Single Aussie female, backpacking, need some tips...

1

First tip: check out the Schengen rules. You can only stay in the Schengen zone for 90 days in any 180 day period; only Turkey is not part of Schengen (assuming the Swiss will finally join before May).
Second tip: get yourself a guidebook (LP Europe on a Shoestring, for example) and sort some stuff out first, rather than asking us to write a whole guidebook for you here.

2

yeah i will be getting an extended visa, probably a working holiday, as im not sure i will have enough money to last the entire time.

3

WHV is probably the ONLY visa for more than 90 days you can get.
Remember that WHV makes it legal to work in ONE country (the one issuing the visa) - and you still are - in principle (this is not extremely clear in all Schengen countries) under the 90 days limit for the rest of the Schengen countries.

Expect you budget to be HIGHER/day than for a comparable trip in Australia!
Hostel dorm prices are easy to locatte on the net. For meals you have to make up if you can live of DIY-sandwiches for 5 months or you wan tprepared food. Simply take prices in cafes/supermarkets at home and add 50% (in order to be safe). For long distance transport: take the Eurail-pass prices - -may probably not be the best option, but fine for making a budget. Ferries are on the net - flight tickes are too, but all the cheap ones are those that you get if booking months (many months) in advance. To be safe - use the prices you find on the major, regular airlines (Lufthansa, Airfrance, BA etc.)
Do not forget local transport in cities - and entrance fees - it can really add up to both 10 and 20 or 30€ on a busy day in a major city. But all that is in the guidebooks.

4

sounds like traveling for and back to me. I would try to go west from Italy, i.e. Spain and Fracnen and then onto NL, Germany and fly down to Greece/Turkey or make it to the eat, i.e. take a ferry to Greece from Italy, take the ferry from Rhodes to Turkey and fly to Germany or NL and travel down to Spain through France.

Keep in mind that August is the peak season for tourists in Italy, France, Spain, Greece and Turkey. It might be wise to spend August in Germany or the Netherlands.

I would also consider to go to Prague...

If it comes to budget: France and Italy are expensive, Greece and Turkey are cheap, the rest is somewhat in the middle.

5

You're lazy.

You need to do some basic research and then ask some intelligent questions. Start by reading back through posts here on backpacking in Europe and you will find plenty of info to think about.

Five months x 50€ a day is around 7500€. If you won't have that much, you have a problem.

A WHV doesn't help you travel. It helps you sit in one country for a while.

6

Yes, definitely check out http://www.eurail.com/ - a really good way of getting round Europe, though I think the longest pass they do is 2 or 3 months....maybe you could just do it for some of your trip...or go crazy and buy 2?! Worth taking a look anyway, especially if you're visiting several places within a country - and it's much more flexible than flights!

7

I am also travelling next year but around June and I to am going alone. Ive been looking at Busabout. it looks really good and flexible and it does include most the destinations you wanted to go to.
Who knows we may even run into each other on the adventures.
lol
Hope you have fun!

8

wow, thanks to those who have actually been helpful. i have travelled to Europe before, but that was only a couple of week. Wayworn, you're a pig, there is absolutely no reason to be so rude. i am an intelligent person, but i was actually after personal experiences, things and places that people really enjoyed. its one thing to read a guidebook, but i found from experience from my last trip, that they dont tell you everything, and sometimes there is alot more to be found than what is supplied in a guide book.

again thanks to those who have given some good info. does anyone have any suggestions for little places with charm off the beaten track a little?

9

No, I am not a pig, I'm simply direct.

You wrote, "i know there probably is some information already on here somewhere, but call me lazy...".

You were right. The info is already here and you're lazy. That you don't like it when I tell you that you are, doesn't change the facts or make me a pig.

As for your being "an intelligent person", I tend to doubt that statement. Particularly when you write, "i have about 5 months, and i am wondering if anyone has some tips, particularly approximate costs, and the best way to travel. i have discovered the busabout touring option. has anyone taken this option?" and then change to writing, "i was actually after personal experiences, things and places that people really enjoyed." If that is what you wanted to know, why did you write something different in the first place? It seems you don't really know what you want to ask or how to ask it.

But here's a tip for you free of charge. You are the one looking for help, not me. Deciding you don't like the answers you get will not get you far. Instead I suggest as I already did, that you do some research and then ask intelligent questions instead of 'things and places people really liked', which is about as dumb as a question can be. How would having a list of 100 places other people liked do you any good? You need to say what YOU like and then ask where to find it, not the other way around. If someone posts and said they found a museum with a fantastic butterfly collection, are you going to put it on your must see list?

There are plenty of lazy posters here who want others to do all the work for them and tell them where to go rather than taking the time to figure out an intelligent question. You're just one of the herd.

