Backpacking Europe

Off Topic
21

I also agree with not taking travel to seriously…its good to have an idea of things you want to see but it is so much fun just “doing whatever”, I didn’t plan my trip at all. Most of the time would book flights the day of or before I wanted to move on… or just go to the airport/train station and see what I could get.

Sometimes it costs more not to plan…but what the hell, you can have more fun! Also, it leaves flexibility for meeting up with people or finding new places to go while you are over there.

Once I took the wrong bus in Galway, Ireland…ended up in Cliffden. Didn’t know where to stay but found out about a hostel a few miles a way. No buses so I hopped in a cab…the driver was so cool and took me on an hour tour all over the countryside for 15euros!

Ended up in Letterfrack…a irish village of maybe 50 people…three bars one hostel. I had the best time…more fun than Dublin. Flexibility is a good thing.

22

I fuggin’ hate hostels. Unless I have no other choice, I avoid them like tap water in Mexico.

If you are traveling with somebody else, hotels on the outskirts of the bigger cities or even people’s homes (in some cities people board the trains a stop or two before their neighborhood and offer accomodations) is almost always a better alternative.

In regards to Prague being cheap, the outlying cities are very reasonable but hotels and restaurants around the town square and in the city proper are comparable to prices over here. You are better off staying a couple train stops outside of the city.

Lastly, as the others have said, you can only plan so much. Basically, know how you are getting there and back, and let it happen. The best stratgy, in particular given the amount of time you will be traveling is to fly into where you would start and fly out of where you finish, not do a loop. That’s why I recommended into Ireland and out of Greece or Instanbul.

Lots of cities in Germany have their own “Octoberfest” celebrations, often times paround the dates of the actual event and they can be just as entertaining. I tell you this to take some of the pressure off of you to be in Germany on those dates.

If you are a beer drinker, know that you get real mugs (at least you used to) that you pay a deposit on at Octoberfest. So, make sure you scope out who has the biggest mugs first b/c you are able to carry it around and get it filled by other vendors. Fantastic people watching.

In regards to Eastern European cities not taking kindly to foreigners, that’s bull. Most people can’t tell where you are from, anyway, until you open your mouth and even then they are wrong most of the time. When I am in Europe, because of the way I look most people assume I was from Ireland. (I am Irish and Welsh.)

Ironically, the only place I have ever encountered anti-american sentiment was in Berlin on the Ubahn.

23

It would be a shame, when you are in Ireland, to hang around Dublin. There’s too much to see (hiking the Burren surely is a top ten in the world hike, I’m suprised you wouldn’t have this planned) in Ireland. Find your way to the west coast.

Secondly, there’s far too much culture in Amsterdam (you’re an adult now, right?) to have ‘drinking beer’ be your plan. There’s plenty of time to be a real american and devote one’s life to ‘Budwiser’ once you’re home. Visit the museums, and get a less intoxicant-focused sampling of the architecture and food.

24

lol, have you guys seen the movie “hostel”?

25

[quote]ScienceGuy wrote:
It would be a shame, when you are in Ireland, to hang around Dublin. There’s too much to see (hiking the Burren surely is a top ten in the world hike, I’m suprised you wouldn’t have this planned) in Ireland. Find your way to the west coast.

Secondly, there’s far too much culture in Amsterdam (you’re an adult now, right?) to have ‘drinking beer’ be your plan. There’s plenty of time to be a real american and devote one’s life to ‘Budwiser’ once you’re home. Visit the museums, and get a less intoxicant-focused sampling of the architecture and food.[/quote]

Dude, are you serious? The last time I was in Dublin the average age was 24 and there were beautiful women everywhere. The night life there is great and the city is pretty cool. The only thing that would be a shame is to not hit Belfast.

I will agree that the coasts are beautiful, but come on.

There is no reason you can’t party a little, hell it is part of the culture. Some of the most interesting people I have met and coolest adventures I have been on started on a bar stool one night. It’s a great way to meet the locals.

