Help meEurope Suggestions
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Post by Help meEurope Suggestions on Dec 9, 2002 13:19:11 GMT -5
Alrighty i need lots of help for my upcoming backpacking experience in Europe.. Maybe a little background on me first before i ask will help some people.. I am pretty experience traveler i went cross country in the states last summer for over a month..So i am definitly up for seeing as much as possible.. and meeting as many people as i can.. Of course on a good budget.. I am thinking of going to europe for 2 months in May-July. beating the tourist season for a little bit and catching it the last part of my trip.. Well my reason for writing is.. I am wondering a couple things.. 1) Does anyone have any suggestions on places,people,countries to see so far.. I am planning on United Kingdom,Netherlands,beligum,Denmark,Spain,Luxenbourg,Switzerland,Italy,Hungry,Germany,and possibly some Scandavian countries.. now i am trying to see what cities/towns to visit... Like i said i am really up for anything parting to sightseeing.. all those good things.. Also.. i am trying to decide if i should get an unlimated europass or just get a flexi.. any suggestions would be awesome:)
so any help please write back those are my questions right now.. lots more to come!
take care
-Gary
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Post by nitsansh on Dec 9, 2002 16:45:39 GMT -5
If you really go for this ambitious plan of 10 countries in 2 months, it means you're going to be travelling quite a lot and you'll surely see many people... but at the expense of time for sight seeing, getting to know those people and some relaxation...
I suggest that you reconsider your plan and shorten that list...
quality is more important than quantity!
This will also reduce your transportation expenses... the new 5-countries selectpass could actually cover 7 if those include Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg (those 3 count as 1), plus UK (not covered by Eurail passes). Adding more countries means you must get the more expensive Eurailpass.
BTW... there's no direct connection to Hungary from the other countries on your list... you have to get across Austria or Czech Republic or Slovakia or Slovenia to get there (and only Austria from these is included in Eurail passes)... this might be a good reason to drop it first...
The same applies to Spain... if you travel overland you must go through France (I'm surprised this one is not on your list... it's one of the most popular countries in Europe, if not #1)...
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Post by Kim on Dec 9, 2002 17:32:05 GMT -5
I agree-you will enjoy your trip a lot more if you cut out some places, which will reduce your travelling.
Take a look at a good map (the Lonely Planet site has some good ones), it will help you see what is close to each other.
Out of your list (UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark,Spain, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy,Hungary, Germany,and Scandinavia), what I would cut out first would be Hungary and Scandinavia as they are a bit more out of your way. As Nitsansh mentioned, I would probably add France.
Luxembourg you can do in a day, which won't eat up your time. Two days at the absolute most-it's tiny.
Kim
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Post by nitsansh on Dec 9, 2002 18:02:34 GMT -5
BTW... Denmark is considered part of Scandinavia... culture-wise and price-wise... it won't be too far out of the way - it's a few hours by train from the major cities of northern Germany - but the rest of Scandinavia will require long travel.
It's also quite a long journey to Spain, if you want to go further south from Barcelona or Madrid. Southern Italy will also require quite a long detour.
Even if you drop a country or two or three, you will not be able to see the entire countries. Large countries like Germany, Italy, France, Spain, UK... 2 weeks in each of them is a quicky trip...
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Post by muzicfreak on Dec 9, 2002 21:24:07 GMT -5
Ahhh thanks for the suggestions so far... I should have included this in my statement.. i think i am going to either do this now i think of it.. Either fly into Madrid and out of london.. Or fly in and out of london and fly to spain and skip france.. i am not a big french person.. i really have no interest in the culture or the country.. i don't know i feel there is other cultures in europe that would excite me more.. that is as of right now.. but who knows maybe i will dip into paris and really like it.. But with hungry i really want to go there cause i have heard nothing but good things about Budapest.. yea it's a little out of the way but i think it would be more than worth it and i would like to see prague another left out on my list...hmm so many places i need and want to see hehehe Any more suggestions would be wonderful thanks so far.. i am start to reconsider some places already..
thanks alot
-Gary
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Post by nitsansh on Dec 10, 2002 3:06:52 GMT -5
Gary
Forget the flights and passes right now - we'll deal with that later...
The challenge you have right now is to select the destinations you're most interested to go... because there's no way you can see all that's worth seeing in Europe in 2 months...
Believe me... I've been to Europe for 5 months in several trips, and I feel that I've seen barely a quarter of it, not to mention the places I want to come back for a 2nd time...
Don't think that this is one-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe and you must see everything... once you get the travel bug it doesn't go away easily...
I suggest that you do a list of 10-15 places you're most interested to go or things that you want to do.
Then we can see how we can tailor them together into a reasonable itinerary.
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Post by nitsansh on Dec 10, 2002 3:21:25 GMT -5
And BTW... it is possible to go to Spain and bypass France... there are direct trains from Barcelona to Italy and Switzerland, and quite cheap flights to London, Amsterdam and Geneva, to name just few options...