10

I have to agree with Wayworn1 on this, OP. You asked a very vague question, don't even bother to mention that you do plan to find a way around the Schengen restrictions (how you plan to get a WHV for one country and see all the rest from there within 90 days is another matter though) or seem to realize that it is impossible to give a budget estimate for Europe as a whole. If you were looking for personal experiences, please ask so from the start.
The only way I can interpret your original question is as a request to write down a full list of all destinations mentioned in any guidebook, and on top of that you want us to tell you secret places that are not in the books. Well, let me burst that bubble right away: there are no secret places that are kept out of the guidebooks deliberately by the locals. If you want people's personal opinions, use the search function of this board.
And if it is your style to call anyone who gives you an unfavourable reply a pig, you may want to find another forum to ask for advice.

11

even with a WHV, don't overestimate your chances of finding short-termed and well-paid jobs easily! 'working your way' sounds easy - it is not. which would be your skills?

as regards eurail vs. buasbout vs. point-to-point vs. budget flights etc.: often it's a combination, yet there's no straight answer to this, especially without knowing the sketchiest itinerary of yours. crucial: what would mean 'best' to you? cheapest, fastest, most convenient, most flexible?

I'll gladly share my favourite places in Europe with you. e.g. I have a weakness for renaissance fortresses, so I would encouarge you to visit places like Philippeville and Mariembourg (both Belgium) and Montmedy (France), trust me, these are quite out of the way. do fortresses happen to be one of your hobbies, too? - to cut a long story short: in order to recommend places, you need to disclose some of your interests, who would have thought.

BTW, even without strenuously searching the forum for ages, a lot of your questions would have been answered by the shoestring + western europe FAQs and we would be running a much more pleasant and interesting discussion by now...

12

...and on top of that, you want us to tell you secret places that are not in the books. Well, let me burst that bubble right away: there are no secret places that are kept out of the guidebooks deliberately by the locals.

I don't know if it's ever due to the locals or not, but LP absolutely does admit to deliberately leaving sites out of the guidebooks where it feels it would be inappropriate to encourage an influx of tourists. The last LP I bought was the guide to Bhutan, and the author cheerfully refuses to reveal the exact location of his favourite place in the country. I don't mind this at all, actually I quite like it.

13

Hi there,

I am a young Australian female living in Edinburgh and currently over on a Working Holiday visa, I have been travelling/working throughout the U.K and Europe for a year and a half now, hope i can help you out a bit!
In regards to the visa situation, as someone stated before in Turkey you will obtain a 3 month visa but the other countries you mentioned you will have only 90 days to travel around before you have to leave for 3 months. You could apply for a working holiday visa, www.workingholidayguru.com.au (au I think!) is a great site, most of the visas differ somewhat and can be a lot more complicated from country to country such as Italy for example which require you have have quite substantial funds and full comprehensive insurance. The U.k visa is the easiest for us Aussies to have (that is why so many of us are working here!) but if you are going to go down the working holiday visa path bear this in mind:
Stopping to work somewhere and work is not as easy as you think, sure you probably will find work in a week or so but unless you find live-in-hotel work it can be really expensive to live for a while. If you are thinking of the U.K and need to rent, most people will require a month's lease in advance and a deposit usually also a months rent so before you know it you could need at the very least 500 pounds up front. If you are thinking bar work e.t.c keep in mind that minimum wage is pretty poor for quite a lot of bar/waiting work compared to Oz, and it if I didn't have a partner who earns a decent wage I would have a hard time saving for sure!

So I guess just think if that sounds like something you really want to do, i never work for longer than 12 weeks but most people who are working on a visa over here seem to spend a good deal of time working rather than travelling on a visa, quite a few people I have worked with spend approx 6 months saving to travel for a couple of months, just bear that in mind if you do feel like coming over for a long haul.

14

In regards to your travel plans, May and June are reasonable months to travel particularly in Greece, accommodation is much cheaper, crowds are quite minimal however ferries are not as frequent, and depending on how many islands you wish to travel to can really become expensive quickly as I found!
I met quite a few people in Turkey who were travelling with the busabout company and they all were pretty positive about it. In regards to the rest of Europe, i do think you need to list of reasons and ideas of why you want to travel to certain countries. For me I like to mix up what I see and do, I love visiting a city or two, admire buildings, find cool cafes/food/art galleries/markets/museums/weird people to converse with, then duck away to a few places i haven't heard much about and find some wilderness of my own for a while :) I don't like to city hop very much as I dont' believe I can capture the atmosphere, feeling, essence whatever you would like to call it about a country by travelling in this manner.
Over the last year i have noticed so many people who travel to places just because they feel they have to as everyone else told them to go there, when asking people where they have travelled or travelling to I have been met by this answer so many times......'oh done Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Prague and Berlin' or going to 'France, Germany, Amsterdam, Prague' can't tell you how annoying this is!
The amount of times I have to ask why people refer to Amsterdam and Prague as countries...grrr they just don't seem to realise that there is so much to see in the Netherlands and Czech Rep! Anyway, my little rant :)

If you have a better idea of what you want see, countries to visit feel free to ask me anything, I have just recently spent a few months travelling through Eastern Europe so if you are thinking of heading in that direction I will help you with any questions!

Good luck on the planning process :)