Recommendation for backpacking trip to europe?

[phantasia]

Geez...all this talk is really getting me excited. ;p I guess the biggest problem now is in the budgetting....i think 5k is definitely out....no way my frens and i can fork out so much for the trip.

Driving isn't too possible either i think...prb we'll go for trains...the spending the nite on train part sounds good!! ;p

 

[Astin]

Geez...all this talk is really getting me excited. ;p I guess the biggest problem now is in the budgetting....i think 5k is definitely out....no way my frens and i can fork out so much for the trip.

Driving isn't too possible either i think...prb we'll go for trains...the spending the nite on train part sounds good!! ;p

If really tight budget, then plan to sleep on trains or cheapest hostel in town, go supermarket and buy food to pack sandwiches, walk/public transport instead of taxi, dont buy soveniour, spend most of money to pay for entrance fees to museums and monuments.

 

[phantasia]

OH another thing...is it actually cheaper to go by free & easy packages from travel agencies...or just book everything by yourself?

 

[kelccm]

OH another thing...is it actually cheaper to go by free & easy packages from travel agencies...or just book everything by yourself?

It depends on where you are going. If you want to go to Switerland, definitely go for package. In France, you may be able to find great offer from the internet. You can try this hotel chain : Accor Hotels Look for Formula 1 or Etap chain of hotels. These are the budget range of this hotel group. But the minus point is that they are usually located on the outskirt of the city. If not, do some search for budget hotels on the internet. I'm sure you can unearth some great deals. It'll also give you an idea of the costs of each city.

 

[scud]

this webbie may help to gather more info.
u can join tours when u touchdown in europe.

 

[novello76]

Would also recommend Turkey as I went there in Dec. Turkey is a great place which you can easily travel and explore by coach. Its also a relatively cheap place to explore and survive. Roughly similar to Singapore and in some cases, its cheaper. Its also near to Greece etc, so good launchpad to go to the other exotic European locations as well.

 

[nightwolf75]

McDonalds don't close that early. It'll usually open till 9-10 pm. Most shops will close by 7 pm, maybe 6 pm during winter. Restuarants will only start serving from 7pm. In Spain, they start dinner at 8pm! Of course there will be some exceptions to the timing. In some big cities, eg Barcelona/ Lisbon, some shops stay open till midnight during summer.

big towns, yes. small town like where we were, nope. most shops (as i've pointed out in my post - i din say ALL) do close pretty early. so, it helps to check it out when u reach any town.

the restuarants u are talking abt are pretty up-market, esp in the big towns. when my wife and i were in vienna, we went to a restuarant where they had a live orchestra (yes, the whole 9-yards of orchestra, not a guy in a violin...) as part of the package at 7+pm. i hate to imagine the cost of going there by ourselves if it wasn't part of the package. :sweat:

 

[Astin]

Actually by talking so much for phantasia, I now also want to go Europe for holiday liao.

 

[nightwolf75]

Actually by talking so much for phantasia, I now also want to go Europe for holiday liao.

go go go!!! and remember to bring back some great pics! :bsmilie:

 

[Clark75]

If you go to Italy and are on a budget, maybe I could help with tips getting coffee there.

If you order 'latte', they give you a cup of hot milk! So remember to ask for cafe latte if you want coffee with milk.

And also, cafes there are sometimes also known as 'pubs' and there are a few choices you can have with regards to consuming your coffee there. 'First class' is sitting outside in the open air and having your coffee. 'Business class' is sitting inside and having your coffee. 'Economy class' is standing at the bar and having your coffee. Of course, the prices they charge for each is different! Once, my wife and I had a total of 3 cups of coffee in a Venice for Eur16! And that was only their 'business class'!

 

[phantasia]

Actually by talking so much for phantasia, I now also want to go Europe for holiday liao.

Haha yeah...vacations are really contagious... :bsmilie:

Lotsa good advice here!! Keep them coming guys...and thankss!! ;p

I might be looking at astin's suggestion of a 3 day each for paris, rome and athens thingie.... :think:

 

[ragdolll]

A coupla years ago i took 3 trips in 3 years.. first was 36 days, second 42 days and 3rd for 28 days.

my first trip cost 8.2 k and second trip was 7.8k.

so your 3k budget is workable.

if you want to stretch your dollar.. here are some tips.

on the average, I budgetted about 100 SGD a day. but I was alone.. it might be cheaper for more than one person.

