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Post by slicktraveler on Mar 22, 2009 8:56:07 GMT -5
Ok so I booked my flight leaveing April 22nd to go on a 3 month backpacking trip to europe. I already have all my supplies, flight arrangements, and booked my Eurail pass (3 month unlimited pass) Problem is I havent planned what I'm going to do!!!!!
This is my first trip and im going alone, ill be staying in hostels and such to keep it cheap.
here is a list of the countries i want to see
Netherlands
Germany
Belgium
Czech Rep
Hungary
Austria
Switzerland
Italy
Greece
France
Spain
Portugal
Denmark
I know that a big list and I need to cut some places out. What i need help with is what to see in these countries, like cities and destinations. I'm not the best planner so i am begging for help from the boards to give me some idea's of where to check out. I like hiking, history, night life, good food, festivals, and music. I only have 1 month till i leave on this trip and i feel extremely unprepared. Any and all help would be appreciated I will be on these boards daily trying to plan this trip out so HELP ME PLEASE!!!
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Post by Libby on Mar 22, 2009 9:11:55 GMT -5
I've never done a trip that size, but I've found it helpful to use geography when planning any trip. It cuts down on travel time and just makes sense.
What is the city you are flying into and where are you flying out from.
I'd recommend you booking your hostels as soon as you can. You really do need to nail your itinerary.
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Post by slicktraveler on Mar 22, 2009 9:32:21 GMT -5
Im flying into london first with a 5 day layover then to the Netherlands because i have family there. I will also be flying out of the Netherlands. I was looking at doing a clockwise route Netherlands to Germany to Czech Rep to Hungary to Austria, then down Italy (seeing 1/2 on the way down) then take a boat out to greece and back then see the other 1/2 of Italy, then Spain to portugal and finish with France then back to Holland to leave.
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Post by Libby on Mar 22, 2009 9:58:27 GMT -5
That actually makes quite a bit of sense. That's a good route...at least to me  What I do pick what I can't miss and what cities are must sees and then I work around that. The mistake I made my first trip was allowing too much time in each place I visited. This trip (I fly out the 29th of April) I ended up making my second week way too crowded and now, at the last minute, need to make some changes. YOu should try to strike a balance. Figure out what you really, really want to see and go from there. |
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Post by madamtrashheap on Mar 24, 2009 0:06:43 GMT -5
slicktraveler, a belated welcome to the Boards.
As Libby has noted, it's a good idea to list cities in each of the countries you absolutely must see, then an order of what to visit will develop out of that. Three months is a good amount of time to explore, but you may find that it's still not enough time to see everything first time around.
As you're going in less than a month, perhaps your priority should be to list the cities/areas you want to visit then start booking hostels. Even though April isn't officially the busy period, May and June are busy and you might have issues booking the popular cheaper hostels and will blow your budget if you wait too long to book the more popular ones.
Happy and fast planning!
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Post by herrbert on Mar 24, 2009 14:36:39 GMT -5
As the Madam already suggested make a list of cities you need to see, without it is hard to judge if this is possible, or too hurried.
As a general rule, you could devide it to something like this:
Major cities (London, Paris, Rome, Madrid) at least 4 days (5 nights)
Big Cities (Barcelona, Berlin, Vienna, Prague) at least 3 days. (4 nights)
Other cities (Venice, Brugge, Amsterdam) can be done in 2 full days, provided some good planning.
Add your days for daytrips. (Rome 4 days + Pompeii daytrip = 5 days)
For some destinations it fine just to see them in a daytrip. (think Toledo from Madrid, or Siena (in between Rome and Florence), some cities have some nice sights, when you are just passing by. (think of the Cathedral in Cologne, just opposite the trainstation, or the leaning tower in Pisa.)
As for this trip, I would suggest to go south from the Netherlands first, as the weather in Spain, Portugal, will be fine in April/May. and it's more likely to have good weather in Germany, when you are there in June. So I would do it in the opposite direction you are suggesting. (only think about the tourist season in Greece.)
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