Last minute trip to Europe. PLEASE HELP?!!

[allsf]

I went to Europe only once in 1991.. I spent a couple of months traveling with a friend and we had the best of times.. mainly on Western and Central Europe..

I just decided I want to go back... I've had this trip in the back of my head for three years now and I've decided it's time to surpass my insecurities and do it.. perhaps start off in Paris or Amsterdam and travel around Eastern Europe.. and maybe go back to some places I've been to in the past... Asia perhaps?? too many ideas and a whole world out there to be explored.

I'd like some input about affordable places to stay.. something kind of in between a hostel and a hotel.. (b&b? pensiones?) since I'll be traveling on a budget.. nothing against hostels really, just not sure it's me.. I am 39 years old now. I didn't do that whole 'back pack' thing when I was young.. kinda tough to do it now when I am almost forty.. right?!.. the idea is pretty frigtening actually

Ideally, I am looking for some sort of a 'sophisticated' back pack trip suggestions.. I am planning on traveling from mid July till late September (can stay long - time is not an issue).. and I am looking to spend as little money as possible so I can stretch that trip longer.. I know.. dream on, right? any info? thoughts?? some gay things to do? anybody to join me, perhaps?
all very welcome..


thanks a lot!!!!
Alex

[madamtrashheap]

allsf, welcome to GFE.

Great that you're planning a return trip, of sorts, to Europe, and no doubt if you've read through some other Posts on the Boards, you would have noticed that there are travellers of all ages, staying in all types of accommodation, so there's no need to eliminate Hostels due to age. Every country, and indeed every city, will differ in the price of types of accommodation, so until you've come up with your itinerary, it will be difficult to make specific suggestions. Generally, Hostels, B&Bs and Pensione are the way to go, but there are a multitude of Budget Hotels in some cities that might work out better for you.

As mid-July isn't far away (!), I'd suggest you come up with at least the first 2-4 weeks of your trip so you can start booking accommodation. Summer in Europe is very busy, so you'll already be limited in the accommodation still available in some places. Plus there are a few festivals (music) and events (eg Oktoberfest starts late Sept in Munich) you might want to consider visiting.

So, for us to make suggestions, we'll need to know your interests, must-see cities/places/sights, no-interest cities/countries and any other information that would help narrow things down. Plus, what budget per day were you considering? And any ideas on where you'd want to start, city-wise?

[Eagle]

allsf,

I have a few thoughts to add to the always excellent tips from MTH.

I note from another Post that you've now purchased a copy of Europe Through The Back Door. Outstanding, that was going to be my first suggestion!

I am planning on traveling from mid July till late September (can stay long - time is not an issue)

In planning the duration of your trip, be sure to keep the requirements of the Schengen Visa in mind. Non residents of the E.U. are allowed a maximum of three months as tourists. Those who exceed this face deportation from the E.U. for (I believe) 10 years! There are exclusions for those studying or working in the E.U. but for those the proper paperwork and permits must be arranged.

I am 39 years old now. I didn't do that whole 'back pack' thing when I was young.. kinda tough to do it now when I am almost forty.. right?!.. the idea is pretty frigtening actually

I wouldn't worry about staying in Hostels, as they're not just for "youth" anymore (I'm well over 50 and stay in Hostels on occasion and also use a Backpack - I really don't care what anyone thinks of my mode of travel). I wouldn't really consider 39 being "old". I've chatted with a few people in their 70's that were staying in Hostels. You give up some privacy when staying in Dorm rooms, but it's not really that bad. I tend to prefer "chain" Hostels such as H.I. as the facilities tend to be more consistent.

I'll comment on your proposed Itinerary in the other post.

Cheers!

[allsf]

hello 'madam' and 'eagle'..
first of all, THANKS A LOT for taking the time to read my posting and replying to it..

madam, I agree with you that leaving in a week or so wouldn't help much on my planning so I decided to postpone my departure till late July or early August.. I'll use my miles for the main airfare.. I can get a pretty good deal on my miles flying to Amsterdam or London.. so I thought that would be a good place to start.. also, I understand July can be a tricky month to go to Europe.. so I figured I would start off up in the northern countries and work my way down south.. I am super flexible in all things at this point as I still haven't made my flight reservation or any accommodation plans for that matter. I know I have to start making things happen but I am a bit overwhelmed at this particular point.. I've been reading lots on the net and books and digesting all the information.. but it's really a lot.. so I am 'begging' for any information and suggestions from you savvy travelers out there.

