Three Month Trip

[Vickie]

I arrived back from a three month trip at the beginning of October, and I thought I would pass on a little advice.......(FYI: I traveled on my own, as a 23 year old female, for the three months)

1) Use the internet to book ahead....it was an easy way to be spontaneous, but still be prepared and know where you were going to sleep once you got to a new city. The sites gave good, clear directions to the hostels and you didn't have to stress about the phone conversations. Most people I met were doing the same thing...hostelworld.com, gomio.com, hostelz.com, etc. (Also, you can email/call the hostel if no space looks available, but most of the time it is.)

2) In Vienna, Austria....stay at Wombats. Great place. I recommend it to everyone I meet. Also, if they offer it, splurge and take do Mitch's wine tasting tour. It was the absolute highlight of my trip. (Imagine biking through terraced vineyards, swimming in the Danube, climbing to the top of an ancient castle, wine tasting, liquor tasting....)

3) In Berlin, Germany....take Terry Brewer's 9-hour walking tour. I know it sounds like a long, long day, but it was worth it! For 12 euro, you see SOO much and learn so much history. I cannot rave enough about the tour guide I had. (I heard similar remarks from others who I met later in different countries about the tour.)

4) If traveling in the summer.......plan for heat......Spain is awesome, but Spain is hotter than hell! Avoid Sevilla, Granada, etc. in the prime summer time if possible. Nobody has air conditioning......

5) Pack light! You can always buy new shirt there.....plus it gives you something to do if you have to go shopping for something you forgot, etc.

6) Go to Cinque Terre and skip Nice. If you are looking just to go to the beach, Nice and the surrounding towns have NOTHING on Italy. (Especially if you are like myself and on restricted funds, I just felt poor along the French Riviera...although it was a nice pitstop my way to Barcelona.) Cinque Terre was the most beautiful location I visited. I stayed 6 days! (Longer than anywhere else, and turned my stay into my vacation from my vacation.) Go! Trust me...it's worth it.

7) Bring a pocketknife. Knife, scissors, tweezers, bottle opener..... and I brought a waiter's wine opener, which was helpful if you drink a lot of wine. (Much cheaper to buy a 3 euro bottle of wine and sit amongst the pigeons at Piazza San Marco in Venice than to sit at a table with a 8 euro glass of wine.)

8) If in Spain, look into Vaughn Village's Englishtown program. You speak English with Spainards for a week, they pay for your room/board, but no actual pay. Eat three course meals, meet other english speakers, learn about spanish culture, make friends from all over.....it was great. I loved it. It was also a week in Spain without expenses!!! Look into it if you are headed towards Madrid.

Yeah....I'm full of advice if you have questions. I know I wanted to plan soo much before my trip and read tons of advice; however, once I got on the road, you find your own groove. You figure out what works best for you and you ask the people in your hostel about their experiences. Everyone is either going to the same place or coming from the place you are most likely going next. My best advice is to talk to the people in your rooms....not only do you find good travel buddies, tour buddies, dinner buddies, or drinking buddies, but you learn the best up-to-date facts about places to go, etc. =)

My trip: London, Cambridge (England), Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, Salzburg, Venice, Florence, Siena, Rome, Cinque Terre, Nice (+Monaco, Cannes, Antibes), Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Granada, Toledo, Salamanca, Madrid, Paris, London
(3 months....and I speak some spanish)

[e-mail] (put some kind of Europe/Travel thing in the subject. I would love help other backpackers!) =)

[WillTravel]

Vickie, I'm glad you had a great time.
Thanks to Kim's tip, I took Terry Brewer's tour, and I totally agree with what you said.

I'd be curious to hear more about your experiences with Englishtown. I thought you weren't supposed to speak or understand any Spanish at all. My knowledge is pretty minimal, but I was worried it was more than they were willing to accept.

[vickie]

so....technically, you are not supposed to know any Spanish, but I did. I started my trip remembering bits of spanish from college/high school, but after traveling around Spain for 3 weeks prior to my Englishtown experience, my spanish was pretty decent. (To my surprise.) Anyway, I just pretended I did not speak it. I didn't use it. And it was no problem. The Spainards figured out that I knew some spanish, when they would make comments to each other and I would laugh at the joke, but it was not a problem.

If you have self-restraint and are not a fluent speaker, I would not see a problem. You just have to respect that this is not a time to practice your spanish, but a time for them to practice their english. =)