most days, I would buy a full baguette in the morning and break it into 3 pieces. on days i had more money, I'd buy some ham or cheese. adn a litre of milk. . it works for a day. every 3-4 days, I'd splurge on a nice dinner.

things I learned :
- take no biger than a 50 litre pack. thats all you need. my packs shrank slowly . 1st trip, 70ltr. 2nd trip 55ltr. 3rd trip 45ltr. TATS all you need!!
-in paris, wine is cheaper than coke.
-big cities suck your money faster than anything else.
-Lucerne switzerland has the most expensive chinese food in the world (75 dollars SGD per person for rice/sweet sour pork/vege/fu yong egg/spare ribs)
- BIG slices of pizza are the most value for money foods in europe
- when you order a coffee, order to go
- most museums / galleris have days /times when they are free try to time around them
- In france, get to train stations one hour early AT LEAST
- best way from UK to France is by bus
- Eurodisney is a WASTE OF TIME
- forget cup noodles. a warm baguette with fresh cheese and salami.. heavenly.
- Remember to tip!
- some hostels have co-ed showers with cubicles without doors. BRING SLIPPERS!! shower stalls can be less than pristine
- photocopy your passport and rail pass!!!! keep it with you at all times.
- dont bring too much cash bring a credit card and draw along the way if possible.
- BEST place to be if you can stretch to July is Pamplona Spain when they run the bulls. Its a graet atmosphere.
- If you wanan club.. Ibiza is not all that great
- Best thing to do in ALL of europe is to be in Buñol spain on teh last wednesday of AUgust for the La Tomatina festival. whisch is a MASSIVE food fight in town where people just run around and trhwo tonnes of tomatioes at each other.. man THAT was a BLAST!!!


lol sorry long post. but if you need any advice/tips/stories./ . drop me a pm.

OH BTW. do check out the forums in www.eurotrip.com its the best site I know..

 

[ajneo]

one of the best website, with lotsa comments is http://www.bugeurope.com/reviews/

I was there for 3 months.... all depending on the hostels provided... needn't book from them, just get the info and look for the hostels independently.

 

[phantasia]

one of the best website, with lotsa comments is http://www.bugeurope.com/reviews/

I was there for 3 months.... all depending on the hostels provided... needn't book from them, just get the info and look for the hostels independently.

Thanks for all the advice ragdoll and ajneo!! Will take a look at the websites and hopefully come up with something....currently thinking of a 11 day trip...and prb rome is one of the places we'll go...and maybe another 2 others...

 

[phantasia]

Btw...one of my frens who went b4 suggested going london and using it as a base for travel...since there are lotsa budget airlines there...comparatively, any pros and cons between taking domestic flights or train to travel between places?

 

[Alpc]

big towns, yes. small town like where we were, nope. most shops (as i've pointed out in my post - i din say ALL) do close pretty early. so, it helps to check it out when u reach any town.

the restuarants u are talking abt are pretty up-market, esp in the big towns. when my wife and i were in vienna, we went to a restuarant where they had a live orchestra (yes, the whole 9-yards of orchestra, not a guy in a violin...) as part of the package at 7+pm. i hate to imagine the cost of going there by ourselves if it wasn't part of the package. :sweat:

Really??? Hmmm... Well, maybe the town I was in is not small then (although I finish walking the town area within half an hour)... The restaurants were opened in the night as they only start serving at 6.30pm; and they are the only ones that were opened. The rest were all closed by 6pm latest! Then again, this is Germany that we are talking about.... Maybe other countries maybe different... I did not even see a Mac there!!!!!

 

[Astin]

Btw...one of my frens who went b4 suggested going london and using it as a base for travel...since there are lotsa budget airlines there...comparatively, any pros and cons between taking domestic flights or train to travel between places?

England itself is already a full holday on itself. Typically you fly to London, sightseeing 3-5 days with public transport, then rent a car and drive to Scotland or Wales. The drive is easy, and the scenary is fantastic.

 

[ajneo]

Btw...one of my frens who went b4 suggested going london and using it as a base for travel...since there are lotsa budget airlines there...comparatively, any pros and cons between taking domestic flights or train to travel between places?

Pls note that the budget airlines usually fly to London- Luton or London Stanstead, which is a journey away from london, and cost quite a bit on train. Just take note, you can check out the train tickets, just search for it on the net, they have got quite a comprehensive info provided. London is really expensive for budget travellers like me...

 

[AReality]

I intend to skip England altogether...
Not worth the $.

Any place in east europe worth visiting ?

 

[Wryer]

Heard Turkey is a great place.