I'd say my main concern at this point is accommodation, as I need to start working on it right away at least for the first leg of my trip.. I am not even sure how long I should allow for each place though.. I do have concerns regarding hostels.. I've only stayed in one in Barcelona for a couple of nights and I did not enjoy it. I felt insecure and couldn't sleep at all.. plus, I don't think they are as cheap as they used to be.. and I wouldn't mind spending U$10 or U$15 more a night and get some cheap hotel room.. perhaps I should give a hostel a try and see what happens.. I do like to stay well located though.. sort of in the middle of things, particularly since I do enjoy going out at night and wouldn't want have to deal with coming to an out of town hotel..

my "dream itinerary" is bellow.. please note that nothing is set in stone.. and I still have not looked for anything that may be happening during my trip (festivals, events, etc).. a few of these places I've been to before and really ought to go back (Amsterdam, Paris, Rome are a must!).. others are places I've wanted to go to and some are there just because they were kind in the way to another places.. as far as my interests go.. I am pretty laid back and just want a memorable fun trip.. with lots of sightseeing, museums, parks, etc.. not much of a party guy here, but I love going out and people watching.. although this is not supposed to be a gay oriented trip, I do like to check out the gay scene as well.. but I don't want that to rule my trip dynamics.. as we are pretty much everywhere.. hehe

Amsterdam/ Copenhagen/ Oslo/ Stockholm/ Berlin/ Prague/ Bratislava/ Budapest/ Bucharest/ Istanbul/ Athens/ Rome/ Venice/ Nice/ Barcelona/ Morocco/ Johannesburg/ Madrid/ Lisbon/ Porto/ Paris/ London/ Dublin/ Glasgow/ Amsterdam

as for my budget, I was thinking if it's possible to make this trip happen with about U$10,000.. I probably would like to travel around for 3 months (thanks 'eagle'!!).. I realize that transportation would eat a good part of my budget so I guess I'd have to get a separate budget for that, right? what do you think it would be my best option to cover all or most of the cities I'd like to go to? a rail pass? train tickets? airfare? I am totally lost here.. the only time I went to Europe I had a rail pass that served me perfectly.. oh, and I'd like to somehow have some sort of flexibility as for stay longer somewhere I love and leave earlier somewhere I don't love or get done sooner than expected..

am I being any realistic at all about all that?? please feel free to comment/ critique/ suggest any of this.. I truly appreciate all you guys inputs..

also, I am Brazilian and a US Green Card holder.. is there anything I should be concerned? would I need any visa for any of those places? I speak fluent Portuguese and English and I get by well with my Spanish.

thanks!

[WillTravel]

I think take a stab at doing a logical itinerary between the cities you want to visit, and figure out what the cost will be, with current train or plane fares, to get between those cities. Also take a look at available lodging in each city, so you can get an idea of costs. Once you have an itinerary, you can see for yourself how much time you are spending in transport time, transport costs, and accommodation, and you can revise accordingly. For example, if you want Johannesburg in your itinerary, figure out how you'd get there and how much it would cost (I fear the cost would be very great, and you couldn't really do it justice with your timelines).

I know that's a lot of work, but with budget travel, one way to make the Euros stretch further is to figure out these sorts of things in advance. If you try to work it out on the spot, you can get the most expensive options. What worked in 1991 may not work so well now - people are educated as to the best and cheapest options and these tend to book up quickly, and there is much more travel demand because people from China, India, and eastern Europe can now travel freely, or at least more freely, whereas they could not in 1991.

For hostels, you definitely would want one that had lockers. Keep in mind that in some places the discrepancy between hostels and hotel rooms is very great, whereas in other places the discrepancy is fairly small. For example, I found it is quite possible in Madrid to get 25-Euro private rooms, but you'd have a very hard time with that in Amsterdam or Copenhagen.

I think that even as a green card holder, you will probably need some visas obtained in advance for your trip, but I can't advise about that.

[googleygoo]

You should look up the visa requirement for a Brazilian visa holder for all of the countries that you listed in your dream itinerary. Unfortunately, having a green card does not mean that you get to travel like a U.S. citizen. Before I became a U.S. citizen, I had a green card as well but I had to pay for a visa to visit Great Britain. I would recommend taking Johannesburg out of the line up because that will probably take out a good chunk of your budget and time.

