So, I've slowly but surely saved $10,000 for a vacation with myself and my girlfriend. It's taken a while so I want it to count. We really want to do an architecture-crawl across Europe. We're both really interested in modern/contemporary buildings, stuff that is just jaw-droppingly beautiful. Here are some examples of styles we LOVE (real or not)
With a $10,000 budget, what countries can I visit to maximize this kind of stuff for us to see?
Is there a particular order in which I should travel? I've never been to Europe :/
Any buildings you can recommend, that's the biggest thing.
James Petty
Feb 13, 12 3:29 pm
are you serious?
1. 10 grand is quite a bit. you can see lots.
2. exeter library is in New Hampshire
3. mimoa.eu
usernametaken
Feb 13, 12 3:52 pm
Hi Ninject, I'd recommend the website www.mimoa.eu to you, if you didn't know that one already. Quite a good source for awesome architecture across Europe, including vital information (such as addresses, opening hours etcetera). an other source could be the A10 magazine, they always have a good selection of projects all across europe, plus a tour guide for a random European city every issue. They'll probably have an archive, I'd reckon.
The crucial question would be how long you are planning to stay in Europe. You can spend 10.000 in a day, or make it last a couple of months, depending on your standard of travel, accomodation etc...
Other than that: think cities, instead of countries. It just makes more sense around here. For instance, even though Hamburg and Munich are both German, it could take you a day to travel between them. So try to find some cities that have plenty of projects that appeal to you.
That being said: You will always miss out on something you'd really love, so you'd have to make some choices, possibly. For instance, a route Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Antwerpen - Paris - Barcelona - Lissabon (for instance) could be just as awesome as Oslo - Copenhagen - Berlin - Vienna - Zürich - Basle, or Helsinki - Tallinn - Warshaw - Prague - Graz - Ljubljana. to name a few cities that could have something to your taste. So it really depends... I'd suggest you to pick a few cities that you really don't want to miss (e.g. Copenhagen, Paris, Vienna) and plan the rest of your trip around that itinerary...
ninject
Feb 13, 12 10:59 pm
Wow, thank you for the responses! @James, it seems like it.. but travel costs a ton when you're flying from the states, traveling for 2, and I'd like to spend about a month. The money can go FAST.
Peter Normand
Apr 6, 18 10:03 am
one way to save money if you are eligible is to get a Euro Rail Pass. You have to be a student or under 25(?) and you have to get it in the states before you go to Europe.
Stephanie
Jan 16, 19 8:42 pm
In my experience eurail passes are a total waste of money, overly restrictive, and (having travelled extensively in Europe by train) much cheaper train fares can be found by booking directly online at each local country's sites (like trenitalia or deutsche bahn) or on travel apps. Try the app goEuro - plenty of cheap train fares to be found wherever you might want to go.
Miles Jaffe
Feb 14, 12 5:15 pm
10 days? Set up camp in Paris.
Chartes (day trip), Eiffel Tower, Pompidou, Ozenfant, Versailles, Notre Dame, La Sainte-Chapelle, Ronchamp (overnight), Musee d'Orsay, etc. Don't forget the Louvre.
Or Kyoto, unless you have your heart set on Europe.
sulidae12
Feb 15, 12 2:59 am
Also consider the time of year. Early to late Fall is a wonderful time to travel in europe. From Sept to early November you can get significantly cheaper plane tickets, accommodation and the tourist crowds will be gone.
If its your first time, as people suggest, choose a couple key places. Rent a studio apartment for a week in Paris. There is usually a discounted weekly or monthly rate. I'm not recommending this place: http://www.paris-apartment-rent.com/Sacred-Heart.html. (its a random quick google) but this is to just give you an idea of the types of apartments I've rented in the past in Paris that are fabulous to come home to after chasing after buildings and museums and urbanscapes. I've gone with a couple friends and gotten great deals in late fall: Paris to Amsterdam is also an easy train ride. I've lived in amsterdam for a couple weeks, completely avoided "the scene" and was amazed at all the great design in the city. There are fantastic urban interior architects in the city who have done these fabulous modern apartment renovations. Weekly renting in the off season is cheap.....Rotterdam is very accessible for great urban architecture, firms, etc...Getting to Zumthors thermal baths in Switzerland would take time and some set reservations, etc....but could you go so far and not try???
