in that respect. Similarly Madrid attracts a lot of weekend tourists in groups, making it hard to mingle with other solo travellers. 

The hostel I stayed at in Porto, Pilot Hostel, had a solid feel, despite being pretty quiet there at the time. Porto has quite a few hostels all near by with very good ratings which probably adds to why it stood out for me. 

Other cities worth mentioning are Prague - Hostel Elf was great - and Barcelona.

Best History - Berlin, Germany

Nothing compares to Berlin for its history in my opinion. World War II effectively shaped what Europe looks like today - some cities remained intact while others were bombed to the ground and rebuilt - and Berlin was the epicentre of this. 

The walking tour I did in Berlin was a stand-out as the most interesting and well thought out of all the tours I did. The English PHD history student as our guide had a serious passion for German society and reflected on it very critically - often praising the German attitude!

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All in all, backpacking through Europe is vastly different to backpacking in South East Asia.

What I liked and grew used to about SEA is how essentially everyone is a dirty backpacker - unkempt hair, dirty clothes, wearing flip flops all day ... Europe is a polar opposite. Everyone looks respectable, dresses well, wears nice shoes and generally looks less scruffy. It doesn't help by the fact that there are so many weekend tourists, people from around Europe travelling for short periods of time.

Through SEA you get a lot of Canadians, Germans, English, Kiwis and Aussies. Through Europe, the main people travelling for extended periods are again Canadians, Kiwis and Aussies, but I was surprised to see so many Americans!

I didn't get to make it to Croatia and Greece unfortunately so missed out on the (probably comparable) beaches and natural beauty that SEA has in spades. Europe for me was more about history, architecture and culture - in particular food and drinks.

The hostels in Europe are also quite different to SEA. Often they have much nicer amenities, but I found to lack the same social atmosphere of a good SEA hostel. Given the restriction on having big buildings in historical old cities, often the hostels lacked a good common area - they have to make do with what they had.

While I did really enjoy my time in Europe, I was damn well keen to get back to SEA and enjoy the sunshine and natural beauty that makes SEA the beautiful region that it is.