Five Reasons To Travel To Europe This Summer

In the wake of volcano Eyjafjallajokull, (thank you cut and paste) there are a lot of people that are stranded far away from home in parts of Europe, which might lead you to think that traveling to Europe is a bad idea. Heck, you might even think about avoiding a trip over there this summer because the thought of getting stuck would hamper your summer plans stateside. However, here are some awesome cities and summer events that would make travel or getting stuck in Europe sound pretty darn appealing.

5 Reasons Europe Still Rocks This Summer

Reason #1😕 On May 22nd to May 24th, in Le Cap d?Agde at Plage de Rochelonge (a beach in the south of France) is the Sand Sculpture Festival. Take time to check out all the fantastic sand castles waiting for a bully and be sure to bring extra sunscreen because some of the beaches around the area require no bathing suits. Though the better times to be sans swimsuit might be in the warmer months of July and August, if you?re going to be stuck, a beach resort town with nightlife would be tops on my list.

Reason #2: Just down the proverbial road on June 17th to the 19th is the Sonar International Festival of Advanced Music and Art in Barcelona, Spain. This festival is all about electronic music and this year The Chemical Brothers headline with the 70s art rock group Roxy Music, led by Bryan Ferry. (?More Than This? ? anyone? Bueller?) Since Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain, on your down time, arm yourself with a good tourist book and explore.

Reason #3😕 Then again, if you?re not an electronic music guy, there?s a rock festival in Denmark that is sure to have something you like. on July 1st through the 4th will have Prince, Motorhead, Pavement, Vampire Weekend, Them Crooked Vultures and The National all performing. If you missed Coachella, then this will be your way to make up for it. Plus, being just on the outside of Copenhagen is a lot more interesting than being on the outside of Palm Springs for an extended period of time.

Reason #4: At this point, you might be thinking, yeah, what if I don?t want to sit around and watch other people play the keyboards, I want to do something. Well, head over to Interlaken, Switzerland and enjoy some serious extreme sports. There?s whitewater rafting, canyoning, paragliding and even skydiving all within the beautiful Alps.

Reason #5: The last thing to point out is that travel to Europe has one big thing over the United States this year ? the London Comicon is not sold out. (Stupid San Diego Comicon sold out since December.) Stick around until July 17th and 18th and besides plenty of folks from Star Trek (Captain Kirk! Number One!) and Star Wars, there is at least one woman that will be there ? Katee Sackhoff from ?Battlestar Galactica.? If comics and sci-fi aren?t your thing, then for goodness sakes, you?re in London. Drink a pint, throw a stone and I?m sure you?ll find something cool to do.

So you see, getting stuck isn?t so bad and there are plenty of options out there all reachable by train once you?re there. However, I?m sure if you have to stay at the beaches in the south of France all summer, you?ll find a way to be happy.