Backpacking Europe

Off Topic
1

I’m a recent college grad, spent my summer working in NYC. This fall I’ll be backpacking Europe for a while and was wondering if anyone has any advice on where to go, what to do, safety, anything like that. I’m also pretty big into hiking, so if you know of any hikes I could do that start somewhere close to public transportation, let me know. So here’s my rough itinerary:

Sept 5. - Fly into London, bum around London for a few days, do all those touristy places (Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Big Ben, Tower of London, a museum or two) for a few days.
Sept. 8-9 - York
Sept. 10 - Oxford
Sept. 11 - Edinburgh, maybe two days there
Sept. 12/13 - Go to Iverness in Scotland and start hiking down to Fort William, it’s a 70 mi. 7 day hike.
Sept. 20ish - meet up with a friend in Scotland, go golf
Sept. 21 - go to France, do Paris and the countryside for a day or two
Sept. 23 - head to Germany for Oktoberfest (yes it starts in Sept.), spend a day or two in Munich then head to Berlin, then try and get out to the countryside a bit. I hear that’s where the real Oktoberfest is
Oct. 1ish - go to Amsterdam, get plastered for a few days
Oct. 5/6ish - head to Eastern Europe. This is where I’m pretty hazy. I’ve heard Prague is awesome, any other suggestions? I want to spend about two weeks there
Oct 20ish - Go to Greece. I’ll probably spend about 5 days here, there’s a lot of ruins I want to see.
Oct. 25/26ish - Italy. I’ll spend about two weeks here. I’ve heard Rome is cool, buncha stuff I want to see there, like the Vatican and the ruins. Then to Florence, then Genoa and these fishing villages around there, called Cincua terra (that’s spelled completely incorrectly), supposed to be a cool hike. I might try and get the Alps, too. After Italy for a while I’ll go to…
Nov. 10ish - Spain for a couple days, Barcelona. Any suggestions?
Nov. 15ish - Ireland for about 5-6 days, Dublin and such
Nov 21 - Back to England, wrap up London, fly out on the 22

Anyone have any thoughts? Suggestions? Hikes? Or know anything about doing some climbing there? I climb some, not all that much and not amazingly well, but I’m thinking about bringing my climbing shoes. Any suggestions or anything is greatly appreciated.

2

Hey, I’m spending Spring 07 (semester) in Prague, Czech republic. My goal after the stint there, though, is to backpack a loop through Greece, Turkey, Israel (my homeland!), Egypt, and then back to Israel.

Let me know how it goes; I’d love to go through the UK at some point as well, but money is short, so I gotta stay cheap.

3

[quote]mauser wrote:
Hey, I’m spending Spring 07 (semester) in Prague, Czech republic. My goal after the stint there, though, is to backpack a loop through Greece, Turkey, Israel (my homeland!), Egypt, and then back to Israel.

Let me know how it goes; I’d love to go through the UK at some point as well, but money is short, so I gotta stay cheap.[/quote]

Hey man I definitely will let you know how it goes. And I feel you on the money thing, I’m looking at having about $5000 for the trip

4

Sounds like a cool trip you’re gonna make…
Prague is definately a cool place to go to, and quite cheap too.
about the $5000 is that including travel expenses? if so, that would be quite cheap I guess, if not, It must be managable

5

It’s a little over $5000, after buying the plane ticket. Anyone have any suggestions on Eastern Europe?

6

[quote]Stochastic wrote:
I’m a recent college grad, spent my summer working in NYC. This fall I’ll be backpacking Europe for a while and was wondering if anyone has any advice on where to go, what to do, safety, anything like that. I’m also pretty big into hiking, so if you know of any hikes I could do that start somewhere close to public transportation, let me know. So here’s my rough itinerary:

