Europe Trip...Places to visit?

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superstat

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Hey,

I'm spending two weeks travelling round Europe in the summer. I have a keen interest in Architecure and wondered if there was anything I should look out for in particular? Also any other places of particular photographic interest?

My itinerary is as follows;

July 21st-June 5/6th

London (St. Pancras, just catching the Eurostar from here)
Paris
Barcelona
Monaco/Nice
Milan
Prague
Amsterdam

I have about 2/3 days in each so if something is worth travelling to near by then I can....

This trip is also part of the Nifty 50 tour.....so any particular events for portraits etc..
 
In Monaco you have to go visit the casino... You should get some good photo's around there. Be aware the Casino has blue lighting above the entrance and you may need to filter or adjust for that. Also, don't expect to get inside with a camera - you'll be asked to check it. Stick around into the early hours and you may capture a famous face or two, not to mention some spectacular cars parked outside.

Finally, take lots of dosh as even a small beer at the casino is expensive.
 
Barcelona is PACKED with Gaudi architecture

Paris has the obvious Eiffel Tower, Arc, Pompidoo Centre, Louvre, Notre Dame

Milan, Duomo is the main thing there, but I didn't spend much time in Milan itself (don't forget the San Siro - Scene of Liverpool's most recent European exploit :D )

Amsterdam has loads of old canal houses, Anne Franks house
Heinekin brewery and the red light district :nuts: - Just watch you and your camera doesn't end up in the canal :help:


Never been to Monaco or Prague

Best to get on Amazon or Ebay and pick up a guide book for each place with maps in them, also the city bus tours take you to most of the main sights as well

Enjoy your trip :thumbs:
 
The best thing about Monaco is that it's very safe to hang around the main areas day and night. Definitely outside the casino and the Marina areas. At the top of the hill is the Palace and guards although very full of tourists.

For portraits, people might be a bit 'shy' there, but in clubs you might be ok. The club for younger / trendier was Karemont in 2005 which is also next to the Zebra Square restaurant which has a great interior to photograph. Both are on the net and often will have an exhibition on the ground floor in the daytimes
www.zebrasquare.com
www.karement.com

Old town of Nice at night time has a lot of atmosphere but there are areas you might not want to be on your own with your camera out! Promenade des Anglais is mainly strangled with traffic, take the train from Nice to Monaco (under £10 I think) or if you can afford it, take the helicopter. It's around £80 one way, but will show you how spectacular the coast is.

Barcelona is my favourite in Europe, lots of great architecture especially by Gaudi and you also have beach life. Again, from personal experience I say be wary, that doesn't mean don't go, just keep your wits about you at all times at the beach area especially.

Sounds like a fun trip, go and enjoy it and share the photos with us after please!
 
Cool, I'm really excited about this trip....

Thanks for all the recommendations so far..

Safety/Theft is one thing I am slightly concerned about...we are interailling and therefore taking backpacks (I'm going for a smallish one, not the typical 'backpacker') I am therefore unsure as to how much kit to take...I was going to take 40D+grip+10-20+24-70 2.8.....then the Nifty Fifty tour arrived.....So now I'm slightly tempted to leave my 24-70 at home...would make for a much lighter trip!....
 
In Prague you just have to walk out the door and open your eyes, it's stuffed full of magnificent buildings.
 
superstat said:
Hey,

I'm spending two weeks travelling round Europe in the summer. I have a keen interest in Architecure and wondered if there was anything I should look out for in particular? Also any other places of particular photographic interest?

My itinerary is as follows;

July 21st-June 5/6th

London (St. Pancras, just catching the Eurostar from here)
Paris
Barcelona
Monaco/Nice
Milan
Prague
Amsterdam

I have about 2/3 days in each so if something is worth travelling to near by then I can....
Click to expand...

Hmmm.

I suppose my comment is that you are picking pretty big places to "do" each in a few days. I know you've given this as your itinerary, but might you be open to revising it?

Milan - the cathedral (duomo) is the biggest and most important gothic building south of the Alps. It also has lots of art nouveau arcades full of very expensive designer boutiques, but well worth photographing.

Amsterdam - I'm not convinced. Given the time you have for this stop I keep thinking "Bruges" or maybe "Ghent" or "Antwerp".

Prague - full of tourists but at least the stag parties have moved on, but have you considered Budapest instead?

Monaco/Nice - These developed relatively recently so I'm not sure what architecture they will offer you. What sort of architecture are you interested in? If modern then fair enough but if you're looking for anything much earlier than c1900 then you may be disappointed.

Paris - that's a lot to do in a couple of days and can't advise as I've never gone there with a camera. I agree about La Defense, though - the Grande Arche is spectacular at night. However would you consider some less obvious places in northern France? The (medieval) cathedral at Metz has some glorious pre-war(?) stained glass windows by Chagall. What about Strasbourg (or, across the Rhein, Freiburg in Germany)?

Sorry, I'm not really answering your question, am I?
 
Hey Woadrage,

I realise that I am not going to be able to fully 'do' these places. It has been said that our planned trip is very 'tight' (It was even tighter)

With regard to location that is fairly fixed due to the fact that its me and my mates going and not just me....their interest in architecture and photography is limited, although one other tog is coming...

So the locations are fixed but the only time constraint we have is our flight from milan to prague....

I'll give you a little history regarding my interest...I am an Architectural Technologist (in training) and am half way through my 6 year part time course....I have always had an interest in architecture but as my course has progressed I have only now begun to realise the importance of pre 1900's (if anything I have been severely narrow minded) So for this reason I am looking to see architecture that has shaped what we see today and the transition between era's...

Sorry if i'm boring you......

But within this photography/architectural journey I also have a 'lads holiday' to take part in :woot:

So its certainly going to be very hard to get to all places but key places would be great...I have just won a book on Prague Architecture so that should give me good guidance...

Amsterdam is in there for the 'experience'

Cheers AJ
 
It helps now that you have specified your interests.

Il Duomo definitely in Milan and La Scala is just opposite too. Not far away is also the old castle, bit less architectural but lots of cafes to stop at between the Dome and Castle.

Paris - too many to go through, but one of my favourites is Notre Dame, especially from the River view. Touristy I know, but it is beautiful.

Monaco may not be so interesting architecturally, but is a lovely small place.
 
Cool....

I do also have a great interest in most era's of architecture and would like to see...specifically Calatrava, RSH+P, HOK, Hadid, Gehry.....(as well as the above mentioned older stuff)

Obviously this trip is going to be a real squeeze but I do hope to see main landmarks
 
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