If you’re in your final year of school and have set your heart on taking a gap year, or are currently on a gap year but as of yet haven’t yet settled on what to do with it between January and September, the chances are you’ll have noticed that picking a destination to go to (if you’re planning on leaving these shores, of course), can be quite daunting.

It’s a big ol’ world out there, with each one of the Earth’s continents having its own unique characteristics, climates and cultures. On one level this fact is something to be marvelled at and a source of inspiration that can only encourage you to try and see it all over the course of your lifetime.

But in other respects this diversity and abundance of places and people to discover can make the task of planning a gap year difficult. After all, although you can go abroad at any point after you graduate if you set your mind to it, you still only get one gap year before university. So you need to choose exactly where you’re going to go and what you’re going to do wisely.

Whenever you’re confronted with a big range of options, the best thing to do is often to get them all down in writing, so you’ve got all your different options in one place. And in that spirit, today and over the next couple of weeks week we’re going to do a rundown of the main regions of the world that a gap year can take you to. Where can you go? And what can you do while you’re there? Let’s find out!

Europe

Let’s start off close to home. Europe is often overlooked as a gap year destination, most likely because people regard what’s close to them as mundane. But that’s a big mistake to make. Europe is packed with many of the world’s most culturally and historically fascinating cities, a hugely diverse range of customs and landscapes and, above all, loads of opportunities for having a great gap year adventure.

Things you can do: backpacking and interrailing; teaching English as a foreign language; casual work in a new city (you’re free to work anywhere in the EU without a visa); attending language school

An ideal destination for: people looking for the flexibility that comes with heading to a continent where you don’t need to have to make visa and medical arrangements in and that benefits from great transport links between cities.

Maybe not for you if: you’ve had the good fortune to experience a good slice of European life in the past and are now looking to venture further afield, or if you want to base your gap year around volunteering to help people.