How "Europe" came to be viewed as a continent is an odd question of interest only to Europeans. Continent or not, there's still a lot of really good, really old stuff worth seeing packed into the westernmost peninsula of Asia.

Recently, a young Chinese friend approached me for travel tips. He had a bit of money and a bit of time and he wanted to go see what all the 3,000 years of shouting was about in "Europe," and could I please come up with a one-month itinerary for him.

Shades of the Empire, and Cook's, and the Orient Express! I sat down with my maps, my books, and my memories, and began to think: Where should an intelligent, educated, hip, young non-European/non-American person go in Europe and what should he see at the beginning of the 21st century?

The constraints: He had enough money to travel by rail and to mostly stay in youth hostels, with an occasional hotel if necessary. He wanted to hold the trip to four weeks but could extend to five. He wanted a map, along with a list of must-see's and maybe-see's at the various locations on the map.

It turned into a fascinating exercise. Part of the result you see above, in the map and the route I wound up recommending. Those of you who've traveled in Europe will have fun critiquing the route I chose and slapping your forehead at what I left out.

Those who haven't traveled in Europe, can use the map as a starting point for your own grand tour. Certainly it's not complete, You can't begin to see everything in four weeks. But you can see a lot of the important stuff.

On the next page, you'll find the list of sights and sites that I thought he should aim for.

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Follow-up
My friend did the tour, and mostly followed the route shown, going clockwise from London. He didn't get to Berlin, Prague, or Austria, because he stayed longer than planned in other places.

His nutshell judgments after this quickie Grand Tour:

Favorite country: Italy.
Favorite city: Munich (go figure).
Least favorite city: Paris ("People not friendly").
Most disappointing city: Venice (the smell and the tides).
Favorite museum: Palazzo Vecchio (Florence).
Most depressing experience: ubiquitous Gypsy panhandlers.
Most photogenic site: Neuschwanstein Castle (Germany).
Most exciting experience: Driving 110 mph in a rented Renault on the Munich-Stuttgart Autobahn.

Key to the Grand Tour Map

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