Sept 5. - Fly into London, bum around London for a few days, do all those touristy places (Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Big Ben, Tower of London, a museum or two) for a few days.
Sept. 8-9 - York
Sept. 10 - Oxford
Sept. 11 - Edinburgh, maybe two days there
Sept. 12/13 - Go to Iverness in Scotland and start hiking down to Fort William, it’s a 70 mi. 7 day hike.
Sept. 20ish - meet up with a friend in Scotland, go golf
Sept. 21 - go to France, do Paris and the countryside for a day or two
Sept. 23 - head to Germany for Oktoberfest (yes it starts in Sept.), spend a day or two in Munich then head to Berlin, then try and get out to the countryside a bit. I hear that’s where the real Oktoberfest is
Oct. 1ish - go to Amsterdam, get plastered for a few days
Oct. 5/6ish - head to Eastern Europe. This is where I’m pretty hazy. I’ve heard Prague is awesome, any other suggestions? I want to spend about two weeks there
Oct 20ish - Go to Greece. I’ll probably spend about 5 days here, there’s a lot of ruins I want to see.
Oct. 25/26ish - Italy. I’ll spend about two weeks here. I’ve heard Rome is cool, buncha stuff I want to see there, like the Vatican and the ruins. Then to Florence, then Genoa and these fishing villages around there, called Cincua terra (that’s spelled completely incorrectly), supposed to be a cool hike. I might try and get the Alps, too. After Italy for a while I’ll go to…
Nov. 10ish - Spain for a couple days, Barcelona. Any suggestions?
Nov. 15ish - Ireland for about 5-6 days, Dublin and such
Nov 21 - Back to England, wrap up London, fly out on the 22

Anyone have any thoughts? Suggestions? Hikes? Or know anything about doing some climbing there? I climb some, not all that much and not amazingly well, but I’m thinking about bringing my climbing shoes. Any suggestions or anything is greatly appreciated.
[/quote]

That will be awesome. I went to high school in England and traveled pretty much all over Europe. Spent 2 weeks backpacking with a friend, using the Eurorail and staying at youth hostels. Places I recommend:

Innsbrook, Austria. Anything in Bavaria is awesome.

Barcelona, Spain. Super-hot girls. Nice beaches.

Paris…waaaayyyy over-rated. Bad food, arrogant people. But, I guess if you are in the neighborhood you gotta go.

Rome sucks. Huge, busy, and complicated. Go to Venice and Florence instead.

Munich - unbelievable. Go to the Hauffbrau House. Amazing.

Holland - cleanest place on earth.

Scottland - freakin’ party animals and they are very friendly. Funny bastards.

Watch you back. Don’t carry anything valuable in visible pockets. I carried a little pouch inside my shirt with my money and passport. Don’t EVER leave anything unattended. DO NOT TRUST ANYONE who comes up to you with a sob story or some kind of good deal. There are folks over there who specialize in taking advantage of toruists.

Take a calculator to figure out exchange rates to make sure you don’t get ripped off. Some lady tried to charge me $30 for 2 ice cream cones. I figured I’d just hand her the 50,000 lira or whatever it was without even asking. Most of all, have a good attitude and don’t be the ugly American.

7

I would head all the way to Moscow and then stop in Minsk, Kiev, Warsaw, Budapest and then Prague on your way back. You will need Visa’s for some of this so make sure you check it out.

If you are going to Greece, I would hop a boat to one of the islands for a day or two. Mykonos is cool. I would also strongly consider a trip over to Instanbul since you are right there and it is a cool city you shouldn’t miss.

If you haven’t purchased your plane ticket yet, I would recommend revamping your plans to fly into Ireland and out of Greece or Turkey.

You are spending too much time traveling unnecessarily, IMO. Do a west to east sweep, then head south.

You may also want to consider flying from Rome to Athens b/c the trip by train/boat to Athens takes 2-3 days.

