Backpacking Europe
G'dayI want to backpack europe in december next year. I am looking to not work and travel for 1 year straight, then get a UK work visa and live and work in the UK for 2 years. I really want to travel light and make the trip as cheap as possible. (staying in hostels, daily food budget etc). In the first year, I want to go to spain, germany, CR, austria, netherlands, italy, greece, portugal, sweden and norway. I have a few questions. Is 15,000 euros enough for my first year of backpacking? not including my flight from Melbourne. also which holiday visa should i get for the 1 year of backpacking? any suggestions would be appreciated.
Cheers!
2
Holiday visa is max 90 days in 180 days in the Schengen area (most of EU and some more countries as Switzerland and Norway). So if you travel for 90 days in some European countries, then you'll have to be 90 days away before you can re-enter any of the Schengen countries.Budget depends on locations... all countries you listed are pretty expensive, while Eastern Europe is usually cheaper: for instance in Rome a bed in a dorm room at a hostel is usually around €20, while it costs even under €10 in Budapest. A cheap dinner at a cafe in Rome is over €10 while you can manage with €5 or less in Budapest.
Camping can be a cheap option in the warmer months, and wild camping is allowed in Scandinavia.
3
All countries you mention, apart from the UK, are in the Schengen Area. Unless you have dual citizenship with an EU country, you're bound by the 90-out-of-180 days restriction. There's no legal way to extend this period - when you've been in the Schengen Area for 90 days, you have to leave and stay out for 90 days before you're allowed to re-enter.What you could consider is getting a working holiday visa for a Schengen country. Technically speaking this would only be valid for an extended stay in the issuing country and the limit for the rest of Schengen still applies, but in reality the lack of regular border controls between Schengen countries means that this is near impossible to enforce.
4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_AreaFor your sake I hope Romania and Bulgaria are not part of Schengen by the time you travel. I would suggest that your budget will last 9 months tops, and then spend the majority of your time in E Europe.
I would suggest you spend your first 90 days in the Schengen zone, then 90 days outside it, the Balkans and Turkey (Bosnia is my fave country round here), then your final 90 days back in the Schengen zone.
Sticking to the cheaper destination and missing more expensive places like, Rome, Amsterdam and particularly Scandinavia makes sense because you will be in the UK for a further 2 years and they are easy long weekend trips on budget airlines.
