Where will these languages take me...and what to see while there?

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Ok, so English is my 1st language, but as soon as we have some spare time, my wife and I want to learn German before we go on our European trip.

Anyway, knowing English along with German, what countries would be able to go to and properly communicate with the locals? Hotels and the like don’t count since we’ll probably only stay at an actually hotel as we explore London and the surrounding areas.

We're planning on taking $10,000 with us (that's after buying the tickets to get us to Europe), and our plans are to ask the locals what to see and where to go...and basically have little to no financial restrictions. Countries we know we want to go to are: England, Scotland, and Germany. Our goals include country hopping, so I need to know where I can properly communicate.

[EDIT] To view the places I've got so far in Google Earth, please read my post a bit down the page for a major update to this thread. Or just click this link. [/EDIT]

 

You'll be fine anywhere so long as you speak English. Basic grasp of French, Spanish and German and Europe is your Oyster. You don't 'need' other languages though. The Europeans are generally very accommodating for English speakers. I've been loads and loads of countries and never met a single person abroad who doesn't know at least enough English to get along. You've Britain to thank for that, we're an extremely lazy country, really.

 

Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg and also technically Belgium (for the tiny Limbourg regions which used to belong to the historical Luxembourg) are countries with German as the official language, although German is also popular in countries neighbouring Germany, except perhaps France.

 

Ohhh, if you drop into Scotland, be sure to come to Dundee, i would gladly show you around, give you a few other places to see.

 

Ok, so I don't have to post a new thread, I'm updating this one.

Before my wife and I have kids, we want to end our normal lives with a bang... (so to speak). We figure that once we have kids, we're not going to be able to take vacations or travel much for several years, so we want to go all out and have the time of our lives.

As of right now, we know we want to start the trip in England. While there, we want to see Westminster Abby, Buckingham Palace, and a few other of the main tourist traps in London.

From there, we want to go up to Scotland for a quick visit to any castles, and to check out anything worth seeing.

After Scotland, it's off to Germany for what looks to be the main stay of the trip. I'm still adding placemarks to Google Earth to map out all the "good" castles and other places we want to go...and so far, there's a lot.

After Germany, I'm not really sure of where to go. I'd like to go to Hungary and see Budapest, along with the Czech Republic to check out Prague, or the Netherlands to see Amsterdam.

So *please* people, give me ideas! Places to go, things to see, places to stay...you get the drift. Once I finish adding placemarkers to Google Earth, I'll save them to a file and give you all the link so you can all see my ideas on GE.

 

If you're going to visit England, don't just go to London then leave. There's plenty of other places well worth a visit. I'll take a look at your GE plan for England and let you know .

 

I'll do the same for Scotland, plenty of things to see here, i live here and i've not seen them all...

 

You might be able to get around Nothern Italy if you have some German fluency.

 

Kitrax I demand that while in Europe you come to a meetup of random SP locals

 

Kitrax, while in London definitely go to the British Museum. Though it's been years since I was there it remains one of the most awesome museums in the world. I spent a semester in London and wandered into the museum at least every couple of weeks and never saw it all.

 

Kitrax, hurray! I'm so happy for you. When I travelled in England, France and Italy, 3 different trips, I planned my own trip and mostly stayed at Bed & Breakfasts or inns, except in London and Paris. In those two cities we did stay in hotels. I don't count the hotel in Rome since it was a small one. We went off the beaten USA tourist route, met locals and had a ball. The only country where I had a small bit of a language problem was France. I only speak English with a few words of Italian and Spanish.

 

I'm *really* going to need help with Scotland. Could you PM me with some ideas?

I was planning on it...but since you *demanded*, I just might skip *your* area. Naw...just kidding, after I have a general idea of where we're going, we can start planning the SP member meet and greet.

I'm not really big on museums....Jessica might be...but I prefer castles, gothic style cathedrals, and other architectural wonders of the past.

 

That invitation exclusive or for all SP'ers? I may be in Scotland to visit my cousin sometime next year. He's studying at St. Andrew's.

I'll be in Spain on January 6. Any SP'ers from there? Only one I'm aware of is Sydax. I'm going to be studying in Salamanca for around 6months but I'd like to travel around if I can so maybe I can meet up with some of you guys? almost everywhere in Europe is only a border away provided I have a Shenzen(sp?) visa, right?

 

You might want to get some basic knowledge of French. Also, my Hungarian friends claim that knowledge of English is rather poor over there.

The Frenchies might not be the most inviting people, but that doesn't change the fact that the country has a lot to offer. I would also recommend Italy.

Belgium shouldn't prove to be problematic language-wise.

 

I'm the traditional America (i.e., I only speak English). While in the Navy I traveled all over the world and found that you do not need to know any other language.

You only need to be polite.

It's absolutely amazing the different impressions I had versus those of my shipmates. I would learn a few phrases (most important are 'please' and 'thank-you'), which you can pick up with any decent travel guide. There are so many people that know English (and for that matter French, Spanish, German, and Italian), with patience and positive attitude you will find local people willing to help you and share in the pride of their communities.

Don't limit yourself based solely on language.

 

NOO! How dare he! There our rivals
If your only going to be in St. Andrews, then feel free to drop by mine, im only a 10 minute drive away. Also, all the good shopping and night life is here, and not in St. Andrews.

Kit, i'll start forumlating a list for you.

 

That's a bit harsh actually. I'm French and where I live (in Lyons) there are many tourists. Sometimes it's a bit annoying because you may be in a hurry and the streets are crowded and you have to take "shortcuts" to avoid flocks of tourists (French and non French tourists as well). That being said most people over here are rather nice and friendly.

Some very good advice from T2Bruno. What matters is not the proficiency but the fact that you are at least trying to communicate in the language. Just don't expect everyone you meet in Europe to speak English fluently.

 

Yeah, sorry, Caradhras, je m'excuse. I didn't mean it that way, but I didn't feel like nuancing the statement because I was insanely hungry (and as a result also very grumpy - it's a curse). What I meant to say is that the French tend to be rather protective of their language and might not always react well to being addressed in English. It actually totally depends on where you go. I found that when we were in the South and stayed at small "domaines" in rural areas, people were very friendly. Paris is a different story. Then again, I can relate to major irritation over tourists, since I live in a touristy area that gets very, very crowded during the summer (by French and non-French tourists, we have that in common ).

I probably shouldn't post when my sugar level is that low. Sorry again. I'm taking evening classes to resurrect my secondary school French and I have family in France, so I'm not anti-France.