And Budapest isn't so far away... you can get there by direct trains from Berlin, Munich or Zurich, and if you go to Prague (good choice, if you ask me!), then Budapest is only 6-7 hours away... but in comparison to distances between other places, it's considered long travel. After all... Europe (excludind the former Soviet Union) is much smaller than USA...
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Post by nitsansh on Dec 10, 2002 3:24:58 GMT -5
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Post by muzicfreak on Dec 10, 2002 9:40:36 GMT -5
Arlighty, That is a good idea.. hence the reason for my post:) I am trying to get some suggestions.. But i do have about 10 cities that are musts right now... I am gonna have to see how they group up on a map i know about 5 out of the 10 are very close.. London,Brussels,Amsterdamn,Dublin, and Antwerp. My others are Interlaken,Rome,Budapest,Vienna,Copenhagen and Prague. ahh make that 11. which are kinda spread out from each other to my understanding i am going to have to hit the library and do a little more research:)
thanks so far for the help
please give me more input hehe
cheers
-Gary
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Post by LHR02 on Dec 10, 2002 10:05:41 GMT -5
Check with Ryan Air for London to Dublin.....my flight on the 18th Dec cost me 4.99 GBP! Senseless to mess with long boat rides when flights are so cheap. Likewise London to Amsterdam....unless you just 'have' to take the chunnel train it is much cheaper to fly.
ging
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Post by nitsansh on Dec 10, 2002 10:25:47 GMT -5
ging (dustoffmom) is right... flights on Ryanair and similar airlines are often as cheap as travel by bus, boat or train...
Looking at your list... Brussels to Antwerpen is about 1 hour, Antwerpen to Amsterdam 2 hours... these 3 are really close...
Then, in ascending order... Vienna to Budapest 3 hours, Vienna to Prague 4.5 hours...
All other destinations are at least 10 hours of each other... so you would like to cover these distances by night, or fly where cheap flights are available...
London is the biggest hub in Europe, and you can find flights almost everywhere. It's also usually the cheapest destination for trans-Atlantic flights.
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Post by nitsansh on Dec 10, 2002 10:55:17 GMT -5
Oops... I forgot that London to Brussels is also a short journey with the Eurostar train... it's under 3 hours, shorter than a flight if you consider the time it takes to get to/from airports...
You didn't name any destination in Spain, nor in Germany... did you have 2nd thoughts about those countries?
Even so, you already have 7 Eurail countries (excluding UK which is not included in Eurail passes), and unless you fly in and out of Denmark, you must go though Germany, so it's actually 8... looks like you would need the Eurail pass, if you choose to go mainly by train...
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Post by muzicfreak on Dec 10, 2002 16:04:12 GMT -5
I am definitly still thinking of germany and spain i am just researching which cities and towns i would like to visit.. i am thinking Berlin just for historical value, maybe munich or frankfurt but i am still trying to decide also.. trying to see where some friends are located in germany it makes great travel to meet up with friends and have a place to stay:) With Spain i wanna go to the party of costa de sol and i have been reading the book "the drifters" and have become very intrigued with the town of torremolinos. but i need to research those more like everything else:) But the ryanair suggestions looks very hopefully and could save some money and time.. since i heard it's like 25-55 bucks to fly from london to amsterdamn where as the tunnel is like 100 bucks.. Any more suggestions please give um to me:) How is Barcelona,Pamplona and Madrid? Are they good times and good sights? Should i even be asking this it's europe haha
please get back to me kids
thanks
-Gary
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Post by nitsansh on Dec 10, 2002 17:05:14 GMT -5
I'm not fan of places like Torremolinos... it's very touristy, and oriented to package holidays rather than backpackers...
If you look for partying in the Iberic peninsula, Algarve (in Portugal) might be a better place... and Ibiza is the ultimate party island in the western mediterreanian, but it's very pricy!
Pamplona is a big party during the Fiesta of San Fermin, famous for the Running with the bulls... the dates IIRC are July 6-14, and if you plan to go there, make reservation as soon as possible! I heard that the back half of the festival is less crowded.
Except for this festival, don't bother to go there.
Barcelona and Madrid have plenty of sights and night life.
If you like old towns and monuments, you would like to visit Toledo and Segovia near Madrid, and the triple crown of the south - Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada. But all this will take at least 2 weeks of your limited time...
I would look for flights to Spain or Portugal and then move northward, or in case you go to Pamplona, you could end the trip there and fly back.
If you don't go to Pamplona in July, I would prefer to visit Spain in May or June rather than July. It gets very hot and crowded in summer.
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Post by nitsansh on Dec 10, 2002 17:19:40 GMT -5
If you plan on meeting friends during the trip, you should find out where they are, and when they will be available... perhaps they have plans for vacation elsewhere in summer...
In Germany, my favorite places were Heidelberg and Rothenbourg, as well as a "cruise" on the Rhein between Koblenz and Bingen. I also did a bus trip on the Romantische Strasse. The bus and boat were both free with my railpass, but I'm not sure they are still free these days...
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