Best places to party in Europe!

Limited euros and a whole continent to devour? Uncover the best of Europe with this extract from Lonely Planet.

Whatever your connection to Europe – whether descendent of one or more of its peoples, a current inhabitant or future visitor – be prepared for sensory overload as your eyes, ears and taste buds take the trip of a lifetime through a part of planet earth that never fails to dazzle.

BEST MUSIC FESTIVALS

Roskilde – book your tickets, pack your tent and make for the ultimate musical line-up at Scandinavia’s very best rock festival.

Exit Festival – see the modern face of Serbia as big names play in the grounds of the Petrovaradin Citadel in the country’s second city.

Iceland Airwaves – join the Reykjavik crowds for this great festival each October when international bands play super-intimate venues, and cheery, beery partygoers whirl from gig to gig.

Glastonbury – come for the fantastic line-ups and endure the mudslides at Britain’s most famous and notorious summer festival.

Fête de la Musique – roam the streets of Paris and see live music performed for free as bands and buskers take to the streets for this celebration of music.

BEST UP-&-COMING PLACES

Pristina – Europe’s newest capital fizzes with energy and ambition in the wake of Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence.

Sibiu – this classic Saxon town gleams after careful restoration for its 2007 turn as an EU ‘Capital of Culture’.

Lviv – explore Ukraine’s most gorgeous city, awash with Armenian, Austro- Hungarian, Italian, Jewish and Polish influences almost perfectly preserved in its Unesco-listed old town.

Ghent – with its historic architecture, fab restaurants and sublime chocolate shops, Flanders’ best-kept secret is at its happiest during the good-time Gentse Feesten.

Kaliningrad – discover this compact island of Russia with its youthful, Western vibe, beautiful beaches, languid countryside and fascinating Prussian heritage.

This is an edited extract from Lonely Planet’s Europe on a Shoestring guidebook 6th edition by Tom Masters et al © Lonely Planet Publications, 2009.

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