I need your help!

[espa137]

I've been planning a month long backpacking trip to Western Europe for about a year now, and I can't decide if I want to spend all 30 days in specific region i.e. (France & Benelux) or if I want to spread all 30 across say about 7-10 countries. I'm wanting to see the big sights of course, which would put me at a spread. However at the same time I really want to experience the European culture and lifestyle. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[herrbert]

First of all I think you need to remember that there is not one big European culture or lifestyle. Sure the big cities nowadays all look a bit alike, with the same stores, and restaurants or at least the shopping centers do. Also forget the number of countries, think locations. 7 or 8 locations in about 30 days is somewhat of a maximum in my opinion.

The benefit for spending your time in one region, is that you are more likely to understand the culture of that region easier, because you are simply spending more time there. It also prevents long distance trips between destinations, giving you more time for sightseeing.

But on the other hand it can also be fun to mix different destinations, and mix English culture, with Spanish, and Hungarian. Cheap planes can at least minimize the time you'll loose between cities.

edit: cann -> can

[Eagle]

espa137, Welcome! I have a few comments to add to herrbert's always great advice.

For a time frame of 30 days, my preference would be to visit several countries rather than just one, in order to experience some of the culture, people and languages in each location. However, as herrbert mentioned with only 30 days for the trip, visiting 7-10 countries is out of the question unless you want to spend most of your time seeing Europe through a train window.

For example, you could visit a few cities each in 3 or 4 countries. If you haven't been to Europe before, it would be a good idea to spend more time in major historical cities such as London, Paris and Rome. Try to choose cities that are reasonably close geographically, so you don't waste a lot of time travelling between locations. Using open-jaw flights would be a good idea, so that you don't have to return to your starting point when you fly home (that will save both time and money).

It would help if you could provide a bit more information on which locations in Europe you're most interested in seeing, and what type of budget you're working with.

Cheers!

[espa137]

I appreciate both of your comments. Replying to Eagle...I'm working with a budget of about $4,500. I plan on doing a lot of camping and hostels. My plan is to fly into London, and from there move on to France (Paris,Bordeaux, Lyon), Barcelona, Vienna, Prauge, Munich, Rhineland, and end in Amsterdam. Is this asking too much from my budget and time?