15

First off thank you guys soo much this was my first post and just the response has been amazing and Im traveling from California and as far as why I am going is want to have an experience I can look back on the rest of my life and really say wow that was the best couple months of my life on top of seeing all the sights I want to see a little bit of what it was like to live in another country and although it may be a little romanticized where my family immigrated from. I'm taking a year off before med school hopefully and I really want to make the most of it. Several people posted about how I am planning to travel and from what I heard from some friends I was planning on getting the eurorail global pass because it would leave my itinerary open and works in all of my stops. One of my chief worries is that because it will be cold I will miss out on sights because they are closed or travel will be difficult. Cold doesn't really bother me aside from that and I am looking to travel cheaper. Also I have been to France, England, Greece, and Southern Italy and this is the reason I am not visiting them although my stay was brief I want this trip to be an entirely new experience.

As far as cities I would like to see are (roughly and open to suggestion) and no I will not be stopping in NY

Spain
Madrid and Barcelona

Switzerland
Geneva and Zurich

Italy
Venice possibly milan although i have been turned off to it by a friend

Slovenia
Bled and Ljubjana

Hungary
Budapest

Slovakia
Bratislava

Austria
Vienna

Czech Republic
Prague

Germany
Munich Berlin Heidelberg and any you guys say i should go to

Belgium
Antwerp although i have not really researched this as much as id like

Netherlands
amsterdam

Denmark
Copenhagen again havent looked to much into it

Sweden
Stockholm and somewhere up north to see the northern lights

Norway
Oslo

Also I was looking to book tickets on a sight called vayama or something like that but it got god awful reviews and I am looking for tickets through kayak just to get a good sense of it also I have no problem with really roughing it and staying in nothing but hostels and I would prefer it that way in a sense but also want to be able to drink and eat the local cuisine without counting every penny or equivalent. And again thank you all soo much

16

First off thank you guys soo much this was my first post and just the response has been amazing and Im traveling from California and as far as why I am going is want to have an experience I can look back on the rest of my life and really say wow that was the best couple months of my life on top of seeing all the sights I want to see a little bit of what it was like to live in another country and although it may be a little romanticized where my family immigrated from. I'm taking a year off before med school hopefully and I really want to make the most of it. Several people posted about how I am planning to travel and from what I heard from some friends I was planning on getting the eurorail global pass because it would leave my itinerary open and works in all of my stops. One of my chief worries is that because it will be cold I will miss out on sights because they are closed or travel will be difficult. Cold doesn't really bother me aside from that and I am looking to travel cheaper. Also I have been to France, England, Greece, and Southern Italy and this is the reason I am not visiting them although my stay was brief I want this trip to be an entirely new experience.

As far as cities I would like to see are (roughly and open to suggestion) and no I will not be stopping in NY

Spain
Madrid and Barcelona

Switzerland
Geneva and Zurich

Italy
Venice possibly milan although i have been turned off to it by a friend

Slovenia
Bled and Ljubjana

Hungary
Budapest

Slovakia
Bratislava

Austria
Vienna

Czech Republic
Prague

Germany
Munich Berlin Heidelberg and any you guys say i should go to

Belgium
Antwerp although i have not really researched this as much as id like

Netherlands
amsterdam

Denmark
Copenhagen again havent looked to much into it

Sweden
Stockholm and somewhere up north to see the northern lights

Norway
Oslo

Also I was looking to book tickets on a sight called vayama or something like that but it got god awful reviews and I am looking for tickets through kayak just to get a good sense of it also I have no problem with really roughing it and staying in nothing but hostels and I would prefer it that way in a sense but also want to be able to drink and eat the local cuisine without counting every penny or equivalent. And again thank you all soo much

17

also i think im looking at around $10,000 USD but that can be changed and idk how long i want to stay in each place but i was thinking about 3 days a place while at some for less and others more and also

Ireland
Dublin

18

Translation: $10,000 = 8000 EUR.

Geneva and Antwerp won't need 3 days. For Antwerp, you could also toss in Brussels and Bruges for 1 day each. I would personally bin the Swiss cities in favour of the Swiss countryside.

Again, I really emphasise (as others have) that Switzerland and Scandinavia are expensive. Take for example the big mac index - which is a tongue in cheek measure of the cost of living from the Economist magazine.

An article in an expat magazine in Norway in January said that a big mac in Norway costs an average $6.79, compared with $4.20 in the US. http://www.thelocal.no/page/view/swiss-knock-norway-off-big-mac-perch. As for a beer, in Oslo the local price is apparently the equivalent of 7.08 EUR (http://www.pintprice.com/region.php?/Norway/) which is $8.82 USD...

19

I was planning on getting the eurorail global pass because it would leave my itinerary open and works in all of my stops.

I think you should read this info about that pass (btw, note spelling, Eurail) before deciding if the pass will be your best option for transport.

20

One of my chief worries is that because it will be cold I will miss out on sights because they are closed or travel will be difficult
Contrary to popular belief, Europe doesn't close down during winter. Sights may have shorter opening hours, that's all (and of course, beach resorts won't be open in February).
Travel will not be difficult, most public transport operates normally under normal winter circumstances; after all, when a country gets a lot of snow every year, its railway company will take appropriate countermeasures to maintain its schedule.
The exception is when more extreme winter conditions occur in countries that normally have a fairly moderate climate; here in the Netherlands every mode of transport gets completely messed up when we have more than a few centimeters of snow in one day, and train services may be reduced, flights delayed and roads jammed. At least as annoyingly, pavements get pretty slippery when snow hasn't melted yet and has been walked on for a few days.

