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Post by redknight on Jun 18, 2008 3:29:40 GMT -5
hi all, I have for the longest time wanted to visit Europe. I finally decided that the trip wouldn't just fall in my lap. So I figured by the time summer 2010 rolled around I could raise enough for a 2 month backpacking excursion through Europe. I have been looking at websites nonstop with all the info and tips and i realize that it is still too early to book my flight and what not, but I wanted to post my intentions and potential itinerary get some real feedback and see how feasible this is.
I will be traveling with a close friend. We think we'd like to fly into Lisbon.(Although once flight bookings become available whatever the cheapest means to get us to the continent will be what we do.) We want to stay in youth hostels along the way. From Lisbon we want to travel to madrid, then barcelona. From there i don't really know what the right path to go would be to hit all the places we want to go. Ill list them here
Paris
Rome
Venice
somewhere in Switzerland( any recs)
Vienna
Budapest
Bucharest
Athens
Prague
Munich
Paris
Brussels
Copenhagen
Amsterdam
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Post by redknight on Jun 18, 2008 3:32:02 GMT -5
put the rest in an another post for ease of reading...
We want to use the Eurail 2 month consecutive pass
We want to night train whenever possible, regardless of being comfortable.
thats about all i can think of at the moment.
ps. I live in Orlando, FL.
ill definitely appreciate any comments! thanks
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Post by Eagle on Jun 18, 2008 13:22:22 GMT -5
redknight, welcome! First of all, it's great that you're getting an early start on your planning, as this provides lots of time to work out the details. One point that occurs to me in reading over your proposed list of cities, is that it might be difficult to fit 16 cities into a two month trip (you mentioned Paris twice). I'll wait for some comments by the others here, but that's not something I would attempt. Keep in mind that you will need to allow travel days, depending on what order you arrange the cities. You might want to wait before choosing which Rail Pass to buy. The Two Month Consecutive may be the best option, or there may be a more cost effective option. When you have your order of cities somewhat finalized, type this into www.railsaver.com and the site will provide a reasonably good estimate on the most appropriate Pass. Night trains are certainly an option, but keep in mind that on some routes there are several changes during the trip, so you wouldn't be getting much sleep. In some cases, budget flights are a better option. Again, that can be determined later (the budget flight situation may change before 2010, depending on how much fuel costs increase). One point that I mentioned in another thread recently, is that July and August are usually hot and crowded in Europe, and therefore not the best months to travel. Also, in August I believe some Europeans (Italy for example) take holidays, which means some tourist facilities would be closed. Travel in the spring or fall shoulder seasons (May/June or Sept. / Oct.) are usually better. Regarding your question about Switzerland, the Berner Oberland and especially the small village of Gimmelwald are a favourite with many here. Gimmelwald is essentially a small farming village perched on the edge of a high cliff, but it's a great place to visit and just rest from the rigors of travel. Having a beer in the late afternoon and visiting with other travellers, while watching the sun set over the glacier is one of my favourite memories! The Mountain Hostel would probably be your best bet for lodgings (the Pensione is still closed AFAIK). Check www.gimmelwald.ch for a look at the area. Access to Gimmelwald and Lauterbrunnen is via the city of Interlaken, which is also a beautiful location. I'm sure you'll have other questions during your trip planning, and I'm sure the group here will be able to help with those. You may find it helpful to read the Guide book Europe Through The Back Door, as it will help with a lot of the planning and details. Cheers!
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Post by redknight on Jun 18, 2008 13:37:10 GMT -5
haha i didn't realize i wrote paris twice. yeah i figured that was a lot of places but i figured start with alot and then narrow from there.
the places we really want to go are
Lisbon
Madrid
Barcelona
Amsterdam (we were thinking maybe doing this last, we want to spend like 5 days maybe more)
everything else is really secondary obviously there are places we will go in between Spain and the Netherlands, so im not worried about getting to spend time there, its the more out of the way places that are expendable i guess, but if i can find time to even get to the closest ones(eastern European countries that is) i will.
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Post by redknight on Jun 20, 2008 5:23:53 GMT -5
anyone?
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Post by pointofnoreturn on Jun 20, 2008 10:34:05 GMT -5
Why don't you suggest a rough itinerary in terms of the number of days you want to spend in each place and we can help you narrow down the choices from there or provide comments/suggestions to make the most of your trip.
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Post by herrbert on Jun 20, 2008 18:23:05 GMT -5
Hi redknight,
I think you should not think about which railpass you need to for the trip before you actualy know where you are going. In two years time there can be a lot of changes in the logistics. (more or maybe less budgetairlines, other routes, more hi-speed train connections etc). As Ponr mentions it would be a good start to get a grip in the number of days you want to spend in each city. This would be my list:
Lisbon (3 days - and depending on the time or arrival a 4th day to get over the jetlag.)
Madrid (2 whole days for the city, and 2 days for daytrips to Segovia and Toledo)
Barcelona (3 days, maybe an extra day for daytrip: Girona or Dalimuseum)
Other places you could opt for in Spain are: Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada (Alhambra!!) Valencia, and a whole bunch of smaller places in Andalucía. If you decide to go by train from Lisbon to Madrid (and I think by 2010, there will be a hi speed connection), you could add a day in Caceres, which is about half way. Spain has a couple of budgetairlines, that make it possible to get from one place to an other cheap. check Vueling, Spanair, Clickair (esp for Barcelona - Rome), AirEuropa and even Iberia has cheap inland flights.
Rome (5-6 days, daytrip to Pompeii?, a short stay in Sorrento? Capri?)
Venice (2 days)
(how about Florence, Cinque Terre?)
somewhere in Switzerland( any recs)
If your heart is set on Switzerland, the fav. here is Gimmelwald, but if you want to go for the scenery and want to stay en-route to Vienna, Innsbruck would be a more obvious choice.
Vienna (4 days, daytrip to Bratislava or maybe make a stop in Bratislava, on the way to Budapest)
Budapest (3-4 days)
Bucharest (you have to ask Willtravel !!)
Athens (3 days) - The only point of concern is the connections by train. It would be easier and faster to get a flight to Athens, and then back to another place in the itenerary. Also going to Greece for just 3 days in Athens, is not really a good idea imo. Think about adding days on Santorini, or one of the other islands.
Prague (3 days)
Munich (2 days for the city - 1 day for the Castles?)
Paris (3-5 days, depending on interests)
Brussels (skip it in favour of Brugge)
Copenhagen (?) In a logistic sense out of the way! to me 2 days were more than enough in Copenhagen.
Amsterdam (3 days) - it's compact, and can be easily seen in 3 days.
You have to rethink the logistical parts of the trip, e.g. taking the train from Vienna to Athens is possible but not the best of options. (rather check a flight from Milan to Athens (Easyjet), and maybe fly back to Budapest (I am not sure if Athens-Bucharest is an option at the moment, as far as budgetflights are concerned).
To me Berlin and London are missing in this list, any reason for that? London often is one of the cheaper option to fly in or out of. And with Prague on the list, Berlin is almost always on route to somewhere else.
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Post by redknight on Jun 20, 2008 20:42:43 GMT -5
i'm really appreciating the feedback guys!
I haven't really done enough research on each city to know how many days I want to spend in each. But We are planing to spend two months on the continent. While I definitely want to book most of my hostels in advance as to not be left out in the cold, we also want a reasonable amount of flexibility opposed to following a 100% set itinerary.
Our thoughts were to start in Lisbon and end the trip in Amsterdam. So much can change in 2 years and we are planning to take the cheapest flight we can to the continent, so i'll have to know that before i can really set a route.
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