Planning a trip to Europe(questions, not exciting)

[Tsuko_Asura]

Three friends and myself decided that we're going to do a generic "backpack through Europe" trip after our spring semester is over, and I've never arranged plans like this before. Halp plz :c

We're all students, etc, so we each have a few thousand USD to work with, but we're trying to make everything as cheapo as possible. We're planning on staying for a month.

If anyone has any suggestions for flights, explanations of how like.. Hostels and shit work, places to go, how to not get mugged/raped in a dark alley, etc. It'd be highly appriciated, as I have no clue what I'm doing atm.

Thanksuuhhh <3

[SaviorSelf]

Was about to post the exact same topic, except switch Europe for Japan lol

[Tsuko_Asura]

I was the only one who wanted to go to Japan, I lost >:

Its fine though, gonna' be a blast anyway

[Dense]

Basically, Eurorail passes will save you mega-money, depending exactly where you're going (not valid in England, not valid on hi-speed, etc)...

Hostels are just cheap hotels catering to student travelers. Basically, they offer rooms with numerous people at much cheaper than any hotel etc, but you have to watch y our stuff and you have to deal with people staying up all night smoking weed or talking or whatever (sometimes smelly, sometimes snoring, whatever). Keeps the trip cheaper.

I live in Belgium and would be happy to answer questions based on what you want to see, what you want to do. I also am a big fan of couchsurfing, but that both a larger risk and would be extremely hard with 3 people...

www.couchsurfing.net

[SaviorSelf]

I was the only one who wanted to go to Japan, I lost >:

Its fine though, gonna' be a blast anyway

I wanted to go Mid-May through Mid-June, it's not too late!

[Shinryuu]

PM me with anything Netherlands-related. I've also gone to Paris, Milan, London, Prague, Cracow, Berlin and Stockholm though others probably can answer related specific questions better than me.

In general: gas will be much more expensive than in the US, don't let that surprise you. Trains are pretty good in general, I'd say. I'd recommend visiting London, learn to use the underground there.

Funny, I'm planning a generic backpack through the States trip this summer and I could use some help there. Are rental cars really that expensive?

[Xno Kappa]

Train routes, learn it, live it, love it.

Try using evening schedules as well so you can just knock out on the train instead of getting a room. Most of Western Europe still uses mom and pop style Inn's too so that's your best bet for overnight stays besides military lodging. If your an American citizen which I'm assuming you are, try finding military installations and use them as midpoints. Can restock here using dollars because euro's can and will rape your budget. This is especially helpful in Germany and Italy.

If you have to fly try using RyanAir, limited locations but stupidly cheap prices.

[Vigilia]

What the others said, trains and ferries are going to be your cheapest travel alternative and definitely get the Eurorail pass if you're eligible (under 26/Student). In some countries bus routes are also very good, I would especially recommend them if you're heading up north to Scandinavia. In Central Europe they suffer from same traffic congestion etc. as normal traffic and aren't always so pleasant in summer heat. UK/Ireland buses are a good alternative too and often cheaper than trains- for shorter journeys they can be much better.

Just get a map out, make lots of photocopies of it and then start drawing lines with coloured crayons/markers in it for alternative routes. Take the time you have to spend, be it 1 week, 2 weeks or more and consider that you will probably want to spend at least two days in the bigger cities you stop at. Then note down the cities you and your friends would most want to see and off you go. Each country has its pros and cons, can't really recommend just one above the others although my personal favourites have to be Paris, Dublin and Stockholm in no particular order.

Some hostels are just huge rooms let out to like 20 peeps at once but some do smaller rooms and with three of you it should be np. There's a ton of websites out there for booking hostels- www.hostelworld.com was what my sister used to use always. Most big cities have very good underground/bus/tram public transport systems that offer daily/weekly/bundle tickets, once you know the cities you'll be mainly visiting you can look them up in detail.

[bechyni]

Didn't think it was worth another thread so gonna post it here. Anyone know any good travel agencies to book a flight with. I know expedia travelocity but was wondering if there was any better/other ones for booking flights within the US

[Vigilia]

Oh yeah, if you go for bargain flights inside Europe with RyanAir or EasyJet or any of the other cheaper airlines, double check your destination airport and connections from there. They don't always fly to the airport nearest to a city you want to get to and many bigger cities have several airports around them- some with better connections than others.

