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Started By
Message
Backpacking Europe
Posted on 12/26/14 at 6:56 pm
Posted on 12/26/14 at 6:56 pm
Hey everyone,
I'm a student at LSU who plans on graduating this coming May. I plan on attending law School after graduation which leaves me with a prime opportunity (and a few open days) to travel around the world (Hopefully). I haven't had much time to travel throughout my time in College for a variety of reasons (school, family, etc) but over the past few months I've really been trying to piece together a backpacking trip through a few european countries for around 15-20 days. FYI, I've never done anything like Backpacking before. Cheers to trying something new!
I don't have much experience in other countries (Actually, I've never left the US) so I am curious to see if anyone on here would have any suggestions/advice on how to make the most out of the trip. I'm eager to embrace myself in as much culture as possible in my short time there.
Would love to hear some feedback! Thanks!
I'm a student at LSU who plans on graduating this coming May. I plan on attending law School after graduation which leaves me with a prime opportunity (and a few open days) to travel around the world (Hopefully). I haven't had much time to travel throughout my time in College for a variety of reasons (school, family, etc) but over the past few months I've really been trying to piece together a backpacking trip through a few european countries for around 15-20 days. FYI, I've never done anything like Backpacking before. Cheers to trying something new!
I don't have much experience in other countries (Actually, I've never left the US) so I am curious to see if anyone on here would have any suggestions/advice on how to make the most out of the trip. I'm eager to embrace myself in as much culture as possible in my short time there.
Would love to hear some feedback! Thanks!
21
Posted on 12/26/14 at 6:57 pm to sonicsam
I would go North Korea
Posted on 12/26/14 at 6:57 pm to sonicsam
Get insurance on your kidneys so that you'll at least be paid when you wake up in a dark, dirty room in eastern Europe with a huge gash on your side.
Posted on 12/26/14 at 6:59 pm to tduecen
Get rick steves "Europe Through the Back Door". Great guide for exactly what you want to do and lays everything out for you from packing to itinerary ideas.
I just went on a trip to Europe this past summer and it helped greatly.
I just went on a trip to Europe this past summer and it helped greatly.
This post was edited on 12/26/14 at 7:00 pm
Posted on 12/26/14 at 6:59 pm to sonicsam
This ain't the 70-80-90's.
Posted on 12/26/14 at 6:59 pm to sonicsam
quote:
I plan on attending law School
Posted on 12/26/14 at 7:02 pm to sonicsam
Posted on 12/26/14 at 7:03 pm to sonicsam
Brother and I backpacked Europe last summer...10 cities in 17 days. I have been throughout a decent chunk of the continent now and can give you my $0.02.
I have been to:
All of Belgium (lived there for a little over a month)
Northern France (Epernay and Reims)
Paris
London
Rome
Florence
Milan
Copenhagen
Hamburg
Berlin
Munich
Interlaken
Bern
Zurich
I have been to:
All of Belgium (lived there for a little over a month)
Northern France (Epernay and Reims)
Paris
London
Rome
Florence
Milan
Copenhagen
Hamburg
Berlin
Munich
Interlaken
Bern
Zurich
Posted on 12/26/14 at 7:05 pm to sonicsam
Do it! I was too chicken and in my era it was certainly easier to do than it might be now.
Posted on 12/26/14 at 7:05 pm to sonicsam
Did the same trip this past summer and would definitely recommend Budapest, Munich, and Croatia
Posted on 12/26/14 at 7:06 pm to sonicsam
Get the Lets Go series for guidebooks. It's geared towards the budget minded young person. I banked on this thing for my month long trip and it worked really well.
Make sure you take advantage of the euro rail packages. It will greatly allow you flexibility and freedom to move city to city. My recommendation is to fly into and out of a different city. And then play it somewhat by ear on which cities you want to see in between. My suggestion is to not stay anywhere longer than 2-3 days. Take the 80/20 approach on seeing what the city has to offer.
