HELP I'm planning a 2 week backpacking tour of Europe

Live forum: http://forum.freeipodguide.com/viewtopic.php?t=46975

nobody2000

11-10-2006 05:29:05

For school, we are required to do 140 hours out of class each year to earn 3 credits in somehting called a "Field Period." This is how our school says it's hands-on and maintains "experiencial education."

Anyway, we have to organize these ourselves, and seeing that I already did two in my respective field of study, I want to do one by touring Europe. I need to construct an itinerary for this by the end of the month.

Can anyone provide guidance on how I should approach this? I'm thinking I'll hit up hostels and stuff (and I'll avoid banging mad bitches like in the movie "Hostel" so that I dont' find myself strapped to a chair with a chainsaw in my face). Here are some background details

-I will go sometime in December or January (Preferably January), yes, I know it will be freezing cold, but I can't do it over the summer as I have research to do in the lab then.
-I will go with 3 of my friends who are also helping me plan this.
-I've never been to Europe
-One friend of mine and me speak french, the other 2 speak Spanish
-We wanna hit up 3 or 4 countries
-Money is an issue.


Thanks to all those who can help!

theysayjump

11-10-2006 11:14:42

Getting around Europe can be really really cheap.

You can hitchhike which is pretty much free but of course there's somewhat of a risk involved. You can go by train and get to anywhere from the top of Scotland, up to Scandanavia, down to Greece or even just go right across to China (which I know you don't want to do but it's an example). So the train is probably your best bet for transportation. You can get a pass to travel for a certain number of days or you can pay depending on how you want to travel. Germany and Switzerland are known for their high class train service, so buying individual tickets in those countries could be very expensive, but worth it.

If you're only going to 3 or 4 countries, then it's best to only go to 3 or 4 that are in close proximity to each other. Start of in Switzerland go to France, Germany, Italy and Austria. You could start in Portugal and go to Spain, France, Germany and Holland, or go the other way and go to Italy instead of Holland.

A good place to start might be here http//www.backpackingeurope.com/index.asp

nobody2000

11-10-2006 19:31:21

thanks for the help!

+kma to you


Also, +kma to anyone else who can help me!

johnjimjones

11-10-2006 19:44:20

My friend just showed me pictures of when he went to Scotland. REALLY impressive. It made me want to go there.

Kidd

11-10-2006 19:44:23

go to portugal and spain you will like it start west and head east )

Dave82

11-10-2006 20:02:37

That is a great idea. My cousin backpacked through Europe with friends two summers ago. It beats dealing with a ton of luggage etc. I was going to go to Czech Repub this summer but stuff came up at work. My cousin gave a great website that reviews hostels so i'll look it up and post it for you. Europe is pretty safe as long as you use common sense. Sara said the most dangerous part was actually pick-pocketers, which can be prevented with common sense. She said the can spot an American a mile away and want to rip you off or get your opinion on American and Pres Bush.

Just seeing this post is making me want to plan a backpacking trip to Europe with friends this summer. My cousin was telling me all about certain tram passes or something like that that you can use to go all over Europe. I'll ask her more.

Hostelss are relatively cheap. And you are backpacking so you wont be spending money on buying stuff everywhere you go like people traditionally do. Yo can eat at cheap places. I dont think eating at fancy places is the point when visiting another country. You will actually get a more authentic experience eating at a little place.

I think this is an awesome idea. It is a lot of planning though. I'll see what resources i can dig up from my cousin and let you now. Prague would be pretty cool.

dmorris68

11-10-2006 20:05:12

Obviously you people have never seen the movie "Hostel." lishudderli

Seriously though, I lived in Europe for 3 years, primarily Germany. Train is definitely the preferred mode of transportation.

JKirk

11-10-2006 20:08:05

[quoted5a809e092="dmorris68"]Obviously you people have never seen the movie "Hostel." lishudderli
[/quoted5a809e092]

Haha, yeah, definitely don't go see this movie before going backpacking. Basically, it would be the worst case scenario.

Dave82

11-10-2006 20:19:29

The alternative to a hostel is a hotel and a lot more money. As long as you do research and ask the correct questions you wont have too many surprises. Just use your brain and you will be fine. There are great sites have user reviews and detailed desciptions from visitors that dont hold back the bad.

h3x

11-10-2006 20:25:01

Make this one of your first stops...

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[img="59daa70107]http//www.thepopview.com/images/coffee.jpg[" alt=""/img59daa70107]

Mmm.... Coffee..... [img="59daa70107]http//forum.freeipodguide.com/smilies_mod/upload/dae9951f400225b51bf2bb33d35abb26.gif[" alt=""/img59daa70107]

hehehhehe

11-10-2006 20:41:40

Here's an old thread about backpacking from a while back
http//forum.freeipodguide.com/viewtopic.php?t=19869[]http//forum.freeipodguide.com/viewtopic.php?t=19869

If money is an issue, forget about the UK and stick to mainland Europe. I would've told you to go south since it's cheaper but since it's winter it will suck. Stick to the capitols. Hostels are good since it's a great way to meet people. Since it's off-season, you shouldn't have problems getting rooms (in the summer it can get tricky). I would fly into paris since it's central, and from there, hit a German city (Berlin might be too east for your time frame - maybe Munich), Vienna (maybe), Italy (Rome might be too south for your time frame - maybe Milan), Spain (Madrid if you have time), and then back. 2 weeks is pretty short but disregarding the 'maybe' cities, I think you can get a decent look at 4 countries.

For the train pass tsj was talking about, get a eurail pass. There are different kinds and I think the flexi kind would be the best. You can also get a discount if you are traveling in a group of 2 or more.