and I'm lost.
Alright, so I'm 18 years old, graduating high school, and this summer I'd really like to travel Europe. The catch is, I want to do it alone and I don't want a tour group... which basically leaves me planning my entire trip. I don't know where to start, but I do have many questions:
-Will one passport get me through the entirety of Western Europe? I'm most likely going to be sticking to Western Europe because of time and money constraint, and I'm assuming I don't need extensive paperwork with every country to traverse them.
-From what I've gathered a Eurorail pass is the smartest thing to get in terms of being able to travel cheap and quick. Is getting a pass as simple as purchasing it via the internet?
-Most importantly, I'd like advice on where to go. I've got 3,000 USD and I'd like to spend roughly a month in Europe (more if 3k can keep me there). I'd be satisfied visiting any countries, but I've been thinking it'd be smartest to either start in the North and head south or vice versa. Does anyone have suggestions? I don't know which country to start at or which to end at... I've got roughly three thousand USD and as much time as I'd like. What I'm basically thinking is starting possibly in Denmark, heading into Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, possibly Switzerland, then maybe to Italy or just straight to Spain. I'd for sure like to visit Ireland and England but I assume I can tack that either to the beginning or end of my trip.
Is that even feasible with my time and money constraints?
-I've heard that Hostels are the place to stay to maximize your experience... is there some sort of directory I can visit, or would anyone be able to recommend me good Hostels throughout Europe? Do I need to get reservations weeks in advance?
I've got more questions, but I guess I'll stop and wait to see if anyone answers this slew of interrogations first ;-)
Reply to this Hi Travis,
Welcome to TravelBlog.
This is the
Eurail site - plenty of info. Anyone not a resident of Europe can get a pass. One of the regional passes might be better for you.
Try
hostelworld.com for an indication of hostels. Or if you are wanting to stretch your money there's always
couchsurfing.
I haven't traveled much in Europe, but I'm sure there's plenty of replies on the way :-)
Reply to this This sounds exciting and I'm delighted to see you asking sensible questions. I'll try and answer some:
- you don't state your nationality but I'll assume your American since you're talking USDs. Your passport should be widely accepted in Europe but you may need to apply to various embassies for a visitor's visa. My country, Ireland, allows you to enter as a US or Canadian citizen without a visa but you should check others:
goireland.about.com
A eurorail pass is extremely convenient and means that you have budgeted for a lot of your travel in advance. However, it is not valid on every train, for example, not on Eurostars between London-paris-Brussels. Likewise, I don't think it is valid on some high speed trains such as the TGV but I may be wrong.
Regarding your budget, you need to check two basic facts for each country you intend to visit:
- is it in the Euro? If so, you have an easy calculation for the USD! If not, you need to do your sums
- what is the cost of living? Eating and drinking in Denmark is far more expensive than, say, the Netherlands. Regional Italy is still good value whereas the main cities are on a par with other European cities for costs (they used to be far cheaper in the days of the Lira).
Finally, I think you're giving yourself a lot of countries to visit in a month. You also need to remember that it takes time to travel by train - for example, you can do London-Rome within 24 hours using high speed trains but other lines/journeys may take somewhat longer. You could spend a week in either Ireland or the UK and still not see very much, but that's 25%!o(MISSING)f your allocated time! I would reduce your list and do the others on another trip in the future. See my profile for more information.
Good luck!
Peter
Reply to this Hey,
Last month I went to Bibione. It is a good tourist place in Venetian coast. I was there and got all things to enjoy.I stayed in
. It provided me a very good service and I really enjoyed too from my heart, Its special and experienced staff give me very good service..
Happy Journey!! Reply to this Ok so I've refined myself a little bit:
I'm considering cutting myself down to three mainland countries, and tagging on Britain after (Hopefully I can visit London all the way up north to Scotland but I don't want to spend my entire time on a train).
I'm thinking of starting in Germany, heading to France, then either going to Spain or Italy... Italy seems like the keener choice but it's also farther away from the mainland, so I would have to start in Britain, head to Germany, then France then Italy and have a plain ticket home from somewhere in Italy. That seems feasible to traverse over a month, I think?
Now I need to get more into specifics: Exactly what cities to visit... and what cities to land in for my flight. Would I be able to land in Scotland, train it down to Britain then somehow make it to Germany without much hassle or another plain ticket? Once in Germany, what cities in particular should I visit? Berlin of course is on my #1, but I need to start thinking about what cities in particular... So far I have Berlin in Germany, Paris in France, Florence and Rome in Italy, London in England... would anyone be able to help me plan an exact route?
And I think I've decided on getting a 3country Eurorail pass, which will get me through Germany France and Italy quite easily. Hostel recommendations are welcome to for any suggested cities!
Reply to this You are going about this very sensibly. I have traveled in Europe extensively over 25 years, sometimes alone and sometimes with a tour group. The more you plan ahead (as you are doing) the more you will get for your money.
1. Firstly, keep in mind is that airfare will be cheaper if your roundtrip is from the same airiport - so try to plan a grand circle and end up in the same place. Do some online checking and choose the cheapest airport (maybe Gatwick that has inexpensive connections by air (Ryanair is one) to other European destinations (sometimes just $39).
