I burnt out of FS pretty hard about 3 years ago, now... a little before graduating college. At the time, I was using FS9 and getting good mileage out of it. I had thousands of dollars of purchases, too, so I was getting a good experience.

Now, I'm looking to update and get into FS again - particularly into FSX, in whatever flavor is the most popular these days. I'd like to get started again, and I'd like the best possible experience again.
So what is the best?

For scenery, I'll be following the ORBX route, but that's only good so far. What's good elsewhere in the world? What's the best for European cities and countryside? And freeware, oh my goodness, freeware. There are so many little niche sites and odd nooks and crannies that just hitting up fs.com and avsim are not going to be remotely effective in digging up what there is...
For planes, I'll be getting the A2A planes in time, 'cause that's obvious, and possibly even the PMDG stuff if I can get over my aversion to tubes. And Aeroplane Heaven, GAS, and so forth, for sure. But what hidden gems am I in danger of missing? Where should I look to get the ones that are hiding?

Please help. I know that the reflex response is "search the libraries," but I've been out of the loop for a while and there always have been, perhaps even more so now, gems hidden in odd places, not included in the main libraries and amazing payware hidden away from the main shops...