I would also highly recommend Scotland to Iceland and the ferry ride to Denmark (a plane ride if you are short on time). Again just rent a studio flat for a week, get some bicycles and soak up all the truly amazing urban copenhagen architecture. If you can get to helsinki and stockholm, all the better. Also, don't be afraid of hostels in Scandinavia. Its not like hostels in Paris, italy or amsterdam, etc. Hostels in Scandinavia are like super clean efficient little modest hotels.
Skip London, you'll be shocked by the exchange rate and your one month trip will melt to one week.
Lastly, don't underestimate seeing amazing rich landscape. It will make your jaunts towards dense urban architecture that much more exciting. I've stayed at this amazing farm in Tuscany, Italy (which I highly recommend) and used the farm as a starting point for trips to Siena (about 20 minutes north), Florence, Orvieto, Rome (5 hours south) and other beautiful small hilltop towns: http://www.spannocchia.com/rates/rental-request.cfm. The weekly rates in the low season are fantastic. If you go during early Fall, the farm still hosts pizza night, a once a week feast of fresh pizzas, breads baked from a wood burning oven. The farm makes their own wine, olive oil, has an organic garden, heirloom animal husbandry business, etc. The etruscan architecture and tombs in this area are fantastic as well.
Switch hit: spend some time in cheap digs when appropriate, treat yourself to moderate studio flats in great urban cities/farm towns and then live it up with just a couple fabulous nights somewhere.
PsyArch
Feb 16, 12 1:00 pm
London is wonderful, with a much greater diversity of architecture than Paris and, usefully, we speak English.
What else do you want to roll into your travels? Art galleries, music performances, particular pilgrimages, mountains, beaches, islands, people?
One route I want to travel is the Nordland sculpture trail in Norway. In the summer you'll have nearly 24hr sunshine. Coming South from Norway through Sweden (catch the Gormley/Chipperfield pavilion) to Denmark, the Louisiana Museum at Humlebaek has a wonderful collection of pavilions. Going via Copenhagen (the Black Diamond library, Carlsberg Glyptotek) and then the train (which drives onto a boat and off at the other end) to Hamburg. Hamburg is meh, but has great transport links. From there to (Berlin or to) Cologne/Dusseldorf, between which is the Museum Insell Hombroich with another amazing collection of pavillions, and in Cologne itself the Zumthor Columba Museum, the Richter window in the Cologne Cathedral, the Ludwig Museum...
If you are going South to Switzerland (another painfully expensive place to be after Scandinavia) the Vitra Campus at Weil am Rhein, Herzog & de Meuron at Schaulager, are both awesome and you are a half-day drive to Ronchamp. Another wonder is the Vitra/Pompidou campus at Boibuchet.
So much else, so much joy to be had, have a lot of fun.
Orhan Ayyüce
Feb 16, 12 1:35 pm
Architectural community is really western Eurocentric. Why not fly to Budapest and travel eastward and fly back from Istanbul? Probably one would have more chances to see more jaw dropping constructivist and other modern architecture in former iron curtain countries and some beautiful examples of Islamic and local architecture in Balkans. And all the ancient architecture virtually in every stop.
byen01
Feb 16, 12 3:23 pm
Though not entirely related to modern architecture, I highly recommend Berlin's underground tour through old bunkers.
berliner-unterwelten.de/guided-tours.3.1.html
Unite d'Habitation in Berlin isn't entirely exciting, and I got kicked out for wandering the halls of the apartment bloc.
I agree with Orhan, but why stop at Istanbul? Go down to Athens (best you pack some riot retardant clothes) You can even try to re-enact CIAM's meeting in Athens!
ninject
Feb 16, 12 10:59 pm
These are amazing responses, truly appreciated. Lots to consider now!
RED_M
Feb 17, 12 5:56 am
You may well check http://www.interrailnet.com/, it is an unlimited pass to travel (by train) in Europe. I never used it but I have friends who used it to travel on the cheap (i.e. sleeping in the train between two cities).
x-jla
Feb 17, 12 11:10 am
Go down to Athens
Yeah man go see the parthenon before it goes into forclosure.
pshallat
Jan 16, 19 3:21 pm
Hello to all. I just joined the group and for a very specific purpose. I am a student (an older student) of architecture history but especially Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo architecture. I would like to tour southern Germany (Bavaria), Austria, and Hungary by car to visit the many Rococo masterpieces in that part of Europe. I am looking for a traveling companion, not just someone with whom to share expenses, but someone simpatico with my enthusiasm for such a tour. The trip could happen Sept/Oct of this year or next, for 2-3 weeks. Time frame and calendar dates are flexible. I have done my homework and have an itinerary which, too, is flexible. If you share my interest in the Rococo and would consider taking the trip, please contact me and we can get to know one another. Likewise, if you are familiar with any architecture groups or societies I might approach to look for a traveling companion, I would greatly appreciate the referral. Thanks.
