15

nobody wants to bite anybody's head off but it does help if you follow the advice given in my #3:
Regarding your budget question: pls read the post about itineraries and budgets on the main part of the W Europe branch. And remember to convert to €

railpasses are of no use within cities. walking, bus and metro are the best ways of getting around.

16

So let's say $3000 after you get the flight, if my math is correct and using current exchange rates that's about 49euro per day (who knows the rate when you actually go and probably even less purchasing power when converting to the Swiss franc and maybe pound too).
Sorry to say but I don't think that will cut it for the trip you have planned especially considering the costs to get between all those places.
I think you definitely need some combination of more money, less days and less moving around to make it a trip you can enjoy as opposed to just survive financially.

17

#16 Agree, $4,000 is insufficient if not including flights. Sorry OP. Life here is pricy.

18

Thanks for the responses. Yeah, i figured it would cost a lot more than I planned. OgueOglithorpe2 I already decided to increase my budget $6000 = 4686 euro with credit cards. If my calculations is right, I would have 99 euro/day. Flights and if I get the eurail, I'm likely to use the credit and leave my budget alone.

Another question, I'm looking at hostel prices right now. According to hostelworld, some runs from $18-30 + (14-.23euro). Are these prices fixed? Or are they going change for better or worse as it near summer?

19

For Berlin you might be interested in this:
http://berliner-unterwelten.de/
There is a concentration camp memorial at the northern suburbs of Berlin: "Sachsenhausen"

There are no night trains from Prague to Berlin since travel time is too short to sleep.

20

european83. Hey thanks for the berlin link.

Oh ok...I'm still searching rail travel.

21

#18 Ref your budget - start with finding flights across the pond. Set that aside, because it's fixed (give or take circa $100-150). Once done, the rest is your slush fund to spend as you see fit (i.e. it's the real budget).

Next, convert into Euros and start thinking as such, cos all accom, transport and food will be in Euros :-)

Hostel prices vary depending on where and when. Example - if you want to go to La Tomatina end of August (which I recognise is outside your date period) you'd have to pay premiums in Valencia and nearby. Same applies for Oktoberfest during September and early October in Munich.

Off the top of my head I can't think of anything major where you're going when you're going, but I'm willing to be corrected by local experts :-)

22

I only bought a train pass, the 1st time to Europe.
So I could get back to my stateside plane, if broke....

thank Gawd it worked:)
Ihose eight days can be split up for going places,
you haven't heard of yet.

And to stay over because you just made interesting, intelligent friends. They are our teachers.

Avoid hanging out with your own nationality. They can teach you nothing. And usually talk about home anyway.
lol

23

21

Yeah, I realized $4000 (3124euro) is not enough, considering a lot of traveling. 66 euro/day won't cover -- hostels -- intercity travel -- travel from pt. A-B and food/attractions. Even if I buy eurail pass, it's still not enough.
Anyways, I realized where my other confusion is coming from. Since I won't be driving in Eu, I'm probably doing a lot of walking and taking public transportation. As you guys pointed out, if I do less traveling I'm likely to spend less on transportation between the major cities. But as for traveling within the cities, how much will I likely spend? Also when moving from pt. A to pt. B will I be able to make a stop-over and still reuse the ticket or do I need a Eurail pass to do that? <---sound dumb, I know, but pls. bear with me. I'm a rookie, never traveled via train b4 or done any traveling on my own lol.

24

as for traveling within the cities, how much will I likely spend?
A single metro/bus/tram ticket costs €1.70 in Paris, €2.60 in Amsterdam and £4.30 in London, but there are several day passes, multiple-trip tickets (carnets) etc available. A 10-ride carnet in Paris costs €12.70, the same trip in London using an Oyster Card costs only £2.00.
Also much depends on how much walking you're willing/able to do. When I go sightseeing I hardly ever take more than two, perhaps three metro rides on one day even in big cities like London - I choose my starting point, take the tube or bus to get there from my hotel and start walking; when I start feeling tired, I take another tube or bus back to my hotel.

when moving from pt. A to pt. B will I be able to make a stop-over and still reuse the ticket or do I need a Eurail pass to do that?
First of all, it's important to keep in mind that every country has its own railway operator with its own fare and ticket conditions. When you buy a ticket locally, it's wise to always specify when you want to make a stopover enroute. An example: here in the Netherlands there's basically only one type of point-to-point ticket available (though there's 1st and 2nd class and there's a number of discount cards available, but those aren't of much use to short-time visitors). Fares from A to B are the same, regardless of what type of train (the faster intercity or slower local trains) you use and only specify date of travel, but not departure time - this means that you're free to break your journey as many times as you like within the validity of your ticket (usually until 4 a.m. of the following morning), provided you don't make any detours from the most direct route from A to B.

If you take the Amsterdam-Paris Thalys train, however, advance reservations are compulsory. You can often get a discount if you buy a non-changeable ticket, valid only on one specific train number/departure date/departure time. If you want more flexibility, for example to break your journey for a few hours in Antwerp or Brussels, you'll pay (a lot) more.

See http://www.seat61.com for everything you want to know about train travel in Europe.

25

If you're into the Second World War, and in France, Oradour-sur-Glane is quite interesting - if a little glum.

It's a couple of miles outside of Limoges - which is 3 hours from Paris : and was a small town which got knocked out by the SS in 1944 : and rather then rebuilding after the war, the French goverment left the ruins as a memorial.

As well as Hostel websites, check out Booking.com : they include hostels, and sometimes a night in a hotel is just as cheap.

Given your age : when travelling in the UK : you might want to look into '16-25' railcards. Cost about £30 : but knock off 1/3 from most train tickets - including advance tickets. They also last a year - in case you feel like coming back.

26

Aribo, thank you so much for the detailed explanation. I'm only familiar with NYC metro system, which I guess is also similar in Europe. Oyster card like the Metro card. duh

hey sadistictoaster, did you say ruins from WWII. that's exactly what I'm looking for. lol

Regarding discounts, is it worth it to get the International Student Identity Card. There are already 'Youth' fares. Will I get more discount with ISIC?

27

IMCHESKA : I did indeedie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oradour-sur-Glane

A bit light on pictures : but should give you a rough idea of the place. ( A google image search on " Oradour-sur-Glane " will bring up tons of stuff ). I don't think a single building remains intact : and there's lots of burnt out cars and bits of furniture scattered about as well.

Edited by: SadisticToaster