Author	Message
wplemon35 Member United States of America	# Posted: 24 Jun 2005 01:47:29 Hey I am new to the forums and have some basic questions. My friend (19) and I (19) planing on backpaking as much of Europe as we can next summer (May-June?). We would like to go for about a month. He has limited experience and I have none. How much $$ should we have saved up (we are flying from Philadelphia)? Where should we go? What should we bring? What is the Eurail? Inerrail? Any reccomended preparation? (Such as eating yogurt before going to Mexico so you don't get sick) Training? Any other comments suggestions would be great!

JaMeZ Moderator Amsterdam	# Posted: 24 Jun 2005 02:41:56 Hi wplemon35, welcome to the forum! I'll try to address some of your questions regarding backpacking through Europe. Quoting: wplemon35 How much $$ should we have saved up (we are flying from Philadelphia)? Planning your budget is an important part of all backpacking experiences. How to calculate how much you'll need in Europe is a matter of crunching some numbers. The formula is quite simple: Total budget = initial costs + (daily costs x number of days abroad) Your initial costs will probably include the following purchases: - Airline ticket - Eurail pass - Travel insurance And daily costs include: - Accommodation - Food - Transportation - Sight-seeing Costs for all of these things can vary greatly, depending on where you want to go and how you want to travel. You should especially give great attention to finding a good deal on your airline ticket, as this will probably the biggest slice of the budget. To give a bit of an indication about your daily budget, I'll try to give some numbers from my own experiences. A hostel will cost you about 15 Euros a night. You can easily get by on about 5 Euros a day for food. Transportation (in-city) will be only a few Euros a day. And sight-seeing totally depends on how much of a museum etc. lover you are, I suppose. All in all, you'll probably be spending something along the lines of 25 Euros a day. But really, you can make everything as cheap or as expensive as you want..!! ;) Quoting: wplemon35 What is the Eurail? Inerrail? Inter Rail is a rail pass that allows European residents to travel through Europe by train. It's a great way to travel around, as you can just about go wherever you want to go for a fixed up-front paid price. Eurail is the same idea, but is meant for non-Europen residents. So if you'd like to buy a rail pass, Eurail would be it. Especially if you'll be travelling mostly through Western Europe, a rail pass can save you quite a bit of money on transportation costs. Quoting: wplemon35 Any other comments suggestions would be great! I can recommend you to read the 'Backpacking Information' section of this website. I think the information to be found there will answer many of your questions. :) James "It is no coincidence that in no known language does the phrase 'As pretty as an Airport' appear." - Douglas Adams
wplemon35 Member United States of America	# Posted: 25 Jun 2005 22:20:52 Okay, we have picked cities London, Paris, Marseille, Monaco, Venice, Zurich, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, and flying back out of London We found flights from Philadelphia to London for 271.75. We are also getting Eurail (student) and ISIC cards. I am planning on about €40/day. The trip is planned from May 17-June 14 2006. I am looking for websites regarding sleeping in convents/cathedrals, and other very, very cheap places for the locations listed above. Am I overstreching my resources? Too many places for one month? Any suggestions or reccomendations?
JaMeZ Moderator Amsterdam	# Posted: 27 Jun 2005 22:32:03 Hoowee, 10 cities in under one month! It's definitely possible, but I can recommend to take some more time because some of these cities simply deserve more time for exploration, and you'll probably get a bit fed up with rushing around so much and seeing so many things in a short time. But that's really up to you..! :) 40 euros day will allow you to live like a king, especially if you're cutting down on accommodation costs... Cheap places to sleep? Camping, sleeping outside (in parks & on beaches), and staying with locals are all good ways to go. Have you heard of www.hospitalityclub.org ? You might find it interesting if you wanna sleep on the cheap... "It is no coincidence that in no known language does the phrase 'As pretty as an Airport' appear." - Douglas Adams
wplemon35 Member United States of America	# Posted: 1 Jul 2005 22:52:19 The trip is continually being extended and revised. We have added the following cities to the list: Bordeaux, Barcelon, Bonn, Hamburg, The Beaches of Normandy, Milan, Genoa, and Luxembourg. in a 6 week to 2 month period (most likely 6 weeks) any thoughts?
wplemon35 Member United States of America	# Posted: 6 Jul 2005 23:33:45 Guess not! Anyone know the legality of sleeping in parks and public places in Europe?? How "strict" are the european law officials?
Frankie punkrock Guest	# Posted: 12 Jul 2005 21:38:26 I do think you should stretch the trip a little causse like said before these cities deserve more then just 2 days. About the sleeping in the park stuff i recommend to talk to some locals and follow your instinct. I did sleep on the streets quite a few times and never had a bad experience at all except waking up with frozen feet and nose in austria and the fcuking insects. Beware of people stealing your stuff while sleeping, they do have their tricks so always keep your documents and cash in your sleeping back, personally i never wear any wallet like things around my neck, thats to easy to rip. well take care, have fun
wplemon35 Member United States of America	# Posted: 14 Jul 2005 05:53:14 by stretching the trip do you mean to the 6 week length? b/c that is what we are planning now.
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