I don't know when your semester is over but if you can travel in June, do so. July/August are the big holiday months in Europe and especially if you go towards Mediterranean it can get pretty damn warm and don't expect air conditioning in hostel rooms.

If you have a satnav for your car, check if it's possible to set it into pedestrian mode and download european city maps- little pocket-sized satnavs are pretty fucken awesome like that. Lot of new mobile phones offer google maps and forms of sat nav as well. Would save you from having to buy maps or hunting down tourist info places everywhere you go.

Other than that.. avoiding getting mugged on street or pickpocketed is the same as in the States - don't go out to suspicious areas late at night and don't keep your wallet/phone in your backpocket. Try memorize your hostel's address and rough location so you don't look like a total dumb tourist and so you can tell it to a taxi driver that doesn't necessarily speak any English (although most do). Also, rule of thumb, the odds of locals speaking and understanding English increases the further North you travel on the continent. Most main city centres are very safe nowadays though and there's usually extra cops around during high tourist season. If you're really backpacking, pack as lightly as you can and leave anything that is not absolutely necessary, bring handwash laundry detergent or buy some on your first shopping trip and keep it with you, laundromats are not always easy to find. Do not forget a small first aid kit and proper band-aids and taking your most trusted shoes with you, there's nothing as annoying as getting blisters when you need to walk everywhere. Packet of painkillers is good too, you can't find the same brand names for everything and you will get blank stares from pharmacists if you try ask for Tylenol. Packet of basic diarrhea medicine can be a lifesaver too. Spare memory cards for camera are also a very good idea (not like they take up any room in luggage), as is a spare battery+charger so you'll have one ready to go if the other dies on you middle of nowhere. Small inflatable travel pillow will save your neck.

[Takedown3]

dont over pack! bring like 2 or 3 changes of cloths at most, nothing fancy, jeans and some tee's maybe a button up.

nothing heavy, mebbe grow a beard while ur there so u dont have to bring a razor. toothbrush/paste is all u need imo.

keep your bag as small and light as possible, be prepared to bring back some form of soveniers. also travelling light well help u get thru any kind of security checkpoints alot faster.

[Despain]

PM me with anything Netherlands-related. I've also gone to Paris, Milan, London, Prague, Cracow, Berlin and Stockholm though others probably can answer related specific questions better than me.

In general: gas will be much more expensive than in the US, don't let that surprise you. Trains are pretty good in general, I'd say. I'd recommend visiting London, learn to use the underground there.

Funny, I'm planning a generic backpack through the States trip this summer and I could use some help there. Are rental cars really that expensive?

Yes

[Tsuko_Asura]

Expect a PM from me in the near future, Vigs.

Anybody have any recommendations for US -> UK flights that are really cheap, but won't get me killed?

[Vigilia]

Anybody have any recommendations for US -> UK flights that are really cheap, but won't get me killed?

BA (British Airways), Virgin and AerLingus (Ireland's "national" airline) are probably your best bets for value/quality airlines for transatlantic flights from this side of the pond, you just have to look up their websites and start looking at flights- book at least a month (more the better) in advance as well so you get the cheaper offers. SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) is good in my experience but I don't know if they fly transatlantic to the UK, I've only gone from Copenhagen with them. I'm not really familiar with US airlines like Continental or AA so can't judge those but they fly over the pond too. Interesting and a rather annoying thing that we noticed recently when a LS mate was looking for flights to Europe is that the prices are completely different from each side and you really need to do your own hunting for tickets, the prices I get quoted can be vastly different. Seeing as you're asking for US -> UK flights, you guys planning to go to Ireland at all? Flights from the States to Shannon/Dublin are generally cheaper than to any of the London airports for example. Something to do with the Irish...

[Zoolander]

Huh, Eurorail is not necessarily the cheapest or best route to go, you guys are a couple decades late on that. I did Europe for 6 weeks and my biggest regret was the eurorail pass that we dropped $500 on. RYAN AIR, for gods sakes. If you set up a tentative schedule then inter-european flights can be cheap as shit. http://www.ryanair.com/en

Cook for yourself, try and get hostels that have kitchens. You can still eat pretty well (maybe eat out like once a day) and it saves you a fair amount of money every single day.

Book your hostels and shit for busier cities asap. Paris, Amsterdam, etc all fill up pretty quickly if not already. Some require down-payment or some kind of commitment once you reserve a spot, some dont, depends on the website/hostel afaik. All hostels will average out to about $30 a day, so factor that into your budget. times that by 30 days and that is almost a thousand bucks right there for room. Hence why cooking for yourself can really reduce the overall cost by quite a bit.

