Taking a european vacation by yourself

Lonely Planet's Web site also is very good for this.

 

Don't even think about a tour group. You'll have more fun making up your itinerary as you go along.

If you've never been to Europe London might be the best place for your first visit. Tons to see and do, the Tube runs everywhere and there isn't a big language barrier.

If you decide to take in the Continent I recommend flying into somplace central like Zurich then take the train to your final destiation. Train travel in Europe is a lot of fun.

 

I wasn't big on solo travel - until the first time I did it.
Way yore, when the Soviet Union was still the Soviet Union and I was an impressionable youngster, I had a pit stop in London on the way home to break up the long trip. That was a trip in itself, but the pitstop had its moments too.

Met a French soccer team on the train back from Dover, which was good for 48 solid hours of partying - no date-rape drugs back then, thank God.

Scored outstanding seats for 3 or 4 plays, like second-row centre, because I only needed a single ticket. Saw former childhood crush David Cassidy, who was appearing in some weird sci-fi musical thing (I think it was called Time; the highlight was this giant orb in the shape of Laurence Olivier's head that sat inside a globe that opened, allowing the big head to speak. Very Wizard of Oz). 10 feet away from Keith Partridge. Good times.

Snuck into the All-England Club through a side gate opened for a delivery truck, watched a bunch of old farts on the grass for awhile, until they finally let me get on the court (probably based on the quality of my legs in my shorts) for a few minutes to hit with them (in my bare feet).
The all-anal security Wimbledon force descended soon enough, but at the time (never having been there before), it was an outstanding story.

My B&B was right on King's Road. The shopping was this side of extraordinary.

 

Love solo travel. Haven't done it out of the country yet, but I've seen most of the U.S. while traveling by myself. I may be on the road for 10 days, but I usually catch up with friends in different places and meet new people along the way.

The only time I occassionally miss having a companion is at dinner when some good conversation would be nice.

 

Billysixty,

I'll throw in a vote for a tour, particularly if your time to travel and plan is limited. Not sure how old you are, but if you're 35 or under check out Contiki. It's basically a greatest-hits tour of wherever you go and a party bus, plus they don't advertise much in the USA so it's a great way to meet cool people from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, etc. I'm still in touch with Aussies I met on a Contiki tour a decade ago. And, since the age group is young and no one's worried about staying in a 5-star hotel, the prices are relatively cheap.

 

Don't tour, hostel. Hook up with a group of backpackers -- usually a group of strangers, anyway -- and have a blast. Seriously, so fun. A week will pass like it's an hour.