Just starting out.
 

hey all.

my girlfriend and i are looking at travelling to europe from australia in june-july next year.

we are wanting to fly to turkey, then fly into italy and start from rome, onto florence, venice, prague, berlin, amsterdam, paris, madrid, ibiza and barcelona.

we have about 6-8 weeks to play with, so any tips would be appreciated.

not sure exactly how to go about eurail passes etc, as i'd prefer to have a flexible itinerary so if we don't like somewhere we can move on, but i like to be planned so i don't have to rush to book the eurail or not have accomodation worked out.

we want to stay in hostels, but a private room with or without ensuite.

what's everyones thoughts on this, any great things to see, safety concerns, etc would be appreciated as we've never done such a travel before.

thanks scott

hey, welcome to TPunk!!
A Eurail pass can be purchased online-theres even a link here if you go to the top of the screen.
Berlin is a great city with many fabulous musemes but if you have a pass, I would also spend a little while in Leipzig.
In terms of safety if you look on our safety board you'll find lots of help.

In Rome, you may want to consider the Beehive (for their private rooms). You can actually check out a lot of these hostels (and book them--which is important since you are traveling in peak season) through the main page on Travel Punk.

Sounds like you have a very doable itinerary 6-8 weeks is 40-60 days which is between 4-6 days per city. If anything you may be a little light on cities but you can always add a city later. Especially with a rail pass. Look for nearby cities that can be done as day trips (eg Toledo/Segovia from Madrid, Brugge/Ghent from Amsterdam, Pompeii Scavi (Naples) from Rome).

Welcome to the boards :cheers:

--Joey