Eurotrip 2012 - JUNE

[nando1f87]

Hello everyone! Im Nando, a guy from Ecuador a liiiittle country located in South America who loooves to travel! So, I created this post because I will attempt to backpack thru Europe in June of 2012.. Why June? Because is when I saw the cheapest flight from Ecuador to Europe haha, besides I have read that is a good time to go.. I will start in Amsterdam (direct flight Guayaquil my city, Amsterdam)and end in Amsterdam also. SO i have one month to go around and see as much as I can!
Anyone can join, can give ideas, can give itineraries and also are very welcome to join the trip! even if it is for a couple weeks, and even better for the whooole experience!
Well what are you waiting for? Start posting here!
Cheers!!
Nando ;D

[nando1f87]

So basically the draft of the itinerary I have up to now is the following:
+ Already said that I’ll start in Amsterdam. This itinerary will be going clockwise! So after Amsterdam, will be Berlin (maybe Hamburg in the middle of Amst - Ber). After Berlin I will go to Prague (alternative route Berlin – Warsaw – Prague) . Prague to Munich, Munich to Vienna. Vienna to Venice. Venice to Firenze, Firenze to Rome. From Rome To Milan. Milan to Geneva (or any other Swiss city). Switzerland to Paris. Paris To London. London To Brussels. And finally to complete the circle Brussels to Amsterdam!
+ If I go anticlockwise, it would be like this: Amsterdam to Brussels, then London, then Paris, Switzerland, Milan, Firenze, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Munich, Prague (maybe Warsaw), Berlin , (maybe Hamburg) and Amsterdam. Pretty much the same.
As I said, this is a draft! Just started planning this trip about 3 days ago, so I have to collect a lot of more info of more cities, and see how I can fit them in my schedule.
For example, more cities I would like to visit:
+ Barcelona
+ Marseille
+ Thessaloniki
+ Copenhagen
+ And a city somewhere in the Alps where I can snowboard or something like that haha, that might be done when I visit Switzerland..
First option to travel, Eurail pass, and then if I had to take a plan to detour from my original plan I would think about it (because of the price obviously).
So any ideas guys? Some cities/towns worth naming that I should visit (given that you live in Europe and you know tons about your surroundings). Any change to my schedule?
Im very open to opinions, changes, adding this, removing that.. Please help me! All of your opinions will be read and analized =)
Thanks!
Nando

[Eagle]

nando1f87,

First of all, welcome to the Boards! I have a few comments to begin with.

You've listed a lot of places that you're intending to visit, so it will take some time to analyze this and make suggestions. Since the trip won't be taking place until June 2012, there's lots of time.

One suggestion to keep in mind during your planning, is to allow adequate travel time between locations. Generally speaking, each time you move to a new city, you'll require at least half a day. My initial impression is that you have TOO MANY places listed for a 30-day trip.

As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door. It will provide you with a LOT of good information on travelling in Europe. Given your location, I'm not sure whether the book will be easily available in your area? The 2012 edition is now available from the publisher, and you may be able to download it as an E-book in the near future (if you have either a dedicated Reader such as a Kindle, or a PC with an E-book Reader).

A few comments on the cities you listed:

> Marseille - is there a particular reason you want to visit here? There are lots of more "pleasant" cities in that area, including Nice.

> Thesalloniki - again, is there a reason you're visiting here rather than Athens? Given the time and cost to get to Greece, you might consider dropping it from this trip, as you have lots of other places to see.

> Swiss Alps - It's not likely that you'll find much snow in June, but since one can never guarantee the weather, there's always a remote possibility. However, most of the ski resorts will have closed for the season, so I'm not sure if Snowboarding will be possible? You could consider Paragliding instead, if your travel budget will allow it.

I'd suggest visiting the Berner Oberland, which is a favourite of many here (including me). The area I'm referring to is the Lauterbrunnen Valley, just outside Interlaken. You could perhaps stay for a day or two at Balmer's in Interlaken, and then move to the legendary Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald.

I'll be in Belgium and Holland at the end of this month, so will have further comments on those countries later.

I'll address the issue of a Railpass later, after I've had some time to look at your travel plan in more detail.

Hopefully, the others will have a few comments as well.

Good luck with your planning!

[inoue]

Hi Nando,
I would recommend Cinque Terre (Italy) and Hallstatt (Austria). Both are my favorite places. And Gimmelwald is a very beautiful place to go too!

[travelguru]

Nando,

I think you just found your backpacker friend ( the whole trip ), I'm a Colombian living in Orlando, FL planing to leave in June for exactly 31 days too.

My destination are unknown, i mean of course i want the"must see" country's ( Italy,france, UK etc)

Let me know. For now i'm glad i found the forums and i'm going to start reading every night, to come up with a great plan.