8

[quote]Stochastic wrote:
It’s a little over $5000, after buying the plane ticket. Anyone have any suggestions on Eastern Europe?[/quote]

go to hungary, all the other countries do not really welcome foreigners. hungary is the most advanced in eastern europe. my brother studies there.

give it a shot

9

[quote]PGJ wrote:
Stochastic wrote:
I’m a recent college grad, spent my summer working in NYC. This fall I’ll be backpacking Europe for a while and was wondering if anyone has any advice on where to go, what to do, safety, anything like that. I’m also pretty big into hiking, so if you know of any hikes I could do that start somewhere close to public transportation, let me know. So here’s my rough itinerary:

Sept 5. - Fly into London, bum around London for a few days, do all those touristy places (Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Big Ben, Tower of London, a museum or two) for a few days.
Sept. 8-9 - York
Sept. 10 - Oxford
Sept. 11 - Edinburgh, maybe two days there
Sept. 12/13 - Go to Iverness in Scotland and start hiking down to Fort William, it’s a 70 mi. 7 day hike.
Sept. 20ish - meet up with a friend in Scotland, go golf
Sept. 21 - go to France, do Paris and the countryside for a day or two
Sept. 23 - head to Germany for Oktoberfest (yes it starts in Sept.), spend a day or two in Munich then head to Berlin, then try and get out to the countryside a bit. I hear that’s where the real Oktoberfest is
Oct. 1ish - go to Amsterdam, get plastered for a few days
Oct. 5/6ish - head to Eastern Europe. This is where I’m pretty hazy. I’ve heard Prague is awesome, any other suggestions? I want to spend about two weeks there
Oct 20ish - Go to Greece. I’ll probably spend about 5 days here, there’s a lot of ruins I want to see.
Oct. 25/26ish - Italy. I’ll spend about two weeks here. I’ve heard Rome is cool, buncha stuff I want to see there, like the Vatican and the ruins. Then to Florence, then Genoa and these fishing villages around there, called Cincua terra (that’s spelled completely incorrectly), supposed to be a cool hike. I might try and get the Alps, too. After Italy for a while I’ll go to…
Nov. 10ish - Spain for a couple days, Barcelona. Any suggestions?
Nov. 15ish - Ireland for about 5-6 days, Dublin and such
Nov 21 - Back to England, wrap up London, fly out on the 22

Anyone have any thoughts? Suggestions? Hikes? Or know anything about doing some climbing there? I climb some, not all that much and not amazingly well, but I’m thinking about bringing my climbing shoes. Any suggestions or anything is greatly appreciated.

That will be awesome. I went to high school in England and traveled pretty much all over Europe. Spent 2 weeks backpacking with a friend, using the Eurorail and staying at youth hostels. Places I recommend:

Innsbrook, Austria. Anything in Bavaria is awesome.

Barcelona, Spain. Super-hot girls. Nice beaches.

Paris…waaaayyyy over-rated. Bad food, arrogant people. But, I guess if you are in the neighborhood you gotta go.

Rome sucks. Huge, busy, and complicated. Go to Venice and Florence instead.

Munich - unbelievable. Go to the Hauffbrau House. Amazing.

Holland - cleanest place on earth.

Scottland - freakin’ party animals and they are very friendly. Funny bastards.

Watch you back. Don’t carry anything valuable in visible pockets. I carried a little pouch inside my shirt with my money and passport. Don’t EVER leave anything unattended. DO NOT TRUST ANYONE who comes up to you with a sob story or some kind of good deal. There are folks over there who specialize in taking advantage of toruists.

Take a calculator to figure out exchange rates to make sure you don’t get ripped off. Some lady tried to charge me $30 for 2 ice cream cones. I figured I’d just hand her the 50,000 lira or whatever it was without even asking. Most of all, have a good attitude and don’t be the ugly American.

[/quote]

I have to second all that

the problem with europe is there is too much too see and cover. i am german and you could easily spend 3 month in germany and will not be able to cover everything.

10

[quote]Stochastic wrote:
I’m a recent college grad, spent my summer working in NYC. This fall I’ll be backpacking Europe for a while and was wondering if anyone has any advice on where to go, what to do, safety, anything like that. I’m also pretty big into hiking, so if you know of any hikes I could do that start somewhere close to public transportation, let me know. So here’s my rough itinerary:

Sept 5. - Fly into London, bum around London for a few days, do all those touristy places (Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Big Ben, Tower of London, a museum or two) for a few days.
Sept. 8-9 - York
Sept. 10 - Oxford
Sept. 11 - Edinburgh, maybe two days there
Sept. 12/13 - Go to Iverness in Scotland and start hiking down to Fort William, it’s a 70 mi. 7 day hike.
Sept. 20ish - meet up with a friend in Scotland, go golf
Sept. 21 - go to France, do Paris and the countryside for a day or two
Sept. 23 - head to Germany for Oktoberfest (yes it starts in Sept.), spend a day or two in Munich then head to Berlin, then try and get out to the countryside a bit. I hear that’s where the real Oktoberfest is
Oct. 1ish - go to Amsterdam, get plastered for a few days
Oct. 5/6ish - head to Eastern Europe. This is where I’m pretty hazy. I’ve heard Prague is awesome, any other suggestions? I want to spend about two weeks there
Oct 20ish - Go to Greece. I’ll probably spend about 5 days here, there’s a lot of ruins I want to see.
Oct. 25/26ish - Italy. I’ll spend about two weeks here. I’ve heard Rome is cool, buncha stuff I want to see there, like the Vatican and the ruins. Then to Florence, then Genoa and these fishing villages around there, called Cincua terra (that’s spelled completely incorrectly), supposed to be a cool hike. I might try and get the Alps, too. After Italy for a while I’ll go to…
Nov. 10ish - Spain for a couple days, Barcelona. Any suggestions?
Nov. 15ish - Ireland for about 5-6 days, Dublin and such
Nov 21 - Back to England, wrap up London, fly out on the 22

Anyone have any thoughts? Suggestions? Hikes? Or know anything about doing some climbing there? I climb some, not all that much and not amazingly well, but I’m thinking about bringing my climbing shoes. Any suggestions or anything is greatly appreciated.
[/quote]

too much rush and hustle. stay at one place and go from there. flights are inexpensive in europe itself. I am different type of person, I understand that you want to see as much as possible, but when you stay only one day at each of these places you not going to see much, so rather cross something off and stay longer at less places

11

Well the first thing I notice about your routine, is its far to structured.

Seriously though, I’ve traveled Europe. If you don’t care where you’ll end up you can go all over the place really cheap, and avoid all the tourist traps. Anyone with an itenary like that must be paying out the ass for travel, however if you just take whatever presents itself you will not be dissapointed.

Meet people that are traveling, join them. Hop on an empty seat on a bus. You can buy a train ticket, sleep on the train, and wake up whereever. Don’t take travel so seriously.

12

That’s what’s good about the euro. Makes things so much easier. There will still be differences, but you won’t pay 50,000 euro for a bj.

13

I agree with the above. I left with a structured itinerary and tossed it out the window almost as soon as I got there.

You’ll likely end up staying in places longer than you’ve planned. It’s funny, but I spent a lot of time in Amsterdam.

I also loved Berlin, Prague, Barcelona, and Valencia. Actually, I had more fun in Valencia than Barcelona because it wasn’t so touristy.

If you have any specific questions shoot me a PM and I’ll give you my input.

By the way, remember it sucks to travel on the train when you have a hangover. You’ll remember this after Octoberfest.

14

[quote]wressler125 wrote:
Well the first thing I notice about your routine, is its far to structured.

Seriously though, I’ve traveled Europe. If you don’t care where you’ll end up you can go all over the place really cheap, and avoid all the tourist traps. Anyone with an itenary like that must be paying out the ass for travel, however if you just take whatever presents itself you will not be dissapointed.

Meet people that are traveling, join them. Hop on an empty seat on a bus. You can buy a train ticket, sleep on the train, and wake up whereever. Don’t take travel so seriously.[/quote]

Good point. When I did my 2-week tour (this was 1985), my buddy and I had a eurorail pass that was good for anywhere in Europe. Just get on the train and show your pass and you’re good. We had a train schedule, but no real destinations except we knew we were going from London (we lived in London) to Barcelona. After that, we got up and said “Where to today? Uh, how about Nice? OK.”

Who knows, you might meet up with some hot Scandinavian girls doing the same who invite you to travel with them. Also, you might get somewhere and decide it sucks (like Milan). Have a basic outline of the major place you’d like to see and then play it by ear.