Also with Hostels, make sure you are getting them in/near the center of the city. Most websites show you where they are on a map. It really makes a big difference because taking a train into town is just kinda meh, not nearly as fun (happened with us in Paris because we couldnt get a decent hostel inside the city, which you might encounter as well).

As others have said, don't over pack. If you can just barely fit all your shit into your bag when you are packing it all up, you have packed too much stuff. As you use clothes and shit it will expand, plus you might accumulate stuff along the way. You can wash clothes when you are in Europe if you need to, its not too much of a hassle. I think I did laundry twice over 6 weeks, prolly could have gotten away with once.

I would bring shoes that you can walk around in during the day and go into clubs with at night, wanna look halfway decent if you go out but fuck bringing more than one pair of shoes. Make sure they are comfortable and durable, since you will be doing a lot of walking.

One tip I tell everyone too is to bring your own sheet. We made this sleeping bag contraption out of our sheet that had a pouch for a pillow (just sowed it). It doesn't have to be too complicated, but I would definitely recommend using your own sheet to avoid the bed bugs (Im not kidding) and other nasty shit.

tl;dr
- ryan air, check it out
- cook for yourself as much as possible
- book hostels sooner rather than later
- bring versatile and comfortable shoes
- bring your own sheet, can always throw it away if need be - bed bugs are fucking real


Where are you looking to go btw? On our 6 week trip we did:
Dublin > flight to Liverpool > Bus to London > Flight to Paris > Flight to Madrid > Bus to Pamplona for running of the bulls > Bus back to Madrid > Train to Barcelona > Flight to Rome > Train to Salzburg > Train to Munich> Train to Rhine River Valley > Train to Brussels > Train to Amsterdam > Flight back to Dublin > Done.

[Shinryuu]

Expect a PM from me in the near future, Vigs.

Anybody have any recommendations for US -> UK flights that are really cheap, but won't get me killed?

Fly via Iceland if you can.

[Mayareira]

With insurance and stuff(you really only need the damage one) rental cars don't cost too much in the US as long as you or whoever rents the car is above 25. Its generally cheaper or just as much as the bigger cities of Europe. Besides, cars are less compact.

When you factor in the cheaper-than-water gas(many americans think its "fucking expensive"), your rental car bill would likely be half of what it'd cost in EU.

[fussel]

Intercontinental Airlines to check besides Ryan Air:

SwissAir (now owned by Lufthansa)
KLM/Northwest airlines
AerLingus
AirFrance

Continental Airlines:

AirBerlin

If you're crossing Germany, you can buy train tickets at http://www.bahn.de/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml. They have much cheaper tickets if you're able to plan your trip a couple of months earlier (there's a limited number of 50%/25% off tickets for each train).

If you're crossing France, bring a French dictionary, cause those stubborn French refuse to learn English. >.>

Well, it's kind of hard to give generic EU advice, because we have lots of different cultures and languages over here.

/edit: Extra Stage, just went shopping and some other stuff came to mind:

Cash: Find out (i.e. ask your bank) how you can get cash without paying outta your ass for additional fees. Most supermarkets and gas stations (they are like small supermarkets in Germany) accept credit cards, but if you're going out in the evening, expect to having to pay with cash in pubs, restaurants etc. Burger King also accepts cash dollars at a horrible exchange rate.

Regular stores are closed on sundays here (this also differs by country, you can go shopping on sunday in the Netherlands for example), but many gas stations are open 24/7.

Alcohol and tobacco: You're allowed to buy and drink/smoke at 18. You're allowed to drink/smoke outside. Smoking isn't allowed inside in public places if there aren't designated smoking areas.

[Dareus]

Where are you looking to go btw? On our 6 week trip we did:
Dublin > flight to Liverpool > Bus to London > Flight to Paris > Flight to Madrid > Bus to Pamplona for running of the bulls > Bus back to Madrid > Train to Barcelona > Flight to Rome > Train to Salzburg > Train to Munich> Train to Rhine River Valley > Train to Brussels > Train to Amsterdam > Flight back to Dublin > Done.

That sounds amazing. If you don't mind me asking, how much did that end up costing you? I'd love to take a similar trip but I can't even begin to fathom how much money I would need to save up.

[drwaffles]

Fly to Manchester airport and come stay with me for a weekend!