Hi,
Me and two friends are planning our first trip to Europe for this summer.
We're all 18, students, females.
I've got a lot of questions about it though...
Our basic itinerary (so far) is London, Paris, Bruges, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Munich (with some smaller cities in between)
1. What is the easiest way to get around? We were looking at Busabout because then we would have a guide if we need help but aren't stuck on a group tour, but after reading around I've started to consider trains, but i've also heard that there are lots of extra charges on trains. Also, is it hard to get used to the train system in different cities? And to get to and from the train station?
2. Is 3 nights enough for each city?
3. We are going in May/June, so should we book our hostels early? I'm really worried about getting stuck somewhere with nowhere to sleep
So those are my main questions at this point!
Any advice would really be appreciated!
Reply to this Hello Kirstie 😊
I think the easiest and nicest way to get around is by train. The views are much better than from the busses. From the busses you will usually just see a lot of highway.
If you buy train tickets in advance on the internet you can often score good bargains, which will often make buying idividual tickets less expensive than buying a train pass.
3 nights in each city is a nice amount of time, to hang around the old parts of the cities and visit a couple of attractions.
I would book hostels in advance, because May and June is comming close to tourist season. I think a few days in advcance should be enough, unless you know exactly where you are going to be and when, then book further ahead to ensure you get they type of dorm room you want.
Mel
Reply to this Thanks 😊
I haven't really taken trains anywhere, is it hard to get used to? Are train stations usually close to the city center, close enough to walk to the hostels and stuff?
Reply to this Yes, train stations are usually in the heart of the city centers. Whether they are close enough to walk to hostels or not, depends on the location of the hostels. Most hostels in European cities these days seem to be in the centers, so there is a good chance you would be able to walk to them from the train station or at least get to them on the subway.
Mel
Reply to this Hi Kirstie,
I went to Paris and Berlin with my fella and had a fantastic time. Trains in Germany particularly are very economic and scenic and if I remember rightly you can get a pass which saves you even more money on any rail purchases (possibly Europe wide) - def worth doing some research on this as I can't fully remember the details.
If you want to save on some sightseeing there's a great website which offers instant printable discounts for attractions in London with links to other European countries too (with attractions in Paris - Les Etoiles du Rex is wonderful - , Amsterdam & Germany). Go to discountbritain.net
Generally you can book hostels as late as on the day (obviously advisable to do it maybe a a few weeks in advance) so I wouldn't worry about being left on the streets!!! (but granted you don't want to spend hours searching for accomodation).
Enjoy your trip & travel safe!
Reply to this Hi Kristie,
You can get a pass that is valid for a certain amount of time (we are getting the month pass) throughout Europe. There are a variety of Eurail passes though.
There are some extra charges to watch for - if you want to make sure that you will have a seat on a particular train you have to reserve it, and they charge you for that. You can always just take the risk, but you might end up standing for a long trip.
Also, some of the train networks within a country will not let you use the rail pass on their system. But it will get you between countries, and in most countries you can still use it.
We also looked at using the Busabout tour, but in the end it was going a lot of places we didn't want to be stopping, and we don't want to be spending a lot of time travelling - trains are faster and we can head straight to our next destination instead of following their route.
Hope this helps!
Skye
Reply to this thanks for your replies guys!!!
you've given me some more arguments on each debate im having with myself at this point :P
ohhh if money and time were unlimited this would be so much easier lol
Reply to this Hi! So do not panic, Europe is a normal place :P
To travel between countries I would recommend you rather plains. They are not that expensive if you book in advance and look for some promotions (easyjet, ryjanair). I do not see Spain (Barcelona, Madrit) on your list, and thats defenitally wrong. Spain is hot, people are nice and there is a lot of tasty food. If you are a big group of people consider renting apartments. It will be probably much cheaper than hotel and few euros more expensive in comparition to hostels whereas standars are much higher!!!
I can recommend you a website of
so you can see how it functions, this website offers also apartments in different countries (London, Prague, Berlin, Paris) it will be probably the same 😊.
Enjoy Europe!
Reply to this Hi Kristie,
Travelling in Europe by train is easy, no worries with that.
I would strongly recommend you to include Spain especially Barcelona in your tour as well.
For the accomodation what you can do is to rent an apartment for your stays.
Reply to this i would love to go to spain.. but me and my boyfriend are planning on doing portugal and spain sometime in the future so were just trying to stay more north for this trip
i just want to go everywhere! lol
i will have to look into the planes, i get pretty sick though so im not sure if thats the best option for me! lol
im really leaning towards taking trains and also adding in switzerland because i would LOVE to see all the mountains and everything, it looks absolutely gorgeous
Reply to this Hi Kirstie, where are you from?
i hope you have a lovely trip to Europe. chill out though and you'll enjoy yourself a whole lot more!^_^
Firstly, being a student your at a great advantage..when your in London, even at restaurants its worth asking if they do student discount..even in Mcdonalds.You'll be surprised. In england you can just have your normal student card but i think in the rest of europe you might need more of an internationally recognised one so id recommend looking into that if you havent already.
I dont live in London and to think of a foreign transport system is quite worrying. But i personally haven't found a problem its really easy to understand and there are stops and pretty much every destination in London your likely want to visit while your here 😊 you'll just have to have patience with late running trains every now and then but i certainly agree with mel that traveling by train is nicer than bus.
Not sure what you mean by extra charges on the trains theres certainly nothing i know of in England so long as you dont buy a ticket in advance and then try to change it on the day or somethigin, thats generally the only time youll have a problem..again try and sort out student discount..i get 25% off of my train travel which really makes a difference
www.nationalrail.co.uk might be useful if you haven't already come across it 😊
As you mention your leaning towards Switzerland i just want to say ^_^ !! me and my boyfriend traveled across Norway this summer and it was the best experience ever. and we desperately wanted to go to Switzerland and Sweden. Depending how much money you've got id be wary though, flights to and from are very very cheap (we got return flights for £2) but cost of living is insane. we were paying £30 just for a burger and a shared drink in Norway and a pint of low alcohol beer was around £8, we knew it was expensive but we werent quite prepared for that!
Coming to London in May is probably the best time too..its pretty much the only spec of summer we get lol.
Hope your trip goes well,good luck planning! xx
Reply to this Im from Ontario, Canada 😊
Good idea on the international student card, ill have to look into that
I'm pretty much set on trains now after reading all these comments lol ill also be checking out that site you mentioned!
thanks a tun!
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