My trip was:
Dublin, Liverpool, Northern Ireland, London, Paris, Nice, Venice, Rome, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Frankfurt Did this over 30 days
Dublin, Brussels and Amsterdam were my favorites
Make sure you take advantage of the euro rail packages. It will greatly allow you flexibility and freedom to move city to city. My recommendation is to fly into and out of a different city. And then play it somewhat by ear on which cities you want to see in between. My suggestion is to not stay anywhere longer than 2-3 days. Take the 80/20 approach on seeing what the city has to offer.
My trip was:
Dublin, Liverpool, Northern Ireland, London, Paris, Nice, Venice, Rome, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Frankfurt Did this over 30 days
Dublin, Brussels and Amsterdam were my favorites
This post was edited on 12/26/14 at 7:09 pm
Posted on 12/26/14 at 7:07 pm to sonicsam
Law school LOL!
Just save the money from that and work offshore this summer.
You seem like the type of kid who thinks graduating from undergrad should be celebrated.
Just save the money from that and work offshore this summer.
You seem like the type of kid who thinks graduating from undergrad should be celebrated.
Posted on 12/26/14 at 7:11 pm to Professor Parks
quote:
You seem like the type of kid who thinks graduating from undergrad should be celebrated.
And you seem like the poor professor who can only dream of traveling abroad.
Posted on 12/26/14 at 7:16 pm to StreakySchmidty
Tips off the top of my head:
- fly into one city and out of a different one
- Once you go to southern Italy, fly to another city/country - italy is a massive bottleneck and a waste of time to backtrack the entire length. It is super easy to fly out of FCO (Rome) to anywhere in Europe.
- Read up Rick Steves on using the rail pass. This will be your best friend.
- Do not use the rail pass in Italy. It doesn't apply for the high speed rail there if memory serves me correctly.
- London, Paris, Amsterdam are connected by super high speed rails.
- Rail pass is cheaper with less countries and the fewer days you need it...map it out. If you all over the damn place then you may need to get the 30 day unlimited pass but you pay a premium for it.
- Highly suggest the Nordic area...the women in Copenhagen were out of this world beautiful (and speak great English)
- Belgium is awesome if you love beer...much better than Germany
- The central part of Europe is all on top of itself...very easy to go from town to town with very little time on a train. Starting in Amsterdam provides a great opportunity to do this. You have Brussels, Antwerp, Lyon, Hamburg, Cologne, etc. that are all within an hour or so by train.
- Greece is a long way away...if you want to do Greece, then you have to be ready to invest in time and money...and you probably want to go see Turkey too. Good places to end the trip.
-South of France is easy and it connects well with northern Italy. Beautiful areas of the continent.
- London is not worth going to if this is your first trip to Europe. It is culturally in between NYC and a true 'European' city. With that said, London is super easy to get around and an easy transition into the continent. It is expensive.
- Switzerland is pretty cool but VERY expensive. Zurich was like $20 for a basic sandwich and $5 for a Coke.
- Agree with the other poster who said no longer than 2-3 days in a single city. The max IMO is 2 nights in a single place...ideally 2 1/2 days and then a night train somewhere. You want to be traveling at night as much as possible since this saves on hostles/hotels and gets you to a new city without burning valuable daylight.
- About halfway through the trip, build in a day for you to do absolutely nothing. You will eventually be hungover and tired of traveling every other day and need to recharge. Nothing wrong with chilling for a day.
- Balance the big cities with small ones and the outdoors. Europe has amazing small towns and outdoors experiences and you totally miss these if you only go from one big city to the next.
- fly into one city and out of a different one
- Once you go to southern Italy, fly to another city/country - italy is a massive bottleneck and a waste of time to backtrack the entire length. It is super easy to fly out of FCO (Rome) to anywhere in Europe.
- Read up Rick Steves on using the rail pass. This will be your best friend.
- Do not use the rail pass in Italy. It doesn't apply for the high speed rail there if memory serves me correctly.
- London, Paris, Amsterdam are connected by super high speed rails.
- Rail pass is cheaper with less countries and the fewer days you need it...map it out. If you all over the damn place then you may need to get the 30 day unlimited pass but you pay a premium for it.
