my 3 month europe journey. well approx 3 months...

[nickv]

Hey, I'm 22 from Aus, and off on my first trip overseas. thought i would post my itinerary here and get some advice.

I've booked my flights. Leaving may 13 to London.
First 3 nights are in a london hostel with a few tours.
After this i am doing a contiki tour (bus tour) for 18 days around europe. It basically does all majors countries in a big loop with a day and a half in each.

The main reason i am doing this is because i am travelling alone, and thought having the first few weeks all planned out would be good. With the other major reason being i hope to make a few new friends along the way.
This tour finishes on June 3
After this i have nothing planned until the 23rd of June when i have to get to Glastonbury for the Glastonbury music festival.
I would love some advice for what to do in this 3 week period. i was thinking of heading around either spain, ireland or turkey. but i'm not really sure how much i want to plan here as i think i might change my mind after the bus tour.

After Glastonbury finishes on June 28 i have a week with no set plans until a flight to prague on July 2 for another music festival. so i was thinking of just seeing more of the UK before i have to be in London for the flight to Prague.

The festival (rock for people) is 100km east of Prague in Hradec Kralove. This goes for 3 days.
I am a little bit worried about the being by myself in the Czech Republic by myself with the language barrier.
Do many people in prague understand english?

After this finishes on July 5 i have nothing planned but getting to Paris for the 24-26 of July for the end of the Tour de France.
So i have around 20 days to make my way there. I was thinking of spending a fair chunk of that time around the bottom of germany, mainly because i am of german heritage. Does anyone have any ideas of what they would do here?

geez i better set this out abit better....

13 may arrive
17 may tour leaves
3 june tour returns
no set plans until 23rd june when i have to be in glastonbury.
(i have been leaning towards booking some accommodation in barcelona for a week and seeing where that takes me)
23-27 june glastonbury festival
28 june - 2 july no set plans.
(i am thinking i will head to manchester or liverpool. but would love some ideas of places to see around the UK.
July 2 flight from london to prague.
july 3-5 rock for people festival in hradec kralove (100km east of prague)
july 6-23 no set plans.
(i would love to see some more of germany here. i am thinking i will just go with the flow. is this a good idea?)
24-26 have accommodation booked in paris for the end of the tour de france.
after this i will believe i will head to the UK to look for work. or if i'm completely our of funds, get my self a ticket home

I would love your thoughts on this.

I believe my main goals of my trip are to get out of my comfort zone and to meet alot of new people. Seeing as many "touristy" sites is not what i want to achieve.I belive the bus tour will be enough of this for me.
i think i would much rather just hang out with locals and other travellers.

nick

[madamtrashheap]

nickv, welcome to GFE.

Sounds like you're on a rather cool path to some excellent music festivals - I'm jealous! Glasto is just mind-blowing and the Rock for People festival is (from all accounts) ecclectic and fun. You'll see some great European bands as well as a few international acts.

You could look into other festivals happening around Europe, music and otherwise, to fill in your time in June. Look at ones like Hurricane and its sister festival Southside in Germany or Sonar in Barcelona just to get you started and see if they match your dates.

Your tour will be a great way to meet other people and you'll find that you stay in contact with many of them for life. It's also a great way to get an idea of travel and cities before you set out on your own. It would help to know which cities your tour is visiting. You many find that some cities warrant more time and you will want to go back there during your own travels, and that one day in others is enough, it just depends on your interests.

To answer your question on Prague - yes, many people speak English, but it always helps to learn at least hello, please, thank you and Cheers! in Czech (along with food names in case you have allergies!) to get you by. Allow some extra days in Prague after the festival as it's a great city and if your Contiki tour doesn't visit it then you'll want to spend time in the city. Even if you do get there on tour, you'll likely only have 1 full day, so allow for 2 more days in your own time.

To continue on to Germany after Prague/Rock for People, is a good idea in terms of geography as you could travel easily by train to Dresden, then on to Berlin for a few days. But if will depend on other places you want to see before you get to Paris (good that you have that accommodation already booked as it will be busy).

If you could like the cities your tour visits, along with cities you know you want to visit in your own time, we might be able to make some more suggestions. In terms of getting away from the "touristy" sights, don't forget that many people travel there to see these "touristy" sights as they are, in fact, worth seeing. I understand what you mean by wanting to "go local" but don't dismiss the major sights (even if you see them on your tour) as some cities have incredibly large amounts of things to see and do that might be considered "touristy" but are actually part of the culture and experience. If you would like to get a little more off the beaten track, then you'll have to do a little more research for areas of cities which are considered residential or local areas (an example that springs to mind is the Arsenale area in Venice).

Once you've listed the cities on your tour and your own "must sees" then let us know. This will also help in suggesting transport methods between each place when you're travelling by yourself. You'll also have to start thinking about booking your accommodation as you'll be travelling in Summer so things will book out early.