Cold doesn't really bother me aside from that and I am looking to travel cheaper
That's another misconception many non-Europeans seem to have: travel in winter isn't necessarily cheaper. You may (rarely) get a discount on your hotel room, but since you plan to spend all your time in bigger cities with year-round tourist traffic, don't set your hopes too high. Train/bus/plane tickets cost the same as in summer (although on long-distance services lower demand may make it easier to secure a discounted fare if you're travelling on point-to-point tickets), and restaurants etc charge the same too (those that totally rely on summer tourism will probably close down altogether anyway).
In fact, it could be said that travel in the colder season is more expensive in a way: in summer you can easily buy sandwiches from a supermarket and eat them outside in a park or hang around the town square when you're tired, while during the colder season you'd rather want to eat or take rest stops inside (= in a cafe or lunchroom = more expensive).

As far as your itinerary is concerned: if this is your ideal trip, by all means stick to it. However, if you ask me, you're making a few classical "mistakes":

• visiting only 1 city per country, usually its capital; these cities tend to be more international and as such not representative for their countries
• visiting only cities in countries notably famous for their nature: Norway, Ireland and Switzerland, but also Austria and Slowakia
• talking about feeling like you live in a foreign country while travelling too fast to soak up the local atmosphere and get away from the tourist herds.

somewhere up north to see the northern lights
Note that the Northern Lights are seasonal - you have a better chance of seeing them in February than in May, from what I understand (for more info see the Scandinavia branch)

21

atm it. keep it simple. don't have curency changed. get it from atm. bank has best rates.

Like going gambling; never carry more cash on you,
than you can aford to lose.

---

But I've only been traveling,and shipping out for 45 years. So what the hell do I know.

71. Not too old ta be coooool.
{ 8=3Q
:)

and you'll be less vulnerable and confused.

22

So this is my newest schedule its not in order for sure but its a rough estimate and it has 35+ days unplanned i spend ten days in ireland the rest is up in the air and I will be buying a three month global pass places where I am there for more that three days I assume will have day trips or something and I will be flying out of oslo and would really like to see some of switzerland but i will be traveling to these countries last and for how long is determined by how much time and money I spend before then. My budget is approximately $100 USD per day with some wiggle room. I plan to stay as cheap as I can and would like to eat out around once a day possibly lunch and maybe a couple drinks every so often as well as see some museums. The eurail pass is already factored in.

City Nights
Dublin 3
Cork 2
Galway 2
Venice 3
Slovenia 2
Budapest 3
Bratislava 1
Vienna 4
Prague 4
Salzburg 1
Český Krumlov 1
Munich 5
Interlaken 6
Heidelberg 2
Bruges/Brussels 3
Amsterdam 2
Copenhagen 2
Northern countries ?
Berlin 5

Total 51

23

Note that travel takes time too. 2 nights in a city often means you have only one full day plus whatever is left of your arrival day to look around. Needless to say, 1 full day is barely enough to scratch the surface of cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen (besides that, there are several towns in the Netherlands and Denmark that are at least as much worth visiting), let alone a whole country (Slovenia).

Example: you say you want to spend 2 days in Slovenia. For the sake of convenience and seeing as you're focussing on capitals and bigger cities, I'll assume you want to see only its capital, Ljubljana.

It takes around 7 hours to travel by train from your previous destination, Venice, to Ljubljana. That does not include travel time to Venice's train station, navigating your way around Ljubljana to get to your hotel (luckily Ljubljana is a relatively small and manageable town). Even if you'd get up early and take the 7 a.m. train (there's one at 5:30 a.m. as well, if you feel really energetic), you won't arrive at Ljubljana station until 14:30h, and by the time you're ready to go sightseeing it'll be 15:30h.

That leaves you with a few hours on your arrival day and the whole next day to see a whole country. I'll leave it up to you to judge how realistic that is.

24

thanks thats a ton of help i have never traveled like this before and appreciate the opinion i was thinking i could keep this schedule as a rough outline and the month plus i dont have planned i could use to add a few days in when i find that travel has taken more time than i thought it would and so i could also keep my options open to explore other cities or places that i have not yet heard about

25

and in light of what has been said maybe ill add a night to most of my stops which puts me at around 65 days

26

Madrid and Barcelonaa are the two biggest and most tourist crime ridden cities in Spain. IMHO they don't show the most typical or historic side of things either. I live in Seville. South is cheaper.

Snatcher/pickpockets don't get violent unless you do. They do it by momentary distraction of your attention. And they hand it off to a henchman, who diappears into the crowd.

All guidebooks have chapters on safety. They don't write that stuff to cover Their ass. They all say money belt.

My Rick Steves money belt has saved all three times that I know of. Including passport.

You only need passport handy to change planes and hotel/hostels.

Hostels are great ways to learn, and find out we're all just folks. Don't fall into the trap of mostly talking with your own nationality. They can't teach you anything.

We travel to learn. Just seeing most famous destinations is a waste of opportunity and more expensive.

You'll be back, if your total expense doesn't scare you away from a next trip.

Long distance travel in Europe waists money and valuable gawking mit learning time.

I Don't book beds ahead, excep first night on a continent or if a holiday.

have fun / not schedules.

see you on the road.
Welcome to the coolest addiction:)

27

What time of year are you planning to do this? Cos Munich is very heavily booked come mid towards late September due to the Oktoberfest.

28

From your list 'Slovenia 2' nights, one day.... As said before Slovenia is a country but there is for sure a reason why you will go. Do you remember why?

29

im going late march to late june and im going to slovenia to see the capital city and Bled and there is one other place i would like to see but the name has escaped me at the moment its a castle in a cave i believe and yea i understand its a country and ill probably go there for closer to four nights