- Highly suggest the Nordic area...the women in Copenhagen were out of this world beautiful (and speak great English)
- Belgium is awesome if you love beer...much better than Germany
- The central part of Europe is all on top of itself...very easy to go from town to town with very little time on a train. Starting in Amsterdam provides a great opportunity to do this. You have Brussels, Antwerp, Lyon, Hamburg, Cologne, etc. that are all within an hour or so by train.
- Greece is a long way away...if you want to do Greece, then you have to be ready to invest in time and money...and you probably want to go see Turkey too. Good places to end the trip.
-South of France is easy and it connects well with northern Italy. Beautiful areas of the continent.
- London is not worth going to if this is your first trip to Europe. It is culturally in between NYC and a true 'European' city. With that said, London is super easy to get around and an easy transition into the continent. It is expensive.
- Switzerland is pretty cool but VERY expensive. Zurich was like $20 for a basic sandwich and $5 for a Coke.
- Agree with the other poster who said no longer than 2-3 days in a single city. The max IMO is 2 nights in a single place...ideally 2 1/2 days and then a night train somewhere. You want to be traveling at night as much as possible since this saves on hostles/hotels and gets you to a new city without burning valuable daylight.
- About halfway through the trip, build in a day for you to do absolutely nothing. You will eventually be hungover and tired of traveling every other day and need to recharge. Nothing wrong with chilling for a day.
- Balance the big cities with small ones and the outdoors. Europe has amazing small towns and outdoors experiences and you totally miss these if you only go from one big city to the next.
This post was edited on 12/26/14 at 7:21 pm
Posted on 12/26/14 at 7:31 pm to lynxcat
For those with experience can you give some input into how much you budgeted and spent during your trip?
Posted on 12/26/14 at 7:35 pm to lynxcat
LynxCat,
GREAT post.
I've been,but never that way. I'd heed your advice if I was ever in a position to go again.
GREAT post.
I've been,but never that way. I'd heed your advice if I was ever in a position to go again.
Posted on 12/26/14 at 7:46 pm to lynxcat
Everything lynxcat said too.
Posted on 12/26/14 at 7:47 pm to UncleBlazer
I can't remember how much I budgeted, but I recall it being somewhere around $3-4k including airplane ticket and all. I went in January so the tickets were cheap (~$700).
If you don't have to eat at 5 star restaurants every night and don't mind shacking in a hostel with some strangers, it's really not that bad. My alcohol use fueled my spending.
If you don't have to eat at 5 star restaurants every night and don't mind shacking in a hostel with some strangers, it's really not that bad. My alcohol use fueled my spending.
This post was edited on 12/26/14 at 7:48 pm
Posted on 12/26/14 at 7:51 pm to sonicsam
Don't be afraid to stay in hostels. You will meet great people and save a ton of money. Use hostelworld.com and only stay in hostels rated 85% or above. They will almost always be better than staying at a cheap motel.
If you go to Italy, see Florence instead of Rome. Amazing city and closer to the rest of Europe.
Ryan air and Easy Jet are cheap European airlines similar to Spirt if you need to jump to another country quickly. Pack light so you won't have to pay the baggage fees.
It is good to plan a basic itinerary, but don't be afraid to leave it very flexible. You may fall in love with one city and want to give it a few extra days that you didn't' expect.
There are also some Viking river cruise packages that help you see a lot of cities within 2 weeks while sleeping at night. It won't be as flexible as a true backpacking trip, but will save you a lot of travel energy every night.
If you go to Italy, see Florence instead of Rome. Amazing city and closer to the rest of Europe.
Ryan air and Easy Jet are cheap European airlines similar to Spirt if you need to jump to another country quickly. Pack light so you won't have to pay the baggage fees.
It is good to plan a basic itinerary, but don't be afraid to leave it very flexible. You may fall in love with one city and want to give it a few extra days that you didn't' expect.
There are also some Viking river cruise packages that help you see a lot of cities within 2 weeks while sleeping at night. It won't be as flexible as a true backpacking trip, but will save you a lot of travel energy every night.
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