Had trouble deciding whether to put this in East or West Europe... - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**micdans** · 02-25-2008, 02:22 PM

Well folks, today I just booked my flight to Europe for after graduation. I will be traveling with my dad as a grad present for two weeks. He will be flying home after the two weeks and I will be heading out for 2 weeks by myself. I was going to do a longer trip, but with very little money and no idea about my future work, I thought it would be good to get home after one month of travel.
We will be flying into Munich from Minneapolis May 27th. From there we have a rough idea for where we will be going

Train to Vienna - several days
Salzburg/Innsbruck
Central Switzerland
Back to Munich to say goodbye to papa June 10th

Then my trip:
I was planning on going up through scandanavia and down the baltic countries but ended up shortening my trip... I haven't really decided where I will be going. Most likely...

June 11th
Prague
Bratislava
Warsaw
Berlin

I fly home from Berlin June 25th.

That's the trip. It would be enjoyable to meet up sometime during the trip if anyone is nearby. It's still rough, but as the dates near hopefully we'll get a better idea.

Cheers

Micah D

**freakypete** · 02-26-2008, 07:45 AM

Yeah that sounds pretty good to me. id maybe swap bratislava for krakow in poland...not been to bratislava myself but i few people i know were a bit disappointed with it. plus thats pretty much on the way from prague to warsaw.

Berlin and warsaw are 2 of my favourite cities, they are both fantastic, and loads to do there.

Just to warn you the european championships (soccer) in Austria and switzerland starts at the beginning of june...that means its gonna get quite busy there and expensive too probably. i think it starts about the 7th june, so maybe try and get to austria and switzerland before that.

**micdans** · 02-26-2008, 02:49 PM

Oh, thanks for the reminder about the Football matches. It would be smart to stay away from those cities when the're being played.

The reason I would like to go to Bratislava is I have a few friends who live there. I've read Krakow is a great city, so that may be a place to stop as well.

I just want to make sure that I don't spread myself out to thin in each city/country. From my last trip I realized that having more quality time in a city, actually getting to know the area/people is more meaningful than seeing many places.

If people know great places in central/eastern Europe that I should really go to, I would appreciate your input.

I've thought of doing some couchsurfing to save money and to meet some locals as well. Is that recommended?

Danke
Micah

**Elizabeth** · 02-27-2008, 07:08 AM

definately do the couchsurfing route...I am almost exclusively couchsurfing right now...since you're going to warsaw...there is a famous CSer in warsaw named toni walia, and my friend (who is also CS and has stayed with him) says he is awesome and he gives you free food from his indian resturaunt...some cities have regular meetups so you can go to those and meet people, also sometimes your host will have multiple guests so you can hang out with those people in lieu of all the people you meet in a hostel...if you have any questions or whatnot you can PM me

**offhegoes03** · 02-27-2008, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freakypete

Just to warn you the european championships (soccer) in Austria and switzerland starts at the beginning of june...that means its gonna get quite busy there and expensive too probably. i think it starts about the 7th june, so maybe try and get to austria and switzerland before that.

Not to hijack this thread, but thanks for the tip. Do you think it will be busy in Switzerland all the way until the end of June/early July?

**mbo108** · 02-27-2008, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Do you think it will be busy in Switzerland all the way until the end of June/early July?

Probably. I was in Europe in '98 when France hosted the World Cup and we skipped Paris for that very reason. We just pulled in on a bus right to the train station and we still managed to see several merry bands of supporters for various countries roaming the streets wearing their respective colors.

The upside is that if you're in any other countries and they are playing on TV, the parties will be great!

**micdans** · 05-25-2008, 02:50 PM

I leave in two days and my trip has been modified from the initial one.

Land in Munich 28th
Zurich 31st
Luzern 1st
Innsbruck 3rd
Salzburg 4th
Vienna 6th

Then I'm on my own. Probably

Bratislava 10th
Prague 12th
Train toward Berlin stopping in Dresden, Leipzip, Wittenburg
Fly home from Berlin 25th.

Lizz, I know you are a big CS fan, since I'm not going to be in Poland, do you know any good contacts in the other cities?

Also, today I just arrived home from school with my little wagon filled (everything but the front seat was capacity) and it is in the house. Now I need to organize and pack.
Crazy

**mbo108** · 05-25-2008, 06:55 PM

Good luck with your travels. I just brought up this thread and was actually shocked to see that i had replied a few months ago. pleasant surprise.

My best tip about innsbruck - climb the ski jump tower at the top of the Olympic stadium. yeah, we kinda broked in early in the morning, found a beat-up ladder, and got ourselves up onto it then traipsed up to the top. so f***ing sweet. Check out some of the other Prague threads, Sir Toby's has emerged as the Tpunk hostel of choice (in my opinion).

Finally, best way to steal the giant bier steins from the Haufbrauer Haus (sp?) in Munchen is to load a few in a backpack all wrapped in old t-shirts and dirty boxers, and toss it out a window to a willing (and fleet-footed) accomplice. not that I did this in 1998 as a high schooler. and not that I was in high school in 1988.....siiiighhhh....

Have fun with your dad. that should be really really awesome (please dont take that sarcastically - my dad died a few years ago and his early death inspired me to travel while I could).

-MBo108

**micdans** · 05-26-2008, 08:22 AM

Thanks man, I will check out some of the other threads on each of the cities.
One of my buddies told me he stole a stein in the hofbrauhaus as well - but he just shoved it in his pants and walked out. Crazy.
The ski tower sounds very cool. I'll have to look into that.
Sorry about your dad, I know loss as well. It's a big reason were traveling together.

28 hours I will be in the airport

Micah