Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still worthwhile, but very different to those of us who have travelled there over the past couple decades.

Whatever.

Everywhere you traveled pre-kids/pre-adult responsible/pre-monogomy obviously seems better.

"Europe" hasn't changed anymore than DC has.

Well -- yes, DC has changed dramatically in the last 30 years. As has Europe. That doesn't mean that they've changed in the same way.

I think it has changed in the tourist areas. There are just so many more people. The most popular sites are mobbed and even places that used to not be crowded are. But maybe I'm older than some of you. Even in the late 80's, people from the Eastern Bloc countries and China couldn't (or couldn't afford to) travel. The world's population has grown, and, at the same time, so has the number of people who can afford to travel. The cities just have a different feel than they used to. I remember going to Paris in the early Spring, and you could just walk into the Louvre. I went back recently at about the same time of year, and it wasn't as crowded as it would be in the summer, but there was a long line to get in. You could see from the rope lines they had set up that it would be nuts in the summer.

It's still worth going, but, for lack of a better way to say it, I no longer feel as though I'm getting a feel for the real local culture because the natives are so overwhelmed by the tourists. It's almost like these cities are becoming large theme parks. That's a bit overstated, but that's the way it feels. I just saw that, during peak tourist season, Venice is going to start segregating the tourists from the locals with rope lines, and limit the number of nonresidents that can come into the city. That's sad, but I get why they're doing it.

The hotel rooms are much smaller than American hotel rooms. That's always been the case, but now with the rise of micro hotels, it's even smaller.
I use trip advisor to find hotels and the reviews are usually on target.

I don’t think Europe has changed so much as the average American traveler to Europe has. Because of airfare rates, Europe used to largely only be accessible to Americans who either had plenty of money to spend on luxury travel or were willing to go the hostel route. For Europeans traveling within the continent, there was a whole class of budget accommodations in between those two ends of the spectrum. As air travel has gotten relatively less expensive, travel to Europe has become accessible to a wider range of Americans, many of whom then also use the more budget accommodations but are expecting a more luxe experience based on what they’ve heard about European travel.

Yep, enjoyed running from the knife wielding idoit after our dinner in London. Hasn't changed a bit. Lol. You people are delusional.

I’m not the world’s biggest expert, lol. But, I traveled in Europe on some various trips from around 1997-2004 - London, Paris, south of France on another trip, Greece, Italy, Spain... then I got married & had 3 kids, & after a hiatus went back to Rome in 2017. It was as good as I remembered it...

I'm French, and have traveled back and forth for 18 years. I have also traveled in France.

It hasn't changed a bit!

The OP is so vague I don't know where to start.

Anonymous wrote:Still worthwhile, but very different to those of us who have travelled there over the past couple decades.

This. My pics from long ago have wonderful historic sites where we could get up close (Stonehenge) or be able to take pics with hardly anyone around. We just compared my past pics of the leaning tower of Pisa and the Great Wall of China or even old faithful to current pics and the places are all mobbed now n

Public transportation was what impressed my BIL the most. We took a bus, train, taxi and street car to get around town. We had a car for driving outside even though trains go everywhere for couple of euros every 20 minutes.

Really miss having to change money whenever you cross a border.

Anonymous wrote:I've heard that Europe is not as great to travel to as it used to be. Is that really true?

I find it humbling to go to Europe and see that the standard of living is so much higher than the United States. There's nothing like taking Amtrak one week and a European train the next to see how ratty the United States has become.

Anonymous wrote:Still worthwhile, but very different to those of us who have travelled there over the past couple decades.

Whatever.

Everywhere you traveled pre-kids/pre-adult responsible/pre-monogomy obviously seems better.

"Europe" hasn't changed anymore than DC has.

Still worthwhile, but very different to those of us who have travelled there over the past couple decades.

I've heard that Europe is not as great to travel to as it used to be. Is that really true?