First time backpacking

[courtneyb22]

Hello everyone!!

I'm so excited that I found this site! There seems to be so much great information on traveling Europe!

My little sister and I have booked our tickets for a 5 week trip to Europe - after reading some of the posts I am beginning to realize it probably won't be enough time to see all we want to see but it was the most amount of time I could get off from work. We are flying into London, make a quick stop in Paris and then had originally planned to spend most of our time in Italy and Greece. With all the recent news about the upheval in Greece we are reconsidering...
We leave in just about a month and a half ith not much planning done!! Any advice on how to plan most efficently in the next few weeks so we have the best trip would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Courtney

[Eagle]

courtneyb22, first of all, welcome!

First of all, before we can offer any suggestsions, it would help to have some additional information about your trip. For example:

- Where are you flying from?

- Which cities do you want to visit in Italy and Greece?

- Have you planned how you're going to travel between cities?

- What type of budget are you working with?

- How long are you planning to spend in London and Paris?

- Are you returning home from London? (I always recommend open-jaw flights for best efficiency)?

- Do you have any questions about your Backpacks or other travel kit?

- Have you read any Guidebooks about the places you want to visit?

A few general comments....

Five weeks is not a long time for travel in Europe, and you'll have to factor transportation time beween cities into that time frame. It's a good idea to try and keep your destinations reasonably close, so that you don't waste a lot of time travelling.

I would suggest dropping Greece from this trip for two reasons (not necessarily because of the civil unrest, which seems to be localized in Athens and which is decreasing now). First, it's a bit distant from your other locations so will require both time and money to get to and from Greece (which will reduce the amount of travel you'll have available in other locations). Second, while you will be able to see the main sights in Athens, the islands are mostly "closed up for the winter" in January so it might not be the most rewarding or interesting travel experience. Some of our members here will be able to comment more on the Greek islands during winter, so I'll leave that to them.

It would be a really good idea to get some firm planning done in the very near future, so that you have some idea on which cities you'll be visiting and how you're going to get there. I would also suggest pre-booking your accommodation for at least the first stop.

Good luck with your planning!

[herrbert]

I have to agree with Eagle on most points. I would also drop Greece, and wait until you get the opportunity to visit it in summer, when the access to the islands is much better. (and also flights from other parts of Europe to Greece is more frequent, and is also carried out to some of the Islands.)

As I understand you will be in Europe in February and a piece of March. If you like to have some good weather you need to get to the South. As you had selected Greece and Italy, I presume this was indeed your plan.

You can add the south of Portugal and Spain. The weather there will be quite nice, at this time of the year.

If you can tell us a little bit more of what your interests are, then I think we can provide some good destinations for you and you sister.

[mslibrarian]

I think you really need to decide on what you want to see (and I know HOW hard that is) I can't make up my own mind lately. But once you figure that out everything will fall into place.

YOu also have to decide on how you want to see those places. I know people who would try to see all of Europe in 5 weeks. Me, I like to take my time. I spend two weeks in Scotland alone. This next trip will be a week in London, a week in belgium (and that place is tiny!) and 8 days in northern Germany. I'll have to go back many times before it's all over but I feel like I've really seen places and not just drove through them.

[courtneyb22]

Thank you everyone who has replied so quickly...I am beginning to realize I have A LOT of planning to do! This is my first time planning a trip like this and it al came together at very short notice! I will get a rough draft of my itinerary together with my sister and post it soon to get some feedback!

Thanks again!