First time backpacking in Europe for 22 days.

[whimsy]

Hi everyone, so I just booked my plane tickets to Europe on whim and now I'm super excited and terrified at the same time. This will be my first time to Europe and traveling by myself, and I'm completely overwhelmed.

My itinerary so far consists of:
- flying to London from NYC on May 8 to 9th.
-flying from Rome to NYC on May 30.

So, right now everything is completely up in the air and I need as much advice as you guys are willing to give me.

[kayling05]

congratulations! this is a big step for anyone and good for you for making it.

Now, in 3 weeks, you have alot of options. I would suggest getting a guidebook such as Lonely Planet Europe on a Shoestring or Let's Go Europe, and reading through it to see what you would like to see. Obviously, you will be visiting London and Rome, but there are many places in between to see too. Amsterdam, Paris, Florence, and Venice would be feasible in-between destinations on this trip.

What are you interested in? Art, history, monuments? How are you interested in traveling? There are many options: ferries/boats, trains, planes, buses...

[WillTravel]

You have 21 nights.

Here's just one of many possibilities:

London - 5 nights. Allow yourself to enjoy this huge city and settle in a bit. You won't be bored. You can do one or more daytrips too.

Now, the in-between places. I'd do maybe 3 more places, 2-4 days each. For example, you could take the train to Paris and spend 4 nights (maybe with a daytrip to Versailles or elsewhere), take the train to Amsterdam and spend 4 nights (doing one or more daytrips), fly to Venice and spend 3 nights, and then take the train to Rome.

Rome - 5 nights. Remember your last day is just the flight back, so you really only have 3 full days with this, and Rome is amazingly packed with history, culture, and interesting people.

If you chose an itinerary like this, you could prebook tickets and flights to save a lot of money. For example, probably about $75 USD for the train trip to Paris, about $40 USD for the train trip to Amsterdam, $100 USD all-in for the flight to Venice, and about $60 USD for the train tip to Rome.

Of course, you may not care about Venice, or you might want Spain, etc. The only way to go wrong, in my opinion, is if you give yourself a bad schedule.

RailEurope.com is unlikely to give you these cheap fares, though. You will have to use the national train sites.

Everyone is different, but 21 nights is not as long as it sounds, and if you have everything organized, it will really help you make the most of your time.

[Eagle]

whimsy,

First of all, welcome to GFE! I have a few thoughts to add as well.

As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door before you leave. It will provide lots of important information on how to travel efficiently in Europe and get the most out of the trip.

You might also want to check a few country-specific Guidebooks for ideas on what sights you want to see in each city. This will help you to maximize your touring and avoid wasting time. I normally pack along the Guidebooks for the primary countries I'll be visiting as I find them to be valuable for reference during the trip.

As WT mentioned, 22 days is not long for travel in Europe, so you'll have to plan an efficient route. You'll normally lose the first day in travel (you'll arrive the day AFTER you departed) and the last day is spent on the flight home so you'll have 20 days for touring.

With such a short trip, I'd suggest covering some of the "highlights" of Europe this time and touring in more depth on following trips. London, Paris and Rome are worth at least four days each, so that will use 12 days of your trip. You can adjust the time based on how much interest you have in each of those cities.

Travelling by train is usually the best method, and a Railpass may be worthwhile but that's difficult to say without having a definite route to work with. There are a huge number of different Railpasses, so it's important to determine which one to choose and whether this is more cost effective than buying Point-to-Point tickets. Otherwise you can just buy P-P tickets. One thing to keep in mind with a Railpass is that these don't include the reservation fees that are compulsory on some trains (usually the "fast" trains such as the TGV in France that travels at 300 kMH!).

Try to plan travel legs than take about about 5-7 hours. That way you won't waste too much of your short travel time seeing Europe through a train window. Once you have a more definite idea on which cities you'll be visiting, it will be easier to offer travel suggestions.

It would help if you could indicate which countries you most want to see. One route you might consider would be something along these lines:

> Flight to London (1 day)

> London (4 days)

> EuroStar to Paris (London St. Pancras to Gare du Nord)

> Paris (4 days) A Paris Museum Pass (maybe the two-day version) would be a really good idea to minimize your time in queues).

> TGV to Switzerland (which place is your choice but the Berner Oberland and specifically the small village of Gimmelwald is a big favourite here - check their website). You can buy P-P tickets at SNCF Boutique locations in Paris. Travel time will be about 6 hours, which is reasonable. One example would be a train departing Paris Est at 08:24, arriving Interlaken Ost at 13:57 (time 5H:33M, 1 change in Basel, reservation compulsory). From Interlaken you can buy a ticket to Gimmelwald which will include all modes of transport (rail, Post Bus, Gondola). It's a short trip. Check the website for the Mountain Hostel (it's very highly rated!).

> Switzerland (2 days)

> Train to Italy (somewhere in the north so that the journey isn't too long - the Cinque Terre is another big favourite here - check their website).

> Cinque Terre (2 days)

> Train to next destination (travel time should be short)

> Italy - perhaps Florence (2 days)

> Train to Rome (the EuroStar Italia / Alta Velocita only takes about 1H:35M so that's an easy trip).

> Rome (4 days)

> Flight home from FCO (take the Leonardo Express from Roma Termini to FCO - fare is €11, trip about 35 minutes - DON'T forget to validate your ticket in the yellow machine!!!)

One option might be to head for Munich after Paris and then proceed to Italy from there. Munich is a fascinating city and most people like to take a day trip to visit Neuschwanstein Castle. If you need more information, post another note.

That leaves a few days free, so you can adjust as you like.

I'd suggest pre-booking accomodations where possible, as May will be in the spring shoulder season, and it could be busy. Have a look at www.hihostels.com/dba/continent-Europe-EU.en.htm for some suggestions. I find HI properties fairly "safe and consistent", as they're part of a chain. You could also check the Guidebooks for budget Hotel listings if you'd prefer more privacy.

If possible take at least one credit card for "emergencies" and preferably two debit cards in case one malfunctions. NOTE that your travel funds must be in a chequing account with a four number PIN.

If you were planning to take a Cell phone, it must be a quad-band GSM model. Roaming with your home network can be expensive, but if you need further information post another note.

Wear a Money Belt and be vigilant especially in Paris and Rome as there IS petty crime (you'll see the Gypsies at work when you're there). Don't fall for the "bracelet scam" in Paris and be VERY cautious if you use the #64 Bus in Rome as it has quite a reputation! Also be aware when you're on the Metro in Paris and Rome. Don't be too apprehensive about it, but best to be aware of these things.

Good luck with your planning!