2. Secondly, London is very expensive...
3. Don't miss Amsterdam...and everyone speaks English
4. In Germany you'll want to see Bavaria (Munich) and Salzburg, Austria is very close by train
5. Paris is a must, bien sur...
6. Florence is so rich in art that is user-friendly and very accessible you shouldn't miss it
7. Venice is so different, you should see it definitely go...
I suggest for a young person visiting Europe for the first time, stay with the large cities which are all easily accessible by train and stay away from "glitzy" names such as Nice, Cannes. Keep in mind that some of the great touring in Europe is from the train. The trip through Alps from Germany to Italy is awesome!
Have fun!
Reply to this Britain, France, Netherlands, Germany, then Italy sounds good to me (I would try and visit Amsterdam as DebT suggests - we're going again in a couple of weeks, so I can report back if you like).
I have done quite a bit of train travel in Italy. Before you buy your 3country Eurorail pass, check to see how much they charge for the Italian portion (or divide by 3) and then check some sample fares here:
TrenItalia - Italian state rail
DebT may also be correct in suggesting that flying is more cost-effective but beware of Ryanair's extra charges. They include:
- cost of hold baggage (presumably your rucksack)
- getting to/from Ryanair airports - they tend to be some distance from civilization, cheaper airports that don't often have good public transport
Keep checking and posting questions! This article may interest you:
Travelling Europe by Train
Peter
Reply to this Welcome and i tell you about my experience. Make some reservation on hostels wherr you want go to visited, nIf you travell with train used railpass but HAVE NEED RESERVATION PLACE if go with Intercity , Express and Night trains. London are verry expensive, so also Switzerland ( Zurich, Basel city what i was visited last year). Romania are verry cheap to acomodation and eating (on restaurant lunch are cost 10-15 US Dollar, one beer 2 dolars/2litre pet bottle,hotels room between 30- 50 Dollars on 2-3 stars. Place to visited? North of Moldavia with ancient monastery, OLT river valley, Prahova Valley -Sinaia with Peles Castle, Bran-Moeciu - Bran Castle ( on the legend the Dracula Castle ).
For moore details, accesed :http://www.romaniatourism.com/
Reply to this I spent 5 weeks traveling around Europe last summer. We started in London and our itineary was as follows:
London
Paris
Barcelona
Nice, France
Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore, Italy)
Florence
Rome
Milan
Geneva
Berlin
Prague
Munich
Amsterdam
Salisbury, UK
We purchased a Eurorail pass to travel between but sometimes you are charged an additional fee. Nothing too expensive just something we didn't expect. Also, be careful about purchasing it offline because I ordered mine a month before we left and it arrived the week after we had arrived in London. So i was forced to buy another one when we arrived.
As for hostels, books such as "Let's Go: Europe" and "Frommer's: Europe Edition" is a great place to start. I wouldn't plan too far in advance because your plans have a way of changing. We basically had the week ahead mapped out and knew where we would be staying in the next couple of days to come. Traveling alone you need to be careful (i'm sure you've heard this a million times) but we had several problems with hostels, so bad that at one hostel we should up and it was a office building that had never heard of it. Also, our train was delayed getting into Cinque Terre and the hostel had already closed for the night and the numbers they left for contact after office hours were non operational.
The hostels will be a great place to meet travel partners. There are several individuals or small groups that pass through hostels and you can pair up and part ways as you so choose. Makes traveling more interesting meeting people from around the world and experiencing life the way you are. Good luck and if you have any specific questions about the places I have been just message me and I'll try to give you as much information as possible. When I started planning my trip I was completely overwhelmed and would have gladly taken advice from someone who had been there before.
Reply to this Two of us traveled over to Europe last April for a end of winter breather. We flew into London, took the EuroRail over to Paris, flew Ryanair to Dublin and back to London. Was blown away by how inexpensive Ryanair was -- yes there were constraints with the air travel, but considering price and speed, well worth it, and you might want to consider using either Ryanair (ryanair.com) or Globespan (flyglobespan.com). Both these airlines have some pretty great rates, but just watch the conditions as was previously mentioned.
The only plans we had was our arrival and departures date and that we wanted to visit a friend in Paris, the rest was spontaneous and we had no problems at all. Granted it was April and not in the heat of the tourist season as when you are going. We completed most arrangements online and with a bit of flexibility was able to get some great deals with Ryanair and EuroRail.
We found airporter bus from Paris city to Beauvreau (sp) airport very inexpensive (approximately $10 Euro), and we arrived in plenty of time for our departure. Even leaving from Dublin was not difficult: we grabbed our tickets at the airport and boarded the plane back to London. Since it was all part of the UK, no complications.
We're heading back over to Europe this October and can hardly wait!
pjdscott - have to tell you Ireland was a beautiful country and the locals were wonderful to talk with and the countryside was breathtaking. The locals are the best spokespeople for their country! Definitely will be back!
Reply to this Hi TRAVIS ! I sugest to make European Tour like that: ARRIVED in VENICE from your country, after taht with train: VENICE- BUCHAREST( DIRECTLY TRAIN , NO CHANGE), BUCHAREST ( Romania)- BUDAPEST ( Hungary)- VIENNA ( Austria) - (Germany) MUNCHEN, COLOGNE - AMSTERDAM ( Holland) - PARIS ( France ) - LONDON ( England) or mybe BARCELONA ( Spain). For trip is not necessary to have cash. On my trip i used most frequently CARD'S - VISA or MASTERCARD.
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