So, I've slowly but surely saved $10,000 for a vacation with myself and my girlfriend. It's taken a while so I want it to count. We really want to do an architecture-crawl across Europe. We're both really interested in modern/contemporary buildings, stuff that is just jaw-droppingly beautiful. Here are some examples of styles we LOVE (real or not)
So, what I'm looking for is recommendations on..
are you serious?
1. 10 grand is quite a bit. you can see lots.
2. exeter library is in New Hampshire
3. mimoa.eu
Hi Ninject, I'd recommend the website www.mimoa.eu to you, if you didn't know that one already. Quite a good source for awesome architecture across Europe, including vital information (such as addresses, opening hours etcetera). an other source could be the A10 magazine, they always have a good selection of projects all across europe, plus a tour guide for a random European city every issue. They'll probably have an archive, I'd reckon.
The crucial question would be how long you are planning to stay in Europe. You can spend 10.000 in a day, or make it last a couple of months, depending on your standard of travel, accomodation etc...
Other than that: think cities, instead of countries. It just makes more sense around here. For instance, even though Hamburg and Munich are both German, it could take you a day to travel between them. So try to find some cities that have plenty of projects that appeal to you.
That being said: You will always miss out on something you'd really love, so you'd have to make some choices, possibly. For instance, a route Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Antwerpen - Paris - Barcelona - Lissabon (for instance) could be just as awesome as Oslo - Copenhagen - Berlin - Vienna - Zürich - Basle, or Helsinki - Tallinn - Warshaw - Prague - Graz - Ljubljana. to name a few cities that could have something to your taste. So it really depends... I'd suggest you to pick a few cities that you really don't want to miss (e.g. Copenhagen, Paris, Vienna) and plan the rest of your trip around that itinerary...
Wow, thank you for the responses! @James, it seems like it.. but travel costs a ton when you're flying from the states, traveling for 2, and I'd like to spend about a month. The money can go FAST.
one way to save money if you are eligible is to get a Euro Rail Pass. You have to be a student or under 25(?) and you have to get it in the states before you go to Europe.
In my experience eurail passes are a total waste of money, overly restrictive, and (having travelled extensively in Europe by train) much cheaper train fares can be found by booking directly online at each local country's sites (like trenitalia or deutsche bahn) or on travel apps. Try the app goEuro - plenty of cheap train fares to be found wherever you might want to go.
10 days? Set up camp in Paris.
Chartes (day trip), Eiffel Tower, Pompidou, Ozenfant, Versailles, Notre Dame, La Sainte-Chapelle, Ronchamp (overnight), Musee d'Orsay, etc. Don't forget the Louvre.
Or Kyoto, unless you have your heart set on Europe.
Also consider the time of year. Early to late Fall is a wonderful time to travel in europe. From Sept to early November you can get significantly cheaper plane tickets, accommodation and the tourist crowds will be gone.
If its your first time, as people suggest, choose a couple key places. Rent a studio apartment for a week in Paris. There is usually a discounted weekly or monthly rate. I'm not recommending this place: http://www.paris-apartment-rent.com/Sacred-Heart.html. (its a random quick google) but this is to just give you an idea of the types of apartments I've rented in the past in Paris that are fabulous to come home to after chasing after buildings and museums and urbanscapes. I've gone with a couple friends and gotten great deals in late fall: Paris to Amsterdam is also an easy train ride. I've lived in amsterdam for a couple weeks, completely avoided "the scene" and was amazed at all the great design in the city. There are fantastic urban interior architects in the city who have done these fabulous modern apartment renovations. Weekly renting in the off season is cheap.....Rotterdam is very accessible for great urban architecture, firms, etc...Getting to Zumthors thermal baths in Switzerland would take time and some set reservations, etc....but could you go so far and not try???
