Hi all,
I'm new to these boards and have recently decided a nice long trip is in order. I'm twenty one years old and live in New Jersey. This past year has been a pretty stressful one for me. As a result, i've decided next fall i'm goin to backpack through europe for a month. I've started to do a little research and am in definate need of some advice. I'm literally starting from scratch. I've been to other countries before, but mostly on family vacations and never anything really serious. I've decided im going to travel alone and was wondering if you guys had any suggestions in terms of destinations and attractions. Some places in particular i'd like to visit are london, paris, rome, amsterdam, and dublin(not sure how do-able this one is). Anyone have any recommendations in terms of smaller cities or towns that wouldnt be on the radar screen as much? Also, are there any MUST SEE attractions that take place in the fall? I know La Tomatina is a bit earlier than i had planned on going and the running of the bulls in pamplona is in July or around there. Also, any general advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance!
A.

Hey!! welcome! I know exactly what you mean.... I'm making an Eurotrip as soon as I finish University..... hehehe, can't wait to relax in Nice!!


Anyways... this site is really helpful for checking out world events, scroll down and on the right hand you have a search engine to check ouut places with the specific dates you'll be in Europe: What's on when.

If you're going to Rome, you could stop by Florence for a couple of days, it's really worth it, and I've also heard Cinque Terre is well worth a visit.
From what everyone's been saying lately, Dublin is a must, and if you'll be in England it's really easy to go from there. I was looking at flight tickets from Paris to Dublin on Ryanair and it was €30, taxes included... so there are a lot of options, depending on how you're planning your itinerary.... I'm not the most experienced traveller, but some backpackers here have been in the coolest places and have great advise!! :)

Have fun planning your trip!!
-Florencia.-

Welcome to the boards! Dublin is very accessible via either Ryan Air or Aer Lingus. It is a great city, but most of Ireland was great. Anyhow, if you go to Ireland, hop on the bus and see some of the smaller towns. Their bus is pretty cheap and the country's small. My favorite way to pick an off the radar city is by looking at a map and just randomly picking something in the general location I'd like. Do a little reserach if town allows and voila.

Anyhow, I'm sure you'll have tons of questions, but browsing through the boards will answer most. Any others, shoot away!

Yes, Cinque Terra is great, especially if you like hiking. Five little towns built on the rocky coast of western Italy, all connected by a hiking route that can be done in a single day. Check it out if you have the time.

What about Spain?

WELCOME TO THE BOARDS!! :cheers: when in france, you can stop in tours and take the a bus tour the loire valley & see the castles, if you're into that (they're relatively close to the castles/chateaus even though some are a decent distance away....). I really enjoyed that... not really sure where else to reccommend... what are you looking to see/do? architecture, landscape, ourdoorsy stuff, museums, etc...

Welcome :cheers:

Hey Simply Angelic! have you done this? I'm really interested!! :thumbup: So, do you get to go to some of the chateaux or do u just see everything from the bus? do u remember how much it was and where dis you book it?

Welcome :cheers:

Where in Europe were you thinking of going? Western, Eastern, Northern? What kind of things do you like to do. We've got people here that do everything, so you name it you can get some great ideas.

welcome to the boards!

yeah I did it...Basically we got on a bus that drove us from chateau to chateau. I booked from the amazing little tourist help booth in the train station. The guy was awesome, he found me the cheapest hostel to stay in, and even made the reservation for me. This guy was great. There were a bunch of different tours you could book, but seeing as I had limited time, I just booked a half day one where they took us to three places. Mine was 17$(<--this is a euro sign but I dont have that func. on my keyboard) plus the cost of admission to the chateaus (which was usually like $3-5 ea....but in a few I got in free hehe another bonus to being under 18 when traveling), and I think the full day ones where you saw like 5/6 chateaus were somewhere around 30$. For me, it was worth it because my driver knew quite a bit about the places and, it was just a lot easier than having to find the places myself. Hope this helps florencia!

Edite to add: If you want pics, I've made my Tours album public so you can view em here

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! will take those recommendations into consideration. Also i'm kind of a thrill seeker. Been Bungie Jumping, Base Jumping, Sky Diving, Zip Lining, all that good stuff. Anyone know of any kind of stuff that might catch my interest? Western Europe for the most part.

A.

Welcome anhirsh, :cheers: you picked a great site to answer your questions. I just joined myself and these people are great tools to learn from... and laugh your ass off. I recomend going to the sex talk boards for a great laugh, and to find out about hostel sex ettiqutte, and many other dirty forms of humour... the best kind right??

Munz

:insane:

Interlaken switzerland. I havent actually been but everyone I meet tells me of their adventures & it sounds amazing!! Its pretty good for extreme sports, but expensive so beware of how much you're willing to do.

okay, I know these questions are posted at least once a day on seperate threads, but for the sake of my sanity could you guys please throw me a bone. First question is this: Is it feasible to try and do the following countries for about 6k US and roughly a month to see it? Ireland, England, Netherlands (amsterdam obviously) Spain, Italy and possibly greece. If so, how comfortably can one live on that 6k US. 2) Unless it's absolutely necissary, I would prefer to travel by rail so I can see the beautiful country side and try and meet fellow travelers, If its even possible, what type of rail pass am i looking at and what trail through these particular countries is advisable. I'm pretty much willing to fly into any of the major european airports. Like I said, pretty sure these questions are fairly common, but i'm relatively inexperienced and basically need the info in the easiest form i can get it lol. Please let me know if this is a pipe dream or if it can be done for the budget i have. thanks in advance fellow packers.

pretty damn comfortably....you really only need like 75 a day plus travel

6 grand US is awsome for a month. i think normal people who go to hotels and stuff can be comfortable with that. and if you don't spend it all, i bet you'll be pretty happy you have some left over when you get back home

Bump

Welcome! :cheers:

I'm doing 4/5 countries in 30 days on 1,200$ roughly. I would prefer more time sure, but your itenerarey seems doable...ambitious, but doable. Maybe stretch it out by 5 days or cut out Greece.

As far as sites go, get your fill of museams, landmarks, etc. but concentrate on small towns. that's where you going to find the zainiest festivles, best music, best food. For instance, a bullfight in pamplona is wonderfull! But a bullfight in a small(er) town or village is much more enjoyable/hands-on.

Some of my favs. so far:

1.Cinque Terre, Italy
2.Cologn(Koln), Germany
3.Florence(Fierenze)
4. Zaragoza, Spain
5. Madrid, fav. big city by far

Have fun!

6K for those countries sounds great, but if you can stretch to more than a month (shouldn't cost you more) you'd get a better time, more places in each country.

You were wondering how do-able Dublin is... Well, you can fly from New Jersey direct to Dublin, so why not start your trip there? Dublin is really easy to get around in, and there are shuttle buses from the airport to the city centre. There's loads to see and do.

Then perhaps you could get a cheap flight over to London (you can get a one-way flight for about $25). You can do whatever you want to do in the UK, then make your way over to the rest of Europe to continue your trip using your rail pass. At the end of it, just get a flight back to Dublin on a budget airline. Of course, the price all depends on where you finish up in Europe. But Milan - Dublin for example, is about $20.

With that pretty nifty budget, you're gonna have a wicked time. I've budgeted about that same amount for a 3 month trip (but not Europe though)!