Travel Anyone been on a trip all over Europe?

nsynchic20

nsynchic20

Member
Jan 11, 2007
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#1
While my graduation isn't for another year (hopefully) or year and a half, I am already dreaming of what I want to do after. I really want to go travelling all over Europe for 2 or 3 months and would love to hear firsthand experiences from someone who has done this! I would love to know how long you went for, where you went (any places you recommend!), how many countries you visited and how much time you spend in each city/country, any cheap places to stay that are decent and (if you are willing to divulge) about how much you budgeted for your trip compared to how much you spent.
Any other information and tips would be wonderful!

Oh also if you went by yourself or with another person/group of people. There is a possibility I would be doing this by myself, but I'm not sure how much fun that would be.

I have been to Italy this past summer and know for sure that when I go to Europe I will be going back and probably spending more time in Italy than any other area because I absolutely fell in love with Italy!

Thank you! :smile:
 
#2
I have nothing to add here except this is a big regret that I didn't do this. Thank God I am able to travel now.

Go for it! You never know what the future brings. I have friends that did this in the early 80's & now they are busy saving for retirement so they are very thankful they were able to experience this when they did.

Traveling is the best money I've ever spent!
 
#3
I haven't done round trip myself, but it's very common for european youth to do this and I have a number of friends who have done it. All of them have gone in groups, I would not recommend going all by yourself for a number of reasons, espcially if you're not prebooked and have a lot of luggage to carry.

Have you considered how you would like to travel?
IN Europe there is a very well develloped railways network that is swift precise and comfortable. There are special tickets you can buy that are valid within a certain are for a certain period of time at a low cost. Many pages offer this so have a look at google and mail th companis for good offers.

There are many options on where to stay. FOr some locations/countries I would recommend booking in advance as it can be hard find people who speak (or are willing to speak) english. Hotel prices vary a lot from city to city, I know some places in eastern parts of europe you can stay at very nice hotels affordably. In more expensive and bigger cities, you have several options. Many try youth hostels or similar, but even if I haven't stayed at one, I find the concept rather repulsive.

To get a local experince that is also potentially much nicer and comfortable you could try bed and breakfast or "residence". They are usually very affordable (like 35 € ++ per night if I remember corrcetly, and that's in paris) and you are being well taken care of. Meals are often served at good prices. I've only stayed in one once, and I have gotten very good reviews from friends. It's very much like a hotel experince, but without the professional, in chain hotels often anonymous and cold, touch. IMO It's preferable to a lot of hotels that cost much more.


None of my friends have regretted it at all, like Vegas wrote, travel is some of the best things money can buy. Memories and experiences last forever. :yes:
 
#5
I traveled around parts of Western Europe with 2 friends after college graduation. We bought Eurrail passes for transit between countries and stayed a hostels and low-cost hotels. The book that guided us back then was "Let's Go! Europe" - don't know if it's still around but it was directed toward traveling on the cheap through Europe and many post-grad US college students relied on it.

My friends and I traveled through the UK, France, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Greece. :tup: GREAT trip and we had a ball!
 
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#6
Most students in Europe just buy an Interrail pass and travel all summer long, my dad did it when he was 19, my hubby when he was 18, my sis is doing it now. I didn't because I was working full time. But I love trains, I've roamed the Balcans with train.

http://www.interrailnet.com/
 
#9
Ooh I have. BF and I spent 6 weeks in Europe. Hmm where to start...

1) eurorail pass.
2) make hostel/hotel plans AHEAD of time. Sure, it can be fun to do the fly by the seat of your pants... but you don't want to be without a place to stay (if you need reccs let me know!)

I think I spent about 4K for my whole trip... the euro was much worse then. We started in London, went to Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Venice, Rome, Florence, Monaco/South of France, Barcelona, and Madrid. we did about 4 days in each place, some less, others more.

In Prague we stayed in Miss Sophies... hostel rates but more like a hotel; fab people and really a great place. Watch out for busses in Prague - we were stranded out in the countryside and had to walk 3kilometers back plus transfer trains.. was a mess!

I'll try and think of more but please PM me! I had a great time and would gladly do it over and over and over again :smile:
 
#11
I'm planning a trip around Europe after highschool!

My brother is there at the moment. He went to Gothenburg/Stockholm (Sweden), Krakow (Poland), Paris, Rome, Milano and right now he is in London.

I'm planning on going to the same places, but also Greece. Luckily for us we have family/friends living all over Europe, so we don't really have to worry about hotels. However, I know he stayed in a hostel in Paris, and he really enjoyed that. Hostels have age limits, so everyone would roughly be your age, and its a great way to make new friends.
 
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#12
I have stayed at a hostel (when I was younger) and I think its a great way to meet people! I highly recommend it. You've traveled overseas, but you know some countries are easier without the language than others. I speak some French, but overall I find Italy very easy to travel in, also the Netherlands. France is just a little harder. No idea about Spain. Another option might be also to try and hit North Africa, I think that would be amazing, or if you are in Italy to head over to Turkey/Istanbul. If you can find a friend or have a sibling/parent that might travel part of the way with you that might be nice, but you might meet some people at hostels. My dad met some people and traveled Europe with them way back. I've only traveled with friends. A semester abroad is also really fun and then you can plan some trips around that.

Honestly some of my only regrets in life are not traveling more when I was younger. It is just so different than when you're older and have different expectations/responsibilites.
 
#14
I did! I spent a little over three months traveling around Europe by myself last fall. I was in Italy the majority of the time.

You shouldn't need a visa for Europe unless you'll be there for more than 90 days. The only place I did need a visa for was Bahrain (in the middle east).

If you have any specific questions, feel free to pm me, I never know what to say when people just say "so...tell me about your trip". lol.

You can check out my flickr (link in sig) to see pics of some of the places I went.
 
#15
Thanks for all the advice! I would love to hear more!
Here are the countries I am considering:
England, France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Italy, Greece, Austria, Czech Republic, Egypt, and Morocco.
 
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