I would also highly recommend Scotland to Iceland and the ferry ride to Denmark (a plane ride if you are short on time). Again just rent a studio flat for a week, get some bicycles and soak up all the truly amazing urban copenhagen architecture. If you can get to helsinki and stockholm, all the better. Also, don't be afraid of hostels in Scandinavia. Its not like hostels in Paris, italy or amsterdam, etc. Hostels in Scandinavia are like super clean efficient little modest hotels.
Skip London, you'll be shocked by the exchange rate and your one month trip will melt to one week.
Lastly, don't underestimate seeing amazing rich landscape. It will make your jaunts towards dense urban architecture that much more exciting. I've stayed at this amazing farm in Tuscany, Italy (which I highly recommend) and used the farm as a starting point for trips to Siena (about 20 minutes north), Florence, Orvieto, Rome (5 hours south) and other beautiful small hilltop towns: http://www.spannocchia.com/rates/rental-request.cfm. The weekly rates in the low season are fantastic. If you go during early Fall, the farm still hosts pizza night, a once a week feast of fresh pizzas, breads baked from a wood burning oven. The farm makes their own wine, olive oil, has an organic garden, heirloom animal husbandry business, etc. The etruscan architecture and tombs in this area are fantastic as well.
Switch hit: spend some time in cheap digs when appropriate, treat yourself to moderate studio flats in great urban cities/farm towns and then live it up with just a couple fabulous nights somewhere.
London is wonderful, with a much greater diversity of architecture than Paris and, usefully, we speak English.
What else do you want to roll into your travels? Art galleries, music performances, particular pilgrimages, mountains, beaches, islands, people?
One route I want to travel is the Nordland sculpture trail in Norway. In the summer you'll have nearly 24hr sunshine. Coming South from Norway through Sweden (catch the Gormley/Chipperfield pavilion) to Denmark, the Louisiana Museum at Humlebaek has a wonderful collection of pavilions. Going via Copenhagen (the Black Diamond library, Carlsberg Glyptotek) and then the train (which drives onto a boat and off at the other end) to Hamburg. Hamburg is meh, but has great transport links. From there to (Berlin or to) Cologne/Dusseldorf, between which is the Museum Insell Hombroich with another amazing collection of pavillions, and in Cologne itself the Zumthor Columba Museum, the Richter window in the Cologne Cathedral, the Ludwig Museum...
If you are going South to Switzerland (another painfully expensive place to be after Scandinavia) the Vitra Campus at Weil am Rhein, Herzog & de Meuron at Schaulager, are both awesome and you are a half-day drive to Ronchamp. Another wonder is the Vitra/Pompidou campus at Boibuchet.
So much else, so much joy to be had, have a lot of fun.
Architectural community is really western Eurocentric. Why not fly to Budapest and travel eastward and fly back from Istanbul? Probably one would have more chances to see more jaw dropping constructivist and other modern architecture in former iron curtain countries and some beautiful examples of Islamic and local architecture in Balkans. And all the ancient architecture virtually in every stop.
Though not entirely related to modern architecture, I highly recommend Berlin's underground tour through old bunkers.
berliner-unterwelten.de/guided-tours.3.1.html
Unite d'Habitation in Berlin isn't entirely exciting, and I got kicked out for wandering the halls of the apartment bloc.
I agree with Orhan, but why stop at Istanbul? Go down to Athens (best you pack some riot retardant clothes) You can even try to re-enact CIAM's meeting in Athens!
These are amazing responses, truly appreciated. Lots to consider now!
You may well check http://www.interrailnet.com/, it is an unlimited pass to travel (by train) in Europe. I never used it but I have friends who used it to travel on the cheap (i.e. sleeping in the train between two cities).
Go down to Athens
Yeah man go see the parthenon before it goes into forclosure.
Hello to all. I just joined the group and for a very specific purpose. I am a student (an older student) of architecture history but especially Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo architecture. I would like to tour southern Germany (Bavaria), Austria, and Hungary by car to visit the many Rococo masterpieces in that part of Europe. I am looking for a traveling companion, not just someone with whom to share expenses, but someone simpatico with my enthusiasm for such a tour. The trip could happen Sept/Oct of this year or next, for 2-3 weeks. Time frame and calendar dates are flexible. I have done my homework and have an itinerary which, too, is flexible. If you share my interest in the Rococo and would consider taking the trip, please contact me and we can get to know one another. Likewise, if you are familiar with any architecture groups or societies I might approach to look for a traveling companion, I would greatly appreciate the referral. Thanks.