Amsterdam, contrary to popular perception, is actually a pretty crappy beer town. Beer is expensive in the bars, and they have big beers and little beers with the perfect beer being 2 fingers of foam, so you always feel ripped off. There are 2 pretty cool Irish pubs in town, one of which was actually decorated from a bar in Ireland, the owners brought the stuff over.

You are better off hitting the hash bars first and then mellowing out over a couple beers as you wander around. Most proprieters will roll you a hash joint which is basically blended with tobacco. Good times.

If you want to drink beer, go to Belgium!

Anyway, lighten up, Francis.

26

Ok sorry i had to ask, what is “Backpacking,” I understand that you walk places and see things but how do you get to all those places ? driving ? It sounds awsome and i want to do it soon with my two cousins.
Oh yeah and dont go to any HOSTELS lol

27

definately go to prague man,the women are stunning,friendly and the beer is cheap and excellent.

Kirckberg and kitsbuhel near innsbruk in austria are also beautiful,i spent a snow season working there.If your going to spain,why not check out portugal.the region near lisbon known as the algarve is absoutely beautiful,great beaches and night life.barcelona is a pumping town loads to do and see.

Hostels are fine to stay in if in prague look for a place called the "clown and bard"its run by an american guy thats a musician,live bands down stairs most nughts,awesome place to stay.

28

Avoid hostels? What the hell kind of hostels were you guys staying in? Granted there are tons of shit ones but that’s were research comes in…there are a couple of websites devoted to booking rooms and of course the ones listed in travel guides are generally okay. The hostels in eastern europe are probably not as good as western europe… but I have no experience with that.

All the hostels I went to were cheap, super clean, secure and friendly. The majority of people were young and from all over the world. I was travelling on my own and met tons of cool people in hostels, some I still email now and then. If I stayed in single room hotels my entire trip it would have been sooo boring.

29

[quote]Stochastic wrote:

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

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
[/quote]

Unless you have a reason for doing England/Scotland in this order then you really should think about changing it.

London and Oxford are both in the south, do them first.
Go to York on the way up to Scotland.
You should consider stopping in Newcastle for a night out on the way to Edinburgh - it was recently rated as the no.1 thing to do in Britain by a tourist guide. I’ve not been myself but friends have said it’s an awesome night out.

Regarding Eastern Europe - try Bratislava, some friends just got back from there, it is apparently the “new Prague”, so it has similar qualities and is still relatively cheap.
And watch Hostel :wink:

Cheers
Stu.

30

Oh yeah and another UK based budget airline worth looking into is www.bmibaby.co.uk

Also sometimes BA (British Airways) has the budget airlines beat on price, especially if you book in advance. they usually have better departure times too (i.e. not too early or too late)

31

This trip is really a huge project!!!
Here are some suggestions:

  • Whenever you go to Prague, Rome or Barcelona, hold your wallet tight.
  • Italy is the best place in Europe for food. Eat a lot!

As I`m living in Berlin I have some special tips for this city:

  • For the best beer go to “Staendige Vertretung” close to S-station Friedrichstrasse (Address: Schiffbauerdamm 8).

  • On Sept. 30 you`ve got the opportunity to see a Bundesliga soccer match in the Olympic stadium. Usually you can still get tickets for approx. 15 Euros. There you can climb up the Glockenturm, which belongs to the stadium, from where you have a nice view over the city.

  • On Saturday morning you should not miss the “Winterfeldmarkt” (S-station Nollendorfplatz). Its a market where you can try lots of fresh food and its in a very nice area with a lot of pubs and cafes.

32

Thanks for all the info guys and I’ll try and keep it in mind as I get ready. It’s coming so soon, I’m so excited. It’ll be my first time out of the country and I can’t wait. Just checking, but there are a lot of internet cafes everywhere right? I won’t have a laptop or anything, but I’ll need to go on the internet to write emails and such.

33

There should be a fair amount of internet cafe’s around yes.

Just wanted to 2nd Prague - I went there for a stag party just over a month ago and WOW - the women are incredible.

Check out a place called Darlings Cabaret - I swear we walked in there were maybe 10 guys and over 60 women.