Europe Trip (Need Help)

Alrite, well next summer I'm plannig on backpacking through Europe for around 2 months. I'm a 20 year old male in college and I will be traveling alone over there. I'm trying to rough idea of my plan right now in order to get a jump start on this whole trip. I've been wanting to get out and see the world for ages and I decided this is the best time to do it before I enter the "real world." I'm shooting on staying under a budget of around $5,000 give or take a couple $100's. I'm really just looking to get an overall experience of sightseeing, a bit of clubs/pubs, possible beaches, and pretty much just exploring and having fun, meeting new people etc. I'm trying to figure out where in Europe I want to go and how long to stay in each place considering I have 2 months. I want to explore the small towns, big towns, rural, urban, you name it. What's a good route for me to take through Europe? I want to visit England, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and maybe a couple others If I have the time. I'll be staying at hostels and eating cheap (I'm a college kid so I already have an upper hand when it comes to saving money). I here taking the trains are good and Ryanair is really cheap as well. I would really appreciate any imput anybody has!

Thank you so much ahead of time! Reply to this

That seems like a real cool path I really appreciate the feedback! Do you know if their are hostels not mentioned on hostelworld.com that are cheaper in London? I think with 2 months and a 5k budget I'm looking at around $50 bucks per day..so I was hoping for some cheap room and board. Reply to this

Well I have anoth suggestion to A Europe trip!

- You could start at Lisbon (3 nights), capital of Portugal, it's very intresting
- Then you can go to Porto (2 nights) (my hometown) , in north Potugal is a very difrent tipe of city, with another way of think, talk, act, it is very ancient, ..
- From Porto you should go to Madrid and then BARCELONA (For me the most interesting city in Europe!)
- Then from Barcelona you have to options !: South Europe (France, Switzerland, Slovenia, Italy, Greece..) or Norh (France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, netherlands, Belgium..)
Here they are:


A bit of the 2 things ( for me the best way to know very well Europe):

- Barcelona to Paris, some days in Paris
- Then go to brussels and you can pass by Antwerp
- To go to Amsterdam
- From Netherlands you can go to Hamburg in Germany
- Then to Copenhagen
- From there you can go to Malmo in Sweden
- and then to Oslo in Norway.. In Norway you HAVE TO go to the magnifics Fjords, were you can see some amazing fjords and the biggest iceberg in Europe!
- From there, you can go to Stockholm, in Sweden
- Then you can return by Denmark, again. Or by boat from Stockholm to Tallin in Estonia, then pass by Riga (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithain), Poland
- Then you could go to the magnific Berlin.

- Then you can go back home or go to south
- If you don't spot, go to Munchen
- Then you can go to Zurich, Berne and Geneve, in Switzerland
- From Geneve you should go to Lyon, in france and then to south france (the fulous Côte d'Azur), from the fabublous beaches of Saint-Tropez you can go to Cannes, Nice and then Monaco!
- Then in Italy you can visit (in order) Genova, Turin, Milan, Verona, Venezia, Bologna, Firenze, Pisa, and finally Rome!


I think is the best way to know the real Europe and sightseeing, a bit of clubs/pubs, possible beaches, and pretty much just exploring and having fun, meeting new people etc. .. explore the small towns, big towns, rural, urban, a bit of all!

I already done in two summers one trip to North Europe and another to South, and it taked me more or less one month for both! Thow I think that with 2 months (one more week, i think) you could see all this!



P.S.: To help you to anderstand my point of view, while you are reading this, you could watch it in the youtube!, and see some photos of places you don't know.. Reply to this

No prob dovmi..
Always here to help! 😊

I think if you really want to do a trip of that tipe, you have to 2 decisions..
Where to sleep?
And how to do it, by plane or car?

Well I can answer you to the 2nd. i think, that doing this by car is much better! You can see and stop in much more things, and know the real colture of that countries.. Reply to this

Well in that I don't know very well.. but I know that Ryanair is very cheap, and you can get very low prices! There are other very cheap companys like Easyjet, or Air Berlin... Reply to this

If you do what I did, you start out by taking Continental from Newark to Belfast. Drive around Ireland and back to Belfast. Take the elcheapo flight to Barcelona, and then back to Belfast at the end. It cost me $70 to Barcelona and $35 back to Belfast at the end. I did a month in Spain, and did not want to leave. You will have a ball in Barcelona, Madrid and Seville. I feel that Spain is the best country for a visit. France has train, metro and bus strikes twice in two months. Get in to Paris and then get out. Train to Rome and then on to Sicily, if you want to visit the Godfather in Corleone outside Palermo. Italy feels like a police state. You will find that you will need to make train reservations, get your ticket time stamped in Italy, wait for connections, etc. Plan at least twice as much time and money than you think you will need. The Bush dollar gives you diddly squat in Euros over there...very expensive. Don't plan too many restaurants, even McDonald's can be expensive. All this was done in warm weather, September to November. Swung up to Venice, Verona, Torina and tried to get back through France but no trains running. Had to back track to Genoa and take a ship back to Barcelona. Be prepared to wait longer than usual as there is a lot of travelers, who arrive in the train station and IMMEDIATELY make their reservation for 3 Euro to leave a few days later, so they don't have to backtrack to the train station later to make a reservation. Travel on weekends is usually sold out, so plan to stay in the cities on weekends, Tuesday to Thursday are usually good days to travel. If you have any time left over, do all the other stuff, if you can. Reply to this

Pack a small tent and a winning smile. Quite often just outside of the city or town they have a camp ground (cheap!) or meet and greet others. Reply to this