15

[quote]GermanPower wrote:
Stochastic wrote:
It’s a little over $5000, after buying the plane ticket. Anyone have any suggestions on Eastern Europe?

go to hungary, all the other countries do not really welcome foreigners. hungary is the most advanced in eastern europe. my brother studies there.

give it a shot

[/quote]

Huh?

I have traveled all over Eastern Europe and never had any problems.

What is your basis for this statement?

I do concur that Hungary is a must visit.

16

Hey,

Since i’m living in Oxford, i can tell you now that one day is not really enough to see all the sites of the city. Don’t know if you know that there are 39 colleges which make up Oxford Uni.

When you get to Oxford go to G&D’s Ice cream Cafe, i work there and its the best ice-cream around. Get off the tourist track and go enjoy yourself.

When you get back to the UK after traveling round europe come back to oxford for a couple of nights and see whats its like to be a student in a wicked city, the night life is amazing.

Fligts around europe are cheap, look at Ryanair or Easyjet.

Have fun!

Scally

17

[quote]Kinetix wrote:
I agree with the above. I left with a structured itinerary and tossed it out the window almost as soon as I got there.

You’ll likely end up staying in places longer than you’ve planned. It’s funny, but I spent a lot of time in Amsterdam.

[/quote]

Haha yeah that’s why I have the “ish’s” in my dates. I see where you’re coming from with that, it’s just so hard there. So much to see, so much to do. I might wind up adding more time to Italy and Ireland, I just looked into it and found some awesome climbing around there. I also just found some insurance that’ll cover climbing while I’m over there, so that’s nice.

My problem with planning now is I don’t know what to cut out. I keep saying France, but then people I talk to say it’s awesome and I have to go. Planning a vacation like this is awesome and gives me something to be excited about at work, but it’s pretty damn hard.

18

I just went to Europe, Vienna, Prague, Frankfurt area, and it was definitely an experience. I would recommend Vienna and Prague highly, Prague especially. Girls in Prague = an average of 2 pts (on the 10pt scale) higher than American girls, and I love our homegrown girls.

19

I spent a year in Europe after high school, had a great time but spent too much money. Don’t eat at restaurants all the time… expensive. Buy a few groceries when you get to a city you’ll be in for a few days.

Hostels are excellent places to stay (most have kitchens)…they are cheap, fun, meet tons of people and you never know what can happen.

Yes, Rome is a busy place but it is a must see. There is so much there…you can just walk down the road and see history. When I went it was in the low season…no lines for anything. You can see all the major things in Rome in a couple days.

One of the greatest places I went to was “Ostia Anitiqua” (a port city of ancient Rome). Its only 15-20min outside Rome by subway. Absolutely amazing…similar to Pompeii although smaller, it is a perfectly preserved city dating B.C. (The nearby river was flooded and covered the city with silt).

When I went there was practically no one there…plus… no security guards, no fences, no guardrails, nothing. You can walk where ever you want. There’s cemetaries, temples, bathhouses, hotels, a mini theatre…even a bar with art on its walls…all dating B.C.

Its worth picking up a guidebook…the only brand I buy is lonelyplanet. LonelyPlant also has a good website (www.lonelyplanet.com)…there is a forum on there called “the thorn tree”.

Finally, check out www.ryanair.com and www.easyjet.com. Both of these sites offer extremely low airfares around europe, no joke. The fares you see are real…you just got to add on airport taxes (around 20euros).

I flew from London to Rome for 50 euros in total and it only took an hour. Far superior to taking trains/buses. The flights are cheaper when you purchase two weeks in advance and opt for flights during the week that are early in the morning or late at night.

20

[quote]Stochastic wrote:

My problem with planning now is I don’t know what to cut out. I keep saying France, but then people I talk to say it’s awesome and I have to go. Planning a vacation like this is awesome and gives me something to be excited about at work, but it’s pretty damn hard.[/quote]

So then forget the itineray and go where it’s convenient. Europe isn’t going anywhere. It’s not always about seeing everything, you couldn’t do that if you traveled your whole life. But you don’t get any real experiance by being a tourist, you have to learn the difference between being a tourist and traveling.