If you don't already have a guidebook, you can use the Hostel World website (which also includes budget hotels) to get a sense of the lodging costs in the different cities.

[allsf]

hey Will.. thanks again for the help!
after taking in all the great information I've acquired on this board, I've decided to change a few things in my itinerary.. hopefully this won't be the last time I travel to Europe so there is no need to see everything in one trip, right? I'd much rather spend more time in fewer places where I can enjoy myself and take in some of the local culture than superficially look at tenths of places and barely remember what I saw..

I'll take in consideration all your great tips and rethink my itinerary carefuly. first thing I'm leaving out is Johannesburg though.. it seems more of a hassle than pleasure.. also, I'll take the advises and skip the Scandinavian countries for this trip.. I'm sure there are plenty of amazing places out there, but it seems like that would conflict with my budget concerns.. I guess I could spend more time exploring less expensive countries (which are they??) and get more out of my money.

google.. thanks for calling my attention about visa requirements.. I am NOT an American citizen and would be traveling with my Brazilian passport.. I don't think I'd need any visas (perhaps Great Britain?) but I'll definitely look into that..

madam.. I only saw your other reply after posting this one.. I don't want all this to be even more overwhelming and confusing as it all is already.. so we can keep that other thread going.. I'll make sure to check them all anyway.. thanks!!

[herrbert]

Jul 2, 2009 20:38:36 GMT -5 allsf said:

some gay things to do?

What about the gay pride in Amsterdam? A normal parade is nice, but the boat parade in Amsterdam adds something extra in my opinion. (31st of july - 2nd or 3rd of August)

For the rest I think that unfortunately the Netherlands has become less liberal over the last couple of years, and a city like Madrid has passed Amsterdam some years ago, as it comes to being a gay friendly city.

I don´t think i have a lot to add to the advices that are already given, and I agree that age doesn´t matter that much anymore in hostels. the only thing to keep in mind is that some hostels are party places, and others are not. So make a pick based on that.

[allsf]

herrbert,

thanks for the note. I've been debating wether I want to get to Amsterdam right before the Gay Pride or right after.. I've never been to an European Gay Pride.. while I think it would be at least interesting (I trust theirs is more of a party like in Brazil than a political thing here in the US).. I am not sure how much of the "real" city I'd get to see with all the extra tourists..

yeah, I want go to gay places and all, but I don't want that to be the focus of my trip as I am sure we are pretty much everywhere and whatever I find in that sense will just be an added plus to my trip..

as for the hostels, you mentioned a pretty important point.. I guess I expressed myself poorly when I mentioned the age factor. I really meant it more in the sense of wanting some quiet and peace than feeling like an old fart. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like to have fun but I much treasure my quiet times at this point of my life..

[WillTravel]

allsf, I think if you know you want private rooms, it's reasonable to plan for that. I haven't stayed in a regular dorm for a while now, sometimes because I unavoidably have my computer with me or sometimes because I just want to maximize my sleeping when I'm on a holiday, and I'm leaving immediately from work and immediately going back to work.

[herrbert]

Jul 6, 2009 14:39:34 GMT -5 allsf said:

herrbert,

thanks for the note. I've been debating wether I want to get to Amsterdam right before the Gay Pride or right after.. I've never been to an European Gay Pride.. while I think it would be at least interesting (I trust theirs is more of a party like in Brazil than a political thing here in the US).. I am not sure how much of the "real" city I'd get to see with all the extra tourists..

yeah, I want go to gay places and all, but I don't want that to be the focus of my trip as I am sure we are pretty much everywhere and whatever I find in that sense will just be an added plus to my trip..

I think that you can compare the gayparade in Amsterdam rather with Carnaval than to a demonstration. Last weekend the gaypride was here in Madrid, and although there were also demonstrations, it´s not the focal point of the pride. The parade here could be more compared with the love parade, with a lot of dance music on trucks. (and by no means a gay-only event.) The only thing about Amsterdam is that accommodation is already limited, and will be even more limited during days like these. So if you decide to be there during the pride, book a.s.a.p.

I like to stay in dorms, but after a couple nights I also like to have some privacy, and a good night sleep, so on longer trips I book a cheap hotel after every 4 or 5 nights.